A Review of Online Color Analysis Services
Social media has influenced me to do any number of things in the last few years (some great, some questionable), but one of the best ones was booking a “color consult” to find the shades that flatter my hair and skin tone.
For some people, this kind of thing is obvious. I am not one of those people. After nearly four decades on this planet, I still had no idea what my skin’s undertones were, and while I knew I gravitated toward certain colors in my closet and not others, I couldn’t easily discern a pattern. I’ve been making a conscious effort to “buy better” recently, and I hoped that narrowing the down the field of color options would help reduce the number of returns and the number of items hanging in my closet with the tags still on.
I tried Created Colorful; my mom tried Your Color Guru — here are our reviews of our adventures in online color analysis!
Readers, have you ever considered “getting your colors done”? Do you have any reviews to share of online color analysis services?
N.B. Elizabeth and her mom paid for both services out of pocket; this post is not sponsored by either company.
The 411 on Online Color Analysis
The idea of color analysis isn’t new. Anyone who was alive in the ’80s probably remembers the “Color Me Beautiful” pop culture phenomenon. I’m not an expert, but the general idea is that everyone has their own ideal color palette, based on their unique hair, eye, and skin colors. The right colors highlight your features, while the wrong colors can make you look tired or washed out.
{related: your favorite colors for your working wardrobe}
Color palettes are assigned different seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. At a very high level, winter colors are cool and deep (think jewel tones), summer colors are cool and muted (soft blues, purples, greens), spring colors are warm and muted (pinks, yellows, camel), and autumn colors are warm and deep (rust, chartreuse, brown, burgundy). Among those seasons, there are variations, so, for example, if you’re somewhere in between an autumn and a winter, you might end up with a “Deep Autumn” color palette, which includes the richest, darkest shades in the autumn family.
Our Adventures with Online Color Analysis
We have a family wedding coming up, so my mom and I each tried a different online color analysis service to help narrow down our search for outfits.
My Experience with Created Colorful
I used Created Colorful. The process was pretty easy. I submitted a series of selfies with various colors draped over my shoulders. They wrote back a few days later, asking for a few more options, and a few days after that I received my results. (They say on the website that it takes 30 days, but I got it much quicker!)
{related: how to create a capsule wardrobe for work with your favorite colors}
I received a detailed email with an explanation of my skin tone, a list of 20 shades that complement my features, some tips on colors that I should avoid, and some makeup and nail polish recommendations. (Do note that the makeup recommendations are from Beautycounter, which is an MLM, but you can just as easily use the shade recommendations to buy from other brands.)
I found out that I’m a Cool Winter, so I should be mostly looking for deep jewel tones. Given the choice between emerald and olive, emerald is going to be more flattering. If we’re looking at lilac or amethyst, I’m going with amethyst. The package is priced at $180, but they send out promo codes periodically to their mailing list.
{related: how to add color to your work wardrobe when you usually wear neutrals}
My Mom's Experience with Your Color Guru
My mom used Your Color Guru, and it was a less detailed process, but I think the results were equally good. She sent a quick series of selfies and received both a digital and physical color card with her best colors on it. She’s a “Twilight Winter,” which seems to be a different, branded name for the Cool Winter palette I received. I was a little surprised, because I’m much fairer skinned than she is, with lighter eyes and slightly lighter hair. Regardless, the color palette seems to work beautifully for both of us! For hers, we upgraded from the initial package to get a detailed makeup palette and got some great suggestions for a range of natural to dramatic looks.
{related: prints and personal style: which prints and textures are “you”?}
Your Color Guru packages range from $155, which includes a color card and “color radiance report,” to $245, which includes the makeup card and hair color consult, to $545 which includes a 45-minute video chat with the founder. We got my mom the $155 package with a $40 add-on for the makeup card.
Our Online Color Analysis Reviews: Yea or Nay
Overall, we were both pleased with the results, and I think we’ve both been using the information to weed out some items from our closet that weren’t working for us. Obviously, you can wear whatever colors you want (I’m still hanging onto an olive blazer that I love), but the process has certainly helped me put my finger on why I’m reaching for some items more than others, and will hopefully help in honing my shopping in the future.
Readers, do tell: Have you ever had an online color analysis or otherwise “had your colors done”? Either way, what are your favorite colors to wear for work and weekends?
Stock photo via Deposit Photos / AlterPhoto.
The Curated Closet has a free DIY process that really made sense to me.
What colors do you need for the photos for Created Colorful? What if you don’t have anything in the colors they require?
I did this. I sent them photos of whatever I had in my closet, being creative with using my husband’s clothes or a towel or blanket for some colors. I definitely didn’t have everything they asked for, but it seemed to be enough or close enough to give them a good idea.
NYC non profit GC, having first gala/benefit in two years next week. I hate to be cold and I’m going straight from work (though certainly could change). Is it profoundly un festive to wear black pants and a pretty blazer? just don’t feel a dress.
What kind of gala? Work or for fun? Sounds fine to me.
It sounds like it is the gala for the org she works for. If that is the case, you know your crowd, but it seems reasonable to me unless you work at, say, the Met.
Black pants and a pretty blazer can work – I’d add a big statement piece to make it festive, vivid shoes, chunky shiny necklace or brooch.
I work in philanthropy so I go to a lot of galas (in non-Rona times) and this is great advice. Pretty blazer with some snazzy accessories and you should be good to go.
This is a truly dumb question but why not:
I went on a first date with a guy off of a dating app the weekend before Thanksgiving 2021.
After that between the holidays and both of us getting covid at separate times, we met once in December and once in early January, followed by another 2 week gap.
Then starting from the end of January we’ve been seeing each other almost every week, schedule permitting. We became exclusive / had that conversation in late February.
So how long have I been seeing him for? I’m leaning towards ~3 months since thats when it became more regular
“Our fIrst date was way back last November, but we’ve really been dating-dating for about three months “
Yup.
My assistant lost her pregnancy over the weekend. She told a coworker she doesn’t want to talk about it. She’s back in the office today. I sent her a very short email saying I respect her privacy but I’m here if she needs anything. She looks unhappy and in pain, and my heart aches for her. Any words of advice on how I can be of comfort while still respecting her request for privacy? I know I can’t make it better, but I sure wish I could. Thank you.
I think it would be nice to write a card that says what you said here, and to deliver the card in a way that eliminates the need for her to talk to you about it — so just drop it off very simply and then leave, or place it at her desk when she is not there. Say you are incredibly sorry for her loss and your heart aches for her, and you respect her privacy and are available if she needs anything.
Flowers or maybe a gift card for food or grocery delivery?
I would not do flowers unless they can be sent to her house. Otherwise people will ask about them, assuming a happy occasion.
I think you’ve done the right thing. This is not an occasion for a gift. I’d leave it be now.
Any way you can let her go home today, or come in late tomorrow, without it hitting her PTO?
I had to go to work while I was in the process of losing a much-wanted pregnancy and what I really wanted was to curl up on the couch with a heating pad, as the cramps were terrible. Sympathy was not useful and gifts would not have helped; what I really needed was time to physically and emotionally heal.
As someone this happened to… don’t send a card. Don’t say anything. She said she doesn’t want to talk about it! Just cut her some slack with needing time off.
I have medium brown hair and black eyes. Clearly a winter. I am wearing my colors today. The caramel color soda that I spilled over white pants is not only ARGH!!! but also not appropriate for my coloring :(
From now on, you should only drink Fanta grape or cranberry juice cocktail on your spilling days.
I used Cardigan Empire and sent some selfies. It took a while but I got back Cool Summer, which feels right. What felt most validating was the list of colors that are my worst colors – orange, bright yellow, mustard, warm orangey red. I admire these colors on others but feel awful wearing them myself.
http://cardiganempire.com/2012/08/color-analysis-3-degrees-of-cool_6.html
I liked Color Guru, I’m a Warm Spring in their system. The results made sense to me, and I’m using their guidance for future purchases. I’m not skilled at understanding warm versus cool when I’m in the store, so I have the digital color card saved to my phone. Now that it is actually spring, I’m finding a lot more options in the stores that work for me. I found the makeup card very helpful and was able to use that right away.