The 4 Pillars of Colour Analysis — How to Identify Your Best Colours

Silvia Panisco
May 31
2 min read

Before you can confidently choose clothes, makeup, or even hair colour that flatter you, there’s one thing you need to understand: your personal colour characteristics.

These characteristics act like a colour map—guiding you to the shades that will brighten your face, smooth your skin tone, and make your eyes sparkle. ✨

In colour analysis, we look at four key traits to find your best colours:

Undertone
Value
Contrast
Chroma (or Intensity)

Let’s explore them in simple terms—with real-life examples to help you spot them in yourself.

🔥 1. Undertone – Are You Warm or Cool?

This is the first (and most important) question in colour analysis.

Warm undertone = your skin has a golden, peachy or yellow tint.
Cool undertone = your skin has a pink, rosy, or bluish tint.

👤 Example: If your skin looks better in silver than gold, you might lean cool.

⚖️ 2. Value – Are You Light or Deep?

Value refers to how light or dark your natural colouring is.

Light value: fair skin, light eyes, light hair.
Deep value: dark hair, darker eyes, and richer skin tones.

👗 Example: People with fair features often look best in lighter shades, while those with richer hair and eye colour can handle deeper tones.

🎭 3. Contrast – High or Low?

Contrast looks at the difference between your features—especially your skin, hair, and eyes.

High contrast: Think of Snow White—light skin, dark hair.
Low contrast: Your features gently blend—like ash-blonde hair and light skin.

🎨 Colour tip: Your best outfits often match your natural contrast level. High-contrast people shine in bold combos (black + white), while low-contrast types glow in blended, tonal looks.