I’ve been thinking about color a lot lately—what shade of lip liner accentuates my lips, what paint color would look best on the walls of my new apartment, which heel matches my favorite dress. Up late one night, I even fell down a TikTok rabbit hole—I couldn’t escape the seasonal color palette videos. You know the ones: a consultant drapes a series of colored scarves—known as “flags”—across a subject’s shoulders, studying which shades enhance their complexion and which dull it; a process that dates back to 1942 when color theorist Suzanne Caygill introduced the framework. It later reached a mass audience through Carole Jackson’s 1980 bestseller Color Me Beautiful, which simplified the process for everyday use.
The appeal is instantly recognizable: certain colors that yield effortless compliments—or, conversely, others leave us looking washed out. Over time, the system has grown more precise—expanding from four seasons into 16 nuanced subcategories, allowing for a more personalized understanding of color and how palettes can subtly bridge between seasonal boundaries. It’s a framework that more often than not advises one’s wardrobe choices, but why not makeup too?
That’s how many of the industry’s leading makeup artists approach it; according to them, the right color analysis will inform how you select certain makeup shades. “Undertone is one of the most important reference points when I’m selecting blush or lipstick—particularly when the goal is to create something that feels effortless and believable on the skin,” pro makeup artist Tyron Machhausen tells Vogue. “It’s less about restriction and more about discovering what makes your complexion feel the most radiant.”
Vogue’s Favorite Makeup Shades
As luck would have it, I was soon able to snag an appointment with Megan Bentley, professionally known as The Color Countess, at Vogue HQ. I went into my color analysis with a clear theory in mind: I am a deep winter—a conclusion drawn from an unshakable personal conviction about which colors generally me best. My evidence was circumstantial at best—very dark hair, a certain visual intensity, and, admittedly, intuition doing most of the heavy lifting. Still, when Bentley confirmed the result, officially designating me a deep winter, the validation felt oddly triumphant. The category, defined by depth and contrast, sits at the intersection of autumn and winter, balancing subtle warmth with cool dominance. Yes, it’s complicated—but there’s good news for the uninitiated. If you haven’t undergone a professional analysis, Bentley notes that you can approximate your palette by working within your broader seasonal family, using it as a reliable starting point.
“[The purpose of color analysis] is to find your iconic colors: the shades that when you wear people can’t help but say ‘that looks so good on you’—that’s because everything is working in harmony,” Bentley tells Vogue, explaining that this harmony is identified through a precise, three-step process, beginning with undertone. “If you look better in cool-based colors, that means you’re more dominant in eumelanin. But if you look best in warm based colors that means you have more pheomelanin—it’s a structural part of your DNA and it doesn’t change.” From there, the analyst determines your “home season,” carefully comparing the draped colors to assess whether you fall within the cool spectrum—summer or winter—or the warmer spectrum of autumn or spring. Next, Bentley examines the values of colors, examining whether a client looks better in lighter or darker shades. Finally, she looks at the intensity of colors, examining whether a client pops in bright, vibrant tones or something more muted and soft.