What’s The Real Number of Seasons?
May 7, 2012 by Christine Scaman
With the introduction of recent 16 Season personal colour analysis systems, this question keeps appearing in my Inbox:
Who’s Right?
Are there 12? 16? 44? Google? The ultimate system is the one that places each person in their own Season, since the variations are infinite. For me, a PCA system should be widely available, offer reproducible results (meaning 2 analysts would come up with near-identical colours for the client, regardless of the heading they’re given), with swatches that the woman understands visually and rationally so she can see and think her way to buying the best items.
I like having clear-cut divisions in the colour dimensions between each group, which is do-able when the number of groups is lower. The span will include people who seem to look very different in each group, but every colour will be right for every member of the respective groups. The congruity between the colours in the person and what they wear is measured to be very high as long as the drape and swatch colours are scientifically consistent – because the genetics of human skin pigmentation is quite consistent. Could it be whittled down more? Sure. Much as you want.
Even already at 12 Seasons, the colours can be supremely hard to tell apart between related Seasons – at least, they are for me, appreciating that I am neither authority nor expert and never will be. I am a student trying to understand something complex, nothing more. Many have more sensitive colour vision than I have. How do people like me tell each swatch apart when the number of groups gets even higher than 12? I don’t. I can’t. What happens is that colours get shared between groups, or that’s what my eyes register. So in a 28 Season system, a “darker Soft Summer”, like Katie Holmes, would presumably move a bit into Winter territory or borrow a few real Winter colours, since her colouring gives the impression of blurring the Summer/Winter line a bit.
Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn’t – and that’s if a shopper can tell the difference between her Season, her Season with a touch of Winter, or her Season actually wearing Winter. Caution is needed. A person of Soft Summer colouring would look overwhelmed by her clothes or tired in the saturation of Winter, either grays or colours, as Katie can in too dark hair and makeup. So it’s the job of the analyst and the analysis system to get clients crystal clear on which colours to wear or avoid.
High colour saturation. Looks great, I think.
Katie Holmes Pictures
We know right away the photo below is more real. Her essential dustiness feels right. They had to up-colour her eyes for the picture above to look balanced. Works in the digital world, not the real one.
And then there’s being clear on which colour goes with which Season. This is muted to be Winter’s green, probably through sheerness and texture of fabric, though the black added to the green is Winterish – makes it an interesting choice for a Summer woman with more than usual darkness, but awfully hard to pin down Season. There’s too much crossover. She balances it pretty well, though her eyes are fading a bit. Lighter eyeliner and more lip colour could help.
Katie Holmes Pictures
I don’t disagree that there are darkness/heat/saturation ranges in each type of colouring group. Of course there are. With fewer Seasons (and carefully calibrated palettes), no colour is a mistake. With movement between Seasons, some could be. A very astute and colour-perceptive Soft Summer knew that even within her highly accurate palette in the photo below (from True Colour Australia), some colours were better on her. She used paint chips (Pittsburgh Paints) to further subdivide her palette to create her very own colour constellation. (with big thanks to Kathryn for permission to use the photo)
How many Seasons a PCA system has would have no influence over my choice as a client. Really don’t care. I put that on the “Paying Attention To The Wrong Things” bus. What would matter to me is:
1. When the analysis is done, what do I know, what do I have, and how successfully can I use it? First, how accurately prepared is my shopping palette – the reverse of that being, how likely am I to make shopping mistakes?
2. What knowledge about my colouring did the analyst share and teach and demonstrate? Doesn’t matter so much if she can tell the difference, though I sure hope she could…but can I tell the difference at least a little, or do I know for sure why she chose what she did? Otherwise, I’ll be haunted by uncertainty forever more.
No analyst, from any system, wants women saying “I was typed an Autumn twice, a Winter once, an Autumn flowing Summer…” You know the rest. That should never happen again.
The analysis process and the colours of the drapes and palettes need to be standardized and correct, every woman, every analysis. If
one analyst is using full spectrum lights in a neutral gray room,
one is using sunlight in a greeny tan hotel room,
one doesn’t mind if you wear makeup,
one is swirling drapes around in a busy hair salon and takes 20 minutes to pronounce a Season,
one has an unlimited number of drapes,
one has 4 sets of drapes that she mix-and-matches,
is it even remotely possible that women will understand their colouring and be given the same palettes to shop with? As long as the presence of one colour changes the way surrounding colours appear, and it does, then you have to be careful where and how you do this or have super-calibrated eyeballs. Not saying you must have those lights and the grey room. In one of my travel locations, I use overcast-day lighting. It has no colour effect on the person’s face and it works really well. Any non-neutrally coloured items in the room are covered with gray dropcloths.
We want emp. Hold on. Where do I get off presuming to speak for the group? Never would I do that. I’m the late arrival still getting caught up. Still, an outsider looking in might see a dedicated and creative assembly who have more in common than not, and also maybe a few holes, the patching of which might move the entire profession forwards. Dell, HP, and Sun don’t have to merge but they do have to follow similar rules about components and conditions to get computers to work as consumers expect. And then, everybody owns a computer, everybody knows their best colours. Fragmented as we are, mass appeal is unlikely. Not enough mass faith.
I dream of an empowered woman saying “I was analyzed by Light Interior Colours. My main colour family is Golden Autumn Light but my colouring found better agreement when a bit of Dark Pewter Light was added in. I get that Soft Copper Light colours look too pasty and bland, even though Mom was always stuffing them through dressing room doors. I took her with me so she could see this for herself.”
And her colleague responding, “That dark chestnut hair you have now took 10 years off you. I’m proud of you for having the stamina to follow through. It’s hard at first, I know. I saw Joan at Skylight Colours 10 years ago. They call my colouring Dark Chocolate Winter. Wow, I love your swatch book, the vinyl is a good idea. Look at that, you got 82 colours and I got 42, and they seem close but they’re not. I hear you about the Mom thing. Mine, even at 50, she could wear jeans with rhinestone studs on the back pockets. She was always putting me in neon colours. Shopping for summer clothes was the absolute worst. I dreaded it for years. Loved Back to School though. I finally get it.”
My other issue is one of taste, where right and wrong don’t exist. I have to assume that all analysts look for the same changes in the face, but some may prioritize differently because of their training (which I don’t understand, jaundiced and shadowed never look good, do they?, guess I need to take their training) and some may just plain think certain things look good that I wouldn’t. The photos that many analysis systems suggest are attractive are those where I see these women almost at their worst. My eye doesn’t see a blonde Victoria Beckham as the most beautiful the woman could be. To look at, all I feel is uncomfortable and wondering what she spends on this. And these are retouched magazine photos! How do real women stand a chance?
Victoria Beckham Pictures
Think about this: Which Victoria gives you get a feeling of oneness?
David Beckham and Victoria Beckham Pictures
If you say “Wait a minute, I think she’s an awesome blonde. It’s fun to change things up.”, that’s quite fine. Many analysts would work with you to enjoy hair and cosmetic colours that are distant from your inborn ones. Totally OK.
Me when I still believed that hair should be lightened as we age and that blonde flatters everyone:
A later me, hopefully with hair that looks more fluent and flattering with my truths. Not my best, but it feels closer to real&right.
Ask yourself: Which woman is closer to her center?
I believe that finding and holding one’s center is an essential practice when we’re tempted by wrong destinations and straying feels so easy. With a solid center, our roots might feel a little tug when the wind blows, but we won’t keep changing our position. We can sense that grounding in others, and they in us, based largely in how we look.
As you know from my book, or maybe from looking at your friends, when we look processed to a place too far from how we were meant to look or could possibly look naturally, I don’t see or feel beauty. That’s a woman who has taken her own melody so far out of tune that the parts don’t fit together anymore. What feels good and strong to look at and be around is unity.
If you didn’t read the quote in the lower L of the middle Katie photo, be sure to do so.
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17 Responses to “What’s The Real Number of Seasons?”
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I’ve heard that once you’ve made up your mind then you have a closed mind. I’ve appreciated your open mind to other’s thoughts and new information as it becomes available. Your blonde picture is definitely an endorsement for not going blonde. You look ten years younger and 20 pounds lighter as a brunette. Because of previous posts you have written I decided to see what was under my dyed hair. I don’t think I’ll be going back. I have added purple shampoo to my routine though.
I firmly believe that 4 is not enough. I’m a neutral, and there is no room for us in a 4-season system. Beyond that, I don’t much care about the numbers – but I DO care about the logic/philosophy behind the system. The “new” 16-season system we keep hearing about lately doesn’t seem to make any sense as a whole. Almost ALL of the colors are deep/soft to a fairly significant degree. There seem to be about 8 warm/muted seasons, only about 2 cool seasons, and no clear seasons at all, out of 16.
But I have no issue with a 16-season system; I have an issue with the fact that THIS particular system seems to completely overlook certain color spaces. IMO, Sci\Art does this, too, it’s just much more minimal. (Where, for instance, is the medium value, medium chroma, neutral/warm?) At least in Sci\Art every area is covered somewhere, even if it means that someone is right on the edge of a season.
Yet another wonderfully insightful article Christine! Thank you!
16 season sytem is a good number (not very short, not overly long), but I have a little problem with that. For example, I don´t find a season that is light+bright+cool. Bright and Light Spring are warm, aren´t they? And Bright Winter is dark; Light Summer is soft. So, who can wear colors that are light, bright and cool? (which I think they are the most flattering on me, but I can be wrong).
And how can a person be placed in opposite seasons by different analists? You know, one can say you don´t know if a woman is a Soft Summer or a Soft Autumn, and I accept it. But how can some webs tell us that a celebrity like Vanessa Williams is a Soft (no jumps between hair and skin) and others tell she is a Bright (gorgeous eyes!).
Well said! It’s very interesting to look at Katie Holmes and I appreciate
Sorry, I didn’t finish! I appreciate the variety of photos posted. She is truly a beautiful woman and it shows when she has her best colors on….and is complimented with the appropriate makeup.
I love the fact that we use 12 seasons. It makes education more easily understood. I always leave my clients with “their” adjectives so they can begin to truly embrace words that define them. Then they can ask themselves a quesiton: “Is it too dark, or too light for me” depending on their season. I can’t tell you the clients that come back to me, one in particular who was very skeptical about the whole color thing and was a ‘bright’ season has said…I just keep seeing these colors and I’ll walk on by saying “not bright enough”.
Just today she emailed me saying “you made a believer out of me. Even when I switched to more vibrant colors, I didn’t expect all the compliments I got. That was SO confirming. I honestly hadn’t realized how many drab unflattering colors I had been wearing previously! “
If I were queen of color, I’d do this: Colors are warm neutral cool; soft neutral bright; light, medium, deep, contrasting. One adjective from each category – warm,soft and light for example. And I’d have Christine name them – I laughed out loud at dark chocolate winter!
Lots of seasons, a place for everyone, but still some judgment calls. Perhaps way too complicated.
I used to like the four-season system because there was so much variety in each system–that is, people of the same Season could look vastly different from each other. I was troubled by the dominant chararacteristic theory because it seemed to reduce us to our outward appearances. Now I like Sci-Arts twelve-Season system because, again, there’s so much variety within each system–a Bright Winter may be a blonde, a Light Summer may have brown eyes. Finding the colors that most flatter an individual is an art.
So many good points:
Empowerment
Staying with your center
Reproducible results
I’ve waffled from time to time as to whether we need an individualized system over a categorized system. I’ve become aware that we have several (not one) controlling factors in our coloring starting at our multiple blush tones. Now the question is whether one blush tone predominates and guides the whole or whether the multiplicity of those tones together guide the whole. Perhaps the gestalt effect is different for some than for others, but however it comes about, there does seem to be a preponderance of palette direction for most.
You mention “reproducible results” and this is key. I’ve not studied the individualized palettes enough to compare with the seasonal palettes, but I think there may be a less obvious continuity of progression in those palettes. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, but when the progression and boundaries of one’s various hues begin and end at so many places in the color sphere (each hue of a single palette falling into different ranges) how can the eye be trained to know at what point a shade is a match and when it becomes a miss? It seems that one would be more hidebound to match the palette colors exactly in such a case.
In a seasonal system, it’s much easier to see the boundaries of a range and to know when yellow or blue has been added to the color in a fabric. Or whether it has been muted. Given that we don’t have control over the dye batches of retail fabrics, it’s unlikely that we will be able to match exactly any or all of our color palette. We need some tool for discerning an acceptable range of tones for this to be practical. Even if our palette is totally individualized and, say, we can wear yellows ranging all the way from Bright Winter to True Summer, we need to be able to see the addition of brown or grey added to know that we haven’t slipped into Soft Summer through True Winter. I suppose it’s possible to depict, but it’s a far less usual progression (and probably more difficult) than that offered by the seasonal system.
I come on here every few days to see if Christine has written any new rants (*cough articles). I hope you realize I’m being facetious. I love your writing. In reading this article and all the posts that follow, I had an idea for the next line of 4 or 8 or 12 or 16 or 24 lines of palettes. I think the next system should not use seasonal names. Not that I don’t love what I am. But I think (and I am basing this on listening to people talking about their analysis and their season and who/what they are) that people tend to put certain preconceived notions on the name of their season. I’ll use Soft Autumn as an example. Perhaps it is the colors in the palette, perhaps it is the nuance that is associated with it, but I’ve seen some dishearted SAs who wanted so bad to be something/someone bright and manic and cheerful and don’t think that’s what they are now that they’ve been put in the SA category. (It’s kind of like as a Taurus, I get really sick of everyone thinking I’m the most giving and nurturing and maternal person on the planet…who me?? I’m self centered and a bit neurotic and I forget to balance my checkbook and I don’t feel the need to nurture.) Anyway, my point is, instead of seasons, what if “Oh wow, you are a Mystery.” “Oh look, she was diagnosed as a Delight.” “Oh you are so lucky, you have the Ingenue palette!” And so on. (There was a word in my head that started this thought process and now I cannot recall what it was. Darn it.)
Good idea, Nicole! Instead of seasons, we can use literary/archetypical fictional characters. What about being Anna Karenina (I suspect she would be a Dark Winter in PCA), Queen Guinevere (a Spring?) or Morgan Le Fay (how would you name her?).
By the way, Christine, you are right. You are gorgeous as a brunette!
Love your idea, Nicole. I only fear that people would still get some wrong identity locked in their heads that they’d have to shake off if they found out someone made a mistake? Wonder what about naming a 12 or 16-season type after the progression of colors? Might be a little harder to remember but suppose “1″ is lowest in saturation or clarity and “12″ the highest? Like maybe True Spring became Warm 7H7C (warm color with 7 Hue, 7 Clarity) and maybe Light Spring was Warm 5H3C? (Like I know what I’m talking about here!) If it were possible (not very imaginative sounding), it would rule out all that junk that people get locked in their heads, and they could make adjustments more easily if they got someone wrong in the first analysis. Wow. What a thought!.
“I have to assume that all analysts look for the same changes in the face, but some may prioritize differently because of their training (which I don’t understand, jaundiced and shadowed never look good, do they?”
This is what happened to me during my three different drapings. There were exclamations like “Look how intense your eyes become in this color!” or “This really brings out your contrast level!” – but not one analyst stopped for a second to ask if there was some way to get that ruddiness out of my face. I look ruddy in every season except Spring, and Spring was the one season nobody wanted to test on me, because I was too dark or looked too much like a Winter or Autumn to even go there. Finding BSP changed my view of myself and I was suddenly “centered”, as you say.
Thank you for this article!
Love the article, Christine. I haven’t really heard much about the 16 colour system – only knew of it from a discussion with Amelia – but the question I have to ask is, when you have Sci\ART, why bother?
Twelve distinct, structured seasonal groupings, with defined boundaries that make sense in terms of actual colour space… certainly, one can subdivide colour further, but narrowing it down to one in twelve already gets rid of the 92% at best “not quite” colours in favour of the 8% that will make you look healthy and natural. Add to that the experience of the draping, and seeing with your own eyes at what “end” of your season you can push the boundaries most effectively, and why – you’ve already individualised your analysis. You don’t come out of a Sci\ART PCA as “just” a season.
Of course, at the end of the day, it all comes back to the draping. Despite all our technology, the fact is that computers simply cannot display colour as it is in nature – which means unless you exist solely on a computer screen, you’re not going to see the same effects in digital photos as in real life. This makes things difficult if you cannot see an analyst, and so until we can all get PCAs, we will have to improvise somewhat.
But humans don’t exist solely on a computer screen; we are physical beings, and the clothes we wear, physical objects with colour. When the colour of our clothing harmonises with our skin, it looks good; when the colour of clothing doesn’t harmonise with our skin, it doesn’t look good. That’s just how it works! Testing coloured fabric in a controlled environment, under neutral lighting, with no makeup or other distractions, will therefore ALWAYS work better than other methods of analysis for this very reason, no matter how many seasons one cares to define.
Simply, then: how many seasons? It is completely irrelevant, unless one of them actually works for you!
I feel the need to stop by to tell you your current hair color looks fabulous. I didn’t even recognize you as a blonde! Sometimes people do things with their look that makes them look like everyone else — just another face in the crowd. The brown hair helps me see you….if that makes any sense. It makes you visible as an individual.
I gave my poor mom the same advice — try going blonde to gradually transition to grey — and let’s just say the salt and pepper look she was avoiding would have done her a better service. When we choose the wrong thing to mask our flaws, we can easily create new ones. (And not notice till the party photos are all over facebook). I guess rule #1 in any beauty endeavor is: don’t mess up what you were given!
But hey, thanks to color analysis, we don’t have to suffer through as much trial-and-error.
All of your comments always provide such food for thought. I truly appreciate that you take the time.
Pat – Brilliant about a closed mind. The scariest thing in existence because once it’s closed, it sets about expending all its energy in defending that position with some sort of self-righteous indignation that just creates all sorts of disorder aimed at confusing a clearer picture. It’s kind of stuck. I commend you on allowing gray hair. On so many women, it doesn’t just look great, it looks better than most other colours they could have naturally, let alone from a bottle. I find it chic, elegant, confident, and a very good way to showcase right makeup colours, like a beautiful frame.
Rachel – I agree 4 just isn’t enough. Even when you think of organizing all people in 12 groups of human colouring, it doesn’t seem enough until you look at it from the other side and ask ” How many groups of DIFFERENT levels of the colour dimensions can humans tell apart?”, and make that the number of groups. In practice, it works. As Kathryn did, we then find ourselves within our Season, knowing that its walls will keep us safe.
Daenerys – good Q. Would Light/Bright/Cool be the light end of BW? Bright means hi saturation, Light probably means the use of white and/or yellow, cool means not yellow. So hi sat + white would mean icy? Maybe I misunderstand your point but I don’t know that there is a human colouring that is exclusively Light/Bright/Cool. If their internal saturation level is overall high, that would apply to their darker colours too, like their blues. As blue raises in sat, it gets darker…which land us back with the Winters, no? And about celebs, I agree, either the systems disagree on the most basic opinion of what look good, balanced, and in tune with the wearer’s appearance and colouring, or the analysts themselves are not sure about how to prioritize. Who am I to talk? Nobody. I know it can be complicated, but when the palette and the analysis process is well-defined, no compromises are needed. Every single thing about the person either looks better or worse.
Karen – you’re a born teacher, I think. I agree with you that the system has to be usable by real people. The semantics and the colour theory arguments won’t be of interest or value to the average consumer. They just have to be able to understand it easily enough to make it work in stores. As an industry, I wish we spent more time on ways to make the swatch book and analysis result 100% user-friendly. Which means we have to listen hard to where they get hung up.
Kathryn – I think it’s a multiplicity because that’s how we look at others. We don’t isolate them to colour area. Like our very good friend, Mr. Kibbe, it’s the total effect of interacting with the person. I think that with colour, the ranges are tighter. Your heat level won’t veer wildly all over the scale, it’s fairly consistent. But with geometry, you can have some very Yang and very Yin things going on at once.
Nicole – I gave this some thought at one point too. The Seasons have some issues, they sound old-fashioned and are littered with negative misconceptions. I thought of flower names. I’ve plundered food images all I can. I thought of numerics, as NC 1, NC 2 (NC for Natural Colouring), as K says. But we still drag the baggage of power and drama somehow being more desirable or stronger than mist and petals. If I did my own colour groups, I’d think of something other than Seasons, but what exactly hasn’t been revealed to me yet.
Kristina – I was just plain wrong to have made that statement in the first place and I regret it, but will leave it to say the following. It implies that the decision is always easy and obvious and IT IS NOT. On some people, I expect that even more experienced analysts than myself try and retry drapes to arrive at a decision. I love that the Sci\ART analysis process keeps rechecking itself and will not allow you to exclude a Season until you’ve tested it in various different contests. But still, with the world’s best drapes, sometimes it is very, very challenging.
Nick – I agree with every word. Remote controls with 60 buttons and cell phones with 10,000 apps don’t necessarily work better.
Natalie, and to all who said the dark hair is better – thank you. In blonde, I erase myself, or some part of myself. Now why would anyone do that? The idea that we are all flattered by lighter hair as we age is entirely wrong and has done a disservice to many women, not just in appearance but in empowerment. Since those days, the hair is now cooler and darker, less orange (I used to believe I was a True Autumn.) The photo on the About page is pretty close to today’s hair. I’dd add to your Rule #1: …and trust it’s the best you could have.”
Helo, Christine. you wrote a very intersting article. I agree, that the more subdivisions exist the more difficult will be to type. But I really like the 12 seasons theory because they are supposed to be flowng seasons. I always thought that a person can be fitted in one season of 12, but can borrow colors from some others. For example, if we take a soft summer – there exist a soft summer closer to Soft autumn or to Cool Summer or to Light summer and they can borrow some colors from that palettes, but they all can wear soft summer colors. I always thought like that and it is very important for me that I read ideas like that in your blog, because i appreciate your opinion, though I don’t comment often. As for me, I am that person on the border – I am a Soft autumn probably, flowing to a Deep autumn, and very close to the border of warm-cool – some people thought that i am a darker soft Summer like Katie Holmes. I am neutral warm , but not so soft, definitely not bright and not deep enough to be a really deep autumn. I can wear medium and dark SA colors and light and medium of DA colors. That is all I need to know to do my shopping. I think I could be fitted in the 12 seasons theory, if we had a good color analyst working with this system in the country where I live. Then for me it’ll be interesting to read about soft autumn deep or something like that. but not so necessary – I am quite satisfied with my position on the border. The only thing I want to know (and only because of my curiosity) on what side of the border I am. For all that people who are not on the border I don’t think that the big number of seasons will be necessary.