Color analysis

In the cosmetics and fashion industry, color analysis, also called skin tone color matching, personal color or seasonal color, is the process of finding colors of clothing and makeup to match a person's skin complexion, eye color, and hair color. The goal is to determine the colors that best suit an individual's natural coloring and the result is often used as an aid to wardrobe planning and style consulting. Color analysis was most popular in the early 1980s.

There are a wide variety of approaches to analyzing personal coloring. The most well-known is "seasonal" color analysis, which places individual coloring into four general categories: Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. More recent systems subdivide the seasons into 12 or 16 categories. Many different versions of seasonal analysis have been developed and promoted by image and color consultants worldwide. Some color analysis systems classify an individual's personal combination of hair color, eye color and skin tone using labels that refer to a color's "temperature" (cool blue vs. warm yellow) and the degree to which the hair, skin and eye colors contrast. Color analysis demonstrates how colors are capable of being flattering or, conversely, unflattering. Colors that are unsuitable for the individual can make a person look pale, for instance, or draw attention to such flaws as wrinkles or uneven skin tone.

One practical application for color analysis is that by limiting wardrobe color choices a person will likely find it easier to coordinate his or her clothing and accessories, thus possibly saving time, space and money. However, color analysis can also be costly for the individual, both in regard to the fees of professional and less than professional analyses, and subsequent clothing and cosmetics purchases. One problem is that there is no standard training or degree required to market oneself as a color analyst. Color analysis is a marketing ploy that has been controversial since its beginnings.

Michel Eugène Chevreul (1786–1889) was a French chemist and superintendent at the Gobelins Manufactory in Paris. He wrote four treatises on color, making him the authority on color theory in the mid to late 19th century. His principles of successive contrast (an afterimage effect) and simultaneous contrast (how two colors next to one another will mix in the mind's eye) had a significant impact on the fine and industrial arts. In the 1850s, Chevreul's ideas on color harmony were prescribed for an American audience lacking any education in color harmony.Godey's Lady's Book (1855 and 1859) introduced "gaudy" American women to Chevreul's idea of "becoming colors" for brunettes and blondes.

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