Beautiful Palettes, Beautiful Stories: Celebrating People of Color Through the 12 Seasons
Over the past year, I embarked on a meaningful color analysis project celebrating People of Color with the 12 Seasons. The catalyst for this project stemmed from a combination of factors: the noticeable lack of People of Color representation within the color analyst industry, a strong desire for my brand to be inclusive and showcase a diverse portfolio, and a personal curiosity to further my role as an industry innovator and leader in the field of color analysis. I truly believe that knowledge is power, and I hope this sparks fresh conversations and new ways of thinking.
All of the color sessions took place in my studio under full-spectrum lighting, encompassing the testing of over 100 drape colors. These sessions uncovered the photos, quotes, and lessons (scroll all the way to the bottom) that I'll share below. I have so much gratitude to the incredible clients who lent their support in pursuit to educate myself and the color analysis industry. Enjoy celebrating these beautiful women!
Client Photos, Stories, and Testimonials
“The passion that Megan has for truly finding colors that embraces the natural beauty every person has, is inspiring. The research and dedication is truly eye opening, especially seeing the representation for people of color.”
Bright Spring | Clear Spring
“Meeting with Megan took my style to a new level, knowing the exact right colors to compliment my skin tone time changed the game for me. So often in the past, my skin color wasn’t represented in media and I picked things that looked good on others, but now I have the tools to make sure I look my best everytime I leave my house!”
Bright Winter | Clear Winter
“Understanding my palette choices has made shopping and exploring fashion so much more fun and has provided me a clear direction of what to look for when shopping online or in - person! Wearing my colors makes me feel vibrant and it has been a blast exploring wearing colors I maybe wouldn’t have considered before my session with Megan!”
Cool Winter | True Winter
“I thought it would be fun to have this experience with a couple of friends, but not nearly as impactful as it was. Megan helped me embrace colors I always said I didn’t like, let go of colors that didn’t pop & now I rock the bright winter colors proudly! ”
Dark Winter | Deep Winter
3 Key Lessons from this Experience
As a color analyst dedicated to perfecting my craft, I've found that some of my most valuable lessons came from the mistakes I've made along the way. These errors have been my greatest teachers, unveiling crucial insights that have shaped my color analysis journey. Here’s three key lessons that I learned from this experience.
Lesson 1: Overtone vs. Undertone
Cool Winter client
The outer layer of your skin, or overtone, changes with seasons or sunlight on your skin. While the undertone, the layer beneath, never changes. The undertone defines warmth, coolness, or more neutral undertones. It's common for People of Color to grab a 'warm-toned' foundation only to find cool undertones beneath. Also vice versa can happen where you have a ‘cool-toned’ foundation and warm undertones. I also learned that appearances can sometimes deceive – someone might seem to have warm overtones (displaying more yellow), but the critical factor lies in how colors interact with their skin undertone.
Lesson 2: Drape Dilemma
Bright Spring Yellow vs. Bright Winter Yellow - The Bright Spring yellow is blotchy/out of focus. The Bright Winter yellow puts her in focus and illuminates her skin. I’ve included more photos below of this client glowing in the Bright Winter colors.
Another key lesson I've learned in color analysis is the critical role of having the right drapes to compare. A 12 Season drape set will include the drapes organized by the three dimensions of color—hue, value, and chroma.
In the photo example, I was going back and forth between Bright Winter and Bright Spring. My drape set includes high chroma colors in Bright Winter and high chroma colors in Bright Spring. I had already ruled out Warm Spring, Light Spring, Cool Winter, and Dark Winter. I've found that multiple photos help unveil the complete color story when clients are close between seasons. I encourage you to take as many photos as you need in natural, diffused lighting. You can visit my insta page for reel videos of my 12 Season drapes.
Lesson 3: The Hair and Eye Deception
The Bright Winter color brings her in focus and she looks healthy, energetic, and illuminated! While the Dark Winter is an ok color, this client can handle the brightest colors of winter with her personal coloring.
At first glance, this client has darker hair and darker eyes. I first put her in Dark Winter and then realized I was making a mistake. I had her return for a re-draping and we found her true colors in Bright Winter.
The real magic happens when an individual's inherent brightness and contrast comes alive in the brighter colors. Even if someone has darker features, they may actually radiate in bright colors because they have a brightness or contrast (between eyes/hair) in their coloring. Understanding this tipping point is key! This is a perfect example of at first glance a client has darker features however they come alive in brighter colors and can handle the brightness!
It is my opinion that many women of color often face the challenge of being misdiagnosed with certain color palettes, such as being categorized as Dark Autumn when they truly shine in Bright Spring tones. Another common instance is the misidentification of Dark Winter, when, in reality, their true color palette is Bright Winter.
Immense gratitude goes to everyone who supported this pursuit of knowledge, access, and innovation. Special thanks also to my dear friend Haley whose local community connections opened doors to make this happen. While this marks a fantastic beginning, I'm eager to continue learning and emphasize more diversity in collaboration with the 12 Seasonal color palettes.
About the Author: Megan Haynes, ColorBook
Hello there! I'm Megan, a Colorado-based 12 Season Color Analyst dedicated to helping you naturally look and feel your best.
Trained by the esteemed Kerry Jones of Indigo Tones, I'm driven to evolve and innovate in the field of color analysis for greater accessibility. Feel free to email me directly if you have any questions about my efforts, findings, or would like more info on traveling to you - [email protected]
PS. Welcome to the discussion below! Your thoughtful and considerate questions matter. Feel free to leave your comments and questions below—let's engage in an enriching and helpful conversation about color analysis.