Why I Work with the 4-Season Method And How It Compares to Other Systems
If you've spent any time on TikTok, YouTube or Instagram lately, you've probably come across colour analysis content: fabric drapes held up to someone's face, lipstick swatches, dramatic before-and-afters. It's having a moment. And with that comes a lot of different terminology: 12 seasons, 16 seasons, soft summer, true winter, personal tone, muted, vivid… it can quickly feel overwhelming.
So if you've just received your results from My Colour Season and found yourself wondering where sub-seasons fit in, or why I don't use the same terms you've seen online then this post is for you.
Colour Analysis Has More Than One System
This is the part most people don't realise: colour analysis isn't one universal method. It's a field with multiple schools of thought, developed in different parts of the world at different times, each with its own approach, terminology and categorisation. They all share the same underlying goal — helping you identify the colours that harmonise with your natural skin undertone, hair and eyes — but they get there differently.
The three systems you're most likely to encounter are:
The 4-season seasonal method - the system I work with
The tonal method - which comes in either 12 or 16 sub-seasons
Korean colour analysis - a face-centric system rooted in K-beauty
Let's look at each one.
The 4-Season Seasonal Method
This is the original colour analysis framework, and the one My Colour Season is built on. It organises everyone into one of four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter, based on the relationship between your skin undertone, hair and eyes, and how these interact with colour temperature, depth and clarity.
The key word here is relationship. Your season isn't identified in isolation; it's identified by comparing all four seasons against your colouring to find where the greatest harmony lies. It's the contrast between what works and what doesn't that gives you real clarity.
Within each season sits a full, generous palette and within that palette you'll find a range of tones, from lighter to deeper, softer to more saturated. As you start working with your colours, you'll naturally gravitate towards certain shades over others. That's not a flaw in the system but that's the system working exactly as it should.
I chose this method deliberately, because I want my clients to feel free within their colours, not restricted by them. The fashion and beauty industries don't design with colour harmony in mind and most brands have no awareness of it at all. Having a broad seasonal palette means you can navigate those industries with a trained eye, rather than searching for a match to an increasingly narrow list.
The Tonal Method: 12 and 16 Sub-Seasons
The tonal method is a separate system that expands on the 4-season framework by introducing a third dimension: chroma, which refers to the brightness or saturation of a colour. This allows for finer distinctions within each season, resulting in either 12 or 16 sub-season categories depending on which version of the method is used.
The 12 and 16 sub-season systems are not the same as each other, they are distinct methods with their own training, categorisation and naming conventions. Terms like True Summer, Light Summer, Soft Summer or Cool Summer come from within these systems.
This is the method that has exploded in popularity online in recent years, which is why you may have seen it more than the seasonal approach. More precision can be useful, but it also comes with a trade-off: a narrower palette that can be harder to apply when shopping and building a wardrobe in a world that doesn't categorise colour the same way.
Korean Colour Analysis
Korean colour analysis has become a global phenomenon, driven largely by K-beauty and K-entertainment culture. It's a face-centric system that focuses primarily on how colours interact with the skin: specifically around brightness, saturation and tone, which often with less emphasis on hair and eye colour than Western systems.
Rather than strictly warm or cool, the Korean system tends to categorise people around qualities like muted, vivid, light or deep, making it particularly well-suited to Asian cosmetics and beauty lines that are designed around these tonal categories. It's also often associated with achieving a specific aesthetic like brightness and a youthful glow, which reflects the beauty ideals it was developed within.
It's a valid and popular system, but it was largely developed with Korean skin tones and beauty standards in mind, and results can vary depending on the analyst's training and approach.
So Why the 4-Season Method?
All of these systems arrive at a similar destination: colours that work better for you than others, but they take different routes and speak different languages. That's why a result from one system can't simply be translated into another. They aren't layers of the same thing; they are genuinely different frameworks.
I work with the 4-season method because it gives my clients something immediately useful and genuinely liveable. Your palette is broad enough to shop from in the real world, specific enough to make a real difference, and yours for life. Knowing your season means you can walk into any shop, scroll through any website, and have a clear sense of what will work better on you - even when the brands themselves have no idea what colour harmony is.
That, to me, is the point.
Have a question about your results or the system behind them? Get in touch at hello@mycolourseason.com - I'm always happy to help.