How To Use The Colorwise Easy and Free DIY Color Analysis
In 2021, I had a professional color analysis done. At that time, I kept my hair highlighted to a light blonde. Jen, from Your Color Style, determined I was a Bright, Cool & Light color category in the Summer color season. The color palette in that category includes cool-toned colors in a medium hue. I have blue eyes and cool toned skin, but since I had light blonde hair then, brighter colors looked best on me.
Now, it is 2023 and I am no longer highlighting my hair. I went to my natural medium ash blonde color. The medium hue colors I was wearing before, from my previous color analysis, are now too bright for my current hair color. So, I needed to find out what colors would look better with my coloring. I discovered a FREE color analysis tool called Colorwise, so I thought I would give it a try rather than paying to have a professional color analysis done again! Posts about Colorwise have also gone viral on TikTok, see a few of them here.
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First of all, if you are new to color analysis and are wondering what it is, this post “Which season are you? Seasonal Color Analysis and why it matters” on GabrielleArruda.com explains it all! Here is a visual 12-season color analysis color chart from her site. By the way, when my hair was highlighted, I was a “Light Summer”. Now with my natural hair color, I am a “Soft Summer”. I am still in the “Summer” season because my skin is cool-toned with light contrast, but because my hair color changed, my season category changed. You can see on the color chart below, how I went from a Light Summer to a Soft Summer.
Image credit GabrielleArruda.com
Intro To Colorwise
Colorwise is easy to use and you can quickly determine your color season! And did I mention it is FREE?! I used the Colorwise.me website to upload a photo of myself, select my skin, hair and eye color and it determines your color season! It determined I am a Soft Summer!
Here is how to use Colorwise to determine your color category, where to find a digital color palette to put on your phone and where to get the best color fan to take with you when you go shopping!
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Step 1: Colorwise Color Tool
The first time I used Colorwise, I was surprised at how easy it was! Because it is a free website and a free app, I didn’t think it would be as detailed as it is, but without being complicated. I was really impressed with the Personal Palette Designer, which shows your photo you uploaded surrounded by the colors of the season category you are in. Seeing my photo with the colors around it, you get to see how the colors look next to your skin.
You can download the Colorwise “My Best Colors” App or use the Colorwise website. Be sure to watch their quick video for a quick tutorial!
First, you will need to snap a photo of your self from your neck up, which shows your face, eyes and hair. It is best not to wear any makeup for the tool to see your natural face color. The camera on my iPhone always adds extra warmth to my photos, so I edited my photo an adjusted the temperature to a bit cooler to reflect my accurate skin tone. You may have to do the same.
Next, use go to the “Color-analyze your face” tool to see which season category you are. You will scroll down to “Upload An Image” to select the photo from your phone. Use the scroll tool to select the colors of your skin, hair and eyes. Click next, and it will reveal your season category, showing your Best Colors and Colors To Avoid.
Click the Next button and it shows your photo with the color palette. Here are two results where it determined I am a Soft Summer both times. The first photo is me with no makeup on…
And, below I uploaded a photo with minimal makeup on. It still determined I am a Soft Summer.
Step 2: Your Seasonal Color Chart
Next it will display your “Best Colors”, “Neutral Colors”, “Complimentary Colors”, “Jewelry” colors, “Eyeshadow Colors” and “Lipstick Colors”. If you tap on the Best Colors area, it will expand the color chart. You can tap on each color and it will show the color name and how the color will look on different fabrics! To expand all the other color charts, you can pay for the Premium version of the app. I paid for the Premium version which was only $10.99! It unlocked all the color charts on the app.
Colorwise Digital Color Charts
Since you have the app on your phone, it is easy to take it with you when you go shopping. I took screen shots of all the color charts and saved them to an album on my phone, so if internet service isn’t good where I’m at, I can always pull up the screen shots on my phone!
Here is what the Soft Summer color charts look like…
Here is the first page of “Best Colors” expanded view of Soft Summer. When you tap on any color, it will show a full screen of the color, the color name and how the color will look on different fabrics. This is extremely handy when you are shopping for clothes and want to make sure you buy your correct colors!
Dream-Wardrobe Digital Color Charts
Once you find out your color season, you can get more extensive color charts from Dream-Wardrobe. They have another type of color chart for your season category, which are beautifully organized and the color hues transition well from one color to the next. You can buy their Seasonal Color Analysis eBooks (in the Euro currency rate); what is in the guides are also shown on the sales page! You can see several makeup and nail color charts with recommend colors and several style color inspirations, like coordinating colors, sample wardrobe colors and more. I just purchased their Soft Summer eBook Guide.
Image credit from Dream-Wardrobe.com
Step 3: Seasonal Color Fan (optional)
If you need a color fan to have with you when you are shopping, either online or in-person, the best and most accurate color fans are from Kelly Tavora on Etsy. I purchased her Soft Summer color fan and am awaiting for it to arrive (she’s located in London, England). Her color fans include “around 70 colors, containing neutral and accent colors, best colors for metals, makeup and examples of harmonious color combinations you can use when in doubt about how to mix and match your colors.”
If you use Colorwise for your DIY Color Analysis, please leave a comment to say how you liked it!
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A Bit Of Inspiration For Your Day:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4
I used Colorwise a few weeks ago, since my hair is now salt-and-pepper brunette. I am still a Deep Winter, but I would like a new color fan since my old one is so very old! Thanks for the link!
Thank you for mentioning this; your timing is perfect. I’m going to share this with a couple of my coworkers who are always asking me about the colors they are wearing.
I absolutely love the color analysis. It’s so retro. My friends and I all had it done back in the day. It really is very helpful in choosing clothes. Thanks for the revival.
What a great post!! So informative. Thanks for the in-depth look and for sharing your results!!!!
Thanks for sharing about this app. I’ve been going back and forth between soft summer and soft autumn and this confirmed soft autumn for me. It’s also really nice that they show swatches of the fabrics as I struggle to translate the computer images into real life fabric. I didn’t realise they do ebooks. I’ll go check them out. I’ve been looking at one on a site called dream-wardrobe or something like that. They also share tons of info for free. You might want to check that out too.
Wow! I love this post. Thank you!
Thank you for the info! I am going to try it.
This is exactly what I have been looking for so thank YOU for sharing! Love Love Love
I just realised the e-book you recommended is the one from dream-wardrobe LOL. I was wavering about ordering from them as I didn’t know if they were a safe site. Thanks for taking the plunge! It gave me the confidence to order the Soft Autumn book last night and its great. You are right though – they shared a lot of it free on their site. Very nice for those who can’t afford to buy the book just now. I did notice they use a lot of designer clothes in their book so I would never buy the actual pieces, but at least you can get a good feel for the colours you are looking for and how to mix and match things. I’m particularly interested in the make up recommendations because I really struggle with finding things I like and that suit me. Anyways, thanks again for sharing your experience with these two resources. This blog post helped me a lot.
Thanks Leanne I love colourwise and I love knowing what colours work best for me. I too am Soft summer which came as a shock as I always thought I was autumn. But whenever I wear my Soft Summer colours people always comment on how good I look. I am keen to see how your capsules evolve now you have had your colours done.
What an insightful post…thanks so much! Not only your outfits are fab but your makeup as well. Would you please share which apricot lipstick you are wearing?
Alexis, I ordered Dream Wardrobe’s Soft Summer eBook and I received it the next day. It is a great resource and includes a lot of info.
Thank you, thank you! I’d been told that I was a soft Autumn, hut the colors never seemed right to me. I loaded my headshot and Colorwise said I was a True Summer. I tried different photos in natural and indoor lighting but kept getting the same results. I didn’t believe it until I used the Personal Palette Designer and compared the Soft Autumn colors to the True Summer and saw how much better I looked with the True Summer Colors. I love blues and was missing all of the great blue shades in my Autumn palette.
Thanks so much for information about this color analysis app. I’ve tried it out and absolutely LOVE IT!! I’m very confident that I’m a cool Summer.
This was super helpful and I appreciate all the guidance and info! LOVE IT