Lately, I’ve been completely fascinated by the analysis of color seasons, also known as color season theory. Although it’s not a new concept, it’s recently skyrocketed in popularity on TikTok, filling my For You page with videos about the perfect wardrobe choices for a cool fall or the ideal eyeshadows for a balmy summer. But what exactly does that mean?
The color season theory has been around for decades, suggesting that certain shades work better with your natural eye color, hair color, and skin tone. These shades are categorized as cool or warm, in correlation with certain seasons. Within these seasons there are subcategories, determined by the contrast between your eyes, eyebrows, skin and hair.
While the theory may seem simple, identifying your personal color season can be challenging, especially after you’ve spent hours comparing yourself to various virtual “drapes,” which are images of fabrics placed against your face to see which shades suit you best.
Many color season analysts offer their services online, analyzing your photos to determine your ideal color season. But they can be expensive, which led me to explore the Dressika iPhone app.
How does Dressika work?
Listed as a “personal AI shopping assistant and color style advisor” in the Apple App Store, Dressika simplifies color analysis. The app evaluates a selfie to determine your color season, offering seasonal color palettes and makeup color recommendations.
After uploading a selfie and answering questions about your eye color and natural hair shade, the app either automatically detects your color season or guides you through the steps of selecting carefully selected shades.
With my pale pink skin, blue-gray eyes, and dark blue hair, I suspected I was Soft Summer, known for her cool, muted colors. Dressika’s testing yielded Soft Summer results, along with suggestions for Cool Summer and Soft Autumn, depending on the selfie. While not ideal, experimenting with photos in different lighting seems to improve the results. I was right, I am Soft Summer (most of the time).
After identifying my color season, the app’s suggested palettes, especially for eye makeup, turned out to be really fascinating. Dressika visually applies these shades of makeup to your face, highlighting subtle but significant tonal differences. The clothing and hair color suggestions were less convincing in my selfie, but as an introduction to color analysis, Dressika is a really great starting point, especially if you can’t afford professional services.
While Dressika was my preferred choice, I also looked into the MyColorPalette iPhone app. It offers a simpler experience with fewer features, but still provides accurate color analysis and a beautiful color palette, despite occasionally providing different results on different photos.