Color analysis quiz › How the test works
Last verified 2026-11-02 · Sources: src/seasons.js (score()) and src/editorial.js (LC_TH) · Report an error
The test is 12 questions, three scored dimensions and one published rule. This page shows the arithmetic, the light-check thresholds and the point where the method stops, so you can judge the result instead of just receiving it.
Four questions cover each dimension, and every option is weighted from −2 to +2. The questions are fixed in src/seasons.js; they are not adaptive and there is no hidden second stage.
| Dimension | What its four questions ask you to compare | A positive score means |
|---|---|---|
| Undertone (u) | Wrist-vein colour, white versus cream fabric under the chin, gold versus silver next to the face, and how your skin responds to sun. | Warmer — golden or peachy. Negative is cooler, pink or blue-red. |
| Value (v) | Natural or childhood hair depth, skin depth relative to people around you, eye depth, and the overall impression of a black-and-white daylight photo. | Lighter. Negative is deeper. |
| Chroma (c) | Iris brightness and iris-to-white contrast, hair-skin-eye contrast, saturated versus dusty colour, and compliments on bold versus tonal outfits. | Clearer. Negative is softer. |
Every input is your own judgment made in daylight. The quiz never sees a photograph, a skin pixel or a device measurement — the photo light check is a separate tool that looks at light, not at you.
The arithmetic is in score(); the mapping table and the tie rules are set out in full on the science page, and the methodology page lists the sources each step rests on.
| Dominant dimension | Direction | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Value | Light and warm | Light Spring |
| Value | Light and cool | Light Summer |
| Value | Deep and warm | Deep Autumn |
| Value | Deep and cool | Deep Winter |
| Chroma | Clear and warm | Bright Spring |
| Chroma | Clear and cool | Bright Winter |
| Chroma | Soft and warm | Soft Autumn |
| Chroma | Soft and cool | Soft Summer |
| Undertone | Warm, with value + chroma above 0 | True Spring |
| Undertone | Warm, with value + chroma at or below 0 | True Autumn |
| Undertone | Cool, with chroma − value above 0 | True Winter |
| Undertone | Cool, with chroma − value at or below 0 | True Summer |
Each result page repeats its own palette, neutrals, avoid list, makeup, hair and clothing notes, and both neighbours, so a boundary result can be compared against a second palette before anything is bought.
Before you use a selfie for any colour question, the light check reads the pixels in your browser and warns you when the light is likely to mislead. These are the thresholds in LC_TH:
| What is measured | Threshold in LC_TH | Flag raised |
|---|---|---|
| Mean luminance | below 0.18, or above 0.78 | mean_dark / mean_bright |
| Near-black share | more than 35% of sampled pixels below luminance 0.06 | dark_share |
| Near-white share | more than 12% of sampled pixels above luminance 0.9 | blown_share |
| Colour cast, (R − B) / (R + B) | beyond ±0.12, positive is warm | warm_cast / cool_cast |
| Left versus right brightness | more than 18% of the brighter half | uneven |
A mean-dark, dark-share or blown-share flag makes the verdict "bad"; any other flag makes it "warn"; no flag makes it "ok". The thresholds are heuristics chosen for this site, not published standards.
Each flag names a problem you can fix: move to indirect daylight for a dark or uneven frame, step away from a window or lamp for a hard cast, and turn off the room light if warm light is mixing with daylight. A "usable" verdict only means the light is not obviously hostile; it is not a statement about your colouring.
The result is a rule-based classification from self-report, not a measurement. The three limits that matter — your own daylight judgment, the unvalidated 12-season convention, and a light check that cannot see a filter or makeup — are stated in full under known limitations. For a high-stakes decision, use physical fabric in daylight or book an in-person draping; a screen hex is not a textile.
Worked examples are pending: this section will show three portraits released under a verifiable CC0/Unsplash licence, each with its source link, the 12 answers given and the score() output. No faces are shown here until those licences are on file.