What Is Seasonal Color Analysis — and What's Your Season?
Once You Know Your Season
Choosing jewelry stops being a guessing game. You'll know exactly what to reach for — and what to leave on the table.
I'll be honest —
I didn't really know what seasonal color analysis was when I started Anam Cara Clay Goods. I'd seen things online. A reel here, a Pinterest board there, someone in the comments of a video saying "she's definitely a Winter." I filed it away as something interesting and kept scrolling.
Then it started showing up everywhere. In conversations with friends. In the jewelry communities I was part of. In the way people talked about color and getting dressed and finally feeling like themselves. And if you know me at all, you know what happened next: I went into full research mode. I was going to learn everything there was to know about this.
What I didn't expect was my mom.
I called her while I was deep in research — probably raving about undertones and warm versus cool palettes — and she just laughed and said, "Oh honey, I have a book about that." She dug out a copy of Color Me Beautiful from the 1980s, still in good condition, still completely relevant. The principles haven't changed at all. The colors that worked for your grandmother work for you too. Some things are just true.
I've been learning about seasonal color ever since, and it has genuinely changed the way I work. As a maker who spends her days thinking about color — mixing it, combining it, deciding what goes with what — understanding the seasons has brought a whole new layer to my creative process. I think about who I'm making for differently now. I reach for colors with more intention. It's made me better at what I do.
But honestly? The most meaningful part has been personal.
The moment I figured out I was a True Summer — cool, soft, muted tones, rosy pinks and dusty blues — something clicked. I looked back at every color I'd ever been drawn to, every outfit that made me feel like myself, and it all made sense. I stopped fighting the colors that didn't work and started leaning all the way into the ones that did. I have never felt more comfortable in my own skin. More like me. More genuinely beautiful and confident in a way that has nothing to do with trying harder — it has everything to do with finally understanding what was already there.
That's what I want for you too.
So What Actually Is It?
Seasonal color analysis is a framework for understanding which colors work in harmony with your natural coloring — your skin tone, hair, and eyes — and which ones work against it. The system divides coloring into four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Each season has its own palette built around two key qualities:
Warm or Cool — Does your coloring have golden, peachy undertones (warm) or pink, blue-based undertones (cool)?
Light or Deep, Clear or Muted — Is your coloring bright and high-contrast, or soft and blended?
Two questions. Four seasons. One palette that was made for you.
Why It Matters for Jewelry
This is where it gets really fun for me. Color is what I work with every single day — mixing it, layering it, deciding what goes with what. Understanding the seasons has made me think about jewelry completely differently. The metals, the colors, the scale of a piece — all of it can work with your natural coloring or compete with it. A Summer in warm mustard earrings looks washed out. That same Summer in soft rosy pink or cool dusty teal? She glows. Same woman, completely different story.
Once you know your season, choosing jewelry stops being a guessing game. You'll know exactly what to reach for — and what to leave on the table.
The Series
Over the next four posts I'm walking through each season in depth — the palette, what to look for in jewelry, and which Anam Cara pieces were made with that season in mind:
The Spring Palette — warm, bright, and full of life Read →
The Summer Palette — cool, soft, and quietly stunning (my season) Read →
The Autumn Palette — warm, deep, and richly beautiful Read →
The Winter Palette — cool, deep, and utterly striking Read →
But first — let's figure out where you land.
Take the Quiz
Answer seven quick questions about your natural coloring and I'll point you straight to your season. Go with your instinct — not what you wish were true, but what's actually there.
Once you know your season…Head straight to that post.
And if you want to keep this conversation going — about color, creativity, and figuring out what makes you feel most like yourself — the Soul Friends newsletter is where that lives.