I got a professional color analysis — and now I finally know what colors suit me best

Have you ever wondered what colors truly look the best on you? You can actually consult an expert to help you figure it out! Here’s how it works:

Video Transcript

LISA AZCONA: Have you ever wondered what colors truly look the best on you? It's a thought that's been on a lot of people's minds lately, especially on social media. People have been using filters on TikTok to figure out what seasonal color palette truly flatters them the most. Although it's a handy tool, there's still a lot of guessing involved when you try to do a color analysis on your own. After attempting to do it myself, I decided to consult an expert.

What's up, guys. It's your girl, Lisa Azcona from In The Know by Yahoo and this is pretty beautiful. OK. So I headed over to House of Colour in Brooklyn, New York to see Fernanda Vazquez. She asked me to come in with no makeup at all. And she sat me in front of large windows, since color analysis actually works best with natural lighting.

We then compared so many different colors against my complexion together. At the end of my session, I was surprised to learn that I was a winter. This entire time I thought I was an autumn.

OK. So I've invited Fernanda back here today to talk a little bit about what color analysis is and also walk through some of the findings at our appointment. Thank you so much for being here.

FERNANDA VAZQUEZ: Thank you for having me.

LISA AZCONA: Also one note, I'm not wearing any makeup today because we're going to go through some color comparisons in a moment.

FERNANDA VAZQUEZ: Personal color analysis is a way to discover the colors that flatter you the most. Essentially, everything that you surround yourself with has a color. From the color of your hair if you choose to dye it. Obviously your makeup, which is super important because it's on your face, your jewelry and accessories, and obviously the colors that you wear. Everything that you surround yourself with has a color and it has the potential to impact you and make you look better.

LISA AZCONA: So I've seen this all over social media. It's trending quite a bit right now. Why is that?

FERNANDA VAZQUEZ: It is. This has decades of history and it was really popular in the '80's. But I think now the new generation just discovered it and they're having a lot of fun with it.

LISA AZCONA: I've tried doing the filter myself and I could not figure out what season I am. Do you think those filters even work?

FERNANDA VAZQUEZ: They're fun to play around with, but they're not an accurate color analysis because what we actually evaluate during a color analysis is the quality that the light that is being reflected off of the color that you're wearing is having on your face. So if nothing is actually draping you, there's nothing actually affecting you.

LISA AZCONA: I see a bunch of different swatches here. Tell me a little bit about what all of this means.

FERNANDA VAZQUEZ: The main thing you need to know is that color subdivides in two different ways. The first way that a color subdivides is whether a color is warm or cool. The second way that a color subdivides is whether a color is more softer blended like these and these, or brighter and clear.

And that is really the properties of colors that we're looking for when we're looking at the best colors that flatter a person the most. You can just lay them against whatever garment you're considering. And you can very easily see if it tones with your clothing or not. If not, it'll look quite separate, you see that? It'll also look separate from your outfit.

LISA AZCONA: That is not my season. So I noticed that you brought some jewelry here today.

FERNANDA VAZQUEZ: One of the key things in color analysis that we use during the appointment is the fact that our brains perceive colors differently depending on the other colors that surround them. So because of that, one of the things that we demonstrate is whether gold harmonizes better with yellow-based colors and silver harmonizes better with blue-based colors. Here I have some yellow based swatches or warm swatches.

And you can see that when I put this on top of it, it actually looks quite nice, right? It harmonizes. But if you grab the silver one and put it on top of it, you can see that looks very plasticky and very separate from it. It doesn't really harmonize.

However, if I were to grab a blue-based fan and you were to put that white pearl and silver chain on it, it looks quite expensive even though it's actually plastic. But if we switch, that looks tarnished and separate and a little vintage, but not cute vintage.

LISA AZCONA: I love that we also have to think about the jewelry when it comes to color theory and the way that we dress.

FERNANDA VAZQUEZ: Everything you wear has a color so we talk about everything. So when you come see me at my studio, I'm going to ask you to come with no makeup, which is why Lisa is not wearing any makeup today. And I'm going to ask you to come in wearing a shirt that is below your neckline so that I can cover it.

I'm going to start putting on a warm green on her. And then we're going to compare that to a cool green on top of it. And we're going to see how she changes. Cool. This is warm. And right away we can see that Lisa comes to life in the cool colors.

See how her eyebrows get fuller, the color of her hair gets richer, she looks more well-rested, put together. This one has the opposite effect. But when we have our again in cool colors, not only does her jewelry look a lot more harmonious, but also the color of her lips looks better, healthy, enhances her face.

So let's do a couple more comparisons and see. Warm pink. Cool pink.

LISA AZCONA: I love this color. I wear this a lot.

FERNANDA VAZQUEZ: Interesting how you feel about a color. That tells you a lot of clues. This is cool. This is warm. And same thing. We can see right away that when we have her in the cool colors, her hair looks rich, the color of her lips comes to life, her eyes look brighter, her teeth look whiter as well.

And then when we have the warm colors we see the opposite effect. So we are seeing that Lisa is a blue-based person and she looks best in cool colors. She looks best in the bright, clear colors of winter, which are these ones.

This is another season. This is winter again. And this is a different season.

I'm going to put on a little bit of makeup on you just to show you what the right quality of makeup colors can have on her face and that way we'll discover the best of the best colors. So we have in a little bit of makeup. Nothing crazy, we call it the 90 second makeup, but it is in colors that are in your seasons. Because Lisa is a winter, her makeup is all going to be cool and bright, which is very different than what you're used to, I hear.

LISA AZCONA: Yeah. I typically wear a mauve color, but now I know that I should stray away from that.

FERNANDA VAZQUEZ: Yeah. Doesn't she look beautiful in this makeup?

LISA AZCONA: I love it.

FERNANDA VAZQUEZ: And coincidentally, Lisa looks best in the darker colors in the winter palette. So this color damson is fabulous on her. Could you imagine this in like a chic leather jacket or in a little bodysuit that she could wear to go out? It would look fantastic on her.

She also looks really, really good in pine green, deep dark green. Again very different than what you've been used to wearing. We can see how our complexion comes to life. And she also really looks fantastic in burgundy, which actually matches the lipstick that she's wearing right now.

We can see how she looks professional, but still young and fresh. And we can see the harmony in all of the jewelry that she's wearing because silver jewelry, we discovered, will look best on Lisa and with her undertones. It will always look way more high end. So Lisa, I'm going to show you all of your best colors. I'm going to drape them all around you so that you can see them all at once.

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- Lisa, you should dive into the burgundy a lot more. It looks great on you.

FERNANDA VAZQUEZ: Right? That's what I told her. And she's like, it's too dark. All right, Lisa, so these are the best colors for you within the winter spectrum. We call them your "wow" colors. What do you think?

LISA AZCONA: I rarely wear these colors, but I will now. I'm excited to see how they look on me in real life.

FERNANDA VAZQUEZ: They look amazing. And what I want to show you is that the color that you are wearing today on camera is in your winter season, so take a look. See how it harmonizes perfectly with her makeup and everything looks like it's cut from the same cloth? You look stunning, my friend.

LISA AZCONA: Thank you. I'm glad I did a good job today.

FERNANDA VAZQUEZ: These are your color swatches that you get to take shopping with you. So every time you're considering a garment, you lay it against that garment to see if it tones. It'll make shopping so much easier.

LISA AZCONA: I'm so excited to be more intentional about the way that I shop and make sure I pick all the right colors. If people want to do their own color analysis, where can they go Fernanda?

FERNANDA VAZQUEZ: Visit HouseOfColour.com

LISA AZCONA: Thank you guys so much for watching. And I hope to see you guys again next time.

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