I would highly recommend a professional color analysis. It helps a lot and usually you get a color whell with the colors that fit you best und you can compare this wheel with any fabric in almost any light.
@@miyukifuji_mf There is another color analysis professional I watch that suggested cloudy days are the best so I just wanted to see what was Merrium's opinion ...... but perhaps daylight is the best ........
This blew my mind. Seeing the color comparisons with women who have different melanin levels was very helpful! So apparent to see the difference. I now feel that I am a muted winter, which makes more sense to me
Personally, I think Camilla looks amazing in black. Especially when she has a tan. And wouldn't a muted winter be a summer? Winter skin tones aren't muted. I'm a bright winter myself.
Winter is blindingly bright where I live! Not even exaggerating, real eye damage occurs. We call it snow blindness. Irrelevant detail though, this analysis is very useful.
I just feel onto this video after watching some color theme stuff to looks because I'm slowly swapping out my wardrobe. This is really helpful and it makes so much more sense that what looks good on you is entirely based on skin and not necessarily hair and eyes. Obviously, when you dye your hair some colors may be more favorable than others, but people fail to consider whether the warmth/coolness of those colors.
thank you so much for this. This is literally the only color analysis video that actually made sense to me. I always got grouped into the “deep category” since I have tan skin but a lot of those dark colors do not suit me
You could be a combo :) i had a prof analysis done and turned out to be deep dark winter primarily but with deep autumn as a secondary type. You may be similar, in which case one will be particularly good but you can totally steal some colours from the other one.
@@NatRodriguesOliveira no fim, eu desisti de achar minhas melhores cores kkkkkk foi infinitamente mais fácil identificar as piores e excluir do guarda-roupa 🤣😂🤣
The reason you're confused is because you probably take into account features such as hair and skin which don't really matter and they usually lead to mistyping Merriam only focuses on skin undertone and she proved her analysis is correct and more accurate. Just focus on your skin
Very good explanations. I had trouble recognizing I was muted because other color analysis always shows muted with lighter hair. I'm now able to see skin as separate from hair/eye color. The one comparison you showed that I couldn't see was Camilla at 4:30 with the light and darker blue dresses. She looked good in both but I thought the darker was slightly better. The lighter blue was very pastel, had a lot of white in it. Because she's a deeper muted skin tone I think she looks better in the darker muted colors like the dark gray. Even so I think you have a great eye for color and harmony and I like your videos. I'd love if you could do a video comparing muted autumn with muted winter -- with the muted skin tone it's harder to for me to see the difference between warm vs cool.
Hi Monica. Absolutely! It is harder to see warm/cool for muted undertones. Because the reason the undertone is muted in the first place is because it has only a tiny bit more blue or a tiny bit more yellow (and that yellow mixes with other colors in the skin and the eye may see it as a bit more 'brown'/not as 'bright' or 'clear' of an undertone). The pictures of 'muted' undertones having lighter hair is no accident, because muted undertones are not recognized by any other system except for mine. In other systems, a 'muted' person is someone who has a similar color hair to their skin (hence, usually, light skin and light hair). I say no, it's not about that! It's about the skin itself. No other system does that. I'm happy you found you were a muted undertone. I'm a muted undertone myself which is why I was inspired to put this system together. I can see what you mean about Camilla in that dress. I think there are two factors--the harmony of the features and the color, and the harmony of the skin itself with the color. I think the darker muted colors do look better on Camilla because not only do they make her skin glow, they are also harmonious with her features/hair. But I also prefer how her skin looks in any cool muted color (including lighter ones), to any bright cool colors. I think her skin looks more glowy in the muted cool colors. :)
This is the best video on 12 seasons vs artistic license system coloring. It is explained scientifically (since it is a science) with great visual illustrations. Job well done! 👍
This is really helpful as someone who has an olive skin tone, not super warm but not super cool either. Muted colors look better on me but I have had the hardest time deciding if I lean more cool or warm. I am now thinking I'll try more cool (and I live in black.. oops). Thank you!
I watched Audrey Coyne's video on colour typing for beginners (among others), she has olive skin and argues that this tone is cool undertone most of the time, it's the yellow OVERtone that makes people confused. Maybe check it out and see if her conclusions match with your observations
Hey Merriam! I've nearly seen all of your videos and I'm loving your channel! As a suggestion, a video about what colours to dye your hair based on the seasons would be so helpful, Including fantasy colors 😊. Love your channel!
Thank you Merriam thank you for all these videos. I have turned my isolation into an exceptionally fun classroom, my entire wardrobe is now all over my house, it's a good thing haha :D
To be fair to CMB (12 season), they do consider chroma - e.g. deep winter low chroma , clear winter - high chroma. It’s so interesting to hear other opinions. I think Nicole kidman looks overwhelmed by the black dress- it wears her rather than the other way around .. all i see is the black dress. To me it lacks balance.
The thing with Nicole is not about chroma but contrast, it may look unbalanced because she has a low contrast (light hair, light eyes and light skin) so it may look severe color blocking between her coloring and the black dress since Nicole has no black features for the dress to correlate, BUT if we talk about the skin only Nicole's skin is very bright and it still looks radiant with that black, otherwise she would look gray (which she does not) Nicole does look good on black but it's not her best number 1 color. 12 season system is about contrast mostly and chroma. That's why it fails, especially because focuses so much on eyes and hair color. That system has always mistyped redheads
I think I'm cool & bright and now I understand why I look nice in bright cartoonish colors but muted colors always made me look so drab and boring. I have a really light skin tone with naturally black hair, super high contrast, too.
The artistic license version of summer and winter makes sooooo much more sense to me. Now there's no question that I'm a winter when before I was so confused; I felt like I could halfway be a winter or a summer, because I'm muted and cool. I always felt like I probably WAS a winter because of my hair and eyes, but I thought "Well, I'm not *bright* enough to be a winter, my pale skin doesn't glow like other pale skinned girls." But bright colors swallow me up and black has always been not bad, but clearly not one of my best colors either. I can't rock the goth girl look like other popular goth girls, for example. My skin is fair as can be but still doesn't seem LIGHT enough. I've been too scared to venture into colors for fear of getting it wrong, so blacks and dark blues have been my default. I've been wondering for a while now though about leaning more towards grey and grey goth styles, and I think my instincts have been on point.
This explains SO much. I am a dressmaker; and I have always struggled so hard to find fabric for my own clothing because I have such odd taste in color. It seems like I am always looking for the colors "in between" the colors that are available. Blue? Great, but only if it is such a grey blue that you can't tell whether it is blue or grey. Green, sure, but only a blue green or a grey green. Pink, but only that one shade of blush pink which is somehow the only thing that looks like a perfect neutral on me. Grey but only if it is almost silver - and no black near my face, because I look like death warmed over in black. I was starting to think I was like some weird bog and cobwebs creature who crawled out of a forest somewhere, but I guess I'm just a muted winter. Nothing makes me happier than a nice cool, ambiguous shade. 😀
Cool muted colors are greyish blue, purple and dark blue, purple, magenta. I have never heard of someone blonde in the winter category, angelina jolie is or was (as a child) naturally blonde and some people say she's a winter. She herself says she dyes her hair brown
I remember being typed when I was young as a muted summer, and I always hated the dusty pinks and soft blues I was supposed to wear. I was told not to wear black and didnt for years. I'm pale and "low-contrast" with dirty blond hair, but bright blue, black and white bring me alive! Thanks!
@@merriamstyle thank you! Yes, I just watched that, and my skin tone is very similar to hers. I'd noticed in pictures that white looks good on me. I just tested by pulling some things to drape, and my skin glows with the light, bright colors such as sky blue. I may even have to venture out for some icy pink! I'd never have guessed. Thank you so much for your help!
I have tried to understand most of skin undertone concepts for years. Not really being able to confidently define my own undertone. Several assigned me neutral and several as olive. Artistic License simplified the theory and I personally feel comfortable as a muted winter. I wonder if orher have had the same experience with these color readings in the past and is it easy to misread a muted winter for a neutral or olive undertone?
Thank you for this. I know I'm a deep winter and just sometimes feel overwhelmed in colors, black always looks good, but that great is so much better. Navy and deep green are much more harmonious. Is there a good pallet of colors for soft winter? Do you have one?
This was very helpful! Thank you! Now I know why black can be harsh on me. Even though I have black eyes and dark hair; I know I’m a winter...black seem to be quite strong on me. Like colour separation you speak about.
Very good commentaries. I'd like to add, though, that it is not only the colour but also the shape and style and material of the outfits. The grey outfit an Ann for example has a too strict form and too thick structure for her delicate frame as well as both black dresses on Camilla have a too sharp angles and both times she is wearing a too strict hairstyle for her round classic/romantic features. That is also why the burgundy two-piece gown with the romantic shape looks great on her, as she wears it with a romantic curly hairstyle.
I just learned I’m a muted dark winter. I thought I was bright but after your analysis, I’m more like Camilla. This is honestly the best video on understanding the difference! Most of my clothes are not muted 😩I really want to learn what colors are best for everyday makeup look. Warm tones are so popular right now and I love it but as a cool muted winter, it doesn’t suit me. Do you have a video on makeup? I’ll be checking your other videos! ❤️
I’ve styled myself both ways over the years. My best look was when I’d err on the lighter side of my foundation, the darker in my hair, and brighter red on my lips. I’m 56 now and can’t carry such a high contrast. It makes me look pallid and gray. I have to have a medium brown hair with a lot of gold in it and a muted lip. My clothes are neutrals. I still look good in black clothing. It’s odd that I need warm hair with gold. Could I be a neutral?
She may look golden compared to Ann but that does not mean she's a warm undertone. I would say she actually looks more pinkish, or colored in general, Ann's skin is not that pink but more pale looking
Help! I'm half British and half Italian, my skin from my neck down is light olive and tans very easily - but my face is pale. I have dark brown hair at the root but it becomes very warm/darkest brown Auburn, due to the sun, at the mid-ends. I have a mixture of blue and green veins and blue eyes. I also have a small amount of freckles on my nose even in winter, but get more in summer. Please can someone tell me what I am I'm so confused! 🥺
Actually Anne is considered a bright winter and the other girl a deep winter. Blsck is not really on the palette mostly for bright winters unless one wants a bold eyeliner look
Interesting. I just had my colors done in the four season system. Brown/black hair, hazel eyes and very light skin. Using drapes, I could see that the “Winter” pure white and black were too harsh foe me. I came out as a Summer. In your system, I would be cool and muted. I used to wear lots of blush because I looked washed out and too pale. With the muted colors, I don’t have to do that. I guess I was compensating for the brightness of the colors I was wearing. I still have to play around with contrast, but it is muted contrast.
0:26 Ohh even cool and delicate deep winter people should wear bright cool colors ? Then I am going to have a blast with these cool and bright clothes 😁😀😁
I agree with a lot of your examples but disagree on a couple of them. Camilla (6:11) looked best out of the three other ladies (6:26) shown in black. The black didn’t overpower her like it did Nicole, for example. Nicole’s hair and eyes are too light and are easily overpowered by the black, causing her to disappear behind it whereas it looked harmonious with Camilla. Same thing with Nicole in the deep royal blue dress (11:02). It’s too intense for her, so she had to wear deep and heavy makeup colors to compensate for it.
Ok, wait. I thought that the muted skintone meant softness in the color, but watching this video back after years, I’ve realized that’s not true. The real way to describe muted skin is that it has a faded quality, almost like it’s glowing faintly and distantly. I thought I was cool and muted, but with color draping I’m very clearly cool and radiant (deep winter in other system). I thought of my my skin as what I call soft oatmeal, with a lot of grey in it. But cool, muted pastels never looked as good as they should on me. Seeing this video, I think I finally see the difference between muted and radiant skin.
Is it possible to be deep winter if you have dark gray eyes with bright yellow center (so they occasionally appear yellow-green in bright light)? My hair is naturally very dark, almost black but what confuses me is that it has white - silvery shine in artificial light and reddish shine in bright sunlight. I used to have deep coppery red hair (dyed) and it looked really good on me, but I had to wear silvery gray and dark navy to 'cool me down', paired with dark purple lipstick - so obviously I'm not autumn. But I cannot figure out which winter I am 🤷♀️
You're great, I'm a cool but I can't distinguish if I'm a bright or muted cool. It would be so helpful if you made a video on colors best for both types ❤️
I'm guessing I might be wrong about this, but I'm generally cool and muted but I think when I have a tan I become warmer (warm and muted). Is this possible or am I just wishing I were warmer? 😅
I already know that I am a Winter: Cool and muted. Is there anyway I can get your color pallate and everything without doing a consult? Because I think it would be silly for me to do a consult to find out what my artistic license season is when I already know it but I really need the pallate of my colors, of best, good and worst! And how I can incorporate the colors in like a good color hand bag and a best color dress. Etc. Please let me know.
Hi Amy, I'm still working on the color guides for all the undertones (I'm thinking I should have color guides instead of simply selling the color palettes, but you bring up a good point, I should consider selling simply the color palettes), but I can tell you some of your best colors as cool and delicate (winter, but I changed my naming convention to cool and delicate to clarify that I don't use the seasonal approach): Slate gray, placid blue, ash pink, cool dove gray, charcoal gray, cool burgundy, muted purples of any kind (there aren't any 'warm' purples), muted cool reds, muted blues of any kind, teals would work well too, muted emerald greens. For brighter colors, you could go for either a cool bright red, or a cool bright emerald green. These are special because red and green are neutral, and being cool and delicate (winter in my system) means your undertone is closer to neutral, but cool. So since cool red and cool green are close to neutral as well, you could pull these off quite well, or at least much better than let's say a magenta. Your worst colors would be any warm colors, and absolutely especially bright warm colors such as yellow orange and anything like that. Warm greens wouldn't be too great either, and warm reds aren't great either. Cool and radiant colors are ok (clear chroma purples, and clear chroma blues), but muted cool is better. Warm and delicate colors like terracotta or warm browns are not that great since they're warm. Hope that gives you some ideas while I work on making your color palettes available!!
@@merriamstyle Oh my goodness a color guide sounds like a wonderful idea!! Wow! Thank you so much for your reply I am so grateful for your help! Thank you for providing us with your time, expertise and energy and I appreciate your work so so so much!! I'm very excited for what comes! 💕
I'm a deep winter and I also did a professional colour type test, but I don't know if I am a muted or a clear deep winter =/ Can you help me? Thank you!
Check out Audrey Coyne's video "Color theory for beginners", she has high contrast and olive skin. A small spoiler: she thinks olive skin is cool undertone most of the time, it's the yellow OVERtone that confuses people. Also deep winters aren't 100% cool anyway, cool undertones prevail but some warmness is permissible too. Anyway the only thing that matters is if you think that her explanations make sense to your observations :) I think the video is very insightful but I can't judge for everyone with olive skin
@@antonina8337 I will check the video. Thanks for your suggestion. I have had my color analysis though and I was classified as a deep winter. I can have some warm colors indeed :)
Thank you, agree with you on this! Could you make a video for color choices for cool and muted ie. winters? I'm getting stuck on beige, because I kind of feel it looks surprisingly good on me, and it shouldn't, because isn't it a warm color automatically..? Keep up the good work!
5:59 I disagree, I think Anne looks her absolute best in this colour, so glowy and not disharmonious at all. And Camilla looks a bit sallow and separate, even though she's a beautiful woman. And it's not just because I am not a professional... these systems are supposed to help us find what looks good overall to people, not just to professionals.
Deep winters...they say you should wear muted cool colors...I never read that deep winters should wear bright colors. But I am just a novice. In the season system, we do have 3 sub types in each season ...winter could be muted (deep), Bright or true winter.
The longer I watch the more confused I get, because in my eyes Camilla is a summer.. can you explain me please, why she is not a summer but a winter? Thank you a lot 😊
I think the difference is one is a winter. The other has olive green skin and is neutral/cool and only leans cool. Her skin has more depth, while Anne's has more clarity. My opinion just looking.
But winter has 3 parts in the 12-seasons charts. Dark Winter (cool, muted). True Winter (cool, saturated). Bright Winter (cool, bright.) But others add Deep Winter (dark saturated) as an extra 4th part. Summer has 3 parts as well but some add a Deep Summer next to the Muted one. I think the 12 seasons color chart already allows for skin chroma variations. And people tend to be able to wear colors in the next palette over and even across the chart as people can have what is called "in transition skin types." Basically, people who get paler, cooler, more tan, or warmer throughout the year and so can pull off a lot of colors from different palettes. My skin also tends to fluctuate between bright and muted so I tend to wear winter type bright to slightly muted but still bright summer colors. I also wear some warm colors from spring and fall as well. I think the problem is people think you have to stay in one palette perfectly all the time. But the 12-season charts should simply be a starting point like a home base, and then you can pivet around or across from there. And also, if Anne was Asian, she'd be typed a Bright Winter instead because they look at the skin chroma more, as most of them all have dark eyes over there. I have dark eyes as well and Dark Winter is too dark for me. So I go by the Asian method but say I'm a lightly less bright Bright Winter and go from there. I do get paler in winter and more muted in summer just like how the 12 seasons allows for. I personally think Anne should be called a Deep (not Dark) Winter. I don't think she's bright enough to pull off the brightest colors like neons. Hmm, kinda like me actually...maybe I'm a Deep Winter too. You need jet-black hair plus white skin to pull of neons in anything other than accent points or accessories. The idea, is that before spring near the end of winter, the sun is coming up higher and reflecting off the snow so everything is very bright. That's why people do have to wear sun goggles even when in winter to prevent getting "snow blindness". In summer the sun is bleacing or tanning everything hence the slight mutedness of bright colors. For me it holds true accurately. The sun is changing positions within and through each season across the year.
Hi- loving your videos but now I am so confused. I did my colors probably 30 years ago when it first became the rage based on a popular book which I can't remember the title. It was just the 4 seasons-I've never heard of a 12 season analysis. It also was based predominantly on skin tone- cool and warm. In a nutshell Winter and Summer were cool and Autumn and Spring were warm- so far so good... BUT Winters colors were brighter/darker/deeper and Summer was more muted and less contrast. Same with Autumn and Spring. Summer and Spring were essentially a muted more pastel version of Winter and Autumn colors. I was a Winter but according to your system I would be a Summer??
If this is work you're interested in, I would highly recommend looking into Jennifer Butler Living Colors. All winters look great in black. Nicole Kidman is not a winter and gets completely swallowed by black. It's too strong on her. Most blondes can't wear black and should stick with a navy as their version of a formal black. Muted colors also do not flatter individuals with high contrast - it weakens them.
Hi, I would really appreciate it if anyone can help me clarify! My hair is quite dark at the top but I have that gene allele that makes me lose hair pigment easily and I live in California. For the most part, my hair is a dark chestnut brown color (like if I had a piece of roasted chestnut shell in it, probably no one would notice) The color palette of deep winter tones appeal to me, and I fit all the other descriptions for deep winter. But online sources that I've found are adamant that deep winters have cool toned hair. Can a deep winter have red tints in medium brown hair?
I still struggle to perceive summer as cool. In my mind, spring and summer are warm and bright seasons while autumn and winter are cool and muted seasons.
probably muted. maybe warm and delicate. the warm browns may just be too rich for you as warm and delicate that's all. but if rose gold looks more flattering than silver or yellow gold, then you may be WD. if silver is ideal, then most likely cool and delicate. but usually cool brown is just wonderful on WD so I'd say you're most likely WD. I've never heard CD say 'I look great in cool brown' although they do look nice in cool brown.
I wonder if you're still flattered by cool and bright colors anyway? Just lighter colors than before. Like this lady is flattered by a bright blue but just a bit lighter, not a royal blue: www.hairfinder.com/tips/grey-haired-woman.jpg Another possibility is that you could be softer in your undertone, so cool and delicate colors could work too.
I wish there were more real life examples. Most of the analysis videos use celebs, sometimes with altered hair and eye color , in full make up. J Lo has been labeled as warm, AND cool , depending on the photo used in the example. This gets very confusing.
when this video was made, soft summers were seen as having lighter hair than Camilla. Since then, people have become more flexible to try to fit more colorations into the seasonal approach. Traditionally, Camilla would simply have to be in the winter family because of her dark hair and cool undertones.
I finally get it!!! Yes I see everything you said! Question: I am also a muted cool winter but now I am older and my dark brown hair has turned silver. Does that change my type? Nevermind you answered my question ty.
Sometimes as people age, especially when they grey, they get cooler. So for example, jamie lee curtis went from warm to cool. Some people who are cool and delicate may go to cool and radiant (which is cooler than cool and delicate). So basically you could remain cool and delicate, and with your lighter hair you could opt for those classic soft summer colors. Or if you find those drag you down, you could have gotten even cooler and you would look wonderful adding in some brighter cool and radiant colors (perhaps semi bright blues or the likes).
I do love your idea of a “muted winter” and how the term describes the skin and it’s best colors. The one thing that I disagree on is that hair color can change the illusion of your skin undertone . The skin undertone itself doesn’t change but it does trick the eye . I think it would be easier for me to determine my undertone if I didn’t get highlights. I think my hair is neutral but my skin is warm so that confuses me. I look more “cool” toned in the winter with dark hair and pale skin but in the summer more “warm “ toned with highlights and my skin tans to a warmer olive or tan. So I’m a chameleon?
My issue is that I look pale and cool in some lighting and much warmer and tanner in other light. I can’t tell which one is “real”
The real one is daylight! :) Daylight provides the most even distribution of wavelengths (colors) of all light.
I would highly recommend a professional color analysis. It helps a lot and usually you get a color whell with the colors that fit you best und you can compare this wheel with any fabric in almost any light.
@@merriamstyle Is it true that the cloudy days are the best days to check your undertone?
Natural light has the same problem. Cloudy days have cool light
@@miyukifuji_mf There is another color analysis professional I watch that suggested cloudy days are the best so I just wanted to see what was Merrium's opinion ...... but perhaps daylight is the best ........
This blew my mind. Seeing the color comparisons with women who have different melanin levels was very helpful! So apparent to see the difference. I now feel that I am a muted winter, which makes more sense to me
yay! are you olive too? watch my cool and delicate olive video.
I will! Thank you
There is no muted winter. Try summer.
@@ArginneExactly wth 😂
Personally, I think Camilla looks amazing in black. Especially when she has a tan. And wouldn't a muted winter be a summer? Winter skin tones aren't muted. I'm a bright winter myself.
I'm obsessed with your explanations. All your videos great. So profoundly deep and intelligent on a seemingly shallow topic.
oh my gosh thank you
shanaloveslemondrops that the operative word ‘seemingly’. It’s so far from superficial in reality isn’t it 😍
Winter is blindingly bright where I live! Not even exaggerating, real eye damage occurs. We call it snow blindness. Irrelevant detail though, this analysis is very useful.
Your voice is asmr for me haha, love u
Yesss 😊👍
For me too!!
You put so much work into this video. I am learning so much! Thanks for all the thought you put into your explanations!
:') Thank you, it means a lot that people appreciate my work. It was a lot of work!!
Michal-Jean Storms ?
I just feel onto this video after watching some color theme stuff to looks because I'm slowly swapping out my wardrobe. This is really helpful and it makes so much more sense that what looks good on you is entirely based on skin and not necessarily hair and eyes. Obviously, when you dye your hair some colors may be more favorable than others, but people fail to consider whether the warmth/coolness of those colors.
thank you so much for this. This is literally the only color analysis video that actually made sense to me. I always got grouped into the “deep category” since I have tan skin but a lot of those dark colors do not suit me
Now I know why I had so much trouble with bright winter shades...i have the muted blue skin tone. Thank-you for the brilliant insight and examples.
Yay!! :')
Whenever I test myself, it feels like I'm a deep autumn, but then I match so well with the deep winter features! It's so confusing...
@merriam style same here!! I would love to understand why that is!
You could be a combo :) i had a prof analysis done and turned out to be deep dark winter primarily but with deep autumn as a secondary type. You may be similar, in which case one will be particularly good but you can totally steal some colours from the other one.
Comigo ocorre o contrário, sou inverno profundo e me identifico com outono profundo a consultora explicou que são cartelas irmãs 💁🏽♀️
@@NatRodriguesOliveira no fim, eu desisti de achar minhas melhores cores kkkkkk foi infinitamente mais fácil identificar as piores e excluir do guarda-roupa 🤣😂🤣
The reason you're confused is because you probably take into account features such as hair and skin which don't really matter and they usually lead to mistyping
Merriam only focuses on skin undertone and she proved her analysis is correct and more accurate. Just focus on your skin
Very good explanations. I had trouble recognizing I was muted because other color analysis always shows muted with lighter hair. I'm now able to see skin as separate from hair/eye color. The one comparison you showed that I couldn't see was Camilla at 4:30 with the light and darker blue dresses. She looked good in both but I thought the darker was slightly better. The lighter blue was very pastel, had a lot of white in it. Because she's a deeper muted skin tone I think she looks better in the darker muted colors like the dark gray. Even so I think you have a great eye for color and harmony and I like your videos. I'd love if you could do a video comparing muted autumn with muted winter -- with the muted skin tone it's harder to for me to see the difference between warm vs cool.
Hi Monica. Absolutely! It is harder to see warm/cool for muted undertones. Because the reason the undertone is muted in the first place is because it has only a tiny bit more blue or a tiny bit more yellow (and that yellow mixes with other colors in the skin and the eye may see it as a bit more 'brown'/not as 'bright' or 'clear' of an undertone). The pictures of 'muted' undertones having lighter hair is no accident, because muted undertones are not recognized by any other system except for mine. In other systems, a 'muted' person is someone who has a similar color hair to their skin (hence, usually, light skin and light hair). I say no, it's not about that! It's about the skin itself. No other system does that. I'm happy you found you were a muted undertone. I'm a muted undertone myself which is why I was inspired to put this system together.
I can see what you mean about Camilla in that dress. I think there are two factors--the harmony of the features and the color, and the harmony of the skin itself with the color. I think the darker muted colors do look better on Camilla because not only do they make her skin glow, they are also harmonious with her features/hair. But I also prefer how her skin looks in any cool muted color (including lighter ones), to any bright cool colors. I think her skin looks more glowy in the muted cool colors. :)
Ahhhh. You're so intelligent!!! Everything makes so much sense!! Thank you!!!
:')!! thank you!!
This is the best video on 12 seasons vs artistic license system coloring. It is explained scientifically (since it is a science) with great visual illustrations. Job well done! 👍
This is really helpful as someone who has an olive skin tone, not super warm but not super cool either. Muted colors look better on me but I have had the hardest time deciding if I lean more cool or warm. I am now thinking I'll try more cool (and I live in black.. oops). Thank you!
I watched Audrey Coyne's video on colour typing for beginners (among others), she has olive skin and argues that this tone is cool undertone most of the time, it's the yellow OVERtone that makes people confused. Maybe check it out and see if her conclusions match with your observations
Hey Merriam! I've nearly seen all of your videos and I'm loving your channel! As a suggestion, a video about what colours to dye your hair based on the seasons would be so helpful, Including fantasy colors 😊. Love your channel!
Aly art's channle. Kibbe types series and hair series.
Great explanation and examples! Loving your videos.
Thank you!! :D
This was the most helpful explanation I’ve watched so far !!
I can’t tell if I’m high or low chroma tho
Thank you
Merriam thank you for all these videos. I have turned my isolation into an exceptionally fun classroom, my entire wardrobe is now all over my house, it's a good thing haha :D
To be fair to CMB (12 season), they do consider chroma - e.g. deep winter low chroma , clear winter - high chroma.
It’s so interesting to hear other opinions. I think Nicole kidman looks overwhelmed by the black dress- it wears her rather than the other way around .. all i see is the black dress. To me it lacks balance.
I agree you 100%. Same with all the other light ladies like Naomi Watts or Gwyneth Paltrow.
The thing with Nicole is not about chroma but contrast, it may look unbalanced because she has a low contrast (light hair, light eyes and light skin) so it may look severe color blocking between her coloring and the black dress since Nicole has no black features for the dress to correlate, BUT if we talk about the skin only Nicole's skin is very bright and it still looks radiant with that black, otherwise she would look gray (which she does not)
Nicole does look good on black but it's not her best number 1 color.
12 season system is about contrast mostly and chroma. That's why it fails, especially because focuses so much on eyes and hair color. That system has always mistyped redheads
@@katitadebalso ann looks like a bright winter rather than deep.
I think I'm cool & bright and now I understand why I look nice in bright cartoonish colors but muted colors always made me look so drab and boring. I have a really light skin tone with naturally black hair, super high contrast, too.
The artistic license version of summer and winter makes sooooo much more sense to me. Now there's no question that I'm a winter when before I was so confused; I felt like I could halfway be a winter or a summer, because I'm muted and cool. I always felt like I probably WAS a winter because of my hair and eyes, but I thought "Well, I'm not *bright* enough to be a winter, my pale skin doesn't glow like other pale skinned girls." But bright colors swallow me up and black has always been not bad, but clearly not one of my best colors either. I can't rock the goth girl look like other popular goth girls, for example. My skin is fair as can be but still doesn't seem LIGHT enough.
I've been too scared to venture into colors for fear of getting it wrong, so blacks and dark blues have been my default. I've been wondering for a while now though about leaning more towards grey and grey goth styles, and I think my instincts have been on point.
There is no muted winter. Try cool summer the palette between summer and winter.
your voice is so relaxing, i almost slept
This explains SO much. I am a dressmaker; and I have always struggled so hard to find fabric for my own clothing because I have such odd taste in color. It seems like I am always looking for the colors "in between" the colors that are available. Blue? Great, but only if it is such a grey blue that you can't tell whether it is blue or grey. Green, sure, but only a blue green or a grey green. Pink, but only that one shade of blush pink which is somehow the only thing that looks like a perfect neutral on me. Grey but only if it is almost silver - and no black near my face, because I look like death warmed over in black. I was starting to think I was like some weird bog and cobwebs creature who crawled out of a forest somewhere, but I guess I'm just a muted winter. Nothing makes me happier than a nice cool, ambiguous shade. 😀
I know there also exists "Deep summer" which has a combination of deep winter traits but summer coloring.
debunking the 12 season color system one video at a time, keep it up!!
your channel is SO helpful. love how you explain things and your eye for color + individual beauty!
How is this channel not more popular??
Finally, I understand. Thank you!
Can you provide color palettes?
What are the cool muted colours? And can you give some example of a fairer haired winter in this system.
Nicole Kidman appears in the video, she has light hair
@@matheussilva8194 Nicole is cool and bright, not cool and muted.
Cool muted colors are greyish blue, purple and dark blue, purple, magenta. I have never heard of someone blonde in the winter category, angelina jolie is or was (as a child) naturally blonde and some people say she's a winter. She herself says she dyes her hair brown
@@littleflor2975 nicole kidman is a stereotypical spring. Warm. And bright.
I remember being typed when I was young as a muted summer, and I always hated the dusty pinks and soft blues I was supposed to wear. I was told not to wear black and didnt for years. I'm pale and "low-contrast" with dirty blond hair, but bright blue, black and white bring me alive! Thanks!
you should watch my video called 'the cool and radiant lady' ! about a low contrast light cool and radiant coloring.
@@merriamstyle thank you!
Yes, I just watched that, and my skin tone is very similar to hers. I'd noticed in pictures that white looks good on me.
I just tested by pulling some things to drape, and my skin glows with the light, bright colors such as sky blue. I may even have to venture out for some icy pink! I'd never have guessed.
Thank you so much for your help!
@@Em-ii7zm yay!
Sounds more like a video for bright winter then for dark winter :)
I have tried to understand most of skin undertone concepts for years. Not really being able to confidently define my own undertone. Several assigned me neutral and several as olive. Artistic License simplified the theory and I personally feel comfortable as a muted winter. I wonder if orher have had the same experience with these color readings in the past and is it easy to misread a muted winter for a neutral or olive undertone?
Merriam I have watched possibly all of your videos. Your original theory is so useful. Thank you!
Thank you for this. I know I'm a deep winter and just sometimes feel overwhelmed in colors, black always looks good, but that great is so much better. Navy and deep green are much more harmonious. Is there a good pallet of colors for soft winter? Do you have one?
This was very helpful! Thank you! Now I know why black can be harsh on me. Even though I have black eyes and dark hair; I know I’m a winter...black seem to be quite strong on me. Like colour separation you speak about.
Just because you have dark hair and eyes does not make you a winter. If you cant wear black youre not a winter. Try another season.
Hi! the woman who wears the burgundy dress timestamp 5:23 is Jenna Dewan 🥰
Finally I understand why I intuitively hated colours that were offered to deep winter, and looked better in soft summer stuff.. thank you
Me too
Very good commentaries. I'd like to add, though, that it is not only the colour but also the shape and style and material of the outfits. The grey outfit an Ann for example has a too strict form and too thick structure for her delicate frame as well as both black dresses on Camilla have a too sharp angles and both times she is wearing a too strict hairstyle for her round classic/romantic features. That is also why the burgundy two-piece gown with the romantic shape looks great on her, as she wears it with a romantic curly hairstyle.
I just learned I’m a muted dark winter. I thought I was bright but after your analysis, I’m more like Camilla. This is honestly the best video on understanding the difference! Most of my clothes are not muted 😩I really want to learn what colors are best for everyday makeup look.
Warm tones are so popular right now and I love it but as a cool muted winter, it doesn’t suit me. Do you have a video on makeup? I’ll be checking your other videos! ❤️
Winter isnt muted. That makes no sense.
I’ve styled myself both ways over the years. My best look was when I’d err on the lighter side of my foundation, the darker in my hair, and brighter red on my lips.
I’m 56 now and can’t carry such a high contrast. It makes me look pallid and gray. I have to have a medium brown hair with a lot of gold in it and a muted lip. My clothes are neutrals. I still look good in black clothing.
It’s odd that I need warm hair with gold. Could I be a neutral?
Nicole looks golden in these photos. Esp comparing to Anne.
She may look golden compared to Ann but that does not mean she's a warm undertone.
I would say she actually looks more pinkish, or colored in general, Ann's skin is not that pink but more pale looking
4:41 Isn't that Jenna Dewan on the left .....
Your content is extraordinary ! Also you have the most amazing voice :D Please post more! I’ve subbed ! ❤
Could you please do a video showing a summer like this video, thanks.
Help! I'm half British and half Italian, my skin from my neck down is light olive and tans very easily - but my face is pale. I have dark brown hair at the root but it becomes very warm/darkest brown Auburn, due to the sun, at the mid-ends. I have a mixture of blue and green veins and blue eyes. I also have a small amount of freckles on my nose even in winter, but get more in summer. Please can someone tell me what I am I'm so confused! 🥺
Actually Anne is considered a bright winter and the other girl a deep winter. Blsck is not really on the palette mostly for bright winters unless one wants a bold eyeliner look
I have seen Anne typed as True Winter, Bright Winter, Deep Winter and even as an Autumn.
How can I tell if I’m muted?
I think I’m a cool muted . Where can I find more info about my colours? Thanks for this video it answers so many of my questions!
Jennifer Butler Living Colors
Excellent video!!!👏👏👏 learned so much!
Interesting. I just had my colors done in the four season system. Brown/black hair, hazel eyes and very light skin. Using drapes, I could see that the “Winter” pure white and black were too harsh foe me. I came out as a Summer. In your system, I would be cool and muted. I used to wear lots of blush because I looked washed out and too pale. With the muted colors, I don’t have to do that. I guess I was compensating for the brightness of the colors I was wearing. I still have to play around with contrast, but it is muted contrast.
Please talk more about autoum with the same love
I am muted olive, and I look my very best in black and white
0:26 Ohh even cool and delicate deep winter people should wear bright cool colors ?
Then I am going to have a blast with these cool and bright clothes 😁😀😁
I agree with a lot of your examples but disagree on a couple of them. Camilla (6:11) looked best out of the three other ladies (6:26) shown in black. The black didn’t overpower her like it did Nicole, for example. Nicole’s hair and eyes are too light and are easily overpowered by the black, causing her to disappear behind it whereas it looked harmonious with Camilla. Same thing with Nicole in the deep royal blue dress (11:02). It’s too intense for her, so she had to wear deep and heavy makeup colors to compensate for it.
I LOVE your content. Also, your voice is so soothing.
I think you're spot on!! AMAZING!!
Ok, wait. I thought that the muted skintone meant softness in the color, but watching this video back after years, I’ve realized that’s not true. The real way to describe muted skin is that it has a faded quality, almost like it’s glowing faintly and distantly. I thought I was cool and muted, but with color draping I’m very clearly cool and radiant (deep winter in other system). I thought of my my skin as what I call soft oatmeal, with a lot of grey in it. But cool, muted pastels never looked as good as they should on me. Seeing this video, I think I finally see the difference between muted and radiant skin.
Thank you for explaining chroma! That does seem to be an error in the 12 season system. Will watch your chroma vid next.
Is it possible to be deep winter if you have dark gray eyes with bright yellow center (so they occasionally appear yellow-green in bright light)? My hair is naturally very dark, almost black but what confuses me is that it has white - silvery shine in artificial light and reddish shine in bright sunlight. I used to have deep coppery red hair (dyed) and it looked really good on me, but I had to wear silvery gray and dark navy to 'cool me down', paired with dark purple lipstick - so obviously I'm not autumn. But I cannot figure out which winter I am 🤷♀️
You're great, I'm a cool but I can't distinguish if I'm a bright or muted cool. It would be so helpful if you made a video on colors best for both types ❤️
I'm guessing I might be wrong about this, but I'm generally cool and muted but I think when I have a tan I become warmer (warm and muted). Is this possible or am I just wishing I were warmer? 😅
It does happen to a lot of light olives
I already know that I am a Winter: Cool and muted. Is there anyway I can get your color pallate and everything without doing a consult? Because I think it would be silly for me to do a consult to find out what my artistic license season is when I already know it but I really need the pallate of my colors, of best, good and worst! And how I can incorporate the colors in like a good color hand bag and a best color dress. Etc. Please let me know.
Hi Amy, I'm still working on the color guides for all the undertones (I'm thinking I should have color guides instead of simply selling the color palettes, but you bring up a good point, I should consider selling simply the color palettes), but I can tell you some of your best colors as cool and delicate (winter, but I changed my naming convention to cool and delicate to clarify that I don't use the seasonal approach): Slate gray, placid blue, ash pink, cool dove gray, charcoal gray, cool burgundy, muted purples of any kind (there aren't any 'warm' purples), muted cool reds, muted blues of any kind, teals would work well too, muted emerald greens.
For brighter colors, you could go for either a cool bright red, or a cool bright emerald green. These are special because red and green are neutral, and being cool and delicate (winter in my system) means your undertone is closer to neutral, but cool. So since cool red and cool green are close to neutral as well, you could pull these off quite well, or at least much better than let's say a magenta.
Your worst colors would be any warm colors, and absolutely especially bright warm colors such as yellow orange and anything like that. Warm greens wouldn't be too great either, and warm reds aren't great either.
Cool and radiant colors are ok (clear chroma purples, and clear chroma blues), but muted cool is better. Warm and delicate colors like terracotta or warm browns are not that great since they're warm.
Hope that gives you some ideas while I work on making your color palettes available!!
@@merriamstyle Oh my goodness a color guide sounds like a wonderful idea!! Wow! Thank you so much for your reply I am so grateful for your help! Thank you for providing us with your time, expertise and energy and I appreciate your work so so so much!! I'm very excited for what comes! 💕
Aw thank you Amy for such a lovely comment!
Would love to see the color palettes!
Camilla still looks beautiful in black...Ann is just really pale...
I think Camilla looks better in black than Anne does...
So am I autumn or winter? I have contrasting hair and eye color compared to my skin but I am warm delicate (I think)
I'm a deep winter and I also did a professional colour type test, but I don't know if I am a muted or a clear deep winter =/ Can you help me? Thank you!
I have high contrast black eyes and hair and olive skin. I not sure if I am cool or warm though.
Check out Audrey Coyne's video "Color theory for beginners", she has high contrast and olive skin. A small spoiler: she thinks olive skin is cool undertone most of the time, it's the yellow OVERtone that confuses people. Also deep winters aren't 100% cool anyway, cool undertones prevail but some warmness is permissible too. Anyway the only thing that matters is if you think that her explanations make sense to your observations :) I think the video is very insightful but I can't judge for everyone with olive skin
@@antonina8337 I will check the video. Thanks for your suggestion. I have had my color analysis though and I was classified as a deep winter. I can have some warm colors indeed :)
@@Taichientaoyin ah okay, that’s cool :D
Love this video! Unintentional asmr haha
I really appreciate this!
The picture at timestamp 5:02 on the left is actually Jenna Dewan. Just wanted to let you know since you were doing comparisons. :)
Otherwise, lovely videos
Can deep winter have dark grey (sort of mix of green and blue) eye colour?
Thank you, agree with you on this! Could you make a video for color choices for cool and muted ie. winters? I'm getting stuck on beige, because I kind of feel it looks surprisingly good on me, and it shouldn't, because isn't it a warm color automatically..? Keep up the good work!
5:59 I disagree, I think Anne looks her absolute best in this colour, so glowy and not disharmonious at all. And Camilla looks a bit sallow and separate, even though she's a beautiful woman.
And it's not just because I am not a professional... these systems are supposed to help us find what looks good overall to people, not just to professionals.
This makes o much sense whe I was you Geri had high chroma but now I have low
Deep winters...they say you should wear muted cool colors...I never read that deep winters should wear bright colors. But I am just a novice.
In the season system, we do have 3 sub types in each season ...winter could be muted (deep), Bright or true winter.
where did you hear that? maybe things have changed? that would be amazing bc when I made this video definitely winter was always bright and cool.
What would you say Anne and Camilla's Kibbe types are? :) I've heard different things about each of them.
anne is a FN
The longer I watch the more confused I get, because in my eyes Camilla is a summer.. can you explain me please, why she is not a summer but a winter? Thank you a lot 😊
i wanna do this for me.. do you recommend I take pictures in front of a ring light (which I have) or sun light ?
I think the difference is one is a winter. The other has olive green skin and is neutral/cool and only leans cool. Her skin has more depth, while Anne's has more clarity. My opinion just looking.
But winter has 3 parts in the 12-seasons charts. Dark Winter (cool, muted). True Winter (cool, saturated). Bright Winter (cool, bright.) But others add Deep Winter (dark saturated) as an extra 4th part.
Summer has 3 parts as well but some add a Deep Summer next to the Muted one. I think the 12 seasons color chart already allows for skin chroma variations. And people tend to be able to wear colors in the next palette over and even across the chart as people can have what is called "in transition skin types." Basically, people who get paler, cooler, more tan, or warmer throughout the year and so can pull off a lot of colors from different palettes.
My skin also tends to fluctuate between bright and muted so I tend to wear winter type bright to slightly muted but still bright summer colors. I also wear some warm colors from spring and fall as well.
I think the problem is people think you have to stay in one palette perfectly all the time. But the 12-season charts should simply be a starting point like a home base, and then you can pivet around or across from there.
And also, if Anne was Asian, she'd be typed a Bright Winter instead because they look at the skin chroma more, as most of them all have dark eyes over there. I have dark eyes as well and Dark Winter is too dark for me. So I go by the Asian method but say I'm a lightly less bright Bright Winter and go from there. I do get paler in winter and more muted in summer just like how the 12 seasons allows for. I personally think Anne should be called a Deep (not Dark) Winter. I don't think she's bright enough to pull off the brightest colors like neons. Hmm, kinda like me actually...maybe I'm a Deep Winter too. You need jet-black hair plus white skin to pull of neons in anything other than accent points or accessories.
The idea, is that before spring near the end of winter, the sun is coming up higher and reflecting off the snow so everything is very bright. That's why people do have to wear sun goggles even when in winter to prevent getting "snow blindness". In summer the sun is bleacing or tanning everything hence the slight mutedness of bright colors. For me it holds true accurately. The sun is changing positions within and through each season across the year.
Hi- loving your videos but now I am so confused. I did my colors probably 30 years ago when it first became the rage based on a popular book which I can't remember the title. It was just the 4 seasons-I've never heard of a 12 season analysis. It also was based predominantly on skin tone- cool and warm. In a nutshell Winter and Summer were cool and Autumn and Spring were warm- so far so good... BUT Winters colors were brighter/darker/deeper and Summer was more muted and less contrast. Same with Autumn and Spring. Summer and Spring were essentially a muted more pastel version of Winter and Autumn colors. I was a Winter but according to your system I would be a Summer??
The book was titled Colour me Beautiful. It came out in the late 70's early 80's
This is quite confusing so you are saying that within the 12 seasons you can separate them either further to muted and bright?
What do you think are the top 3 colours for me as deep dark winter? Thanks for the answer😊
Could you help me please... does color white in deep winter's palette or not? Thanks
Wouldn’t that make Camilla a Sunmer and not a winter if she’s cool and muted?
If this is work you're interested in, I would highly recommend looking into Jennifer Butler Living Colors. All winters look great in black. Nicole Kidman is not a winter and gets completely swallowed by black. It's too strong on her. Most blondes can't wear black and should stick with a navy as their version of a formal black. Muted colors also do not flatter individuals with high contrast - it weakens them.
Hi, I would really appreciate it if anyone can help me clarify! My hair is quite dark at the top but I have that gene allele that makes me lose hair pigment easily and I live in California. For the most part, my hair is a dark chestnut brown color (like if I had a piece of roasted chestnut shell in it, probably no one would notice)
The color palette of deep winter tones appeal to me, and I fit all the other descriptions for deep winter. But online sources that I've found are adamant that deep winters have cool toned hair. Can a deep winter have red tints in medium brown hair?
So, what season would Camilla be? I'm confused like if you say winter is muted, then what is the palette?
Thank u, u helped me a lot ☘️🙌
So Camila is not a deep winter is what you’re saying. Sounds like a soft summer or deep soft winter???
I still struggle to perceive summer as cool. In my mind, spring and summer are warm and bright seasons while autumn and winter are cool and muted seasons.
I look better in cool dark brown than black. Would that mean bright or muted undertones?
probably muted. maybe warm and delicate. the warm browns may just be too rich for you as warm and delicate that's all. but if rose gold looks more flattering than silver or yellow gold, then you may be WD. if silver is ideal, then most likely cool and delicate. but usually cool brown is just wonderful on WD so I'd say you're most likely WD. I've never heard CD say 'I look great in cool brown' although they do look nice in cool brown.
What happens when you age? I was winter bright with my platinum brown hair, now I’m white haired with dark brown in the back?
I wonder if you're still flattered by cool and bright colors anyway? Just lighter colors than before. Like this lady is flattered by a bright blue but just a bit lighter, not a royal blue:
www.hairfinder.com/tips/grey-haired-woman.jpg
Another possibility is that you could be softer in your undertone, so cool and delicate colors could work too.
I wish there were more real life examples. Most of the analysis videos use celebs, sometimes with altered hair and eye color , in full make up. J Lo has been labeled as warm, AND cool , depending on the photo used in the example. This gets very confusing.
Can you do a comparison for autumn
and why is Camilla not a soft summer?
when this video was made, soft summers were seen as having lighter hair than Camilla. Since then, people have become more flexible to try to fit more colorations into the seasonal approach. Traditionally, Camilla would simply have to be in the winter family because of her dark hair and cool undertones.
I finally get it!!! Yes I see everything you said!
Question: I am also a muted cool winter but now I am older and my dark brown hair has turned silver. Does that change my type? Nevermind you answered my question ty.
Sometimes as people age, especially when they grey, they get cooler. So for example, jamie lee curtis went from warm to cool. Some people who are cool and delicate may go to cool and radiant (which is cooler than cool and delicate). So basically you could remain cool and delicate, and with your lighter hair you could opt for those classic soft summer colors. Or if you find those drag you down, you could have gotten even cooler and you would look wonderful adding in some brighter cool and radiant colors (perhaps semi bright blues or the likes).
I’m a dark winter in indoor lighting and a clear winter in the sunlight. 😅
I do love your idea of a “muted winter” and how the term describes the skin and it’s best colors.
The one thing that I disagree on is that hair color can change the illusion of your skin undertone . The skin undertone itself doesn’t change but it does trick the eye .
I think it would be easier for me to determine my undertone if I didn’t get highlights. I think my hair is neutral but my skin is warm so that confuses me.
I look more “cool” toned in the winter with dark hair and pale skin but in the summer more “warm “ toned with highlights and my skin tans to a warmer olive or tan. So I’m a chameleon?
Not a muted winter but a soft summer
I don't know if I am a deep autumn or a deep winter.
I guess you are a deep winter! 😊
@@claudiagadient3632 you are right! I went to a color analist and I turned out a deep winter 😀
Wouldn't that make Camila a summer if it's cool and muted?? How is a deep winter muted???