How to Use Color Analysis to Find Shades That Look Best on You

Experts say your complementary hues may change as you age

Anissa Gabbara,

AARP

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Published January 23, 2025

Shari Braendel (left) and Dejeuné Harris (right) are experts at color analysis.

Courtesy Shari Braendel and India Brown/Courtesy Dejeuné Harris

There’s more to a great outfit than what meets the eye. Think about those garments you gravitate toward when you’re getting dressed. The ones that make you look and feel the most fabulous. Maybe it’s the cut or silhouette. It could be the pattern or texture. Or perhaps, it’s just one thing making all the difference: the color.

Knowing which colors to wear is a common style struggle. Some colors wash you out while others seem too harsh, and you have yet to strike the right balance. If this is the case for you, then it might be time for a color analysis.

What is color analysis?

Put simply, a color analysis helps you determine which colors complement you most based on your skin tone, eye color and hair color. Your undertone, which is the natural coloring below your skin’s surface (e.g., warm and cool), is another key factor. “When you work with colors in clothing, hair, makeup, accessories — anywhere in your appearance — you want those colors to be in harmony with your natural coloring and also in harmony with each other,” says David Kibbe, a New York City-based color analysis expert, renowned stylist and the author of David Kibbe’s Power of Style: A Guided Journey to Help You Discover Your Authentic Style.

David Kibbe and his book "David Kibbe's Power of Style"

Courtesy Penguin Random House (2)

Once you understand your natural coloring, you’ll be able to identify your “season” (winter, spring, summer and autumn), or what Kibbe refers to as your “family of colors.” Your seasonal palette will comprise a wide range of colors along with all of its warm and cool versions, giving you endless options to choose from when it’s time to shop.

Shari Braendel, founder and CEO of Style by Color and image consultant based in Charlotte, North Carolina, likes to examine her clients’ dominant color characteristics and contrast level between their hair, skin and eye color. “This is what makes a huge difference when someone is going gray, because there are different levels of gray,” she says. “Even though we may put somebody with gray hair into the cool category, in terms of hair color, her shade of gray will determine whether she’d look better in black and white versus gray and white, for example.”

How to get a color analysis done

It’s best to leave it to the pros. Dejeuné Harris, lead stylist and founder at Your Style Is Forever based in Washington, D.C., suggests researching a color analysis specialist in your area. If you’re lucky, she says you might be able to catch pop-ups at department stores or small boutiques every so often.

Once you find a specialist, they’ll typically drape different fabrics over you, in a well-lit room, to find your best colors. “I use the drapes to illustrate to the person what's there,” Kibbe says. “So, you show them a succession of colors, which are what they call test colors — the same color to their respective palette — and then you’ll start to help them see [what works].” Pro tip: Show up makeup-free for the most accurate results.

Believe it or not, you can have a color analysis done digitally as well.

“As part of my service, I’ll have clients send me a well-lit, natural photo of themselves and I can analyze their skin tone, hair color and eye color that way,” says Harris, who also points out that there are color analysis apps that can do the same thing. And don’t underestimate the power of artificial intelligence. “I saw a TikTok video where a lady had ChatGPT give her her color analysis,” Harris adds.

What to do with the results

The easiest way to apply your results is to take color swatches to the store with you. But Kibbe stresses the importance of the swatches being in fabric, because as he notes, light will reflect differently off of fabric than it does off of paint chips, for instance. “If the light is distorted in the store, it distorts both the garment and the swatch in the same way. It’s going to either harmonize or conflict,” Kibbe says.

The benefits

As Braendel points out, the results from a color analysis can help you look more refreshed — younger, even. And if your last color analysis was done in the ’80s or ’90s, consider giving it another go to see what works for you now. After all, age-related changes in skin pigment and hair color (going gray is a major one) often call for a wardrobe transformation.

Braendel recalls a time when hair wasn’t taken into consideration. “We told our clients, ‘You never have to have another color analysis [for] the rest of your life because … nothing’s going to change,’” Braendel says. “When we added hair into the equation, everything changed, because when we go gray … the colors that we used to wear don’t look good on us anymore, especially if we were wearing warm colors.”

Courtesy Terrie Baker (2)

Terrie Baker, 66, from Florida, one of Braendel’s clients, knows this firsthand. “I was a very dark brunette with little red highlights in my hair. Well, I am totally white today,” she says. “It’s that recognition that the things that once looked good on me no longer do. But … it really is fun to learn about yourself, and the [process] is done in such a nice, uplifting, personal way.”

Now may be the time to free yourself of the notion that certain colors just don’t look good on you, and to finally get to know the full spectrum of options that await you. You might be in for a pleasant surprise. “A color analysis would definitely be beneficial [when it comes to] looking like the most polished version of yourself,” Harris says. “You don’t really know how good you can look in something until you try different options. [So], don’t get discouraged … you can wear any color.”

Robert Redford (Left) and Elizabeth Taylor (Right)

AARP (Screen Archives/Getty Images; Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

Color Me Beautiful

Stylist and author, David Kibbe, shares his pro take on the best colors for two of Hollywood’s biggest stars, past and present.

Silver screen icon Elizabeth Taylor had very white skin, dark, dark hair and violet-blue eyes. “A cool, basically,” says Kibbe. “On Elizabeth Taylor, I would have used a scarlet red, a very blue-based red.” Deemed a seasonal “winter,” Kibbe says the actress’s best hues were jewel tones.

Actor/director Robert Redford’s strawberry-blonde hair, tawny skin and turquoise eyes make him a “warm,” says Kibbe. “Robert Redford comes from what we would call the autumn family.” The Sundance Kid’s most flattering shade? Brick red. “Warm and rich and fiery.” 

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Anissa Gabbara writes about beauty, health, lifestyle and pop culture. Her work has appeared in Sisters From AARP, Sesi magazine and Maple City Our Town magazine.