Personal Color: The Definitive Guide to Finding and Wearing Your Best Colors

by Anuschka Rees

The definitive modern guide to finding your season and best colors, from the author of The Curated Closet.

Why do some colors look radiant and effortless on one person but completely wash out another? The answer is color theory. In Personal Color, you’ll harness the power of color theory to identify your color season and discover which shades best harmonize with your unique skin tone, hair, and eye color to make your natural beauty shine. In Personal Color you will learn how

Accurately predict whether any color will suit you (or not)Find your color season (spring, summer, autumn, or winter) and subtype (clear, true, light, soft, or deep)Broaden your “color horizon” to go beyond neutrals and shades that are considered on-trend or safeAccurately assess photos and color descriptions when shopping onlineWear colors you love that are not in your seasonal palettePick the makeup and hair colors that work best for you
Featuring step-by-step instructions to identify your personal color palette, hundreds of color swatches, and example photos of models of all races, genders, and ages representing the color seasons, Personal Color is a timeless resource full of exercises, charts, cheat sheets, and glossaries that you’ll find yourself reaching for again and again.

Genres: Nonfiction, Fashion

336 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2025

About the author

Anuschka Rees is a writer, ex-serial-dieter, and former beauty-fanatic. Despite growing up in the era of female empowerment and body positivity, she spent much of her twenties trying to fix yet another imagined “flaw,” researching diets, and comparing herself to attractive people on Instagram. Eventually she decided to put her INTJ mind to good use and see if she could find concrete, applicable advice for women like her, whose insecurities are keeping them from living their best life. Anuschka’s first book The Curated Closet was a bestseller and has been translated into five languages. She lives in Berlin, Germany with her cats, books, and boyfriend.

Reviews

[SusanTalksBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

**** 4/20/25 **** Just finished Anuschka Rees' upcoming color how-to guide book, Personal Color. This is a gorgeous book with a fabulous cover that many people will be attracted to. It has a wide range of models and feels very inclusive for readers from all cultural walks of life. I'm of an age that recalls the original 4-season color typing like Rees's mother - I never dove into it too much, but was always curious.

As background, I am a STEM person by profession and degree, and like to think of myself as a creative person also, so I was surprised at just how *technical* the book is in educating on color theory, including color fluency, hue, undertones (cool to warm), chroma (soft to clear), value (deep to light). Rees then describes color genres that combine all of those elements, and also color harmony , which are when palettes go together based on undertone, chroma and value. Then Rees walks readers through an evaluation of our own contrast level based on skin, hair and eyes. She provides a simple process of taking photographs to assist readers in determining their color type. There is further guidance on color changes as you age (skin and hair changes).

I love the book concept, but honestly was challenged in evaluating my own contrast. I think I got close, and think I'm a version of Summer, but really struggled to compare the super granular differences in the examples provided. But maybe I don't have the eye of an artist to differentiate these things well enough, and maybe that's why I wear a lot of charcoal and black lol.

I do think many people, particularly women, are very into color theory for clothing and make up, and think this is a great time to refresh the concept of seasons. I wish there was almost a shorthand, simple version included for people like me who may not be as invested or adept at the nuanced differences between different seasons. Then once we have that, we can go deeper if we want.

I wish Rees the best of luck on her new book, and caution readers that this is a pretty intensive dive into color theory and analysis, so as long as you go into it with that in mind, you'll do great.


*** 3/19/25 *** Thank you NetGalley and Ten Speed Press for an advance reader copy of Anuschka Rees's new book due for publication July 8th. I read Rees's first book, "The Curated Closet," and really liked it, so am excited to see what she has to say in this one. I have never had my colors done for wardrobe, make up, or hair color purposes, and I hope I don't learn that I'm picking all the wrong things! I was not able to download this to my kindle, only to my phone or laptop to read digitally. Will review soon.

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the modern approach to personal colour that I've been searching for. Author Anuschka Rees admits the outdated method of personal colour had Caucasian only seasons which is absolutely wild. I knew it was true, because I've taken personal colour quizzes in the past that slotted me incorrectly as a True Winter or Deep Autumn just because I'm Black, completely ignoring my muted, cool-neutral skin and high contrast.

This book is thick, weighty, and packed with so much information. And so many pictures of a ton of models of all ages and ethnicities so you can really see the variation each season has.

I was so eager to figure out what my season was, I was tempted to bypass all the early chapters about colour theory that really laid the groundwork for a proper understanding of colour. Once all that information was laid out in an easy-to-understand way, figuring out my season was easy.

I am not about to completely rehaul my wardrobe only using my season's shades, but I'm looking forward to using my "best colours" palette to sway me when I'm on the fence between a bunch of shades.

Totally worth it!

[C K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Color is a super fun & very practical guide to figuring out which colors actually work for you. As someone who's always been a little confused & easily overwhelmed by the concept of color theory, this is exactly the kind of resource I needed. Anuschka Rees breaks everything down in a way that’s easy to understand, approachable, and actually useful. Lots of helpful tools & visual references to help you build a wardrobe that feels more like you! A new favorite!

Thank you to Net Galley and Ten Speed Press for the opportunity to read this book.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I wanted to read when I was younger. Ok I really wanted to read it now too even though I know a lot about the seasons, and I really feel like this was missing in the seasonal coloring industry (is that even a thing? 🤣). I’m gonna do fancy bulletpoints to point out why.

1. Diversity. The author truly includes information and pictures of all skin tones, not just the white ones. Finally, a book about your color type for EVERYONE.
2. There is lots of information about the why’s. You get color theory and why and how it works to understand the mechanics behind the different types. This helps immensely if you’re trying to figure out your own type.
3. While figuring out your own season is very hard, this book makes it slightly less hard. I can now confidently type myself als true winter. There is also a lot of troubleshouting which helps you get close to your type, and I love that. Yay for diagrams! However, if you’re a bit more difficult it’s still very hard and we still can’t type my mom who is in between true summer and true winter with her cool undertone, medium coloring and medium contrast, and I feel like this was the only thing that wasn’t discussed in the book 🤣 But tbh in real life the color analyst couldn’t figure it out either so that’s not the fault of the book. But I feel a lot of people fall into margins and that makes it a little difficult.
4. Everything is written very clearly, but not in a boring way. The pictures are very clear and you get a confidence boost and help to figure it out.
5. I really recommend getting this book and reading it to figure our your type. For me, it’s been such a help to know which colors look best on me! And it’s a low cost option compared to an average consultation, and for me it feels like you get way more background info than in real life when it’s just the draping.
6. The only thing that might bother me is that there is no after. This book is primarily for finding and understanding your type with a few tips on how to wear colors that are less flattering (thank goodness the author empahises that it’s merely an advice and you can wear any color you want and look awesome). However, I would have liked a bit more info on how to integrate it in your wardrobe, how prints work etc. The chapter on make up and hair color is very appreciated but I would’ve liked a “I know my type, what’s next?” chapter. But that’s seriously the only downside I can think of in this otherwise thorough book, and for me it’s not even that important enough to give it one less star, so 5 stars it is 😉

I received a free e-copy of this book in exchange for my review, this has not influenced my opinion.

[Jennifer Villa · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars ⭐️

in the last year or so, i’ve really been getting into color theory and learning about personal color seasons through youtube, tiktok, and other video platforms. i went into this book already having a decent baseline understanding of how color can complement your features and bring more life to your appearance.

before reading, i had also used ai tools like chatgpt and gemini to analyze makeup-free photos of myself and give me an educated guess at my season. while those tools were surprisingly accurate in giving me a rough direction, this book stood out because it went far beyond just giving an answer and actually taught me the theory behind it.

one of the most helpful takeaways was understanding undertone versus surface coloring. i have pink, rosacea-like undertones and had always assumed that meant i must be a warm season. this book completely reframed that thinking and helped me understand why those pink tones actually point toward cooler colors working better on me.

it also challenged me to stop writing off entire colors i thought didn’t work for me, especially pinks. instead, i learned that shade, softness, and undertone matter far more than the color category itself. discovering that dusty, muted, gray-based shades within my cool palette flatter me has been a total game changer.

over the last few weeks, i’ve been thrifting with this new knowledge, experimenting with draping at home, and intentionally wearing my best colors. the difference is noticeable, and i feel genuinely inspired rather than restricted by color rules.

this is also a book i’d love to reread, especially to better understand seasons outside of my own. i was so focused on learning what applied to me that i know i skimmed over some of the other sections.

overall, this book was incredibly helpful, empowering, and practical. i’ll definitely be referencing photos of its pages and philosophies on my phone while shopping in the future.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Color theory is so fun! This is an informative, well written book with great photos of colors. Glad the publisher didn’t skimp on color photos.

[Marcy Graybill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to netgalley for the ability to read and review this book.
I chose this book because I remember reading another color book back in the 1990's and I never could figure out what season I was, though I wanted to be an Autumn.
This book is far more open to different skin colors and includes many people of color. I thought it had a lot of detail and information on color theory.
Sadly, I still am not sure what season I am. Though from trial and error I know that people compliment me when I wear certain colors so I can guess.
There are a lot of pictures of hair colors, skin colors and eye colors, what I really wanted was a lot more pictures of colors of clothes and what color goes with what for specific seasons.
This is an interesting read, but unless you have a good eye for discerning skin tones you may have difficulty figuring out your season.

[bookcookery]

If you’ve ever fallen down the endless YouTube rabbit hole of color analysis videos, you know how addictive they can be. There tend to be two main types: (1) recordings of color analysis sessions with “experts,” where viewers are mesmerized by how refreshed someone looks in certain colors and (2) tutorials that promise to help you determine your own season at home but often leave you about 60% confident in your results.

In Personal Color, Rees provides a thorough and approachable guide to figuring out which of the twelve color seasons you belong to. Compared to your average YouTube tutorial, I found her explanations of undertone, chroma, and value especially clear and helpful, particularly when it came to understanding often confusing terms like “olive skin tone.” She also includes a practical section on how to decide between two likely seasons, which I found especially useful. Beyond the standard seasonal color palettes, she adds “worst” colors and recommended lipstick shades for each season.

As for potential improvements, while I appreciated the introduction’s stated aim to bring a modern perspective to color analysis, the disclaimer felt a bit tacked on, as the main text largely sticks to more dated language. The comparison photos would benefit from standardized poses and facial expressions, which would make evaluating the effects of different colors easier. And, much like the first type of YouTube video mentioned above, it would be deeply satisfying to see each model in a full range of drapes to illustrate the effects of the different colors. Rees touches on the effects of aging throughout the book, and it would be great to see visual examples, such as the same model photographed over time or family members of different ages with similar coloring.

Still, thanks to this book, I’m now about 70% confident I’ve correctly identified my season.

Thank you to NetGalley and Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press for providing an advance reading copy.

[Lidiia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m feeling so relieved after finally finding my season that I want to scream about it to the world!

Anuschka Rees has created a wonderful guide to colour, and I’ve been interested in this topic for over 10 years. The book might feel a tad overwhelming for beginners, but it does an excellent job of challenging many colour theory misconceptions I’ve surely seen online.

It’s a step-by-step, science-based guide to finding your season. I really appreciated the number of examples showing warmth, chroma, and contrast on people of all colours and ethnicities. It helped me understand colour seasons beyond the usual online inspo collages (which, sadly, are often showing only young caucasian models). Once you narrow your options down to 2–3 seasons using the comparison tables, the book gives you exact colours to test and drape to confirm your type. I used paint sample cards from a hardware store lol - it worked!

For literal YEARS, I thought I was a Soft Summer because of my olive undertone. It adds a touch of yellow to my pale skin (think Emily DiDonato), and I assumed I couldn’t be a True Summer, even though I was intuitively drawn to cooler, lighter colours (counted it as wishful thinking). Well, it turns out that yellowness does not equal being warm! I am, in fact, a True Summer, and wearing the right colours actually makes the yellow cast less noticeable.

Will there be differences compared to other systems? Likely yes, for example, Soft Summer has a darker recommended palette than I saw almost everywhere online. But I got my perfect, cool, soft and wonderful palette that I can't wait to play with more.

Anuschka Rees, thank you so much for such detailed work. I can't even fathom how hard it was to compile all that knowledge in one place. LOVE.

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was around when the whole find your season color trend came around the first time (I think I was a spring) and I have occasionally picked up books on the subject again over the years. It’s kind of fun the first time. These books never work for me now though because for the last 15 years I have been hennaing my hair and my complexion, eyes and hair are now different seasons from each other.

According to this book and others I have read, I’m supposed to change my hair color to match my light, cool complexion. Henna doesn’t work that way. You don’t pick a color in a box. It permanently stains your hair over your natural color, so dark brown hair might be burgundy and light blonde goes light, bright red. I love my hair color and it is profoundly me, and suits my complexion and eye color no matter what these books say. I tend to wear colors that bring out my fiery hair color like greens, blues and browns, but go for shades that work with my skin tone. Those pastel spring tones of my teens don’t suit my current coloring or my current personality.

All that said, if you want to find your colors this is an updated take on it. It makes it far more complicated than the original (there are now all kinds of subcategories) but there are lots of photos and the people shown are wonderfully diverse.

I read a temporary digital copy of this book for review.

[Shelby Gee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up Personal Color in an effort to better understand color seasons. Rees has a thorough first section that explains the three aspects of a season. I learned a lot about chroma, warmth, and value.
The second section works through identifying your color season. This part is hard! (Or at least it's hard for me!) The book uses a wide array of models which does help tremendously! You can compare yourself to the different photos. I also appreciated the tables. Overall, I think Rees does a great job of explaining how to do a color analysis, it's just a tough process for many of us.
I've previously had a color consultation; however, I worked through it and came to the same conclusion. I'm not sure I would have been able to without my previous consultation.
The last section is a thorough explanation of the best colors for each season. Including an explanation of silver vs gold jewelry, and how aging and cosmetic changes impact color season.
I enjoyed the book and picked up new information and ways to try styling my best colors.
I read an ARC.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very thorough, with great photos and other illustrations. I really wish it was mandatory reading before participation in any kind of colour analysis subreddit or youtube discussion, because the groundwork theory before the self-analysis part was super important to know if you want to join the CA community. That said, I don't think its perfect and there were a couple of things along the way that made me go hmmm...

The most important thing that isn't just a nitpick, is that I think the Harry-Potter-house style colour analysis where you're fitting yourself into a subseason based on criteria is fundamentally flawed. The only legitimate colour analysis is draping, whether virtual or in-person (with in-person definitely being the gold standard; that said I do think extremely experienced and skilled analysts can do virtual just as well). Now, I know her instructions included draping as an essential step along the way, but only after doing the sorting hat of asking people to work out their undertone, chroma, contrast etc first. I get why, but I think by that step a lot of people are just going to go off whatever season fits with the undertone, chroma, contrast, then stop and not bother draping. And that's completely inadequate. I don't necessarily think that's the authors fault, its just how people are.

I don't really think people should be typing themselves. Anyway, I did the process, knowing what I've been typed professionally (virtually) as (and counting down the days until my IRL draping appointment). And I got a completely different season than the two pro virtual analyses. Even more confusing, the other two seasons whose test colours worked best on me were totally dissonant from my first season. And I already knew my chroma, contrast and undertone, so I think someone who was brand new would be even worse off.

EDIT 2nd Feb: upgrading to 5 stars because the author has been dropping cold hard facts about colour analysis on Instagram over the past couple of days and I am 100% on board

[KRM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fun and helpful! I already know my season, and was pretty sure about my sub-season, but I could never quite figure it out. This is the first time I've felt really sure about it, and the format is so helpful because the author includes lots of examples of when you might be confused if you're one of two options, and how to decide. I also really liked the explanation of how you might look different as you age or tan in the summer, and how you might modify your wardrobe a bit to accommodate those changes. The photos are so helpful, and the quizzes are really well explained. Even if you've never heard of color seasons before, you will be able to follow along easily.

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc, all opinions are my own.

[Emi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Publishing date: 08.07.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY)
Thank you to NetGalley and Ten Speed Press for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

Color theory is so fun. Color theory in practice on a person isn't always easy. With this book it becomes easy and fun.

With Personal Color you get:
- A great introduction to color theory
- How to find your color
- Examples of colors working and clashing
- Hair and clothes color
- Different shades and how to identify their season and warmth
- Activities

I tried out some of the activities and found them to be both fun and surprisingly enlightening. Seeing the colors "in action" is really nice.

If you like color theory or even just experimenting with different colors in clothes this book might be for you.

Giving this 4 stars. A really fun book

[Alexandria Irwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is something I’ve been mildly interested in so I got this at the library just to browse. I don’t treat it as a rule for what colors to wear just as something interesting that confirms suspicions I’ve already had about what colors look good on me as well as my kids and family. I definitely didn’t read the whole thing or even go through the whole process of discovering my season as they spell out in the book.. just went on a guess. It is fascinating to know my colors/season and also what colors are my opposites (though I will still wear some of those sometimes because I just like them). A fun skim!

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is helpful for color theory and anyone interested in "personal color palette." It is still organized around seasons and has expanded since the 1980s to include more skin tones. I have trouble with the photography because it can have a person in the same lighting wearing two different colors, but I just think the person smiling looks better. I do love the wide variety of color descriptions to differentiate pea green, lime green, neon green, etc. The conclusion is just one page. I couldn't figure out if I was a clear winter or a deep winter because some of the color is each worked for me.

[Lindsay Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really helpful charts and explanations, with great photographs (though I wish there had been even more, and with a wider range!). The section on hair color was the most confusing and could have been fleshed out more, but all in all, this was a great primer and with way more explanation and in-depth information than “Color Me Beautiful”. Also much better coverage of people of color than traditional color analysis. I follow the author on Instagram and she has great quizzes on color theory to help you better understand the components.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well to tell the truth, as an artist I thought this was a book about color as an artist would use them. What we have is a book the helps individuals determine 'their' color and the color schemes that go with 'their' color. I didn't understand how to determine my own personal colors. The book was very comprehensive with a lot to say about how everything worked together. I am sure this is a concern with some people but not I.

[Madison Geery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so incredibly helpful for figuring out how to elevate your style and choose colors that work best for your clothes, hair, and makeup. I had tried an AI color matching filter and I wasn't confident in the results. This book is so thorough, this is a book I see myself coming back to time and time again to reference for myself and my friends!

[bookish gabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such a great idea and truly delivered. I am planning on buying it for my home for people to try out while they are over. This book is a great alternative to the services that cost $200 to find your personal color, and truly gives so much detail.

Thank you to Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press for providing me this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

[Beth L. Farmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Determining Cool versus Warm

The author's explanation of the science of skin pigment was well worth the price of the book alone. I found the rest of the book to be well-organized and extremely helpful too.

[Stefanie Foard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently I'm a Light Summer or a Clear Winter. :)

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the engaging first section of the book that talked about color theory. When it got to the part about identifying your specific color "season," it got a bit confusing and it seemed very difficult to truly determine which attributes applied to you. I mostly just went with the color palettes that I think look good on me and tried to see what advice Rees had for that "season."

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful and helpful book!

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Color theory has been an excellent distraction from *gestures broadly at the entire country*. This was a deep dive and I loved it.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of information and quality photographs. Still could not figure out my season.

[Edna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read many of the color books and this was , sadly, the most unhelpful...

[sarah ౨ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10 because I’m in it 💁‍♀️

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was helpful in refining what I thought my season and colors are and getting into the 3 subsets of each season. Some of the color theory was also really interesting. I never figured out my chroma though and I read that chapter very carefully.

[Lin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good work demystifying colour matching. However I'm still unsure if I'm a deep winter or a soft summer or if I've completely mucked up the process