Value, Chroma & Contrast: The Three Dimensions of Color

When most people think of color analysis, they think of undertone — warm versus cool. And while undertone is the foundation, it's not the whole story. The 12-season system adds three more dimensions that refine your undertone into a specific season: value, chroma, and contrast. Together with undertone, these four qualities form the complete picture of your personal coloring and determine which of the 12 seasons fits you best.

Value refers to how light or dark your overall coloring is. Imagine a black-and-white photograph of yourself — how light or dark would you appear? People with light value tend to have fair skin, light hair, and light eyes. People with deep value tend to have richer skin tones, dark hair, and dark eyes. Value matters because it determines the lightness or darkness of the colors you should wear. A Light Spring person looks best in pastels and light, airy colors that echo their own lightness. A Deep Winter person looks best in rich, deep colors that match their intensity. Wearing colors that are significantly lighter or darker than your natural value can create a disconnect — the clothes "wear you" instead of complementing you.

Chroma (also called saturation) describes how vivid or muted your natural coloring is. High chroma means your features are clear, vivid, and saturated — think bright eyes, rich hair color, and skin that looks "alive." Low chroma means your features are softer, more blended, and slightly greyed — think of coloring that looks gentle and harmonious rather than striking. This dimension separates the "bright" seasons from the "soft" seasons. A Bright Winter can wear electric blue and hot pink; those same colors would overwhelm a Soft Summer, who looks better in dusty blue and muted rose. To find your chroma, consider: do bold, vivid colors energize your face, or do they overpower you? Do muted, toned-down colors look sophisticated on you, or do they make you look washed out?

Contrast refers to the degree of difference between the lightest and darkest parts of your natural coloring — typically skin, hair, and eyes. High contrast means there's a dramatic difference: think Snow White with her pale skin and jet-black hair. Low contrast means your features are similar in depth: think of someone with medium-toned skin, medium brown hair, and hazel eyes where everything "blends." Medium contrast falls in between. Contrast affects how you combine colors in your outfits. High-contrast individuals look best when their outfits also have high contrast — a bright white top with dark navy bottoms, for example. Low-contrast individuals look best in tonal outfits where the colors are closer in value — an outfit in various shades of sage and cream, for instance.

Each of the 12 seasons is defined by its unique combination of undertone plus a dominant secondary characteristic:

Undertone + lightness → Light Spring (warm) or Light Summer (cool)
Undertone + warmth/coolness → Warm Spring, Warm Autumn (warm) or Cool Summer, Cool Winter (cool)
Undertone + brightness → Bright Spring (warm) or Bright Winter (cool)
Undertone + softness → Soft Summer (cool) or Soft Autumn (warm)
Undertone + depth → Deep Autumn (warm) or Deep Winter (cool)

The "dominant characteristic" is the quality that stands out most in your coloring. If someone looks at you and first notices how light your coloring is, lightness is your dominant characteristic. If they notice vivid, bright features first, brightness is dominant. This dominant quality is what places you in your specific sub-season.

Understanding these three dimensions — along with undertone — gives you a complete picture of why certain colors work for you. It's not just that you're "warm" or "cool." You're warm + light + clear (Bright Spring) or cool + deep + bright (Deep Winter). This precision is what makes the 12-season system so much more useful than the original four-season approach. When you shop or get dressed, you're not just choosing warm vs. cool colors — you're choosing colors that match your specific depth, saturation, and contrast level. That's why two warm-toned people can look very different in the same warm color: one might need it lighter, the other deeper; one might need it brighter, the other more muted.