What Colours Suit Me? How to Find Out
Five practical tests you can do at home in Perth daylight to discover which colours suit you — plus when to upgrade to a professional consultation.
Before you spend $195 on a professional consultation, try these five at-home tests. They won't replace a trained eye, but they'll get you 60% of the way there.
Test 1: The white vs cream drape
Stand near a window with natural light with no makeup on. Hold a pure white t-shirt under your chin, then swap it for a cream one. The one that makes your skin look smoother and brighter is your starting point — pure white suggests cool undertones, cream suggests warm.
Test 2: The vein check (and why it's overrated)
The classic 'are your veins blue or green?' test is a starting point, not a verdict. Many olive-skinned Perth women have veins that look both — which is actually a clue that you're neutral, not that the test is broken.
Test 3: Gold vs silver jewellery
Hold a gold chain against one side of your neck and silver against the other. Step back from the mirror. The metal that disappears into your skin (rather than standing out as a contrast) usually matches your undertone — gold for warm, silver for cool, both for neutral.
Test 4: Reaction to bold colours
- Bright orange → flatters warm seasons, drains cool
- Fuchsia pink → flatters cool seasons, overwhelms soft
- Pure black → flatters Winters, ages Springs
- Camel → flatters Autumns, washes out Summers
Test 5: Photo comparison
Take two selfies in daylight, one in a navy top and one in a chocolate brown. Compare side-by-side on your phone. Notice which makes your eyes pop and skin look even.
When to book the real thing
These tests get you in the ballpark, but they can't distinguish between Soft Summer and Soft Autumn, or Bright Spring and Bright Winter — and those distinctions matter for how you shop. A professional Perth consultation clears it up in 90 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Can I do colour analysis online from a photo?
Photo-based analysis is convenient but limited — phone cameras shift colours dramatically depending on lighting. In-person draping in natural daylight remains the gold standard.
What if I'm between two seasons?
Most people do sit between two — that's what sub-seasons exist for. A consultant narrows it down by testing which side you lean toward across multiple drape pairs.
What 'suiting you' actually means
When we say a colour 'suits' you, we mean three things happen at once:
1. Your skin looks clearer — less redness, fewer visible shadows, more even tone. 2. Your eyes look brighter — the iris colour intensifies and the whites appear cleaner. 3. Your features look more defined — bone structure reads more clearly, jawline included.
If any of those reverse — skin looks blotchier, eyes look dull, face looks flatter — the colour isn't yours, regardless of how on-trend it is.
A 10-minute Perth daylight protocol
Want to run a more rigorous self-test? Try this:
1. Choose a time between 10am and 2pm on a partly cloudy Perth day. Avoid harsh midsummer sun. 2. Stand near a a window with good natural light. Skip east/west — they shift warm/cool through the day. 3. Remove makeup and tie hair back. Put on a neutral grey or beige top. 4. Gather six fabrics: pure white, cream, charcoal, camel, fuchsia, coral. 5. Drape each one at a time against your décolletage. Take a phone photo of each (front camera, no filter). 6. Compare side-by-side later that evening on a calibrated screen.
Patterns will emerge. The colours that consistently smooth your skin and lift your eyes are inside your palette. The ones that throw shadows under your jaw or pull yellow into your skin aren't.
When self-testing reaches its limit
Self-testing reliably gets you to a quarter (Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter). It almost never gets you to the right sub-season — and that's the level you actually need for shopping. The difference between Soft Autumn and Soft Summer, for instance, decides whether your best neutrals are mushroom and olive or rose-brown and dove-grey. Get that wrong and your wardrobe will still feel slightly off.
What a Perth consultation adds
In a one-on-one colour analysis session, we run 60+ fabric drapes in controlled light — far beyond what you can do at home. You leave with fabric colour samples of your sub-season's best shades, personalised makeup colour guidance from a qualified makeup artist. Many clients say the colour samples alone pay for the session inside a few months because returns and impulse buys disappear.
Book your Perth session → · Check pricing →
Common self-test mistakes to avoid
- Testing in mixed light. Bathroom lighting is often warm LED, which makes everything look warmer than it is. Always test in natural natural daylight.
- Wearing makeup. Even a tinted moisturiser changes the apparent undertone of your skin. Bare skin only.
- Testing one colour at a time. Comparisons need to be side-by-side; drape one fabric, swap immediately to its opposite, repeat.
- Trusting phone photos blindly. Cameras auto-correct. Use them as a reference, not a verdict.
- Stopping at warm vs cool. That's only one of three dimensions. Light vs deep and bright vs soft matter just as much.
- Asking partners or friends to judge. Most people without training default to 'I like that colour' rather than 'that colour flatters you'. The two aren't the same.
A simple ongoing self-check
Once a month, take a quick photo of yourself in your most-worn top in natural daylight. Compare it to a photo in your best-discovered palette colour. If the gap is dramatic and you're still wearing the wrong one all week, it's time to either edit the wardrobe or book a proper session to lock in your sub-season.
What you'll actually walk out with from a Perth session
Beyond your colour samples and your take-home colour guide, a session at Colours by Sue gives you a clear, clear advice on your best metals, neutrals, colour combinations as well as which colours to avoid and your most flattering makeup shades. That's the practical kit that changes how you shop and dress the very next morning.
Ready to discover your palette?
Book your personal colour analysis or makeup session with Sue in Currambine or across the Perth metro area.