[WHY] Cool or warm, spring or summer — Koreans want to know, what’s in a color

Choosing makeup to complement your style choices can be harder than it seems. Styling for yourself with an objective eye, in particular, is more difficult than suggesting styles for your friends. If you’re having difficulty discovering your own personal style or what suits you best, hiring an expert to figure out your “personal color” may be a good place to start. Based on your physical characteristics such as eye color, skin color and hair color, you will be classified into 12 different seasons, and find out what colors look best on you.

Personal color has become a new beauty trend in Korea. People who are not even considered beauty fanatics are pushed by their friends to personal color consultants to find their best colors and try out different cosmetic products based on the results. Personal color consultations are easily found at job fairs and even marriage brokerage companies to help improve people’s first impressions and overall look.

How does personal color analysis help you improve your overall image and will it continue as a trend in Korea?

 
What is the personal color trend about?

The recent trend of Koreans seeking out their optimal colors has been on the rise in the past few years.

“I remember getting my own personal color through a program at a cosmetic shop,” said Kang Yi-reh, a 25-year-old in Gangseo District, western Seoul.

“From cosmetic products to clothing and accessories, I purchase everything based on my personal color.”

According to Kang, her first encounter with personal color was after she heard from a close friend that she had a personal color consulting session. Kang remembers that the friend had a different “aura.”

“I always thought, she has something special.”

After getting her personal color result, she changed every possession she owned, including cosmetic products, clothing and accessories, according to the results of her consultation.

“I think lip products had the most dramatic change and effect on me,” said Kang.

“After changing my cosmetic products and what I wear based on my personal color, I heard from so many friends that I look different.”

Kang says she feels like her entire image improved after she learned what colors were best on her.

What exactly is personal color and when was it created?

Personal color analysis categorizes people into 12 different groups and determines which palette and hue of colors looks best on them.

The 12 different groups comprise four main seasons. Depending on your physical attributes, you will either be classified as bright winter, true (cool) winter, dark winter, dark (deep) autumn, true (warm) autumn, soft (muted) autumn, soft (muted) summer, true (cool) summer, light summer, light spring, true (warm) spring or bright spring.

Winter and summer are considered cool tones, or undertones, while spring and autumn are warm tones.

Soft summer goes well with greyish and blueish colors that do not have any yellow undertones, such as dry rose.

In Korea, the first stage of most color consultations is determining whether you are in a cool or warm tone. If you suit warm colors such as orange and red, you are probably a warm tone, and vice versa.

While its popularity has surged only in recent times, this beauty tool has a relatively long history.

“Personal color became important in the beauty industry between the 1950s to the 1960s in the United States and in the 1990s in Korea,” says Han Ji-su a beauty industry professor at Sungshin Women’s University.

“Personal color analysis looks like it suddenly emerged in recent years, but its origin comes from the four-season color theory by Swiss color and art theorist Johan Itten, who has classified color palates with the four seasons,” said professor Han.

“The idea became more popular in the 1980s when a book titled ‘Color Me Beautiful’ was published based on Itten’s theory.”

Johannes Itten (1888-1967) was the first to split colors into warm and cool, and then divided them again into light and dark.

How can you find your personal color?

Personal color is determined primarily based on a person’s skin tone, eye color and hair color. For a more accurate and objective judgment, people find personal color consultants to meet with.

“I knew I was a cool tone, but I had some doubts until I had a personal color consulting session,” said Kim Hye-min, a 27-year-old office worker in Gangnam District, southern Seoul.

“I was quite relieved to hear that I suit cool colors and that I was using the right makeup products. From then on, I always try to find fashion items that are in the color suggestions I received.”
Most personal color consultants will have a stack of different colored fabric samples as part of their tool kit. Customers will need to come to their sessions without any makeup on as the consultants will decide your tone based on your bare skin. They will hold the fabric samples close to your face, and if your face looks slightly darker, it means that the color is not for you.

Consultants can even recommend the best foundation color for you according to your personal color.

The consultation sessions can range in price from 50,000 won ($37.90) to 150,000 won.

“Personal color became a trend, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic in Korea as people started to become more interested in themselves, particularly in what they like and what suits them well,” said Kim Min-kyoung, CEO of the KMK Color Research Institute, a color consultant herself.

Kim mentioned that if time or money are factors preventing you from visiting a professional consultant, there is another option.

“For more objective results, using artificial intelligence (AI) is another way.”

The Zamface application uses AI to decide on a user’s personal color by virtually applying different lipstick shades.

“I use the application quite regularly to check if I am using the right product,” Kang said, stressing how she checks regularly to see if her personal color has changed.

However, unless a person’s skin tone changes dramatically, their classification of warm or cool is unlikely to change. Although factors such as the person’s profession or favorite color may be taken into account when consultants are classifying, it is also very unlikely that the seasonal classification will change depending on the consultant, says Prof. Han.

 
Will this trend continue?

Young people in their 20s and 30s, or the so-called MZ generation, heavily rely on personal color when it comes to making style decisions.

“I purchase 90 percent of my accessories in silver instead of gold since I go well with cool colors,” said Choi So-young, a 27-year-old office worker in Gangnam District, southern Seoul.

“I look tacky whenever I have anything in a warm color.”

Choi, who is highly interested in cosmetics, purchases makeup products from brands that release products based on personal colors. Brands promote their products based on personal colors, such as marketing an eye shadow palette with warm tones or cool tones.

“Korean consumers, in particular, are reacting sensitively to the trend and to how others perceive them,” said Han.

“The case is different for foreign countries as they have diverse ethnicities and have valued personal taste for a long time, unlike Koreans that have the tendency to follow the latest trends.”

The related market is expected to further grow in Korea. In 2021, the personalized cosmetics market size rose to 1.1 billion dollars despite the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The market is anticipated to expand to 4 billion dollars by 2025.

The trend is not only relevant to female consumers. Olympic speed skater Kwak Yoon-gy also shared his experience visiting a personal color consultant to figure out his personal color.

Kwak shared his experience finding his personal color on his YouTube channel which has over one million subscribers in March.

“We all knew Kwak was a cool tone,” a comment read on his video. “I wasn’t interested in personal color before, but seeing how he looks different in different tones, I should go and have a consultation as well.”

For men, the color of their hair, ties, and shirts may change their overall impression, said Kim from KMK Color Research Institute.

The journey of knowing your personal color is not just about knowing whether you suit cool or warm colors.

“Getting to know your personal color is another way for you to know better about yourself,” Kang said.

“It’s also about how I look to the others, but I felt a sense of gratification by getting to know about myself more, physically, at least.”

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]