Free AI color analysis: upload two selfies, get your season

Use indirect, north-facing daylight. Stand a few feet back from a window that does not have direct sun coming through it. Direct sun is too warm and harsh, so you want the soft, neutral light of open shade or an overcast sky. Mid-morning to early afternoon is best, roughly 10am to 2pm, when daylight is closest to neutral. Avoid early morning and golden hour entirely, since both throw warm light that re-triggers the exact bias we are trying to remove. Turn off all indoor lights: household bulbs are warm, or worse, a mix of color temperatures, and mixing them with daylight wrecks the reading. One clean light source only.

Point your face toward the window so the light falls evenly on you, not from the side or above. No shadows across one cheek. Even, flat, frontal light is unflattering for portraits but ideal for color diagnosis, because it does not distort undertone.

Wear a plain white or light-grey top, or drape a white towel over your shoulders. This does two jobs: it gives the analysis a neutral reference to judge your skin against, and it keeps colored clothing from reflecting onto your skin. The background should be a neutral white or grey wall, not a warm beige one, since beige reflects warmth back onto your face and pushes the read warm.

Hold a plain white sheet of printer paper next to your face in at least one shot. This sets a known anchor: white paper should look white, so if it looks cream or yellow in your photo, the lighting is warm and any warmth in your skin can be discounted. This single addition does more to fix a warm bias than anything else, because it makes it possible to correct for the light instead of mistaking it for your undertone.

If your phone lets you lock white balance or shoot in a neutral or daylight preset, do it. Turn off any "beauty," "auto-enhance," "warm tone," or portrait-mode skin smoothing. These often add warmth and shift color. Do not apply any filter. Shoot the raw photo.