Colour Seasons Don't Work but Colour Theory Does

It all started ten years ago. My friend Jess called me in tears — the dramatic kind.

“Okay, listen,” she said. “I’ve just paid a woman to tell me I look tired. Apparently I’m pale. And dull. And here’s the best part — she gave me a palette where every colour looks like it’s been washed with dishwater. Nothing bright. Nothing bold. Nothing me.”

She continued, gaining speed.

“You know me. I like colour. I like presence. I wear black. A lot. Am I committing a crime? Does black secretly ruin my face? Should I apologise to mirrors now?”

I tried to calm her down and told her the truth: colour seasons aren’t commandments, and no one has to obey them like gospel. Still, Jess felt cheated. As if her personality had been quietly removed and replaced with a watered-down version of herself.

She’d been typed as a Soft Summer.

“Apparently,” she said, “I’m meant to wear the shade of a dying rose.”

Jess was furious — and honestly, heartbroken. She admired Winters: deep, bold, striking. She wanted to feel powerful, visible, alive. But instead, she’d been handed a palette that whispered when she needed to speak.

Soft Summer Palette

There’s nothing wrong with colours like those. But they didn’t match Jess’s life — or her energy. She was a leader, working in the car manufacturing industry, managing a department full of men. She didn’t want to fade politely into the background. She wanted to be seen. To be heard.

Years later, it makes me smile — because Jess turned out to be a Hellebore, the darkest type in the Zazu Feu system.

And even if someone truly is a Soft Summer… does that really mean they can never wear bright colours? Or black? Or light shades?

Life would be far too boring.

But then, why do you need colour seasons if you look good in much more than those palettes can offer? Let's have a look at a few example.

Two Soft Summers: Dakota Johnson (actress), Bianca Balti (model). Kate Blanchett (actress) - Light Summer

Who would ever say these women look terrible in black? Only devoted seasonal colour adepts.

For the rest of the world, these women look absolutely stunning. So why aim to look “right” only in the eyes of such a tiny group of people?

In the Zazu Feu colour system, every colour type can wear black. It’s never about if — it’s about how.

Take Dita Von Teese. She is widely admired and consistently described as impeccable in her appearance.

Dita Von Teese

But what do seasonal colour purists say?

They argue she’s a light type — a Spring (freckles!), or a Summer — anything but a Winter or Autumn. They claim black hair doesn’t suit her. That dark clothing overwhelms her. That she hides her “paleness” under layers of lipstick and foundation.

Yes, Dita loves makeup. And yes, she once thought she looked pale in her younger years.

But haven’t we all thought that about ourselves at some point?

In the Zazu Feu system, Dita Von Teese is a Columbine — neither too dark nor too light. And she is absolutely allowed to have dark hair. Her inky black waves may read as dramatic, femme fatale-like, but they align perfectly with her personal style and harmonise with her colour type's palette! And it's so important for all of us to never forget what you really are and what you want to show to this world. But still, in the most attractive way.

Why Colour Matching Isn’t the Same as Flattering

Another common approach worth mentioning is the systems that use a pipette tool to pick colours directly from your skin, eyes, and hair, then build a palette based on those sampled tones. In theory, it sounds precise. In practice, it almost always leads to the same result: a set of rather boring — let’s be honest, often quite dull — colours.

From there, the process usually goes even further downhill. Once those muted tones are identified, more muted colours are added to “match” them. Slightly green eyes or olive skin? You’ll end up with endless variations of olive. Brown hair? Welcome to a world of greys. Then come the supporting shades: some murky yellow for olive skin, or an odd, dusty red you will never actually find in shops. On paper, it all looks logical. Your photo is placed next to the palette and, yes, everything matches.

But this is the key problem: that’s a photo — not you in real life.

Even with the best possible photograph, colours sampled from an image will never be bright or alive enough. And the conclusion this method quietly pushes is that you “can’t wear bright colours.” We’ve seen hundreds of colour analyses done this way, and time after time clients walk away with a palette of twenty lifeless shades that technically match a picture — but completely fail to represent a real, moving, living person.

At Zazu Feu, we also work online and we also rely on photographs — but not blindly. Our approach is grounded in experience: seeing hundreds of people, observing what actually looks fresh and striking in real life, noticing what gets compliments, what creates a stunning effect, and what is realistically wearable. We also consider something very practical: whether you can actually find these colours in shops without going to extreme lengths.

Believe us, you can pull off far more than a tiny palette of twenty muted shades. We don’t need colours that only work when we’ve just rolled out of bed in natural light. We need variety. We need colours that allow us to express ourselves — through different hair colours, makeup choices, outfits, or even a manicure.

Knowing your colour type is not about restriction. It’s not about shrinking yourself into a narrow, dull box. It’s a smart game — one where you learn the rules well enough to break them beautifully, and to outsmart anyone who thinks a certain colour would be “impossible” on you.

Ready to become an icon in your own right?

Zazu Feu will help you cultivate your own persona and make a memorable statement. We want people to remember you — not just the clothes or lipstick you wore.

Look bright. Look beautiful. Look like yourself.

You’re only one click away.