What comes to mind when you think about the color red? Roses, fire, intense energy, burning passion? Red has so much symbolism and significance across many cultures. It can represent passion and sensuality (red lingerie, anyone?), it is the color of the red cross symbolizing healing/health services, and it can also signify anger, danger, or act as an alarm. It was also one of the first colors used in pre-historic cave paintings.
The Romans utilized it as a symbol of power, and in Chinese philosophy, it is a symbol of good fortune. We could quite literally write an entire blog post about how deep the symbolism of this color goes. But for the sake of time, we are acknowledging that red communicates so many different things, and that is a truly powerful.
Red is a powerful communicator
When it comes to style, wearing the color red can communicate strength and boldness. It’s definitely not a color you’d wear if you want to blend in. There’s a reason why red is such a popular color for mid-life crisis sports cars, right? Red can be a powerful tool in your wardrobe for when you want to command attention or be perceived as an authority (especially helpful if you’re giving a presentation on a topic that you are an authority on).
Not all reds are the same
It can be said, though, that not all reds are the same. There are so many different types of red. Darker reds, lighter reds, warmer reds, cooler reds. Softer reds, vibrant reds. I think you know where we are going with this. It’s time to talk about red through the lens of seasonal color analysis. There are four main seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter) and at least four sub-seasons for each one. These seasons and sub-seasons differ in terms of temperature, chroma, and value.
Red within seasonal color analysis
What is seasonal color analysis? It is a service performed by a Personal Stylist, Image Consultant, or Color Specialist that determines the set of colors that love you the most. It takes into consideration the undertones and hues of your skin, eyes, and natural hair color, and how your features “play” with other colors. Read this blog post to learn more about the process of color analysis.
Is True Red best for everyone?
Many color analysts consider true red to be a universal color. That means that most people, regardless of their season, should be able to wear it. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, it certainly works “better” in some palettes than others. True Red has fairly neutral undertones, meaning it doesn’t lean warm or cool. If you ever want to incorporate something red into your wardrobe and want to play it safe, you could choose true red. But, who wants to play it safe? (Maybe if you’re a Classic or Ingenue, but we digress.)
As we mentioned before, there are reds that work best for each sub-season within our 16 season color system. These reds mimic the dominant traits of their sub-season to live in harmony with the other colors it lives with. Below, you’ll see visuals for each of the 4 main season’s best reds to help you get to know and recognize their different qualities.
Spring Red Palette: warm, fun, bright
The best reds for Springs are warm, bright, and fun! Poppy and geranium are your go-to reds, aside from true red. They have a bit more yellow/orange in them, and they’re kind of exactly what you would think of when you picture springtime blooms. You can also wear a redder version of coral, which is shown both here and in our post on Best Pinks for Each Season.
Summer Red Palette: cool, mysterious, ethereal
Most of the reds in the Summer palette gravitate towards the burgundy end of the spectrum. Summers have cherry red, a classic, slightly cooler version of true red. It’s what we think of when we picture iconic 50s era pin-up gals or cherry-flavored candy. There is also musk red and cranberry, which you can see are more muted and cooler in tone than true red. The darker reds you see in this palette are darker without being heavy, and in our opinion, super sensual. With undertones of blue, they are not warm whatsoever.
Autumn Red Palette: warm, earthy, deep
Reds for Autumns are fairly varied. Autumns can wear the warmer, brighter reds that are in the Spring palette, like poppy and geranium. They can also musk red, which is in the Summer palette. As a season that embodies muted, deep warmth, reds like brick and mars would be our top picks. The reds exclusive to this palette are red chestnut and red earth, which bring to mind the shades of fall leaves and deep, earthy clay.
Winter Red Palette: cool, sultry, intense
Winters have a little bit of crossover as well. In their palette, they have cherry red and mars red, which we have seen for Summers and Autumns. But they also have tango, carmine, and ruby, which get progressively deeper while still retaining their cool tone. These reds have much more blue undertones. Even though they do have depth to them, these colors are clear and bright, as if you can see straight through them.
The Classic Red Lip
Let’s also think about red as a lip color. The same types of reds you see below for your season will be a good rule of thumb when choosing your shade of red lipstick or gloss. Finding the right lip color can be tricky, and you also have to consider the color and temperature of your lips when testing out shades.
For example, Shelly falls on the mid to deeper spectrum of the Soft Summer palette. Her best colors are neutral-cool, soft/muted, and moderately deep. The best lip colors for her mirror these qualities, but what she has to consider when trying products is that her lip color is actually pretty cool in temperature, more so than her other features. When she tries a lip color that is too ‘cool’ (not neutral-cool) then she ends up looking like a vampire that accidentally ventured out of her lair.
Ready to discover your season?
As you can see, each season has its own unique spin on red, and it really does make a huge difference when you wear the ones that love you back. With the right reds you look cohesive, in harmony, and alive (literally). We even have a variety of all colors within each season’s palette on our curated Pinterest boards if you would like to see more real-life examples. If you don’t know what your season is and are brimming with curiosity, we offer Virtual Color Analysis, and even a Color Verification according to our 16-season system if you had your colors done elsewhere–but aren’t totally convinced.
We also have a digital color guide for each of our 16 sub-seasons available as digital downloads on our website. It’s an excellent resource to help you not only get to know your best reds better, but all of your best colors, metallics, gemstones, and more.
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