If you know me, you know that my daily wear is almost always all black. As a self-described goth-adjacent, emo millennial, I’ve mostly leaned into my grungy roots in the last five or six years. But know that it’s not a phase, just ask the color analysis I visited in South Korea!

While planning our short trip to Seoul, my sister wanted to try color analysis, a seemingly new trend you see on all social media platforms. These videos show tourists sitting in front of a mirror with pieces of multi-color fabric draped over them while a color expert helps determine what color works best.

I was curious to see what the color expert would think about my monotone choices, so we booked a two-person course with Season of You in Yongsan for $172.92.

This trend of color analysis isn’t new. According to Elle Magazine, it first appeared in 1973 when the book “Color Me Beautiful” categorized people into colors corresponding with seasons like summer and winter. These categories would then determine the compatibility of a person’s features with the most flattering colors for clothing, makeup and accessories. The trend gained popularity in the U.S. but as all trends tend to do, it slowly died down.

Recently, there has been a revival of this trend in Korea, albeit with a slight difference. Here, the analysis focuses on skin undertones and what colors will enhance facial features, including hair color, make-up and jewelry metals.

At Season of You, the office was a one-room operation inside a non-descript office building. The stark white walls provided a good backdrop for an hour of color swatching and dissection.

After filling out a basic questionnaire, we took turns sitting in front of a large mirror with good lighting to really appreciate the work of Seungji, our color analysis expert.

She explained that each person is either spring, summer, autumn or winter and from there, the seasons are also broken down into soft or deep tones.

My sister went first and the analysis determined she was a Spring Light, a palette with pastels and lighter hues like lavender, fern green and golden mustard. Her secondary season was Winter Deep, which consists of colors like dark maroon, hunter green and navy blue. According to Seungji, the secondary tone is to provide “flexible, practical options” so the client can try a range of complementary colors and not be “limited to a single tone.”

My sister said she was disappointed because she didn’t find the Spring Light colors to be flattering and are not the ones she gravitates towards when shopping for clothes and makeup.

After her reveal I was ready for mine. Even though this is just for good fun, I felt a little pressure to impress Seungji that I knew my colors without her help. Or, worse yet, that my true colors would require a complete overhaul of my wardrobe.

I sat nervously awaiting some revelation with the same vulnerability of sitting in the salon chair staring at yourself. Fortunately, Seungji moved swiftly, covering my shoulders with color swatches while explaining the process. She pointed out how certain colors could make features pop, sharpen the jawline and give a glow to dull skin.

After the clothing colors, we moved onto makeup, then hair color, and finally, jewelry.

In the end, it was no surprise that black is the most flattering color for me. My emo heart could remain pure. Second was white. Seungji said I should steer from off-white, beiges and grays since they washed my face tone and features out.

The actual shock was that color-wise, I’m the opposite of my sister. My primary season is Winter Deep and secondary is Spring Light. Makes sense considering the matching dresses in different colors my mom would pick out for picture day when we were kids.

The rest of the analysis determined I have pink undertones in my face, so should color-correct with green tinted moisturizer or primer, that my lipstick color choices should be berry tones and mauve pinks, not the reds and dark browns I gravitate towards, and that I am not a gold jewelry girly, but a silver one. You will not believe the Pirates of the Caribbean-level amount of gold costume jewelry I have at home!

The color analysis was about a little over an hour to complete for both of us and completely overwhelming. Fortunately, Season of You provides a booklet with your data, paper swatches to take shopping and a cheat sheet via email with links to their Pinterest boards with examples of clothing broken down by colors.

It’s too bad my sister and I don’t live in the same city, otherwise we could increase our wardrobe size with all the color options that clearly complement each other.

I left Season of You with renewed appreciation for knowing myself and having confidence in my color choices prior to the analysis. I’m just lucky that what I like and what makes me look my best are somewhat aligned and complimentary to my sister! Color us surprised!

Season of You

• Address: 78-1 Hangang-ro 2-ga Yongsan District, Seoul, South Korea

• Hours: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. daily

• Note: We booked through travel website Klook, but there are many travel sites online and color-analysis business on Instagram. Shop around to see what fits into your budget.

• Instagram