Beauty enthusiasts are no strangers to beauty apps that give us our daily fix of beauty news and inspiration to plan our next haul or prep for the next makeup look to do.

But we’re sure you haven’t added this to your repertoire yet – LIPS, an app that help determine your “colour season”.

What is a colour season?

Photo source: @all_things_grace/TikTok and @cocotte_beauty/Instagram

Most Japanese beauty enthusiasts are familiar with the concept of colour season. You’ll even see them listing it in their social media profiles (see above) to help followers with similar colour seasons get the best recommendations.

Colour seasons are shades that look best against your skin tone and undertone and they don’t change even if you get more tanned or fairer. These colours are grouped according to the season that best represent them.

The colours in each season are:

  • Spring: warm and light colours (pastel pink, rosy pink)
  • Summer: cool and light colours (lilac, bright pink)
  • Autumn: warm and dark colours (orange, burnt red)
  • Winter: cool and dark colours (wine red, berry)

Interested in finding out what your colour season is? This is where the Japanese app LIPS can help.

How to determine your colour season?

LIPS is a Japanese-based app that can be downloaded on Apple app store and Google play store. Besides helping to determine your colour season, the app also suggests posts from other users with similar colour season and relevant products that will work with your skin tone.

Unfortunately, the app’s settings are all in Japanese and the language can’t be modified. But don’t worry, even if Japanese is not a language you’re familiar with, we’re here to break everything down for you so you can enjoy this app too.

Follow these steps.

Step 1: Press accept and start

Once you’ve downloaded the app, press the button marked in the image above to accept the terms and conditions.

Step 2: Pick your age range

Select your age range on this page.

  • 10 years old to 15 years old (10 代前半)
  • 16 years old to 19 years old (10 代後半)
  • 20 years old to 25 years old (20 代前半)
  • 26 years old to 29 years old (20 代後半)
  • 30 years old to 35 years old (30 代前半)
  • 36 years old to 39 years old (30 代後半)
  • 40 years old to 45 years old (40 代前半)
  • 46 years old to 49 years old (40 代後半)
  • 50 years old to 55 years old (50 代前半)
  • 56 years old to 59 years old (50 代後半)

If you choose not to disclose your age, tap on the check box at the bottom of the options.

Step 3: Pick your skin type

Select your skin type.

  • Normal skin (普通肌)
  • Oily skin (脂性肌)
  • Dry skin (乾燥肌)
  • Combination skin (混合肌)
  • Sensitive skin (敏感肌)
  • Eczema (アトピー肌)

Remember to check the box at the bottom if you prefer not to disclose your skin type.

Step 4: Pick your personal colour

For those of us who aren’t sure which season we’re grouped under, select the black button that says “その他 · わからない”, which means “Others / I don’t know”.

But if you’re a returning user and already know what colour season you belong to, select it accordingly.

  • Spring (イエベ 春)
  • Summer (イエベ 夏)
  • Autumn (イエベ 秋)

Select the check box below to hide your colour season from other users if you’d like to.

Step 5: Pick brands you’d like to see on the app

To give the algorithm a little nudge in the right direction, pick some brands you’re fond of. This will help the app determine the type of posts that would make your experience more enjoyable.

Tap on the options available on the first screen or type your favourite brand in the search bar if you can’t find it in the list.

Feel free to type in English they usually include both English and Japanese versions.

Step 6: Enter the colour season page

After entering the home page, look to the top left corner and click the icon that has a smiley face with a bracket surrounding it.

This will take you to the colour season page.

Step 7: Press start and accept camera access

Tap the button below the arrow. This says “start analysis”. Then, wait for a new page to load.

While the page is loading, you’ll see a pop-up on your screen; the app is asking for your permission to access your camera so it can use an AR filter to determine your colour season.

Allow (許可) access and the next page will load.

Step 8: Pick the lipstick shades that you think suit you best

A series of lipstick shades will be projected onto your lips using an AR filter. Simply pick the shades that you think complement your skin tone and style.

Continue until the app brings you to the final page.

Step 9: Explore your personal season colour

Based on your choices, the app analyses your colour season.

Here’s what your page will say; your first colour is on top and your secondary colour is below. Some people are able to pull off more than one season colour.

Here is how you can tell which season you got as your personal colour.

  • Spring (イエベ 春)
  • Summer (イエベ 夏)
  • Autumn (イエベ 秋)
  • Winter (イエベ 冬)

For instance, in the screenshots above, the first colour of the person on the left is Spring and her secondary colour is Autumn. In the second case, her first colour is Winter and her secondary colour is Summer.

After your colour season has been determined, the app will recommend beauty products that shades that will complement your colour season.

There’s everything from blush, to lippies, and even nail polish that are sure to bring out the best in your complexion.

You can even decide what colour the face masks you wear or the hair colour to opt for in order to brighten your overall complexion.

Featured image credits: @s_20010827/TikTok and LIPS