I’ve had five color analyses. Two in person and three online. At the time, that felt completely reasonable for a few different reasons.

One major reason is that color analysis is presented as artistic. It’s about light, value, undertone, and harmony. It sounds both technical and creative.

My dad is similar. He’s a retired engineer but has always loved painting and drawing. He used oil paints when I was a kid, then switched to colored pencils during my teenage years, and now he does everything digitally. I’ve always admired how he combines precision with creativity.

I felt I leaned more analytical. I thought color might be an area where I lacked instinct, so I felt comfortable outsourcing that to an “expert.”

What I never did was a full style consultation or essence readings.

I could never quite bring myself to ask someone to tell me who I am. Something in me resisted that immediately.

Color felt like receiving neutral information.

Essence readings felt like receiving an identity.

Delegating my identity to someone else, even in a playful or aesthetic context, felt like crossing a line.

Looking back, I can see the distinction more clearly. Color analysis appealed to my desire for order and coherence (and maybe tapped into my worries about not being creative enough).

Essence readings required narrative agreement. They ask you to buy into a story about yourself.

Even at my most confused, I knew that’s not something I wanted.

Which, in hindsight, is probably why none of the systems fully stuck with me.