Today’s episode is designed to answer the question: what happens when you have extraverted colors but an introverted personality, and how can you make personality and color types work together?
So a YouTube viewer wrote to me saying she was professionally typed as a Winter – dark hair, pale skin, high contrast – but she finds the typical Winter palette overwhelming and energetically exhausting, especially red. She’s an INTJ and wonders what happens with extraverted colors on introverted people. That’s such a brilliant question because it gets to something most color experts aren’t talking about.Â
Understanding personality and color types reveals why some technically correct colors can feel completely wrong energetically.
What Introversion and Extraversion Really Mean
Most people think introversion is about being shy or not social, but that’s not it. Understanding personality and color types starts with understanding what these terms actually mean.
• Introversion and extraversion are about energy management: introverts need to withdraw to recharge, while extraverts need to interact with the exterior world
• For introverts, the inner world is more real; for extraverts, the outer world is more real
Introverts have to reconcile everything that comes into their experience with what they believe, which is an energetically costly process.
Whether you are an introvert or an extravert, for all personality and color types, wearing colors that are more intense, or brighter, or higher contrast than your inherent coloring takes alot of energy.
How Personality and Color Types Create Conflicts
Different color theorists have tried to bridge personality and color types, with varying degrees of success.
• Carol Tuttle’s system puts introverts into either Type 2 (Summer) “don’t look at me” energy or Type 4 (Winter) “don’t mess with me” energy; both are introverted but express it completely differently. (Extraverts in her system either focus on ideas and possibilities, Type 1 Springs, or action and results, Type 3 Autumns.)Â
• My only hypothesis after over ten years of trying to map Myers-Briggs onto seasons is that clear seasons might align with intuition and muted seasons with sensing.
• But the real solution is a custom palette. Suzanne Caygill actually gave every kind of palette within each season.
The YouTube commenter’s situation makes perfect sense: she’s been given a generic palette that match her physical coloring but exhaust her energetically. She (probably) needs a more refined palette, with deep shaded colors worn in high contrast combinations.
A note about red: red seems to be one of the most polarizing colors, it’s very aggressive. I have a special field in my color intake asking how you feel about red 😎
Why Neutrals Stop Working as We Age
There’s another personality and color types issue that emerges with aging – suddenly neutrals that used to work start making people look washed out.
This is something I have noticed alot recently: a white person with white hair walking down the street, or the aisle at a store, wearing black pants and a light neutral top. Not only do the neutrals fail to bring the picture to life, she has cut herself in half proportionally. Not a good look!
Here’s how I see it:
• As we lose pigmentation in our skin and hair, we need more color to look vibrant
• The sophisticated neutral palette that worked at 35 can make you invisible at 55
• Many women resist this shift because they feel safe with their neutrals
• But wearing color near your face is a good strategy for most people at any age
I experienced this personally. When I wore lots of neutrals, people barely acknowledged me in stores. Since switching to my light and bright Spring colors, strangers speak to me in a genuinely friendly manner everywhere I go. The colors invite connection in a way that feels authentic to my personality.
Making Personality and Color Types Work
The solution isn’t choosing between technical color analysis and personality – it’s finding the intersection where both work.
Today’s episode is designed to answer the question: what happens when you have extraverted colors but an introverted personality, and how can you make personality and color types work together? The answer is understanding that both your physical coloring and your energetic presence matter equally in creating authentic style. And I’m here to help you.
Here’s something simple you can do this week to integrate these principles into your wardrobe: Forget your inherent coloring and what season you think you are for a minute. Take a look at the free Guide to Seasonal Energy & Personality Colors. Find the color resonance that feels most aligned with your personality and notice how you feel when you wear those colors.