The Different Seasonal Sub-Types of Winters

Seasonal subtypes bring a deeper level of precision to color analysis. While the four main seasons – Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter – set the foundation based on warm or cool undertones, sub-types pinpoint which part of the palette works for your unique coloring. Do remember, though, that your seasonal subtype is a guide. If you fall at one end of a palette, it doesn’t mean you can never go near colors from other areas of that palette – just that this particular area is the strongest for your individual skin tone and contrast level.

The Winter Seasonal Color Palette Explained

The Winter palette is cool, clear, saturated and high contrast. It contains everything from icy turquoise to jewel bright fuchsia, through to stark black and white. Knowing your seasonal sub-type means knowing which colors from your wider palette will work best for you, and give you guidance on the best way for you to combine colors to feel your most authentic, confident self.

Let’s explore the sub-types within the Winter palette, and discover how knowing your sub-type can open up even more amazing colors for you.

Do remember that your seasonal type is a guide. It doesn’t mean you can’t ever go near colors from other areas of the Winter palette, just that this particular area is the very best part for your own skin tone and contrast level. Remember that all of the colors within your wider seasonal palette will also work for you, and will harmonize with your sub-type ‘wow’ colors.

The True Winter Seasonal Color Palette Explained

This is the classic Winter palette, also known as Jewel Winter. The True Winter person (and their palette) has an even balance of Winters cool, clear and high contrast characteristics

True Winters often (although definitely not always!) look like the ‘classic’ Winter - they can have very dark hair, fair skin and bright eyes. Their skin can be any color, but that feeling of contrast generally remains - either between hair and skin tone, or between skin/hairs and bright whites of eyes and teeth.

Because you sit right in the middle of the Winter palette - there is no ‘leaning’ towards any of the other three seasons, by being deeper, softer, warmer or cooler - the best colors for these True Winters really are, very simply, the colors of the Winter palette! Cheating on your palette by shopping from colors in another palette is never going to work as well for you as one of the other types of Winter, who can push into their neighboring season. The flip side is that you look the best in the widest range of Winter colors, as you really do sit bang in the middle of this palette. This means that it isn’t often helpful to add a tonal direction to the shopping filter on the Shop by Color page, as adding in colors from other seasons rarely helps you - simply choose from the full Winter palette and you’ll never go far wrong!

You still have your own very best core of colors though. They are, unsurprisingly, the most definitively Winter colors. They can be any shade, from fuchsia pink to emerald green and black and white, but they all share the characteristics of coolness, contrast and brightness that you also hold.

When it comes to color combining, you generally do high contrast within your outfit incredibly well - either pairing a neutral and a bright, or two or more brights within your outfit. If your outfits feel a little flat, adding in some more contrast between colors or levels of light and dark within your outfit can bring you back to your bold Winter self!

The Bright Winter Seasonal Color Palette Explained

Also known as a Sprinter Winter, the most dominant characteristic of Bright Winters is the clarity and brightness of their look, more than the coolness or contrast (which they also hold, but to a lesser degree).

Bright Winters very often look like they might be Springs, with lighter brown or blonde hair and bright blue eyes. They can have any skintone and hair color though, and the dominant characteristic is that brightness in the eyes and skin when flattered with their best colors.

Bright Winter falls at the less cool toned end of the Winter palette, and if you viewed all four seasons as one continuous spectrum of color, then Bright Winter’s colors would fall nearer to Spring than to Summer or Autumn.

Bright Winter’s best colors are usually clear, bright blues, bright neon pinks, and true reds, as well as icy colors.

You will almost certainly look your best with a good degree of contrast within your outfit - mix light and dark tones, as well as unexpected color combinations, for a high contrast look that will highlight the contrast and brightness within your own features.

The dominant tonal direction for this seasonal sub-type is Clear, so you can visit Shop by Color and filter for the Clear dominant tonal direction for more colors which you might love (if you want to read more about how tonal directions relate to seasons, this post is a great starting point).

The Cool Winter Seasonal Color Palette Explained

Also known as a Sultry Winter, the most noticeable characteristic of Cool Winters is the coolness in their skin, hair and eye color, although this still retain Winter’s clear and (very often also noticeable) deep traits too.

Cool Winters can have almost any coloring, although generally they have slightly less contrast between hair and skin than True or Bright Winters. They very often take on an extreme sallow look when wearing any yellow tones at all. Eye color is often brown.

Cool Winter falls at the very coolest, most blue toned end of the Winter palette, and if you viewed all four seasonal palettes as one continuous spectrum of color, the Cool Winter’s colors would fall nearer to Summer than to Spring or Autumn.

Cool Winter’s best colors have absolutely zero warmth to them. Cool pinky purples, darkest pine green, purplish indigo and navy, along with crisp white or bluey silver.

While most Winters suit contrast when combining colors, your tendency to sit towards the Summer end of the Winter palette can mean that you prefer a little less contrast within your outfit, although some light/dark or neutral/bright contrast can bring your look to life. Be led by what feels best!

The dominant tonal direction for this seasonal sub-type is Cool, so you can visit Shop by Color and filter for the Cool dominant tonal direction for more colors which you might love (if you want to read more about how tonal directions relate to seasons, this post is a great starting point).

The Deep Winter Seasonal Color Palette Explained

Also known as Burnished or Dark Winter, the most dominant characteristic of these Winters is the depth of their look. They still retain Winter’s coolness and clarity but depth is the predominant trait.

Deep Winters often look like Autumns, with red glints in their hair and hazel eyes. They can have a range of skin tones, and often have less contrast between hair and skin than Bright or True Winters.

Similarly to Bright Winters, Deep Winters also sit at the less cool end of their palette, but this time if you were to view all four seasons as a continuous spectrum of color, instead of sitting towards the light Spring palette, Deep Winters sit towards the deep and soft Autumn palette. This means that although all of Deep Winter’s colors have coolness (blue) to them, they are beginning to acquire just a hint of that brown tone of Autumn.

Deep Winter’s best colors feature plenty of shades (colors with black added, which makes them deeper and richer). Mole, burgundy and electric lime all feature, along with navy and stone as neutrals.

Since color combining is very often about reflecting our own features, you may well find that sticking to a reasonable degree of contrast, with rich tones added, works well for you.

The dominant tonal direction for this seasonal sub-type is Deep, so you can visit Shop by Color and filter for the Deep dominant tonal direction for more colors which you might love (if you want to read more about how tonal directions relate to seasons, this post is a great starting point).