Winter Season
Cool Winter
Striking, sophisticated, and icy. High contrast with vivid blue-based brights and true neutrals.
- Undertone
- cool & Cool
- Contrast
- High
- Best metals
- silver, white gold
Palette Comparison
Cool Winter vs Deep Winter Color Palette
Cool Winter and Deep Winter are both Winter types, so they share an undertone and differ in how light and how saturated their best colors are. Cool Winter is cool and cool, high contrast, while Deep Winter is cool and deep, high contrast. Here are both palettes side by side, with the eye, skin, and hair traits behind them.
Winter Season
Deep Winter
Dramatic, dark, and intense. High contrast with black, deep violet, and cool jewel tones.
- Undertone
- cool & Deep
- Contrast
- High
- Best metals
- silver, white gold
The Cool Winter and Deep Winter Palettes
Each type's eight signature shades. Read them as a set rather than one color at a time: it's the overall temperature and clarity that separates these two palettes.
Cool Winter colors
Cool Winter colors are blue-based, clear, and saturated. Icy pastels and true jewel tones both work — what matters is that nothing is muddied with warmth.
True Fuchsia
Your signature shade
Royal Blue
Vivid and clear
Emerald
Cool jewel tone
True Violet
Rich and cool
Icy Aqua
Frosted and light
Icy Orchid
Your softest accent
Deep Navy
Your best dark
Pure White
Crisp and clean
Deep Winter colors
Deep Winter colors are dark, cool, and saturated. This is the only palette in the system where true black is a genuine hero rather than a compromise.
Deep Violet
Your signature shade
True Red
Blue-based and bold
Pine Green
Dark and cool
Deep Sapphire
Rich and saturated
Deep Magenta
Cool and vivid
Deep Teal
Your jewel accent
Midnight
Everyday deep neutral
True Black
Your strongest neutral
Key Characteristics
The coloring each palette is built around. Where you land on these three is what decides which of the two is yours.
Eyes
Cool Winter
Light brown, cool hazel, blue, or icy grey, usually with a sharply defined ring around the iris that contributes to your contrast.
Deep Winter
Dark brown, cool dark hazel, or black-brown. The iris usually reads as almost uniformly dark, with a crisp boundary against the white of the eye.
Skin
Cool Winter
Olive, or fair to medium with cool pink or blue undertones. Cool Winter skin looks noticeably better beside pure white than beside cream.
Deep Winter
Olive, or fair to deep with cool undertones. Deep Winter skin can look almost translucent at the fair end and richly saturated at the deep end.
Hair
Cool Winter
Ashy blonde, dark brown, black, or cool ash brown. There is no golden or coppery cast even in the lighter shades.
Deep Winter
Medium to dark brown, dark espresso, or black. It holds its depth without any golden or coppery warmth showing through.
Not sure which season you are? Take the quiz
One photo tells you whether you are a Cool Winter, a Deep Winter, or one of the other ten types, with your full palette and a preview on your own face.
Get my color analysisCool Winter vs Deep Winter Celebrities
Style icons for each palette. Comparing two faces you already know is often quicker than comparing swatches.
Liv Tyler
Cool Winter
Elizabeth Taylor
Cool Winter
Lucy Liu
Cool Winter
Aishwarya Rai
Cool Winter
Anne Hathaway
Deep Winter
Kim Kardashian
Deep Winter
Sandra Oh
Deep Winter
Lupita Nyong'o
Deep Winter
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the real difference between Cool Winter and Deep Winter?
Clarity, and nothing else. Cool Winter and Deep Winter share an undertone, a temperament and the same high contrast level, which is why no undertone test will separate them. The split is how pure each palette's colors are: Cool Winter runs on clear shades like true fuchsia, royal blue and emerald, and Deep Winter on earthier, more blended ones like deep violet, true red and pine green. Against the wrong face, a clear color looks garish and a blended one looks dull.
Are Cool Winter and Deep Winter the same season?
No. They are two types inside the same Winter family, which is why they share cool undertones and still call for different colors. Cool Winter is the cool version and Deep Winter is the deep one, so their palettes sit at different levels of lightness and saturation. Being told you are "a Winter" is only half an answer, and the half that decides your best shades is the type.
Which key colors define Cool Winter vs Deep Winter?
Cool Winter is defined by true fuchsia, royal blue, emerald and true violet. Cool Winter colors are blue-based, clear, and saturated. Icy pastels and true jewel tones both work — what matters is that nothing is muddied with warmth. Deep Winter is defined by deep violet, true red, pine green and deep sapphire. Deep Winter colors are dark, cool, and saturated. This is the only palette in the system where true black is a genuine hero rather than a compromise. Metals will not help you choose between these two, since both want silver or white gold.
Am I Cool Winter or Deep Winter? How can I tell the difference?
Skip the undertone test. Both are cool, so vein color, jewelry instinct and the usual warm-versus-cool questions will point both ways. Start with clarity, since both types sit at high contrast: compare a clear true fuchsia against a more blended shade and see which one your face wears comfortably. Metals will not break the tie here, since both types want silver or white gold. That leaves the fabric test as the deciding one, which is exactly why this pair is worth checking against a photo rather than a mirror.
Who are some celebrity examples of Cool Winter and Deep Winter?
For Cool Winter, look at Liv Tyler, Elizabeth Taylor, Lucy Liu and Aishwarya Rai. For Deep Winter, look at Anne Hathaway, Kim Kardashian, Sandra Oh and Lupita Nyong'o. Read them for the relationship between hair, skin and eyes rather than for individual outfits, since a stylist can put anyone in anything. Daylight photographs without heavy makeup or filters are far more useful here than red-carpet shots.
Why does getting Cool Winter vs Deep Winter right matter?
Because the two palettes fail in opposite directions, and the failure is quiet rather than obvious. The mismatch is weight, so nothing clashes outright: Deep Winter colors on a Cool Winter simply drain the life out of the face, and Cool Winter colors on a Deep Winter sit too heavily on it. It also costs money. Most of a wardrobe is neutrals and basics, and buying those on the wrong side of the line means every top you own works slightly against your face while none of them looks obviously wrong on the hanger. Jewelry is the one thing you can buy safely either way, since both types want silver or white gold.
Can Cool Winter and Deep Winter share any colors?
Not the same shades, but another 10 sit close enough that one garment could pass for either. Those near-matches are the softest, most neutral parts of each palette, where the gap narrows to a degree or two of warmth. Everything either season is known for stays on its own side: true fuchsia and royal blue for Cool Winter, deep violet and true red for Deep Winter. Treat the near-matches as safe ground, not as proof the palettes are interchangeable.
What's the fastest way to confirm my season at home?
Stand at a window in indirect daylight, without makeup, in something that will not bounce color onto your face. Hold true fuchsia against deep violet under your chin, one at a time, and watch your skin rather than the fabric: the right one evens out redness and softens the shadows under your eyes, and the wrong one adds a grey or yellow cast. Do it twice on different days, since both types want the same metals and jewelry cannot act as your second opinion here. Two readings that agree are usually enough, and a photo-based analysis will confirm it in minutes.
Browse All Palettes
All twelve color seasons, three to a family. Open any one for its full palette, traits, and the colors to keep away from your face.
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Summer
Autumn
Winter
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