Spring Season
Light Spring
Fresh, delicate, and warm. Low contrast with golden undertones and soft, sunny pastels.
- Undertone
- warm & Light
- Contrast
- Low
- Best metals
- gold, rose gold
Palette Comparison
Light Spring vs Deep Winter Color Palette
Light Spring is a warm palette and Deep Winter is a cool one, so the two pull your complexion in opposite directions. Light Spring is warm and light, low 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 Light Spring 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.
Light Spring colors
Light Spring colors are warm, light, and clear. Worn near your face they lift your complexion without ever overpowering your delicate coloring.
Soft Peach
Your signature shade
Light Coral
Warm and gentle
Butter Yellow
Sunny, never harsh
Spring Mint
Fresh and airy
Light Turquoise
Clear and bright
Warm Sky Blue
Soft with warmth
Warm Pink
Playful and light
Light Lilac
Your softest accent
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
Light Spring
Light blue, clear green, light hazel, or light brown, usually with a soft golden fleck around the pupil and a gentle rather than sharp edge to the iris.
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
Light Spring
Fair with warm peachy undertones. Light Spring skin often freckles in the sun and looks noticeably healthier against cream than against optic white.
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
Light Spring
Light golden blonde, strawberry blonde, or medium golden brown. It lightens easily in the sun and rarely reads ashy in daylight.
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 Light Spring, a Deep Winter, or one of the other ten types, with your full palette and a preview on your own face.
Get my color analysisLight Spring vs Deep Winter Celebrities
Style icons for each palette. Comparing two faces you already know is often quicker than comparing swatches.
Amanda Seyfried
Light Spring
Scarlett Johansson
Light Spring
Kate Hudson
Light Spring
Léa Seydoux
Light Spring
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 Light Spring and Deep Winter?
Undertone. Light Spring is warm, built around shades like soft peach, light coral and butter yellow, while Deep Winter is cool, built around deep violet, true red and pine green. Depth differs too, Light Spring sitting at low contrast against Deep Winter at high, but temperature is what you should test first. A palette on the wrong side of that line leaves skin looking sallow or grey however well the depth matches.
Are Light Spring and Deep Winter the same season?
No. Light Spring belongs to Spring and Deep Winter belongs to Winter, two separate seasons in the twelve-type system. They also sit on opposite sides of the warm and cool line, which makes confusing them the more costly kind of mistake. The shades each one is named for do not transfer between them.
Which key colors define Light Spring vs Deep Winter?
Light Spring is defined by soft peach, light coral, butter yellow and spring mint. Light Spring colors are warm, light, and clear. Worn near your face they lift your complexion without ever overpowering your delicate coloring. 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 are the quickest tell of all: Light Spring wants gold or rose gold, and Deep Winter wants silver or white gold.
Am I Light Spring or Deep Winter? How can I tell the difference?
Temperature first: hold soft peach and deep violet fabric under your chin in daylight and watch which one evens out your skin instead of adding shadow. Then depth: Light Spring carries low contrast between hair, skin and eyes where Deep Winter carries high, so judge how much contrast your own bare-faced photo shows. Then metals: Light Spring suits gold or rose gold and Deep Winter suits silver or white gold. When two of the three agree, that is your answer.
Who are some celebrity examples of Light Spring and Deep Winter?
For Light Spring, look at Amanda Seyfried, Scarlett Johansson, Kate Hudson and Léa Seydoux. 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 Light Spring vs Deep Winter right matter?
Because the two palettes fail in opposite directions, and the failure is quiet rather than obvious. Wearing Deep Winter colors as a Light Spring lays a cool cast over warm skin, which shows up as dullness, grey under the eyes, or a yellow flatness people read as tiredness rather than as a wardrobe problem. 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. Metals compound it: Light Spring suits gold or rose gold and Deep Winter suits silver or white gold, so jewelry bought for the wrong season quietly undercuts the rest.
Can Light Spring and Deep Winter share any colors?
Effectively not. The two palettes share no shade and nothing close enough to substitute, which is what you would expect given an undertone difference this clear. Wearing one season's colors as the other is visible in daylight even to someone who knows nothing about color analysis. If you love a color from the wrong list, keep it below the waist.
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 soft peach 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. Then repeat at your wrist with gold or rose gold against silver or white gold jewelry. Two signals pointing the same way is 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.
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
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