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 Light Summer Color Palette
Light Spring and Light Summer are the pair people mix up most often, because they share enough of their coloring to look interchangeable in the wrong light. Light Spring is warm and light, low contrast, while Light Summer is cool and light, low contrast. Here are both palettes side by side, with the eye, skin, and hair traits behind them.
Summer Season
Light Summer
Airy, delicate, and cool. Very low contrast with soft pastels and a gentle, ethereal quality.
- Undertone
- cool & Light
- Contrast
- Low
- Best metals
- silver, white gold
The Light Spring and Light Summer 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
Light Summer colors
Light Summer colors are cool, light, and slightly softened. They flatter by staying close to your own gentle contrast rather than fighting it.
Soft Rose
Your signature shade
Powder Blue
Calm and airy
Lavender
Soft and dreamy
Pale Aqua
Cool and fresh
Soft Mint
Gentle cool green
Blush Pink
Delicate and cool
Cool Butter
Your softest yellow
Sky Grey-Blue
Everyday cool 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.
Light Summer
Blue, green, pale blue-grey, or soft lavender-grey, usually with a hazy, blended edge to the iris rather than a sharp ring.
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.
Light Summer
Fair with delicate cool undertones and often a slight pink tinge. Light Summer skin flushes rather than tans and burns easily in strong sun.
Hair
Light Spring
Light golden blonde, strawberry blonde, or medium golden brown. It lightens easily in the sun and rarely reads ashy in daylight.
Light Summer
Light ash blonde, strawberry blonde with a cool cast, or medium ash brown. It usually looks slightly cool or smoky rather than golden in daylight.
How to tell Light Spring and Light Summer apart
Both are light, delicate, and low in contrast, which is why they are the two most frequently confused types in the whole system.
Undertone settles it. Light Spring is warm: peach, coral, and butter yellow make your skin glow. Light Summer is cool: those same shades turn Light Summer skin sallow, while dusty rose and powder blue bring it to life. Hold a peach fabric and a dusty pink fabric side by side under daylight and the difference is usually obvious in seconds.
Not sure which season you are? Take the quiz
One photo tells you whether you are a Light Spring, a Light Summer, or one of the other ten types, with your full palette and a preview on your own face.
Get my color analysisLight Spring vs Light Summer 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
Reese Witherspoon
Light Summer
Taylor Swift
Light Summer
Gwyneth Paltrow
Light Summer
Kristen Bell
Light Summer
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the real difference between Light Spring and Light Summer?
Undertone. Light Spring is warm, built around shades like soft peach, light coral and butter yellow, while Light Summer is cool, built around soft rose, powder blue and lavender. Depth differs too, Light Spring sitting at low contrast against Light Summer at low, 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 Light Summer the same season?
No. Light Spring belongs to Spring and Light Summer belongs to Summer, 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 Light Summer?
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. Light Summer is defined by soft rose, powder blue, lavender and pale aqua. Light Summer colors are cool, light, and slightly softened. They flatter by staying close to your own gentle contrast rather than fighting it. Metals are the quickest tell of all: Light Spring wants gold or rose gold, and Light Summer wants silver or white gold.
Am I Light Spring or Light Summer? How can I tell the difference?
This is one of the most confused pairs in the system, so work through it in order rather than trusting a first impression. Temperature first: hold soft peach and soft rose fabric under your chin in daylight and watch which one evens out your skin instead of adding shadow. Then clarity, since both types sit at low contrast: compare a clear soft rose against a more blended shade and see which one your face wears comfortably. Then metals: Light Spring suits gold or rose gold and Light Summer suits silver or white gold. When two of the three agree, that is your answer.
Who are some celebrity examples of Light Spring and Light Summer?
For Light Spring, look at Amanda Seyfried, Scarlett Johansson, Kate Hudson and Léa Seydoux. For Light Summer, look at Reese Witherspoon, Taylor Swift, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kristen Bell. 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 Light Summer right matter?
Because the two palettes fail in opposite directions, and the failure is quiet rather than obvious. Wearing Light Summer 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 Light Summer suits silver or white gold, so jewelry bought for the wrong season quietly undercuts the rest.
Can Light Spring and Light Summer share any colors?
Yes, a little. One shade appears in both palettes, and a large share of both palettes sits close enough that one garment could pass for either. The crossover is always in the muted mid-tones, never in the signature colors: soft peach stays Light Spring, and soft rose stays Light Summer. If you genuinely cannot decide between the two, that overlap is where to build a small shared wardrobe.
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 soft rose 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.
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Autumn
Winter
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