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 Soft Autumn Color Palette
Light Spring and Soft Autumn both run warm, which is why a Spring palette and a Autumn palette can look closer than you would expect. Light Spring is warm and light, low contrast, while Soft Autumn is warm and soft, low contrast. Here are both palettes side by side, with the eye, skin, and hair traits behind them.
Autumn Season
Soft Autumn
Gentle, mellow, and warm. Low contrast with blended earth tones and a soft golden glow.
- Undertone
- warm & Soft
- Contrast
- Low
- Best metals
- gold, rose gold
The Light Spring and Soft Autumn 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
Soft Autumn colors
Soft Autumn colors are warm but softened, as though a little grey has been stirred into every shade. Nothing in your palette is fully saturated.
Soft Terracotta
Your signature shade
Moss Green
Earthy and grounded
Camel
Everyday warm neutral
Dusty Rosewood
Soft warm berry
Muted Jade
Your cool accent
Warm Blush
Gentle and mellow
Dusty Blue
Softened and calm
Warm Oatmeal
Your best light base
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.
Soft Autumn
Soft hazel, warm green, or muted amber-brown. Soft Autumn eyes often shift between green and brown depending on the light, with a hazy outer edge.
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.
Soft Autumn
Ivory, olive, or medium brown with soft golden-warm undertones. The warmth is understated rather than obviously bronzed.
Hair
Light Spring
Light golden blonde, strawberry blonde, or medium golden brown. It lightens easily in the sun and rarely reads ashy in daylight.
Soft Autumn
Light golden brown, warm blonde, or soft auburn. The warmth is present but muted, rarely as vivid as a Warm Autumn’s copper.
Not sure which season you are? Take the quiz
One photo tells you whether you are a Light Spring, a Soft Autumn, or one of the other ten types, with your full palette and a preview on your own face.
Get my color analysisLight Spring vs Soft Autumn 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
Drew Barrymore
Soft Autumn
Gisele Bündchen
Soft Autumn
Sienna Miller
Soft Autumn
Cindy Crawford
Soft Autumn
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the real difference between Light Spring and Soft Autumn?
Clarity, and nothing else. Light Spring and Soft Autumn share an undertone, a temperament and the same low contrast level, which is why no undertone test will separate them. The split is how pure each palette's colors are: Light Spring runs on clear shades like soft peach, light coral and butter yellow, and Soft Autumn on earthier, more blended ones like soft terracotta, moss green and camel. Against the wrong face, a clear color looks garish and a blended one looks dull.
Are Light Spring and Soft Autumn the same season?
No. Light Spring belongs to Spring and Soft Autumn belongs to Autumn, two separate seasons in the twelve-type system. They read as similar because both are warm, and light and soft coloring can look alike in poor light. The shades each one is named for do not transfer between them.
Which key colors define Light Spring vs Soft Autumn?
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. Soft Autumn is defined by soft terracotta, moss green, camel and dusty rosewood. Soft Autumn colors are warm but softened, as though a little grey has been stirred into every shade. Nothing in your palette is fully saturated. Metals will not help you choose between these two, since both want gold or rose gold.
Am I Light Spring or Soft Autumn? How can I tell the difference?
Skip the undertone test. Both are warm, so vein color, jewelry instinct and the usual warm-versus-cool questions will point both ways. Start with clarity, since both types sit at low contrast: compare a clear soft peach against a more blended shade and see which one your face wears comfortably. Metals will not break the tie here, since both types want gold or rose 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 Light Spring and Soft Autumn?
For Light Spring, look at Amanda Seyfried, Scarlett Johansson, Kate Hudson and Léa Seydoux. For Soft Autumn, look at Drew Barrymore, Gisele Bündchen, Sienna Miller and Cindy Crawford. 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 Soft Autumn 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: Soft Autumn colors on a Light Spring simply drain the life out of the face, and Light Spring colors on a Soft Autumn 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 gold or rose gold.
Can Light Spring and Soft Autumn share any colors?
Not the same shades, but a large share of both palettes sits 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: soft peach and light coral for Light Spring, soft terracotta and moss green for Soft Autumn. 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 soft peach against soft terracotta 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.
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
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