Warm Spring Color Palette (True Spring)

Warm Spring is led by hue. Every color in the palette has a yellow base, and nothing carries a blue or gray undertone. The second axis is clarity: the colors are clean and saturated, closer to a ripe fruit than to a spice. Depth sits in the light to medium range, so the darkest colors are browns, teals and tomato reds rather than black.

Skin is often golden, peachy or warm beige, from fair to deep, and some Warm Springs have freckles. Eyes are often warm blue, warm green, light hazel, topaz or light brown, sometimes with a golden sunburst pattern around the pupil.

Hair is often golden blonde, strawberry blonde, coppery red or light golden brown, and many Warm Springs were blonde as children. Contrast is usually medium. Gray, black and icy pastels tend to make a Warm Spring look tired, while orange and gold make the skin look healthy.

• Warm ivory #FBEFD5
• Camel #C39A68
• Light apricot #FFC48E
• Marigold #F4B030
• Coral #F4795A
• Golden yellow #F6C844
• Grass green #6DB33F
• Warm turquoise #72C8B8
• Tomato red #D9442C
• Warm teal #007E7A
• Milk chocolate #7A5636
• Bright orange #FF7A1A

Warm Spring or Light Spring?

Light Spring is a lighter, gentler version of your warmth. Hold a saturated Marigold scarf next to a pale butter yellow in daylight. On you, Marigold looks natural and lifts the eyes, while the butter yellow melts into the skin and you look washed out. On a Light Spring, the pale yellow looks fresh and the Marigold takes over the face. Golden brown against a light camel gives a second answer: you can carry the deeper brown, while a Light Spring looks heavier in it.

See the Light Spring palette

Warm Spring or Bright Spring?

Bright Spring keeps some warmth but trades part of it for clarity and contrast. Hold Golden brown next to a cobalt or royal blue, then Warm ivory next to a bright pure white. On a Warm Spring, Golden brown and Warm ivory look rich and the cobalt and pure white look hard, as if they sit in front of you. On a Bright Spring, the cobalt and white look sharp and the browns look muddy.

See the Bright Spring palette

Your neutrals are brown-based and golden. Camel and Tan are the workhorses for coats, trousers and bags. Warm ivory replaces white, and Golden beige replaces gray for knits and suiting. For depth, Milk chocolate and Coffee brown stand in for black, and Dark teal blue covers the job most people give to navy. Warm taupe fills in casual pieces.

Your best white and what to wear instead of black.

Five outfit formulas

• Camel classic

  • Coat: camel
  • Sweater: coral
  • Trousers: warm ivory

• Golden workday

  • Blazer: milk chocolate
  • Blouse: marigold
  • Trousers: golden beige

• Seaside weekend

  • Linen shirt: warm turquoise
  • Shorts: tan
  • Sandals: golden brown

• Tomato and teal

  • Dress: tomato red
  • Cardigan: warm teal
  • Shoes: camel

• Green and gold

  • Knit: grass green
  • Skirt: coffee brown
  • Scarf: golden yellow
  • Belt: bronze

Prints and fabrics

Your prints can carry real color: tropical florals, citrus prints, paisley on a warm ground, madras and gingham in coral or green, and warm animal prints in camel and gold. Keep the ground warm (ivory, camel, golden beige) and the contrast medium. Fabrics with a little life suit you: crisp cotton, linen, silk twill, suede, polished leather and knits with a soft sheen. Cool grays, icy prints and dusty, washed-out florals look flat next to your skin.

Colors to avoid

• Black #000000
• Icy pink #F4D9E6
• Fuchsia #E0218A
• Royal blue #2B4FBF
• Burgundy #7A1F3D
• Lavender #B6A6E0

Each of these has a blue or gray base, and black is deeper than anything in your coloring. Near the face they cancel the gold in your skin, so you can look sallow or tired. If you love blue, use Peacock blue or Warm teal; for pink, use Coral or Salmon.

Choose a golden, peach or warm-olive undertone, never pink. Test three shades along the jaw in daylight; the one that disappears and makes freckles look even is right. Bronzer should be golden or warm caramel rather than gray-brown.

Lips

• Coral #F0785A
• Warm peach #F2A074
• Tomato red #D9442C
• Golden nude #C98A63

Blush

• Apricot #F5A06A
• Warm coral #EE8466

Eyes

• Golden bronze #B0823A
• Copper #B8693A
• Warm teal #2F8F86
• Olive gold #9A8A3A

Liner and brows

• Chocolate brown #5A3A26
• Bronze #8C6A2D

Copper and bronze eyes with a coral or tomato lip give you a full look that still reads natural. Brown or bronze mascara keeps the eye soft; black is fine if your lashes and brows are dark. Skip cool pinks, mauves and gray-taupe shadows, which make the skin look dull.

Keep hair warm and golden. Copper, strawberry blonde, golden blonde and honey brown all repeat the warmth in your skin. Add depth with golden lowlights rather than ash ones, and use a gold or copper gloss so the color fades evenly instead of turning patchy and brassy. Ash blonde, blue-black and burgundy usually make the skin look gray.

Move toward

• Golden copper #B8693A
• Strawberry blonde #D9A070
• Honey brown #A67036
• Golden blonde #DDB36A

Move away from

• Ash blonde #C6C0B0
• Blue black #121820
• Burgundy #7A1F3D
• Platinum #E8E8E8

Gray hair and highlights

If your gray has a yellow or creamy cast, golden blonde and honey highlights blend it easily, and copper glazes work well on red hair that is fading. If you grow it out fully, ask for a warm or golden toner instead of a violet one, which turns your gray flat and cool.

Gold is your metal. Bright yellow gold, brass and copper repeat the warmth in your skin, and a polished finish suits the clarity of the season. Silver tends to look cold and slightly gray on you; white gold is the easier choice when you want a pale metal. If you own silver pieces, wear them with gold so the warm metal sits closest to the face.

• Yellow gold
• Brass
• Copper
• Bronze

Glasses frames

Honey or amber tortoiseshell, warm caramel or camel acetate, thin gold wire and warm teal frames all suit you. Avoid black, gunmetal and cool gray frames, which sit on the face like a hard line.

People often typed as Warm Spring. Typing a famous face from photos is guesswork (lighting, makeup and hair dye all change it), so use it as a reference for coloring and check your own season with the drape tests above.

• Blake Lively: Often wears golden blonde hair, with a warm, sun-kissed complexion and bright blue-green eyes. Source for Blake Lively, opens in a new tab
• Amy Adams: Often wears copper-red hair, with fair warm skin and blue-green eyes. Source for Amy Adams, opens in a new tab
• Bella Thorne: Often wears coppery red hair, with fair warm skin and green-blue eyes. Source for Bella Thorne, opens in a new tab
• Anna Torv: Often wears golden or strawberry blonde hair, with fair warm-leaning skin. Source for Anna Torv, opens in a new tab
• Kelly Reilly: Often wears copper hair that glows next to warm teal or tomato red. Source for Kelly Reilly, opens in a new tab
• Chris Hemsworth: Often wears golden blond hair, and his warm undertones carry saturated spring colors. Source for Chris Hemsworth, opens in a new tab
• Brad Pitt: Often wears sandy blond hair, with warm, often tanned skin. Source for Brad Pitt, opens in a new tab