What's the Difference: Bright Winter vs Bright Spring

Bright Spring Classic and Bright Winter Classic Swatchbooks by True Colour International

I get so many questions about these two seasons that I’m surprised they weren’t the most-requested comparison right out of the gate!

First, let’s explore their technical parameters:

Bright Winter and Bright Spring are both situated between True Winter and True Spring on the seasonal color clock, meaning that they’re both blends of True Winter (cool, saturated, high contrast) and True Spring (warm, saturated, medium contrast). 

Bright Winter is based in True Winter, with a dash of True Spring’s juicy warmth. Bright Winter is a Cool-Neutral season. Colors are bright and electric. 

Bright Spring is based in True Spring, with a dash of True Winter’s icy intensity. Bright Spring is a Warm-Neutral season. Colors are fresh and tropical. 

Brightness is the most important characteristic of these two seasons. Soft, muted colors will disappear or look dusty on both of the Brights, particularly in makeup. At the same time, rich, dark colors can feel heavy. 

Aside from temperature, one main difference between these two seasons is that Bright Winter is darker and more high contrast than Bright Spring. 

What happens when a Bright Winter wears Bright Spring colors?

A Bright Winter wearing Bright Spring clothing or makeup will often find her skin looking more orange or yellow than it really is. The eyes can lose color and sparkle, and the skin can take on a slightly greasy look. Bright Spring makeup will usually look noticeably too orange or coral, with an overall effect that can come off as slightly childish.

What happens when a Bright Spring wears Bright Winter colors?

A Bright Spring wearing Bright Winter clothing or makeup will often find her skin looking more ashen than it really is. Many Bright Springs notice an artificial “mustache” in Bright Winter due to shadowing, particularly in too-dark or too-cool Bright Winter lipstick. The eyes can appear slightly red and watery, and the overall effect can come off as strained or hard.

How do each of the Brights wear their makeup?

Both of the Bright seasons are flattered by shiny, sparkly, or translucent effects. Bright Winter has a little more wiggle room with matte textures, while Bright Spring has a little more wiggle room with dewy textures. 

Bright Winter is flattered by crisp and clean makeup, and many Bright Winters prefer minimal eye makeup, with high-contrast blush and lipstick. Eye makeup shouldn’t be overly dark or smoky, but a retro eyeliner style can be very flattering. Eyeshadows like Colourpop Uh Oh and Colourpop I Heart This are stunning, along with eyeliners like Lancôme Black Coffee and Moira Beauty Sapphire Blue. For cheeks, fuchsia and cool hot pinks like MAC Full Fuchsia and Surratt Classique. For lips, intense fuchsias are a popular choice, like Revlon Fuchsia Fusion or Maybelline Fuchsia For Me, as well as clear cherry reds like Dior Red Smile.

Bright Spring is flattered by fresh and sunny makeup, with many Bright Springs appreciating a dewy look, or even over-the-top shine via highlighter. Too-dark eyeshadows and liners can look heavy on the Bright Spring face, but colorful ones can look surprisingly normal. Peachy eyeshadows like MAC Orb and Stila Kitten are perfect, along with eyeliners like Moira Beauty Soft Gold and Hourglass Meteorite. For cheeks, bright strawberry pinks and corals like Benefit Crystah and Moira I Adore You are gorgeous, and for highlighters, look at Colourpop Lunch Money or Moira Bubbly Champagne. For lips, warm hot pinks and pinky-corals, like Dior Lucky and L’Oreal Raspberry Rush.

Can these two seasons “cheat” with some of the same colors?

Technically speaking, colors belong to one palette or the other, but in real life, they may borrow from each other occasionally. The success of this can depend on the size of the piece (an earring, vs a sweater, vs a shoe), where on the body the color is worn, and the individual in question. These two seasons don’t tend to share a lot of makeup shades, but there are always exceptions. Eyeshadow and eyeliner are somewhat malleable due to differences in blending and application style, and of course, every individual may have a different sweet spot in her season.

If you’d like to explore these two seasons further, check out my Pinterest boards:

• Bright Winter

• Bright Spring

Does Your Style Exist Only In Your Imagination?

“[Clothes] are our social shells; projections of our inner selves; indicators of wealth and status. From an early age literature teaches us how to "read" an outfit, beginning with the children's fairy stories where we learn to recognise the wicked witch by her black robes. In a novel, a beautifully described outfit can be used to enhance characterisation, turn a narrative or create a powerful visual snapshot of a scene. A pair of trousers, a dress, a hat may carry any number of political, social and aesthetic meanings.”

-Helen Gordon

Soft Autumn Classic Swatchbook by True Colour International

The outfits you actually wear say leagues more about your style personality than your carefully-crafted Pinterest board or the unworn items hanging in your closet.

It’s not uncommon for a client to come to me and describe herself with words like “mysterious,” “edgy”, and “cool,” yet wear nothing that says any of those things at all. She herself may be mysterious, edgy, and *extremely* cool - but we’d never know it based on her clothing alone. 

If you’re saving outfits to your style board that don’t work for your body type, or that you’d never consider wearing in real life, it might be time to create a separate board for realistic style ideas. You can always reserve the original for style inspiration.

Not caring about what you wear can be a style statement in and of itself, though it’s less powerful for most of us than we might like. Often we’ll come off looking sloppy instead of the hoped-for “I’m too cool for this.” A uniform (whether full-on Steve Jobs, or a little more creative like Caroline Herrera) can be an effective bridge between the two approaches. 

Accessories like jewelry, bags, scarves, and shoes can save the day by adding pizzazz to more basic outfits, especially for uniform dressers. Accessories are often easier to store than larger wardrobe items, more forgiving of weight/shape/trend changes, and available at a variety of price points.

That said, don’t be afraid of statement wardrobe pieces! Basics and accessories are a great start, but what about a moto jacket with bold hardware in your favorite color? A dress with a cool pattern of 4-6 different colors in your palette? A pair of colorful linen shorts with a paper bag waist?

If you find yourself with a huge gap between how you want to be perceived and what your clothes are actually saying about you, I can help! Maybe you want to look mysterious, edgy, and cool, but you have no idea how to make that happen. If that’s you, I offer a free one-hour exploration call where we can draw up a game plan for your unique style situation. You can book yours here!

Are You Typecasting Yourself?

When we first discover our season or archetype, it can be so tempting to box ourselves in. We find a dress shape, lipstick color, or pant length that works, and we stick with it.

In the beginning, this is helpful. I advise my clients to focus on a couple easily identifiable colors or clothing shapes before trying to revamp their entire wardrobe all at once. But the more comfortable we get, the more we’ll ideally branch out and take risks.

We all have endless permutations of style creativity at our disposal. Discovering where we can successfully push the boundaries of our season or archetype (which doesn’t necessarily mean straying outside of them) can add dynamic flavor to our personal style. My rhinestone snake earrings are a great example of this. Likewise, it’s good to know where pushing the boundaries does more harm than good.

I enjoy thinking of personal style as a collection of episodic novels, a la Nancy Drew. They share the same mood and protagonist, but each story stands and shines alone.

Now that I’ve been redraped as a Bright Spring, I resonate even more with that concept. I’m no longer drawn to many of the styles and outfit formulas that I favored as a Dark Autumn. I donated all of my once-beloved half-circle skirts, and I’m not losing any sleep over it. They were emblematic of a wonderful but bygone era, my Modern Wood Nymph phase. I said a Marie Kondo-style thank you and goodbye, and moved into my tropical garden party era.

Allowing space for play, experimentation, and change as we move through our lives is a key component to finding joy in personal style. Don’t be afraid to create new combinations of clothing you already own, to try on pieces you think might be too “out there,” or to find ways of incorporating design motifs you love, even if it’s just in an earring. Every day needs an outfit. And if today’s outfit doesn’t work out, there’s always tomorrow.

What's the Difference: Light Spring vs Light Summer

Light Spring and Light Summer are another highly-requested seasonal combination, and I can see why! While the Lights don’t get as much attention online as other seasons do, their palettes are just as important, and can be no less confusing.

First, let’s explore their technical parameters:

Light Spring and Light Summer are situated between True Spring and True Summer on the seasonal color clock, meaning that they’re both blends of True Spring (warm, saturated, medium contrast) and True Summer (cool, muted, medium. contrast). 

Light Spring has a base of True Spring, with a dash of True Summer’s coolness and softness. Light Spring is a Warm-Neutral season. Colors are fresh and juicy, and color descriptions and keywords often evoke food or warm locales, with words like honeydew, peach, coral, and sand.

Light Summer has a base of True Summer, with a dash of True Spring’s brightness and warmth. Light Summer is a Cool-Neutral season. Colors are fresh and serene, and color descriptions and keywords often evoke flowers and beaches, with words like aqua, periwinkle, rose, and lilac.

In the Sci/Art system, it’s important to note that there is no purely neutral season made up of 50/50 warm and cool colors. The seasons we refer to as Neutral are still either more warm or more cool. This term distinguishes them from the True seasons, which are comprised of purely warm or cool colors.

It’s also important to remember that “Light” and “Soft” are not synonymous terms! Light season people need brightness and vivacity in their colors, although not as much as their Bright counterparts. Very muted colors, like we see in the Soft seasons, are too dusky for the Lights.

Lightness is the most important characteristic of Light Spring and Light Summer. While Light season people don’t necessarily look lighter than everyone else (though they can), they’re enhanced by lighter, brighter colors in makeup and clothing. They are easily dragged down by colors that feel too heavy or dark. 

What happens when a Light Spring wears Light Summer colors, and vice versa?

Too-cool colors can turn Light Spring skin ashy, or lips slightly blue. There may be an impression of dry/flaky skin, or shadowing from the relative darkness and coolness of Light Summer. 

Too-warm colors can turn Light Summer skin more yellow than it naturally is, or lips slightly orange. There may be an impression of overly shiny skin, or an ungrounded feeling of “floating” in the relative lightness and warmth of Light Spring. 

How do these two seasons wear their makeup?

Light Spring will go for an overall warmer and juicier look. Eyeshadows like MAC Orb and Stila Kitten are at home here, along with eyeliners like Clinique True Khaki. For cheeks, peach and melon shades like Benefit GALifornia or NARS Luster are beautiful. And for lips, light coral pinks like Bobbi Brown Guava, NARS Niagara, or 12 Blueprints Honey Mandarin.

Light Summer will go for an overall cooler and rosier look. Eyeshadows like MAC Yogurt and Laura Mercier Sable are at home here, along with eyeliners like Clinique Blue Gray. For cheeks, fresh petal pinks like Surratt Tu Me Fais Rougir or Tarte Dollface. And for lips, light raspberry pinks like Dior Be Dior, Tarte Pink Peony, or 12 Blueprints Come Dancing. 

Both of these seasons are enhanced by makeup with translucent or somewhat dewy finishes, including cream blush, highlighter, lipgloss, and/or shimmer shadows. Light Summer may err on the side of a more petal-matte skin finish, while Light Spring can get away with more shine.

Can these two seasons “cheat” with some of the same colors?

Technically speaking, colors belong to one palette or the other, and people will be most enhanced and magical in their own season. But in real life, a Light Spring may occasionally wear a Light Summer sky blue, or a Light Summer may reach for a Light Spring coral without feeling the effect too terribly. The success of this can depend on the size of the piece (an earring vs a sweater vs a shoe), where on the body the color is worn, and the individual in question. These two seasons do share some makeup successfully, particularly in ivory and taupe eyeshadows, and in lipsticks on the cooler coral spectrum.

If you’d like to explore these two seasons further, check out my Pinterest boards:

• Light Spring

• Light Summer