True Spring

Warm · balanced value · clear

Warmth is the defining quality — neither especially light nor especially deep. Golden, clear colours read as yours.

The True Spring palette

  • Marigold
  • Golden yellow
  • Jade
  • Warm coral
  • Clear blue
  • Warm pink
  • Leaf green
  • Honey

Neutrals

  • Warm ivory
  • Camel
  • Coffee

Three that fight it

  • Black
  • Dusty blue
  • Cool grey

Three, not thirty. A palette is a prediction about which tones lift your face, not a list of banned colours — and a long avoid-list is the fastest way to make a useful idea useless.

What makes a True Spring

True Spring is the centre of the warm-and-clear family: warmth is the defining property, and neither lightness nor contrast is extreme enough to take over. Skin has a golden or peachy warmth, hair usually runs golden blonde to warm mid-brown, and the eyes are often clear green, warm blue or golden hazel. Colours that are both warm and clean read as belonging here.

Am I a True Spring?

True seasons are diagnosed by exclusion — you are one when no second axis dominates.

  • Warm beats cool clearly: gold jewellery, cream over optic white, camel over grey.
  • But neither light nor deep wins outright — very pale pastels wash you out and very dark shades weigh you down about equally.
  • And clear beats muted: a clean turquoise looks better on you than a dusty sage.

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True Spring versus the seasons it is confused with

  • Light Spring

    Value. If pastels genuinely suit you rather than washing you out, you are lighter than True Spring.

  • True Autumn

    Value and clarity. Same warmth; True Autumn is deeper and more muted, and gold-on-brown reads richer than gold-on-gold.

True Spring makeup

Warm and clean, at ordinary intensity.

  • Coral, warm peach and clear warm pink blush
  • Golden browns, warm greens and bronze on the eye
  • Brown or bronze liner; navy works better than black if you want depth
  • Warm corals and clear warm reds on the lip — blue-reds fight the skin

Hair colour for a True Spring

Golden blonde through warm chestnut, with copper and honey highlights sitting naturally. Anything described as ash, platinum or cool brown works against the season.

Gold or silver?

Gold, in warm yellow. Copper and bronze also suit; silver reads cold against the skin.

How do I know if I am a True Spring?

True seasons are diagnosed by exclusion — you are one when no second axis dominates. Warm beats cool clearly: gold jewellery, cream over optic white, camel over grey. But neither light nor deep wins outright — very pale pastels wash you out and very dark shades weigh you down about equally. And clear beats muted: a clean turquoise looks better on you than a dusty sage.

What colours suit a True Spring?

Marigold, Golden yellow, Jade, Warm coral, Clear blue and similar tones, with warm ivory, camel, coffee as the neutrals that carry them.

Should a True Spring wear gold or silver?

Gold, in warm yellow. Copper and bronze also suit; silver reads cold against the skin.

What hair colour suits a True Spring?

Golden blonde through warm chestnut, with copper and honey highlights sitting naturally. Anything described as ash, platinum or cool brown works against the season.

True Spring or Light Spring?

Value. If pastels genuinely suit you rather than washing you out, you are lighter than True Spring.

True Spring or True Autumn?

Value and clarity. Same warmth; True Autumn is deeper and more muted, and gold-on-brown reads richer than gold-on-gold.

The other eleven seasons

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