Distinguishing Bright Winter From Bright Spring

The two palettes are clearly different. Look at them side by side and there's no doubt. Bright Winter is darker, crisper, bluer; Bright Spring is livelier, cheerier, yellower.

But getting down to individual colors is tricky. There aren't many hues that are found only in one palette but not in the other. Both have pinks, yellows, greens, blues, purples... The differences are mainly in the temperature of the hues - cool or warm? - and it can be hard to convey those differences in a blog.

I will focus on just two colors, two that are inarguably distinct in hue - one from each palette.

First is Bright Spring's very saturated adobe orange. Think rust or pumpkin, but clear, not dull.

Found in Bright Spring, NOT in Bright Winter.

The Bright Spring palette has a few colors like this, and they're nothing like anything in Bright Winter's palette.

Here's Rose McGowan in such a color:

Bright Spring Rose McGowan. I love everything about her palette here.

If you are lovely in some version of this warm, deep, but clear orange, you're more likely Bright Spring than Bright Winter.


The colors that most easily distinguish  Bright Winter from Bright Spring, in my opinion, are its periwinkles. Periwinkle is purple-blue. Bright Winter's are like this:

Found in Bright WInter, NOT in Bright Spring.

Now, Bright Spring has several colors you might call purple.

Bright Spring purple can look like this...

...or like this. (This will read as purple in some contexts.)

Some are crayon purple;  others are quite magenta-ish, almost red.

But none of them are purple-blue. 

Here's Courtney Cox in a similar color:

I've not formally opined that Courtney Cox is a Bright Winter, but others say she is. It's likely, don't you think?

If you suspect you're a Bright but aren't sure which one, compare these two colors. Make sure both versions are very saturated, not faded or grayed or dull.


For more help figuring out your season, see here.  Good luck!