Characteristics

Please note: Do not worry too much if one characteristic of your appearance deviates from the below descriptions. You may still fall into this colour season if your overall appearance matches the profile.

The following images are examples of True Springs. You may look different but still be a True Spring.

You are a True Spring if the dominant characteristic of your overall appearance is warm, and the secondary characteristic is bright (or clear).

When you look in the mirror, the first thing you notice about your colouring is its warmth. There is no cool quality in your appearance and golden and honey hues dominate your features.

In addition, your skin, eyes, and hair have a fresh and clear appearance. Instead of blending together, they contrast each other and there is no muddiness or softness about them. Overall, the contrast between your features is medium.

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The Features

I. Eyes

True Spring eyes are medium-light with enhanced brightness and warmth. They range from warm blue over warm green and light hazel in colour. Light brown or topaz are also common (especially with darker ethnicities). And while they definitely stand out in contrast to skin and hair, they are not as overly bright and vibrant as Bright Spring eyes. You may also notice a sunburst pattern around the pupil, which is characteristic of Spring eyes.

II. Skin

True Spring skin is characterised by warm and golden undertones. This means that while gold looks very flattering, silver looks very disharmonious against it. Skin tones range from fair to dark (I to V on the Fitzpatrick scale). True Springs may also have freckles.

III. Hair

Warm, golden tones also reign the hair. It comes in a variety of shades, from medium golden blonde over strawberry blonde and coppery red to light golden brown. Many True Springs were blonde as children and have grown up into brunettes. For darker ethnicities, light to medium golden brown is common.

IV. Contrast

True Spring is a season of medium contrast between skin, hair, and eyes. In the images below, you can see how how the features contrast each other, but there are no truly dark areas.

True Spring vs True Autumn

True Spring and True Autumn sit opposite each other on the seasonal flow chart. Both seasons have warm as their dominant characteristic. The distinguishing feature between them is their secondary characteristic – True Spring is bright, whereas True Autumn is muted.

This means that True Autumn’s appearance is toned down and the features’ colouring blends together. There is also a lower contrast between the features compared to True Spring.

True Spring, on the other hand, has a fresh and clear colouring. Where True Autumn features complement each other, True Spring features contrast each other. Because of their contrasting appearance, True Springs can handle a lot of colour, and they look better in contrasting colours than True Autumns do.

The Colour Palette

True Spring is the season reminiscent of sunshine, tropical islands with turquoise water, yellow sand, lush green leaves, and juicy fruit.

In terms of colours, the following images are representative of the saturated, fresh colours that are part of the True Spring colour palette:

The Palette

True Spring is the original Spring season in the four seasons colour analysis and is therefore the “standard” Spring palette. Its colours are warm, bright, and have a clear yellow undertone to match the warm skin.

The season falls at the very warmest, most golden end of the wider Spring colour palette. It contains warm greens, yellows, orangey reds, peachy pinks, and every shade of light brown from beige to tan.

Although Spring is in general a season of lighter colours, True Spring’s colours go deeper and are more saturated than might be expected.

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Colour Dimensions

On the three dimensions of colour, True Spring has the following properties:

Hue

Consistent with True Spring’s dominant characteristic, the palette sits at the warmest end of the hue scale. This means the colours contain yellow undertones, but no blue ones. As a result, you will find very few shades of blue (which is the coolest colour of all) on the palette. And you will only see warmer shades of blue – such as turquoise, mint, or pastel blue – that have a tint of yellow. Instead, there are more yellows, peachy pinks, and warm greens that are naturally yellow-based.

Value

The colour palette is quite broad, but it is lighter in value because of the greater concentration of yellow undertones. There are no truly dark colours on the palette, although you may find darker shades of blue or purple, which are supportive colours of the lighter shades.

Chroma

In line with True Spring’s secondary characteristic, the colours are high in chroma. This means they are saturated, bright, and vibrant rather than soft and muted.

Sister Palettes

True Spring sits between Bright Spring and Light Spring on the seasonal flow chart. It is at the heart of Spring, and the colours are bright, light to medium in value, and very warm.

With its opposite season True Autumn, the colours share the same warmth, but are brighter and lighter. True Autumn colours are soft, muted, and less contrasting.

Compared to Bright Spring the colours are warmer, softer, and slightly lighter. The influence of Winter on Bright Spring is not replicated here.

Compared to the third Spring sub-season Light Spring, the colours are warmer, brighter, and slightly darker.

As sister palettes, Bright Spring and Light Spring both share True Spring’s characteristics of bright and warm, respectively. This means you can borrow some of their palettes’ colours as they are close enough to the True Spring colour palette. On the Bright Spring palette, opt for the softer shades – such as artisan's gold or peacock blue. Whereas on the Light Spring palette, choose the darker colours – such as ultra violet or poison green.

Styling

Clothing

Even though technically you can combine any of the colours on your colour palette with each other, certain combinations will look much better than others:

True Spring’s natural appearance contrasts rather than blends. Therefore, the best colour combinations for your outfits are those that contrast each other. In addition, your natural colour contrast is medium – so your colour combinations should reflect that. Why is this important?

Wearing colour combinations that reflect the contrast that exists in your natural appearance will intensify it and will make you come alive in your outfits.

The obvious way to achieve contrast is to pair lighter with darker colours in monochromatic looks. However, as a True Spring, this may not be enough for you since your natural colouring is  bright and clear. This means you can wear quite a lot of colour without looking overwhelmed. Consequently, contrast in hue is particularly flattering on you.

You can freely combine neighbouring hues – such as yellow and green. And don’t be afraid of combining colours that sit far from each other on the colour wheel – such as peachy orange and teal. These will look striking on you.

In general, always aim for at least one bright colour in your outfit and avoid neutrals-only combinations – they will make you look off.

True black and true white are not on your colour palette, as these two colours are too cool for your colouring and can make you look sallow. To replace black, you have warm chocolate browns and greenish greys, and yellowish and greenish lights instead of white.

Colours to Avoid

Apart from black and white, avoid soft and toned-down colours – such as dusty blues and muddy browns, that dampen your natural brightness and make you look muddy. Cool, dark colours – such as royal blue and aubergine, will also clash with your naturally warm colouring.

Patterns & Prints

If you are thinking of incorporating some patterns and prints into your wardrobe, consider the following:

The best patterns are those that only contain True Spring colours – like in the first example below.

If a pattern contains some, but not much colour from a disharmonious palette – like in the second example, you can also wear it.

The last example contains too much of a disharmonious colour (a True Summer yellow, which is cool and muted), so it’s best left alone.

Since your natural colouring leans towards a higher contrast, opt for patterns that reflect this natural high level of contrast rather than ones which blend too much together.

In the example below, both patterns are in True Spring colours and wearable. However, the second pattern displays a higher contrast between the elements and is therefore more flattering.

Great patterns for True Spring are dotty, busy, creative, and rounded shaped geometric patterns. Natural elements – such as flowers, butterflies, and birds are great. Anything hand-drawn is also good.

Elements should not be too small and not too dense.

Avoid very small and very big elements as well as stiff, square geometric patterns – like in the first example.

Jewellery

Because of the predominant warmth of True Spring, the best metal is a warm, yellow gold. And a light, shiny gold is better than a rich, dark gold. A warm rose gold or white gold can also work.

Silver or any of the cooler metals do not go well with your colouring and are best avoided. The same goes for matte finishes, which clash with your naturally saturated colouring.