True Spring
The warmest season, golden, clear and sunlit.
True Spring is warmth in its purest form. The coloring is golden throughout, skin, hair and eyes all carry yellow-based warmth, and the best colors are clear, warm and saturated without being icy or heavy. This is the palette of coral, golden yellow, warm turquoise and grass green.
Temperature is the dominant axis here: get the warm-versus-cool call right and everything else follows. (Undertone is what the 12-tone system calls this season's primary characteristic.)
Where this season sits
Every one of the twelve seasons is a position on three axes. These are the coordinates our analysis scores you against.
Is this you?
- Skin
- Warm and golden, from ivory-peach through to golden beige; tans easily.
- Hair
- Golden blonde through golden or strawberry brown; strong natural warmth.
- Eyes
- Warm blue, green, teal or golden hazel, clear and bright.
- Contrast
- Low to medium, with warmth as the unifying thread.
True Spring celebrities
Famous faces that share True Spring coloring. The point is the pattern in skin, hair and eyes, not a resemblance.
Blake Lively
Cynthia Erivo
Jessica Chastain
Kate Bosworth
Photos via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY / CC BY-SA / public domain. The credit for each one is on the True Spring celebrities page.
The palette
The 20 colors that work hardest for True Spring, with hex codes so you can match them exactly.
- Coral orange#FF7043
- Bright tangerine#F4511E
- Salmon coral#FF8A5C
- Warm poppy#E85D4E
- Golden yellow#FFB300
- Daffodil#FFD54F
- Amber#F9A825
- Chartreuse#C0CA33
- Grass green#7CB342
- Leaf green#43A047
Neutrals to build on
- Cream#F2E6CE
- Warm beige#D6B98C
- Golden tan#B5854A
- Warm brown#8A6234
- Warm denim#4E6E82
Metals and makeup
Best metals: Yellow gold, Bronze, Copper.
Lip
- Coral
- Warm red
- Warm pink
Blush
- Coral peach
- Apricot
- Golden peach
How to wear the True Spring palette
A styling example: three women who share True Spring coloring, each in a different outfit built from this palette.
More on True Spring
Often confused with
Watch: this season explained
Hand-picked videos on True Spring from working color analysts, a different teacher, the same season.
TRUE SPRING COLOR PALETTE FOR WARDROBE AND MAKEUP
Filoso Vlogs · YouTube
How to Choose Makeup as a TRUE SPRING | Color Analysis Demo & Rec Guide
Kelly M. Roach · YouTube
Frequently asked
What is the True Spring color season?
True Spring is one of the twelve seasonal color types. It is strongly warm, moderately light and bright. In practice that means coral orange, bright tangerine and salmon coral sit comfortably on you, while the colors in the avoid list make you look tired. Temperature is the dominant axis here: get the warm-versus-cool call right and everything else follows. (Undertone is what the 12-tone system calls this season's primary characteristic.)
How do I know if I'm a True Spring?
Three checks. Warm and golden, from ivory-peach through to golden beige; tans easily. Golden blonde through golden or strawberry brown; strong natural warmth. Warm blue, green, teal or golden hazel, clear and bright. Contrast is the fourth: low to medium, with warmth as the unifying thread. If two of those four describe you, True Spring is very likely your season, our free analysis scores all twelve and tells you how close the runners-up are.
What are the worst colors for a True Spring?
The clearest ones to drop are black, charcoal gray and burgundy. Too cold and too deep, it kills the golden glow that defines the season. Full explanations for each are on the colors-to-avoid page.
Am I a True Spring or a Light Spring?
They are neighbors, which is exactly why they get confused. The deciding axis is depth: True Spring is the deep one and Light Spring is the light one. We have a full side-by-side comparison if you are torn between them.
Can a True Spring wear black?
Not near your face. True Spring coloring is too gentle for true black, it drops a hard edge under the chin and pulls shadows forward. Use Warm denim (#4E6E82) instead for anything worn up top, and keep black for trousers, shoes and bags where it has no effect on your skin.
Is True Spring warm or cool?
Warm. True Spring sits clearly on the warm side of the temperature axis, which is why gold, coral orange and the rest of the Spring palette settle the skin while icy or blue-based colors leave it sallow. Temperature is also its dominant axis, so warmth matters more here than depth or clarity.
Should a True Spring wear gold or silver?
Yellow gold, Bronze and Copper. Metal is one of the fastest at-home tests there is: hold silver and gold either side of your face in daylight and watch your skin rather than the jewelry, the wrong metal leaves a gray or sallow cast along the jaw.
How does True Spring color analysis work?
True Spring color analysis places your coloring on three axes, depth, temperature and clarity, and checks they match True Spring, which is strongly warm, moderately light and bright. You can approximate it at home with the metal, vein and contrast tests, but those disagree often. Our free analysis settles it: it scores all twelve seasons from your answers and one photo, so you see how far True Spring leads the neighbors it gets confused with.