Bright Winter
Bright Winters are the queens of bold, crisp and icy colours! The palette is one of the brightest and most vibrant along with Bright Spring. Think of crisp winter days and bold icy tones.
Being on the cusp of Winter and Spring, the season possesses characteristics of each, resulting in a palette that is clear, bright and cool. It is marked by highly saturated, bold and crisp colours that enhance the vibrant and icy beauty of Bright Winters.
Who Falls into the Bright Winter Season?
Bright winters have a striking appearance, with vivid and icy features. Their features stand out in one way or another. For example, they might have an unusual combination of black hair and bright green eyes. The contrast levels between their skin, eyes and hair will be high and there will be a slight coolness to their appearance.
The only way to really determine your color season is through draping, however, there tend to be certain features that Bright Winters have, but keep in mind that there are always exceptions.
Skin: Cool undertones with a clear and bright appearance. The skin often has a porcelain, cool beige, or olive quality, giving a fresh and bright look.
Eyes: Cool eye colours such as bright blue, green, grey, or cool hazel. The eyes tend to be clear and piercing, with high contrast between the whites of the eyes and the iris.
Hair: Dark brown, black, or even platinum blonde with cool, vibrant undertones. Bright Winter hair often has a high-contrast and striking appearance.
All of their features are highly saturated - naturally vivid, bold, crisp and icy. To accommodate their strong colouring, bright winters require colours that mirror this brightness and coolness. Colours that are too muted or warm don’t allow their uniqueness to glow. Bright Winters need bold and intense colours to really shine!
How Do You Know if You're a Bright Winter?
Each season has a primary, secondary, and tertiary feature. Your primary feature is your dominant and the most obvious feature. Your secondary and tertiary features might be a little less obvious and harder to determine. Your secondary and tertiary features might be a little less obvious and harder to determine, but they are still equally as important in determining your coloring. For Bright Winters, their features are the following:
Primarily Feature: Bright (chroma). The primary aspect of Bright Winter is that they are bright. This is the first thing people will usually notice about them. Their appearance will be bright and they’ll thrive in bright colors while muted colours tend to wash them out.
Secondarily Feature: Cool (temperature). Bright Winters are neutral-cool, meaning that both cool and warm colours can suit them, however, cool colours will be slightly better.
Tertiarily Feature: Dark (value). Bright Winter is part of the winter palette which is a darker season, meaning that darker colors will suit them better.
To determine if you are a Bright Winter, consider the following:
Chroma: Are your features more bright or muted? Can you wear bright clothing or do you look better in more muted colors? While bright colours overwhelm most other seasons, they make Bright Winters shine. If you can wear bright magentas, cobalt blues and even cool neon colours, you might be a Bright Winter!
Contrast levels: Are your skin, hair and eyes all a similar depth or do you have much darker hair relative to your skin? Bright Winters have the highest contrast levels of all seasons (along with Bright Springs). Your hair, skin and eye colour should be very different from each other. This could look like having black hair, bright blue eyes and pale skin. At least one feature will stand out from the others as being much lighter or brighter. If your contrast is not very high, you might check out other seasons instead.
Cool vs Warm: Bright Winter is a neutral season nestled between the warmth of Spring and the coolness of Winter. Hence, they can pull off both warm and cool colours as long as the colours are saturated enough. However, cooler shades will really make a Bright Winter come to life! If you feel like you lean more towards slightly warmer colours, then you might be a Bright Spring.
Depth: Are your features (hair, eyes, skin, lips) primarily light, medium or dark? Bright Winters belong to the winter season which is on the darker side. They will typically have darker features (but not too dark, or they would be a Deep Winter). They’ll usually have one or two dark features with one or two lighter features.
The best way to determine your season is to do a drape test. You can either purchase a physical drape test fan or try some digital tools online like vivaldicolor.com, Dressika, and others. Or, just find different color pieces in your wardrobe, compare them to each other and take notes.
You want to look for colors that smooth your skin out, lift your jawline and bring out your eyes, lips and eyebrows. The colors should harmonise with you, not being too overpowering and also not washing you out.
Also, take note of the colors that you really don't like on yourself. This can offer some clues to your season as well.
It's important to have an unbiased opinion while going through the different steps of color analysis and to approach it with an open mind. Many people fear bright and bold colors and stay away from them and might then not even consider the possibility that they might be a bright season. Keep and open mind through the process and you might just be pleasantly surprised.
If you find that look best in bold, striking, icy, cool colours, then you might just be a Bright Winter!
Best Colors for Bright Winter
Bright Winters have an amazingly bold, electric, icy and intense palette to play around with. Some of the colours that will really make you come to life as a Bright Winter are the following:
Blues: Electric blue, cobalt, bright navy, turquoise
Greens: Emerald green, cool teal, bright green
Purples: Bright magenta, cool fuchsia, bright violet
Pinks: Hot pink, bright rose, icy pink, magenta
Neutrals: Cool black, bright white, cool gray
Yellows: Bright lemon yellow, icy yellow
Reds: True red, bright crimson
Overall, Bright Winters look stunning in bright blues, purples, pinks, reds, greens, yellows and black. Colors for Bright Winter should be bright, crisp and cool, not overly muted, warm or light since those drown out the uniquely vivid appearance of a bright winter.
Many people are afraid of bright colors but as a Bright Winter, these colors should not look overwhelming on you. Rather they harmonise with your already vivid features. You can also always opt for some of the more conservative colors of this palette and work your way to incorporating bolder colors gradually.
Jewelry for Bright Winter
Bright Winters look dazzling in bold and bright silver, white gold, platinum and shiny cool-toned stones! The best options include:
Metals: Silver, white gold, platinum, and cool-toned metals
Stones: Diamonds, bright sapphires, emeralds, rubies, amethyst, clear crystals
Avoid warm or overly dark jewellery, which can clash with the cool and vibrant quality of the Bright Winter palette.
Hair Colors for Bright Winter
Bright Winters typically have naturally dark hair ranging from pure black to espresso brown (around levels 1-5N). Rarely, will a Bright Winter have naturally platinum blonde hair, however, they can look really good in it due to the high contrast.
If you do choose to dye your hair, then keeping the coolness and high contrast level is important, as colours that are too muted, light and warm (like golden brown, golden blonde or auburn) can look off.
Flattering hair colour choices for Bright Winters include:
Brown (levels 2-5): Cool dark brown, espresso brown, mocha brown, dark chestnut, dark mahogany
Black (levels 1-2): Jet black, blue-black, brown-black
Highlights: Cool, icy highlights can add dimension without overwhelming the natural colour
*Although blonde is typically too light and warm for winters, platinum blonde has the right level of coolness and brightness. So, if you do wish to go blonde as a Bright Winter, then platinum blonde would be your best bet.
Read more about the Best Hair Colors for Winter Seasons and get some inspiration on Pinterest.
Makeup for Bright Winter
Bright Winters can really pull off a bold makeup look! What might make individuals from other seasons look clownish, can be just right for a Bright Winter.
Bright Winters should enhance their natural features with bright, cool tones.
Foundation: Choose foundations with cool or neutral undertones that match your skin.
Blush: Bright pink, cool rose, and icy pink work well. Lay off the bronzer though, as this is better suited for warmer seasons.
Eyeshadow: Bright Winters can look amazing in a smokey eye as well as bright fun shades. Shades of cool gray, icy blue, bright navy, and cool fuchsia are perfect.
Lipstick: Bright Winters can rock a bold lip like no other! Shades like bright, cool shades like fuchsia, bright red, cool berry, and icy pink are totally up your alley. Avoid warm or muted lip colors.
Eyeliner and Mascara: Stick to eyeliner and mascara that is black, cool dark brown, or bright navy. Brown and gray eyeliner and mascara are better suited to softer seasons.
Sister Season: Bright Spring
Bright Winter and Bright Spring both share the primary feature of brightness and can have some similarities. Bright Spring is a warm season though, whereas Bright Winter is cool. Bright Spring is also on the lighter side, whereas the Bright Winter palette embraces slightly darker colours. As a Bright Winter, you might find that some Bright Spring colours are nice on you and you can borrow from their palette. However, the crisp electric boldness of the Bright Winter palette is where your home is at!
Read more about Bright Winter vs Bright Spring.
Bright Winter Outfit
More ideas on Pinterest.
Bright Winter Celebrities
Some celebrities often through of as Bright Winters include Lily Collins, Megan Fox, Alexis Bledel, Courtney Cox, Krysten Ritter, Nicole Scherzinger, Laura Harrier, and Adriana Lima.
Some male examples include Idris Elba, and Donald Glover.
*It's important to note though that none of these celebrities are verified Bright Winters and it can be difficult to determine the color season of celebrities from photos alone. However, these are some people that I see have the qualities of Bright Winter and that other color analysts have also speculated might be Bright Winters.
Bright Winter Mood Board
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