True Winter
Winter is the quintessential Winter palette, embodying the season's cool, deep, and icy qualities. Think of the icyness of winter, with its frozen lakes, crisp temperatures, and shiny snow.
The palette is marked by high-contrast and intense colours that enhance the dramatic and striking beauty of individuals with this palette.
The overall impression of True Winter is icy, bold, regal and clear, with colours that are crisp and pure.
Who Falls into the True Winter Season?
Individuals with this palette may have a “Snow White” type appearance, with dark hair, light skin and a level of coolness and rosiness to their appearance. The will be a high contrast between the colours of the skin, eyes, and hair and an obvious coolness.
The only way to really determine your color season is through draping, however, there tend to be certain features that True Summers have, but keep in mind that there are always exceptions.
Skin: Cool undertones with a high-contrast appearance. The skin often has a porcelain, cool beige, or olive quality, giving a clear and bright look.
Eyes: Cool and intense eye colours such as icy blue, cool green, dark brown, or cool hazel. The eyes tend to be striking and vibrant, often with high contrast between the whites of the eyes and the iris.
Hair: Dark brown to black with cool undertones, or medium brown with a cool, ashy tone. True Winter hair often has a striking, high-contrast appearance.
True Winters have a naturally dramatic and bold appearance, and their best colours are those that mirror this coolness and intensity without being too muted or warm.
How Do You Know if You're a True 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 True Winters, their features are the following:
Primarily Feature: Cool. True Winters have an obvious coolness to their appearance - the first thing you’ll notice is their coolness. Their skin, hair, eyes and lips will clearly be cool and they will shine in cool blues, pinks and purples, whereas very warm colours like orange will look off.
Secondarily Feature: Dark. True Winter is part of the winter season, which is a dark season. The features of True Winter will have some depth to them.
Tertiarily Feature: Bright. The will be a level of brightness to True Winters, with their features appearing more saturated.
To determine if you are a True Winter, consider the following steps:
Cool vs Warm True Winters are obviously cool. They shine in cobalt blues, magentas, royal purples, emerald greens and black. Warm colors like orange, mustard, yellow and olive green make them appear sickly and look off.
Depth: Are your features (hair, eyes, skin, lips) primarily light, medium or dark? If they are very dark or very light then you can eliminate True Winter from your palette as you’ll most likely be looking at either the light or deep seasons. True Winters typically have medium to medium-dark features.
Contrast levels: Are your skin, hair and eyes all a similar depth or do you have much darker hair relative to your skin? True Winters have high contrast levels (though not as high as Bright Winter and Bright Spring). Nevertheless, there will be a significant difference in depth between the hair, eyes and skin. They will usually have hair that is noticeably darker than their skin and eyes. The combination of cool dark cool brown hair, vibrant blue eyes and light skin, is quite typical.
Chroma: Are your features more bright or muted? Can you wear bright clothing or do you look better in more muted colors? True Winter’s features will be on the brighter side and they will be able to carry brighter colours with ease. Colours that are too muted might make them look washed out. If you find that you suit lighter muted colours better, then you might check out True Summer.
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, My Best Colors 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.
If you find that you shine in colours that are icy, medium-dark and medium-bright, then you might be a True Winter!
Best Colors for True Winter
True Winters have an amazing bold, icy, elegant and vivid palette full of pure colors to work with! Some of the most flattering colours for True Winters are:
Blues: Cobalt blue, navy, true blue
Greens: Emerald green, cool teal, pine green
Purples: Royal purple, bright fuchsia, cool violet
Pinks: Hot pink, magenta, icy pink
Neutrals: Pure black, pure white, charcoal grey, light gray
Yellows: Bright lemon yellow, icy yellow
Reds: True red, cool crimson, ruby red, burgundy
Overall, True Winters look stunning in cobalt blue, emerald green, magenta, fuschia, royal purple and cool red. The winter seasons are also the only ones that can pull off pure black and pure white! Colors for True Winters should be cool and bright, not overly warm, muted or light since those can dull the striking features of a True Winter.
Jewelry for True Winter
As a cool season, True Winters are the quintessential silver girlies! They look dazzling in bright silver, platinum and bright-toned jewels and gemstones. The best options include:
Metals: Silver, white gold, platinum, and cool-toned metals
Stones: Diamonds, bright sapphires, emeralds, rubies, amethyst, clear crystals
Avoid jewellery that is too warm like gold and amber.
Hair Colors for True Winter
The natural hair colour of a True Winter will typically be dark, ranging from pure black to medium brown, from around levels 1N-5N. It is rare for a True Winter to have a natural hair colour that is lighter than a level 5N. Their naturally dark hair and eyebrows give them that quintessential high-contrast “winter” look.
True Winters looking to dye their hair, should stick to cool and dark tones. Going too light can lower their contrast levels and wash them out. Likewise, hair colours that are too warm can clash with their naturally cool features.
Flattering hair colour choices include:
Brown (levels 2-5): Cool dark brown, cool chocolate brown, espresso brown, mocha brown, iced coffee, dark ash brown
Black (levels 1-2): Jet black, blue-black, soft 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 True Winter, then platinum blonde would be your best bet.
Avoid colours that are too warm, golden, and light.
Read more about the Best Hair Colors for Winter Seasons and get some inspiration on Pinterest.
Makeup for True Winter
Makeup for True Winters should be bold, icy, elegant and cool tones, enhancing their natural features. Some makeup tips include:
Foundation: Choose foundations with cool or neutral undertones that match your skin. It can be tricky to find the right shade that isn’t too warm.
Blush: Blushes work well on winters providing that crisp, icy, Snow White look. Opt for colors like red, bright pink, cool rose and icy pink. Avoid using bronzers as these are more suited for warm seasons.
Eyeshadow: A smokey eye can look amazing on True Winters! Shades of cool grey, deep blue, icy blue, and cool violet also work well.
Lipstick: True Winters can really rock a bold lip! Choose cool, intense shades like fuchsia, bright red, cool berry, and icy pink. These intense colours can add the necessary brightness and contrast to your appearance. Avoid warm or muted lip colours like nude or brown, or anything too orange.
Eyeliner and Mascara: Black, cool dark brown, or bright navy eyeliner and mascara work well for True Winters. Brown or gray eyeliner and mascara might not give enough contrast and are better suited for softer seasons.
Sister Season: True Summer
True Winter's sister season is True Summer. Both seasons are primarily cool with coolness being their most obvious feature. True Summers, however, are lighter, softer and more muted. As a True Winter, you may find that some colours from the True Summer palette work well for you and you can borrow some colours from this palette. However, the crisp, vivid icyiness of the True Winter palette is where your home is at!
Read more about True Winter vs True Summer.
True Winter Outfits
More ideas on Pinterest.
True Winter Celebrities
Some celebrities often thought of as True Winter include Zooey Deschanel (verified), Selena Gomez, Liv Tyler, Katy Perry, Alexandra Daddario, Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway, Audrey Tatou, Eva Greene, Kendall Jenner, Brooke Shields, Daisy Ridley, Elliot Page, Lara Pulver, Jessica Brown Findlay, Katie McGrath.
Some male examples include Colin Farrell, Ian Somerhalder, Iwan Rheon, Timothée Chalamet, and Colin Morgan.
It's important to note though that most of these celebrities are verified True 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 True Winter and that other color analysts have also speculated might be True Winters.
True Winter Mood Board
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