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Bright Spring vs Deep Autumn: how to tell which you are

By the Skintonic team · SKINTONIC LLC · Updated

The line between Bright Spring and Deep Autumn is chroma — whether the color in you is clean or slightly dusted. Bright Spring and Deep Autumn match on warm undertone, which is more than most pairs manage, so the mistake is an easy one. Bright Spring is the clear one and Deep Autumn the moderate one, and it is the difference between a color looking crisp on you and looking like it is shouting.

Bright Spring and Deep Autumn also differ on depth (medium against deep) and contrast (strong against medium), though that is the smaller gap and not the one people get stuck on. What follows is the Bright Spring palette against the Deep Autumn one, three chroma tests you can run at home with things you already own, and what each of the two looks like in a mirror. If you would rather not work it out by hand, the scan measures all four factors from one photo and tells you whether you are Bright Spring or Deep Autumn.

The one factor

Chroma. Bright Spring is clear; Deep Autumn is moderate. Bright Spring and Deep Autumn share warm undertone, which is why the two get swapped so easily.

Bright Spring against Deep Autumn

Six colors from the Bright Spring palette and six from the Deep Autumn one, the metal each wears, and the direction each one's neutrals run. The Bright Spring column and the Deep Autumn column are both drawn from the season data the app itself uses, so these are the swatches the free result would hand you rather than an approximation of them.

Bright Spring

warm · medium · strong contrast · clear

  • Shocking Pink
  • Bright Turquoise
  • True Red
  • Violet
  • Golden Yellow
  • Hot Coral
Best metal
Gold or bright silver
Neutrals run
warm white, camel and warm charcoal
Typical coloring
Hair somewhere in the middle, usually medium brown, eyes that read as bright and defined against the face, and skin that leans golden or peach. Usually a wide gap between the lightest and the darkest parts of the face.

Deep Autumn

warm · deep · medium contrast · moderate

  • Warm Deep Burgundy
  • Pine Green
  • Chestnut
  • Deep Amber
  • Espresso Red
  • Deep Rust
Best metal
Gold
Neutrals run
espresso, chocolate and deep olive
Typical coloring
Hair that runs dark — deep brown through to near-black, eyes that read as clear without being striking, and skin that leans golden or peach. Usually a moderate gap between hair and skin.

Three tests that separate Bright Spring from Deep Autumn

All three test chroma, because chroma is the only thing in question between Bright Spring and Deep Autumn. Do all three at a window: an indoor bulb will quietly push the answer toward whichever of Bright Spring and Deep Autumn you were already hoping for, and there is no way to notice that it has while you are looking.

1. A pure color against a dusty one

Find one color in two versions — clean and saturated against the same thing grayed down — and hold each near your face while thinking about Bright Spring and Deep Autumn. Bright Spring is lifted by the clean one and goes flat under the dusty one; Deep Autumn does the reverse, and under the clean version starts to look like the color is wearing the person.

2. Look at your eyes up close

In daylight, in a mirror, close enough to see where the iris ends, with Bright Spring and Deep Autumn in mind. Bright Spring shows a visible line where the iris meets the white, often with a pattern inside it; Deep Autumn blends, with a softer edge and an iris that reads as a single tone. It is the most reliable chroma signal a face gives, which is why Bright Spring and Deep Autumn are usually settled here.

3. Try a mid-gray top

Plain, unremarkable gray, and the unremarkableness is exactly the point for Bright Spring against Deep Autumn. Deep Autumn sits in it happily and looks intentional; Bright Spring is drained by it, and the tell is reaching for a scarf without knowing why.

Still not sure between Bright Spring and Deep Autumn?

Each test above reads one factor by eye, and chroma by eye is exactly where Bright Spring and Deep Autumn go wrong. The scan reads all four — undertone, depth, contrast and chroma — from a single photo, shows you the three colors it took off your face so you can correct them, and names which of the two you are. It runs in your browser, the photo is never uploaded, and seeing your type costs nothing.

Find out which one I am — free

Questions about this pair

Can you be both Bright Spring and Deep Autumn?

No — the analysis returns one of the two — but Bright Spring and Deep Autumn sit close enough together that, if you are near the line, either palette covers most of a wardrobe. Bright Spring and Deep Autumn share warm undertone, so a good part of the two color lists overlaps. Where it starts to matter is the chroma end of each one, which is where Bright Spring and Deep Autumn stop overlapping.

Does chroma change over time?

Chroma barely moves, which is lucky here. It is a property of how your eyes and skin are built rather than how dark they are, so between Bright Spring and Deep Autumn it is the one axis you can settle once and stop re-checking.

What if I dress as Bright Spring and I am really Deep Autumn?

Nothing dramatic, which is worth saying plainly — Bright Spring and Deep Autumn are neighbors rather than opposites. A handful of shades will look slightly off under your chin and the rest will be fine, because Bright Spring and Deep Autumn overlap everywhere except at the chroma extremes. The giveaway is at the chroma extreme, where the Bright Spring colors furthest along that axis are the first to stop working on a Deep Autumn face.

Keep going

Bright Spring in full · Deep Autumn in full · Take the quiz instead · All season comparisons · All 12 seasons