Season comparison
Deep Autumn vs Deep Winter: how to tell which you are
By the Skintonic team · SKINTONIC LLC · Updated
Deep Autumn and Deep Winter get confused because almost everything about them matches except the one thing that decides the palette. The two share moderate chroma and deep depth, so in a mirror Deep Autumn and Deep Winter can look like the same person. Then the undertone splits them — Deep Autumn is warm, Deep Winter is cool — and the two color lists end up pulling in opposite directions.
Deep Autumn and Deep Winter also differ on contrast (medium against strong), though that is the smaller gap and not the one people get stuck on. What follows is the Deep Autumn palette against the Deep Winter one, three undertone 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 Deep Autumn or Deep Winter.
The one factor
Undertone. Deep Autumn is warm; Deep Winter is cool. Deep Autumn and Deep Winter share moderate chroma and deep depth, which is why the two get swapped so easily.
Deep Autumn against Deep Winter
Six colors from the Deep Autumn palette and six from the Deep Winter one, the metal each wears, and the direction each one's neutrals run. The Deep Autumn column and the Deep Winter 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.
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.
Deep Winter
cool · deep · strong contrast · moderate
- Black
- Deep Emerald
- Wine
- Royal Purple
- True Red
- Emerald
- Best metal
- Silver
- Neutrals run
- black, charcoal and pure white
- Typical coloring
- Hair that runs dark — deep brown through to near-black, eyes that read as clear without being striking, and skin that leans pink, olive or blue-toned. Usually a wide gap between the lightest and the darkest parts of the face.
Three tests that separate Deep Autumn from Deep Winter
All three test undertone, because undertone is the only thing in question between Deep Autumn and Deep Winter. Do all three at a window: an indoor bulb will quietly push the answer toward Deep Autumn, and there is no way to notice that it has while you are looking.
1. Gold against silver
Deep Autumn or Deep Winter: hold a gold chain and a silver one under your chin in daylight, one at a time, watching your jawline rather than the metal. On Deep Autumn the gold settles in and the silver leaves a faint gray cast under the skin; on Deep Winter it is the other way round. If you genuinely cannot pick, you are in the neutral middle, which is where Deep Autumn and Deep Winter sit closest together of anywhere.
2. Peach against pink
Two pieces of paper or fabric, one peach and one cool pink, held near the cheek in turn, with Deep Autumn and Deep Winter in mind. Deep Autumn warms up under the peach and goes slightly sallow under the pink; Deep Winter does the reverse and looks fresher under the pink. It is the comparison the analysis runs on the skin pixel, done by eye and on exactly the axis that splits Deep Autumn from Deep Winter.
3. Look at your veins in daylight
Not conclusive on its own, and anyone who says otherwise has oversold it, but between Deep Autumn and Deep Winter it costs nothing to look. Inner wrist, natural light: green-leaning veins point at Deep Autumn, blue or purple ones at Deep Winter. Use it as a tiebreaker between Deep Autumn and Deep Winter after the two tests above, never as the answer in itself.
Still not sure between Deep Autumn and Deep Winter?
Each test above reads one factor by eye, and undertone by eye is exactly where Deep Autumn and Deep Winter 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 Deep Autumn and Deep Winter?
No — the analysis returns one of the two — but Deep Autumn and Deep Winter sit close enough together that, if you are near the line, either palette covers most of a wardrobe. Deep Autumn and Deep Winter share moderate chroma and deep depth, so a good part of the two color lists overlaps. Where it starts to matter is the undertone end of each one, which is where Deep Autumn and Deep Winter stop overlapping.
Does undertone change over time?
Undertone does not, so Deep Autumn and Deep Winter will not swap places on you over time. It is the direction your skin leans, and it stays put — so one of Deep Autumn and Deep Winter is yours for life. What moves is surface tone — a tan, a flush, a winter spent indoors — and none of that will turn Deep Autumn into Deep Winter. So a photo meant to separate Deep Autumn from Deep Winter wants an ordinary day at a window rather than the week after a holiday.
What if I dress as Deep Autumn and I am really Deep Winter?
Nothing dramatic, which is worth saying plainly — Deep Autumn and Deep Winter are neighbors rather than opposites. A handful of shades will look slightly off under your chin and the rest will be fine, because Deep Autumn and Deep Winter overlap everywhere except at the undertone extremes. The giveaway is at the undertone extreme, where the Deep Autumn colors furthest along that axis are the first to stop working on a Deep Winter face.
Keep going
Deep Autumn in full · Deep Winter in full · Take the quiz instead · All season comparisons · All 12 seasons