The 12 Color Sub-Seasons Explained in 5 Minutes

Why 4 seasons aren't enough

The 4-season system was popularized by Carole Jackson's Color Me Beautiful in 1980. It works as a starting point but fails when you're a borderline case.

Example: you have warm undertone (Spring or Autumn) and pale skin (Spring or Summer). Are you Spring or something else? The 4-season system can't tell you. The 12-sub-season system can.

The 3 things that define a sub-season

Every person has a position on three sliders:

1. Warm vs Cool: does your skin lean yellow-orange (warm) or pink-blue (cool)?
2. Light vs Deep: are your features pale and delicate, or dark and rich?
3. Bright vs Muted: is your coloring high-contrast and clear, or soft and blended?

Combine 3 sliders × 3 positions each, and you get more than 12 combinations. The system simplifies: each parent season has 3 sub-seasons that lean toward ONE of the 3 axes.

Spring's 3 sub-seasons

Springs are warm, light, and clear. The sub-seasons lean different axes.

• Light Spring: warmth + lightness wins. Think Taylor Swift, Reese Witherspoon. Best in soft warm pastels.
• True Spring: balanced warmth, all 3 axes equal. Think Gisele Bündchen. Best in clear warm brights.
• Bright Spring: warmth + brightness wins. Think Margot Robbie. Best in saturated warm colors.

Summer's 3 sub-seasons

Summers are cool, light, and soft. The sub-seasons add depth or coolness or softness.

• Light Summer: coolness + lightness wins. Think Selena Gomez, Cameron Diaz. Best in cool pastels.
• True Summer: balanced coolness. Think Sarah Jessica Parker. Best in dusty cool tones.
• Soft Summer: coolness + softness wins. Think Drew Barrymore (sometimes). Best in muted cool tones.

Autumn's 3 sub-seasons

Autumns are warm, deep, and muted. The sub-seasons lean different axes.

• Soft Autumn: warmth + softness wins. Think Drew Barrymore, Mila Kunis. Best in dusty warm tones.
• True Autumn: balanced warmth, all 3 axes equal. Think Julia Roberts, Emma Stone. Best in classic earth tones.
• Deep Autumn: warmth + deepness wins. Think Eva Mendes, Salma Hayek. Best in rich saturated earth tones.

Winter's 3 sub-seasons

Winters are cool, deep, and bright. The sub-seasons lean toward different axes.

• Bright Winter: coolness + brightness wins. Think Megan Fox, Krysten Ritter. Best in clear jewel tones.
• True Winter: balanced coolness, all 3 axes equal. Think Anne Hathaway, Audrey Hepburn. Best in classic high-contrast tones.
• Deep Winter: coolness + deepness wins. Think Lupita Nyong'o, Kim Kardashian. Best in deep jewel tones.

How to find your sub-season

Step 1: figure out your parent season (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter). Use the 8-question quiz or read the at-home guide.

Step 2: ask yourself which axis is strongest for you.

• If your features are pale and delicate → Light sub-season
• If your features are deep and rich → Deep sub-season
• If your features are clear and high-contrast → Bright sub-season
• If your features are soft and blended → Soft sub-season
• If you're balanced across all → True sub-season

Step 3: scan your face on Glowprint to confirm. The app reads pixel-level color values that the eye can't always see.

A quick decision tree

• Cool + light + soft → Light Summer
• Cool + light + clear → could be Light Summer or borderline Bright Spring
• Cool + medium + balanced → True Summer
• Cool + medium + muted → Soft Summer
• Cool + deep + clear → Bright Winter
• Cool + deep + balanced → True Winter
• Cool + deep + saturated → Deep Winter
• Warm + light + clear → Light Spring or Bright Spring
• Warm + medium + balanced → True Spring or True Autumn
• Warm + medium + muted → Soft Autumn
• Warm + deep + balanced → True Autumn
• Warm + deep + saturated → Deep Autumn

How to actually use your sub-season

Knowing you're a Soft Summer or a True Autumn is only useful if it changes what you buy.

Shop your palette, skip the rest

Save your sub-season's swatches to your phone and pull them up before you buy. If a piece isn't in or near your palette, put it back. This one habit cuts the impulse buys that never get worn.

Tune your makeup to it

Your sub-season sets your best blush, lipstick, and even hair color. A Bright Winter wants clear, bold shades; a Soft Summer wants muted, cool ones. Match your makeup to your palette and your whole face reads pulled together.

Find your season's palette

Each season has its own set of shades that flatter you, and splits into 3 sub-seasons if you want to go deeper. Here are the four to start from.

Spring →Summer →Autumn →Winter →

Not sure which one is yours? Glowprint reads it from a single selfie, along with your palette and the colors to skip.

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers to what people ask most. Want a definitive read on your own coloring? The free face scan gives you your season, palette, and the colors to skip in 30 seconds.