Summer & Winter
Spring & Autumn
What Season Are You?BUT, there is one thing that almost everyone accepts. There are two basic skin undertones, warm, or yellow, and cool, or blue. See Andrea's York's undertones article for a lot more information about this and how it relates to cosmetics and makeup.
I am a devotee of Carole Jackson's "Color Me Beautiful", a book that everyone should have in their library and on which the material here is directly based. Just remember that if this gets a little complicated that Andrea York's basic position that we are either yellow or blue in our skin tones is the right way to assess yourself.
Carole Jackson believes that "cool" and "warm" toned people can be subdivided into four groups, Winter and Summer, Autumn and Spring. Winters and Autumns tend to wear the stronger colors in their palettes while Summers and Spring tend to the delicates and pastels.
Back to the task at hand: picking the season that works best for your wardrobe. You also might want to read the first part of the series.
Elizabeth Taylor is an dead-on Winter while Candace Bergen, who also has a lot of blue-red tones in her skin, is a Summer.
Both wear similar palettes but Candy looks particularly great in blues. Liz looks wonderful in hunter green, reds and blacks. Meanwhile, look at Marilyn. This photo was taken before she bleached out her hair. It's clear here that she is a Spring, a true "strawberry blonde". Also notice how different her blonde hair is from the bluer blonde Candace Bergen. MM's coloring is also much more delicate, and unusual, than classic redhead and Autumn, Gillian Anderson, star of TV's “X-Files”.
Note also that while Liz has some yellow in her skin, she is cool and pale compared to either Gillian or Marilyn.
Let's look a little closer at each seasonal star.
Winters have blue or blue-pink undertones but it might be subtle. Winter skin may are sometimes be sallow, and look a bit yellow, like Liz in photo above, but golden colors look awful on them. I know, I know you love gold, and you can wear it, but if you are doing an evening and want a metallic fabric try silver, you might be surprised at how vibrant you look.
Here is Carole Jackson on Winter's hair and eyes: “Most Winters have dark hair, even though some were white- blonde in infancy. Brunette Winters have hair color ranging from light brown to dark charcoal brown. Winter's hair usually has an ash tone, although sometimes the hair will have a touch of red highlights visible in the sun. (Don't confuse this with the metallic red seen in Autumn's hair, however.) Blue-black hair is typical of Winter, as is salt-and-pepper or silver gray. It is common for a Winter to gray prematurely, and she often grays attractively. Rarely do we find a Winter who is naturally blonde as an adult, but if she is, her hair is white- blonde, giving her a striking look.
“The Winter woman's eyes are most often a deep color. They may be red-brown, black-brown, green, blue, hazel, gray-blue, gray- green, or dark blue. The blue- or green-eyed Winter has white flecks in the iris and often a gray rim around the edge of the iris. The hazel-eyed Winter usually has a brown smudge with jagged edges surrounding the pupil, with either blue or green extending to the outer iris. Occasionally, a green-eyed Winter has a thick yellow line going from the pupil to the outer edge of the iris like a single spoke on a wheel. In general, Winter eyes tend to have a look of high contrast between the whites of the eye and the iris. This clue is especially helpful if you are deciding between Winter and Summer, as the white of a Summer eye is usually much softer with less contrast to the iris.”
But like most summers, the pink and blue in my skin dominate. Summers can be very fair and have a translucence to their skin with a little pink showing in the whitest parts of the body.
Great summer colors include soft blues, rose-brown, navy, rose pink, light greys, lavender and plum.
Here is Carole Jackson on Summer hair and eyes:
“As a child, Summer is most often blonde, ranging from towhead to ash blonde to dark ash. As she matures, her hair tends to darken to a mousy color so named because of its grayish cast. Brunette Summers also have hair color ranging from light to dark brown, again with ash overtones. Often a very dark-haired Summer has extremely light skin, and visible pink in her cheeks. Summer blondes bleach quickly in the sun, resulting in brownish hair in the wintertime and blonder hair in the summertime. Occasionally a Summer has warm blonde hair or hair with auburn highlights, especially if she gets lots of sun. This type of Summer can be mistaken for a Spring or Autumn. (Look at your roots to judge your hair color accurately.) The Summer woman grays gracefully (often prematurely) to a soft blue-gray or pearly white tone.
“Summers, of all the seasons, most often feel the need to “brighten” themselves with hair color or frosting. A Summer woman truly benefits from wearing her colors, as her colors alone bring life to her face.
“Summer eyes are most often blue, green, aqua, gray, or soft hazel (predominantly blue or green with grayed brown surrounding the pupil). The Summer eye often has a cloudy look inside the iris, rather than a clear, transparent color. The iris in a blue or green eye has a white webbing throughout, giving the appearance of cracked glass. Many Summers have soft gray eyes or eyes with a gray rim around the iris. Intensely blue eyes are characteristic of some lucky Summers, while other Summers have soft rose-brown or grayed brown eyes. The whites of a Summer's eyes are creamy, in soft contrast to the iris, as opposed to a Winter, whose eyes have sharp contrast.”
Springs have very delicate skin. Many photographers have said that Marilyn Monroe's incredible skin was one the most important reasons why she almost never took a bad picture. Golden undertones are the key color in a Spring's skin, which can range from creamy ivory, peachy pink, peach, or golden beige. She is truly a “peaches and cream” person. Spring skin is usually fine in texture and she can blush easily, which is why she is sometimes confused with Summer.
Spring's colors include golden brown, camel, peachy pink, peach, bright blues and golden blue.
Carole Jackson on Spring hair and eyes:
“Spring's hair is flaxen blonde, yellow blonde, honey, strawberry, taffy-red, or golden brown. Ash-tone hair is not Spring. In childhood many Springs are blonde, ranging from flaxen to honey to strawberry, but their hair often darkens with age. Some have very dark brown hair. A few Springs are vivid carrot-tops, missing being Autumns by their need for clear colors. Gray does not blend with the golden hair of a Spring, so she is wise to keep her hair dyed its youthful color until she has turned totally gray. Once the two-tone look is gone, her gray hair is a beautiful creamy white or a pale, dove gray.
“Spring's eyes are likely to be blue, green, teal, or aqua often with golden flecks in the iris or a golden cluster around the pupil. Some Springs have eyes as clear as glass, giving the impression of a clear ring around the pupil. Many Springs have blue eyes that appear to be a solid steel gray from a distance, but up close, they are really blue and have a sunburst of white rays coming from the pupil. Inside the sunburst you may see a doughnut tightly surrounding the pupil. Fibers radiate from the edge of the sunburst to the edge of the iris, much like the spokes of a wheel. There are some brown-eyed Springs, but they are always golden brown or topaz.
have live." An Autumn and a Spring may have similar coloring, but the Autumn will usually have colorless cheeks, while Spring's cheeks will be rosy. Some Autumns are ruddy, however, and may look pink, but the pink is more peachy than blue.
Autumn's palette includes dark brown, camel, beige, orange, gold and moss green.
Carole Jackson on Autumn hair and eyes:
“Autumn can be golden blonde as a child, usually darkening as she matures. Autumn's hair is most often touched with red or golden highlights. It ranges from auburn to copper, strawberry blonde to carrot top, dark golden blonde to warm brown. (A few redheads are Springs, having coloring too delicate to handle the stronger Autumn palette.) Many Autumns are brunette, their hair usually having a gold or metallic red cast. Some Autumns have ash blonde hair that has no warm highlights. This type of "dirty" blonde Autumn can be easily confused with a Summer. Occasionally, an Autumn has charcoal black hair and swarthy skin. A red-headed Autumn should cover gray, as it tends to come in yellow-gray, and the two-tone look is drab on her. However. once her hair is completely gray, it can be most attractive.
“Most Autumns have golden brown eyes, from dark to topaz, or green eyes with orange or golden streaks radiating from a star formation that surrounds the pupil. Isolated flecks, either gold, brown, or black, are often present in the Autumn eye. Some Autumns have clear green eyes, like glass, or deep olive green cat eyes. An Autumn's hazel eye contains golden brown, green, and gold. A few Autumns have vivid turquoise, aqua, or steel blue eyes that are marked by a teal gray rim around the edge of the iris. ”
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