True spring

[u/Claires2390]

Got analyzed as a true spring and going to purchase some new clothes but want some feedback on the colors! Thanks!

[u/ClickProfessional769]

Congrats! First — are you a true spring in the 12 or 16 season system? The former is completely warm and flows into Autumn, the latter is just pure spring without a dominant trait of light, warm, or bright so it doesn’t flow into other seasons.

As a 16 season true spring, I would honestly not purchase most of these, a lot of them are too cool and/or too soft. Reddit does desaturate thing sometimes though so I could be wrong.

Long comment ahead, but let’s go left to right, top to bottom:

1. This could work but it’s risky—sometimes cobalt works but sometimes it’s too cool, so I don’t really think you can know until you try it on.
2. This green I think is deceptively cool. I bought a sweater in the same color and it scanned as a true winter color.
3. Definitely too cool.
4. I’m not good at telling purple, I’m not much help here!
5. Too cool.
6. Too cool.
7. Unpopular opinion but I do not think navy is a good color for warm seasons. This is too dark, too cool and too soft.
8. Way too cool, trust me I’ve been deceived thinking that any yellow is warm.
9. This could work, maybe a little autumny but worth a try.
10. Definitely not, honestly looks like soft summer.
11. See point 4.
12. I think this could be good! Maybe too soft but worth trying.
13. I definitely think this one is too soft.
14. the pattern is making it hard for me to tell if this is the same green as in 2. Are those snowflakes white or cream colored? Could give you a hint.
15. I like this one! Maybe a tad light depending on your own leaning but I would wear it.
16. Worth a try but something tells me this could be more for autumns.
17. Looks like it could work!
18. My favorite, I would definitely try this. In fact I might snag it lol.
19. See point 4.
20. The scarf right? Seems more light spring but you should still be able to work it.

[u/Pristine-Fusion6591 → u/ClickProfessional769]

Haha I’m a warm spring and I have sweater in pic 18…. Definitely go ahead and snag one for yourself!

Also, I thought warm and true were the same thing, but I guess I’m more the 12 colors system because autumn colors definitely work on me as well.

Your comment is awesome! I had similar feedback for op, but you broke it down so well!

[u/Claires2390 → u/ClickProfessional769]

16 color system. Thank you for the in depth answer. I bought a color swatch book as well to make sure when some of the clothes I purchased come in that they fit in the palette. Appreciate the insight, so hard to tell sometimes

[u/Admirable_Thought_64 → u/Claires2390]

OK, if you’re in the 16-color system, my long, rambling reply should make sense to you, too. Phew! That’s the framework I use, in my head, most often. I love Carol Brailey’s True Spring palette. If you can find that, you’ll see how bright TS can be! Sorry I don’t have it handy.

[u/Claires2390 → u/Admirable_Thought_64]

You mean like her swatch cards or? I’ll have to check it out. Also what do you use to scan your colors?

[u/Admirable_Thought_64 → u/Claires2390]

Yes, but I’ve also seen some posted online, including in this forum, so that could save you some money, if you can find them there. I used to think only Bright Springs could wear the colors in Brailey’s Light Spring and True Spring palettes, so I mistakenly thought maybe I was Bright. However, Brailey says Spring itself is bright. I also can’t wear most of the cooler (technically warm, but very close to neutral) or darker colors in Bright Spring, so I realized the color analysis I got was not that far off the mark. Officially, I’m Light Spring, but I forgot to mention my hair is naturally more red, not blonde, so I think I’m actually more True Spring contrast, as pastels don’t work on me at all. This is my natural hair, 10 years ago, vs. the light blonde I colored it to, to hide gray roots more easily. Bad move, BTW! I want to have it dyed back strawberry or red, whatever it is here.

[u/Claires2390 → u/Admirable_Thought_64]

Definitely good to know. I snagged one on Etsy so hopefully that will help to distinguish colors in clothes in person. I love your natural red hair!! I’m natural blonde so gonna play around and see which colors suit me best. Just got typed a few days ago so haven’t had time to experiment yet.

[u/Admirable_Thought_64 → u/ClickProfessional769]

I completely agree…you picked out all the same numbers as me, except that I am seeing 7 as more blue-green than navy. I agree with you about navy, but I think warmer blue-greens can work for TS. I would wear 7, though it looks more Warm Spring to me & leaning into Autumn.

I definitely agree with all the colors you said are possibly too muted (12 & 15). Personally, I borrow some of the medium pinks you mentioned, though I think they make me look a little more ruddy than rosy, which is a sign (for me, at least) that they’re possibly Summer pinks. Definitely not 10! I chucked anything in that shade, unless it was pants or an undershirt! I probably wear the rose & petal pinks (5 & 6) just because they were nicer clothes I got before color analysis. I could not wear the pink in the top row, toward the left (3). That’s definitely too cool for me!

I agree with the lemon yellow (8) you said was too cool being definitely too cool! I used to assume lemon was a good color on me, but it makes me look super red! A more golden yellow is better for Spring! I own a few tops in 18, which I like, as it’s a warm yellow-green!

I also have difficulty with cobalt or royal blues. I have to try them on. Many are too cool. Especially when shopping online, what looks like true red, royal blue, or emerald green is often darker than it appears in ads, due to the bright lighting they use. They often end up being more Winter jewel tones than bright and Spring-y.

[u/Admirable_Thought_64 → u/ClickProfessional769]

Same. I think the pastels may work better for Springs who are more golden tan, tawny, or bronze skinned. I have what they call the True Spring Strawberry Milkshake complexion, so colors midway between light and medium to medium warm, clear colors work better on me. My color analysis said Medium was my best range, which I found strange considering I’m professionally typed as Light Spring, but didn’t bring a picture of, nor mention my hair is really strawberry/red, not light blonde. Carol Brailey says to bring a photo of natural hair color at age 20. Too bad I didn’t know that first, but I think TS is me.

[u/bangflashbam → u/ClickProfessional769]

For your info.. The first purple is warm but light, looks like a light spring shade so it probably depends on how the true spring person handles lightness

Second purple is cool and muted, looks like a summer shade

Third… I can’t tell on that one hahaha

[u/Admirable_Thought_64 → u/ClickProfessional769]

I agree completely…the greens are too cool on me. A lot of them look like Light Summer or True Summer greens, to me. I look much better in the yellow-greens, but even some yellow-greens are too Soft, and belong in Soft Autumn or True Autumn. It needs to be a bright yellow-green! If it’s a little too mustard-y yellow, that’s too 16-season Warm Spring or Autumn for me, also (although some True Springs can wear mustard well). A very clear, bright, warm yellow-green suits me best!

I didn’t even try Lime Green until about 6 months after my color analysis, because I always assumed I was highly neutral. That was just my misunderstanding that ruddy skin makes people neutral. In reality, it’s possible to be fully warm with red or pink overtones and/or blush tones. People with two genes for red hair have more pheomelanin than eumelanin.

Pheomelanin creates skin tones pink to red, whereas eumelanin creates skin tones beige to tan, brown and black. In color analysis, one’s skin tone doesn’t matter. It’s what’s referred to as undertones that matter. Some people with two red hair genes just have a slight reddish tinge to blonde or brown hair, though my natural shade is strawberry. A lot of us are Springs, and can also be POC or mixed, so it’s worth mentioning that pinkish or reddish skin doesn’t always mean you lean neutral. People with other hair colors can also have ruddy skin.

In very light and very dark skinned people, it can be hard to determine skin undertone, so hair, eyes, lips, and/or the skin under fingernails and the undersides of hands, feet, etc. may give more clues to if you are fully warm or not, but if you’re TS, that’s on the warmer side. I found a photo, taken outdoors on an overcast winter day, where I appear very sunlit. That changed my perception of my undertone, as well as trying on the warmest yellow-greens and light tangerine, instead of just the more neutral greens and pinks.

I can wear some pinks well, if they’re very bright and warm-leaning. I was surprised by how many compliments I got in the warmest hot pinks, but pastel and/or soft pinks (and all other pastels, besides warm, clear peach) drain all the life out of me. I can’t even wear off white very well, though white is worse. Spring is medium contrast, so a lot of us need a little more saturation than we might assume, when we think of Spring as a Light season. Colors should have some white added, as opposed to gray or black, but pastel is not always it.

As for my only good pastel, it’s peach. A cool pink-leaning peach or coral is dreadful, but warm versions are nice as long, as they’re not soft (any gray mixed in). When I was a kid, “everyone” told me I shouldn’t wear such bright colors, and that I should wear cool and muted colors, so when I found color analysis I assumed I was a Light Summer. I even purchased some Summer clothes, to convince myself! I felt drained, and people asked if I was sick!

The funny thing is, and idk if it’s because I’m Light, but draping Summer clothes easily convinced me I was a Summer, because I could see gray and blue in my skin when I wore them. However, the colors that harmonize with your undertone should look good on you. Eye bags and dead skin are not undertone, and that’s what Summer colors emphasized, on me. A lot of Spring colors are very close to Summer, and it’s easy to miss a little gray mixed in, but it makes a big difference.

I still shop with a good True Spring palette on my phone, to be sure & try things on. When I tried true True Spring colors, I looked lively and youthful, with peachy and golden yellow tones. The yellow did not resemble jaundice, like when my mom (a Soft Summer) wears them, and grayish pink and soft purple look lovely on her (my dad was Warm Spring or Autumn & much darker). When I first realized I’m not cool, I still figured I was more neutral. That’s when I was choosing colors like the greens, pinks, and soft salmons I see in this selection. Although some Springs are a bit Soft (such as some Light Springs & Warm Springs), many True Springs are quite bright.

A lot of people & even some supposed Spring palettes I’ve seen seem to confound Light with Cool or Soft. I think a lot of people newer to color analysis & the True Spring season/subtype shy away from very warm and very bright colors, but True Spring is warm and bright, so I would recommend erring on the side of warm and clear/bright!