The seasonal sub-types - Autumn

The Autumn palette is warm, rich, earthy and golden. It stretches from almost Springlike vibrant reds and oranges through to deepest sea blues and softest apricot. If you've been given a designation within the Autumn palette, let's explore what that means.

Do remember though, that your seasonal type is a guide. If you fall at one end of a palette, it doesn’t mean you can’t ever go near colours from other areas of that palette, just that this particular area is the strongest part for your own skin tone and contrast level. Sometimes a 12 or 16 season system can feel quite limiting in terms of the colours available to you, but remember that the rest of the colours within your wider palette will also work for you and will harmonise with your absolute best colours.

True/Leaf Autumn

This is the season we think of as the 'typical' autumn colours - the ones you see on an autumn tree in leaf or the ready to harvest fields of corn and wheat. Neither too bright nor too muted. Often a True Autumn will look like a 'typical' autumn, with reddish toned hair, light brown or green eyes and fair celtic skin that goes golden in summer.

Your best colours are rust red, mustard yellow, medium olive green and mid-browns and camels.

Soft Autumn

Soft Autumn is influenced by the Summer palette, and sits at that end of the Autumn spectrum. This influence lends the Autumn colours an even more muted tendency, as well as generally being the lighter colours within the Autumn palette.

Soft Autumns might look like Summers, with more ashy tones in their hair or softer eye colour, but they will be brought to life by slightly warm toned soft shades rather than the cool Summer ones. Your best colours as a Soft Autumn are sage green, oyster white, palest old gold and warm grey.

Deep/Dark/Blue Autumn

Deep Autumn is the darkest of the Autumn palettes, sitting at the deepest and least warm end of the Autumn spectrum, as close as possible to, without drifting into, the cool Winter palette.

Deep Autumns are often initially mistaken for Winters, and may have either a very dark or high contrast look compared to other Autumns. Your best colours are the deep teals, aubergine purples and dark olive greens, contrasted with oyster white or a brighter Autumn colour to add interest.

Vibrant/Warm Autumn

This is the end of the Autumn palette with the most vibrancy and brightness, with many colours that initially look like they belong to Spring, but on closer inspection have the added depth and golden undertones of the Autumn palette.

Much like their colours, vibrant autumns often look like Springs until they are properly analysed, and often have a very light bright look compared to other autumns, maybe with blue eyes or red hair. Your best colours are vibrant greens, warm tomato red and the brightest golden browns.

Let's talk about crossover colours

Once you understand seasonal types, the 'crossover' colours (those that apply to more than one season) at Kettlewell begin to make more sense. If a person sits at the 'end' of the Spring palette closest to Summer, it stands to reason that some colours will sit so close to that dividing line between Spring and Summer that the difference between them and the colour the other side of that dividing line will be indistinguishable to the human eye. If you are looking at crossover colours, consider which season the colours cross over with - if you are a light Spring, for example, those colours that work on both Springs and Summers will be your best crossover colours. Don't be afraid of trying other season crossover colours too though - if they apply to your palette, there's an excellent chance they will work on you. If you're feeling unsure, do give Kettlewell a call.

Crossover colours can be a tricky subject to get your head around, but once you begin to look at the entire spectrum of colours rather than each season in isolation, it starts to make perfect sense.

To read about the other seasons use the links below: