Bright Winter celebrities

The traits these stars share

Among the winter seasons, Bright Winter is the clearest one. It pairs cool undertones with high contrast, which is why people in this group shine in saturated, icy, pure shades.

Undertone is the constant tint that sits beneath your skin's surface, and here it runs cool. That holds for fair skin, the way Megan Fox has it, and for deep skin, the way Lupita Nyong'o has it.

By contrast we mean how far apart your lightest and darkest features are. These celebrities have plenty of it. Zooey Deschanel has clear blue eyes set against dark brown hair. Winnie Harlow's deep brown skin comes with bright dark eyes.

On the whole their depth is somewhere in the middle. What makes their clothes pop is clarity, in other words how pure and vivid a shade is, not how dark it is.

Skin, hair and eyes of Clear Winter stars

The famous faces usually typed as Clear Winter don't all look alike. What they do share are a few repeating patterns in how their features come together.

• Skin: cool, ranging from pale to deep brown, and clear rather than grey-looking
• Hair: mostly dark, anywhere from dark brown to jet black
• Eyes: clear and bright, frequently icy or vivid blue, sometimes a bright dark brown
• Overall: crisp contrast where hair, skin and eyes meet

On a man, Henry Cavill fits the pattern well: cool dark hair, clear skin and bright blue eyes. Janelle Monáe shows the same thing on deep skin, which looks striking in pure white and black.

Why is celebrity typing only a rough guide?

Every celebrity on a list like this was typed from photos, not from a draping done in person. Draping is when you sit in daylight and an analyst holds various colored fabrics beneath your face to learn which shades suit you.

Photos can fool you for a few reasons. Hair dye, makeup, studio lights and filters all change how coloring reads on camera. Analysts also disagree with each other, so the same star can end up listed under more than one season.

Your own selfies have the same issue. Indoor bulbs and phone cameras shift how skin looks, which is why a daylight mirror shows you more honestly than a picture.

Checking your own coloring against these stars

Picking a star because your hair or eyes match theirs tells you very little. What helps is noticing how colors change their face, then running the same test on yourself.

1. Pull up a few photos of one star in this season's signature shades: bright magenta, cobalt, emerald, true red, or icy aqua. Do their eyes seem to pop?
2. Then find photos of that same person in shades this season tends to skip: soft coral, mahogany, denim, dusty apple green, soft rose, or teal. Does their face look greyer or more worn?
3. Stand in daylight at a mirror, skip the makeup, then hold a bright scarf or shirt beneath your face, followed by something soft or dusty.
4. Match what you see against the signs in the next section, "Signs your coloring might match theirs."

Signs your coloring might match theirs

Here's what people with Bright Winter coloring tend to notice in a mirror.

• Pure black and pure white look crisp on you rather than washing you out.
• Muted earthy shades like olive or mustard leave your skin looking grey and tired.
• A cobalt or bright magenta shirt makes your eyes pop right away.
• Silver jewelry sits cleanly on your skin, while yellow gold turns brassy.
• Soft pastel lipstick leaves your face looking pale, like something's missing.

If most of these ring true, Bright Winter deserves a closer look. If just one or two do, a neighbouring season may suit you more.

Seasons often confused with Bright Winter

The 12 seasons grow out of 4 families: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Every family divides into 3 seasons named for its strongest trait. Bright Winter leads with brightness and comes in second with coolness, so the stars on this list often end up under seasons with one of those traits in common.

When a celebrity dyes their hair or gets bronzed for a role, analysts often mistake them for one of these seasons.