Cool Winter vs Bright Winter

The test that gives your answer

Which one wins on you: a classic sapphire blue, or an electric neon magenta? Drape each fabric under your chin in daylight and compare how your skin looks. Why daylight? Indoor lighting and phone cameras both change how your skin appears.

• If sapphire blue and cool ruby sit smoothly on you, but neon magenta seems too loud and flashy, you're a Cool Winter.
• If electric magenta and crisp white suit your strong contrast, while quieter jewel tones seem dull, you're a Bright Winter.

Other names for these seasons

Cool Winter is also called True Winter, and Bright Winter is also called Clear Winter.

Checking yourself in the mirror

Pay attention to your skin while you swap the two tops back and forth. A color that works makes your skin appear even and brings out your eyes. A color that doesn't suit you deepens shadows under your eyes or chin, or casts a gray tone that makes you look tired.

Signs that point to Cool Winter

• Fabrics in orange or warm peach leave your skin looking sallow and worn out.
• Pure white flatters your face, while cream reads as dingy.
• Bright silver jewelry sits crisp against your skin, while gold fights it.
• Fuchsia and cobalt blue instantly sharpen your eyes.
• Black near your face looks natural, even if you've kept makeup light.

If you're shopping, try True Red, Emerald or Icy Lilac. Shades like Moss and Bright Peach, along with Bright Copper, Pale Coral and Aqua, aren't as kind to you.

Signs that point to Bright Winter

• Wearing crisp black or white flatters you rather than draining your face.
• Muted earth tones like olive or mustard give your skin a gray, worn look.
• A shirt in bright magenta or cobalt makes your eyes stand out immediately.
• Silver jewelry looks fresh on your skin, while yellow gold reads brassy.
• Soft pastel lipsticks leave your face looking washed out and bare.

Your strongest shades: Bright Magenta, Bright Cobalt, Bright Emerald, plus Bright True Red and Icy Aqua. On the skip list: Soft Coral, Mahogany, Dusty Apple Green, plus Denim, Soft Rose and Teal.

Where the two seasons overlap

Each of these seasons calls for cool, clear colors, and both shine in bright silver or platinum jewelry. For neutrals, black works best for either one. Bright Cobalt belongs to both palettes as a signature color.

If you're still between them

Start with what they share: black, Bright Cobalt and silver jewelry. Then repeat the daylight test with sapphire blue and electric magenta and see which makes your skin look more even. If magenta feels like too much, you may lean Cool Winter; if sapphire looks a little flat, you may lean Bright Winter.

Treat a quiz as a first step. You can confirm what it says with a mirror check in daylight, or with an in-person draping, where someone holds fabrics up to your face.