Light Spring color palette

Inside the Light Spring palette

Each shade here stays light and warm rather than cool. It's clear too, not dusty. Clarity describes how clean or muted a color appears, and your colors sit on the clean, fresh end of that scale. That's what keeps the palette pastel but never faded.

The 60 shades divide into neutrals (12), main colors (36) and accents (12). Every swatch below shows its HEX code, and tapping a code copies it.

These signature colors say the most about your season:

1. Bright Peach
2. Butter Yellow
3. Light Coral
4. Light Aqua
5. Soft Apple Green

Is this season right for you?

Your skin carries a warm peachy or golden undertone. An undertone is the color underneath your skin's surface. Your skin also sits close in depth to your hair and eyes, with very little contrast between them. In this case, contrast means how far apart your features are in lightness or darkness.

Skin, hair and eyes usually show up something like this:

Your eyes tend to look glass-clear, often with a warm golden or sunny ring near the pupil.

Daily life backs this up. Peach and coral shades wake your face up at once. Black worn near your face leaves you looking tired and washed out. Pure white feels too sharp next to your skin, while soft cream or ivory flatters it.

Wearing Light Spring neutrals every day

Neutrals step in for the black, white, navy and grey most wardrobes rely on. Yours are softer and warmer, so your face stays fresh under them rather than weighed down.

Ivory is your strongest neutral, and Cream behaves the same way. Wear them in place of stark white or black. When it comes to trousers, coats and bags, let Light Camel and Pale Blue Grey do the work of dark brown and grey.

The rest of the neutrals widen your options:

• Light Stone, Light Mushroom and Greige when you want basics that stay soft and quiet
• Soft Peach tops to warm up the area around your face
• Pale Caramel and Tan on warmer items: think shoes, belts and the like
• Khaki, in both its light and soft forms, on casual trousers and jackets

How to choose main colors and accents

Main colors are shades that suit bigger garments: shirts, dresses, knitwear and similar. The range covers coral and peach, apricot, soft yellow and mustard, fresh green, aqua and turquoise, plus lighter blues such as Pale Cornflower and Light Periwinkle. Starting with the signature colors is the simplest approach.

The accents are the palette's most intense shades. Coral, Soft Poppy and Bright Tangerine sit on the warm side; Light Copper, Deep Marigold and Bright Copper follow; then Caramel, Gold, Deep Gold, Apple Green, Jade and Turquoise round it out. Since your coloring is light, they usually work best in small doses: a scarf, a bag, or shoes worn against neutral pieces.

Jewelry in light gold or rose gold rests gently against your skin.

Which colors should you skip?

On your skip list you'll find Black, along with Navy, Dark Magenta, Emerald and Dark Cognac. Next to light, warm, clear coloring like yours, these shades look dark and heavy, so people notice the clothes before your face.

Black shows this most clearly, since it can leave you looking washed out and tired. Makeup works by the same logic. Dark lipstick dominates, so people notice your mouth and nothing else.

Using your phone to shop in daylight

Both phone cameras and indoor bulbs shift color, so a store's lighting can push a garment's apparent temperature either direction.

1. Before heading out, save the palette card to your phone with the free PNG download.
2. Carry the garment to a window or outdoors and look at it in daylight.
3. Place your phone screen beside the fabric and match it to the nearest swatch.
4. Hold the color under your chin and look at yourself in a mirror. A shade that's clear and sunny ought to lift your face, not drain it.