# Make-up by Season

> Start with the base: match foundation to your undertone first and your depth second, in daylight. Then choose colour families from your season: peach and coral for Spring, rose and raspberry for Summer, terracotta and bronze for Autumn, true red and fuchsia for Winter. Your subtype sets the strength: sheer for light subtypes, rich for deep ones, crisp for clear ones, blended for soft ones.

Source: https://colour-sense.com/en/guides/makeup-by-season (ColourSense, Updated 2026-09-30)

## Start with the base: undertone first, then depth

Foundation is the one part of make-up that should not show. It shows when its undertone disagrees with yours, even if the depth is right: a pink base on golden skin sits on top like a rosy film, and a yellow one on cool, rosy skin turns sallow along the jaw. So match the undertone first and the depth second.

- **Warm undertones** (Spring and Autumn) look for golden, yellow or peach bases. Springs are usually light and peachy; Autumns run from golden ivory through golden olive to bronze.
- **Cool undertones** (Summer and Winter) look for rosy, pink or neutral-cool bases. Summers are usually light and pink-toned; Winters run from porcelain through olive to deep bronze, and need a cool or neutral base whatever their depth.
- If every warm and every cool shade looks slightly wrong, try a neutral one. Many people lean only a little one way.

Test on the jawline, not on the back of your hand. Put two or three shades side by side, wait a few minutes, because many bases deepen as they settle, then look by a window in daylight. The right one disappears into your face and neck. Shop lighting and phone screens both mislead, which is why a swatch that looked perfect in the shop can look orange at home. The home tests for undertone, and their limits, are in [warm or cool undertone](https://colour-sense.com/en/guides/warm-or-cool-undertone).

Concealer follows the same undertone, at most a shade lighter. Bronzer does too: warm seasons use a golden or warm brown, while cool seasons use a greyed taupe-brown or leave it out, because a warm bronzer reads as orange on cool skin. Highlighter follows your metal: gold, peach or champagne for warm colourings, pearl, pink or silver for cool ones. The same split, and why it works, is in [Gold or Silver](https://colour-sense.com/en/guides/gold-or-silver-jewelry).

## Intensity follows depth and clarity

Warmth tells you which colour family to use. Depth and clarity tell you how strong to wear it.

**Depth** decides how dark a colour can go before it wears you. The light subtypes, [Light Spring](https://colour-sense.com/en/color-types/spring/light-spring) and [Light Summer](https://colour-sense.com/en/color-types/summer/light-summer), look best in sheer, light-to-medium shades; a dark berry lip on them becomes the first and only thing anyone sees. The deep subtypes, [Deep Autumn](https://colour-sense.com/en/color-types/autumn/deep-autumn) and [Deep Winter](https://colour-sense.com/en/color-types/winter/deep-winter), need the reverse: a pale nude lip and barely-there blush look washed out against their dark hair and eyes, while a rich lip or a defined liner looks natural.

**Clarity** decides how clean and saturated the colour should be, and how sharp its edges. The clear subtypes, [Bright Spring](https://colour-sense.com/en/color-types/spring/bright-spring) and [Bright Winter](https://colour-sense.com/en/color-types/winter/bright-winter), and to a lesser degree Warm Spring and Cool Winter, wear clean colour, defined lines and some shine. The soft subtypes, [Soft Summer](https://colour-sense.com/en/color-types/summer/soft-summer) and [Soft Autumn](https://colour-sense.com/en/color-types/autumn/soft-autumn), look best in muted, blended colour with a satin finish; a vivid lip on them arrives before the face does.

A quick check: step back from the mirror to about a metre, in daylight. If the make-up is what you notice first, it is too strong or too clear for you. If your face looks tired, it is too weak, or the temperature is wrong.

## Spring: peach and coral

Spring make-up is warm and clear, closer to the colour of fruit than of earth.

- **Light Spring:** peach, light coral and warm pink on the lips, worn sheer; a soft peach or apricot blush; champagne, light golden brown and soft warm green on the eyes; brown or brown-black mascara.
- **[Warm Spring](https://colour-sense.com/en/color-types/spring/warm-spring):** coral, golden peach, apricot and a warm orange-red on the lips; an apricot or coral blush; golden brown, bronze and warm olive on the eyes; brown mascara.
- **Bright Spring:** clear coral, poppy red and a warm watermelon pink; a clear coral-pink blush; warm brown shadow with a turquoise or teal liner; black-brown or black mascara.

Dusty mauve, cool fuchsia, grey-brown nudes and heavy black-plum are too cool and too muted for a Spring, and they take the light out of the skin.

## Summer: rose, raspberry and mauve

Summer make-up is cool and soft: rose, berry and plum with a little grey in them.

- **Light Summer:** light rose, soft pink and a sheer raspberry-pink on the lips; a pale rose blush; taupe, soft grey, lilac and dusty blue on the eyes; brown-black or grey-black mascara.
- **[Cool Summer](https://colour-sense.com/en/color-types/summer/cool-summer):** raspberry, cool rose, soft berry and plum; a cool pink blush; slate, grey-blue and plum-grey on the eyes, with a navy or charcoal liner; charcoal or soft black mascara.
- **Soft Summer:** dusty rose, mauve, rose-brown and muted berry; a dusty rose blush; taupe, pewter, soft plum and sage on the eyes; charcoal or brown-black mascara.

Orange, coral, golden bronzer and brick red are the colours to leave out. They are too warm and too strong, and next to them a Summer face looks greyed.

## Autumn: terracotta and bronze

Autumn make-up is warm and earthy, rich rather than bright.

- **Soft Autumn:** warm nude, muted peach-brown, soft terracotta and a warm rose-brown on the lips; a muted apricot blush; camel, khaki, soft bronze and olive on the eyes; brown mascara.
- **[Warm Autumn](https://colour-sense.com/en/color-types/autumn/warm-autumn):** terracotta, brick, rust, cinnamon and a warm tomato red; a terracotta blush; copper, bronze, olive and golden brown on the eyes; brown or brown-black mascara.
- **Deep Autumn:** brick red, warm burgundy, deep terracotta and a chocolate-red; a deep terracotta or warm brown-rose blush; dark chocolate, deep olive and bronze on the eyes, with a forest green or brown-black liner; brown-black or black mascara.

Icy pink, frosted lilac, fuchsia and a blue-based cherry red cool an Autumn down and make it look tired.

## Winter: true red and fuchsia

Winter make-up is cool and clear, and it can take contrast.

- **[Cool Winter](https://colour-sense.com/en/color-types/winter/cool-winter):** a true, blue-based red, cherry, cool pink and berry; a cool pink blush; charcoal, silver-grey, navy and cool taupe on the eyes; black mascara and a black or navy liner.
- **Deep Winter:** crimson, wine, deep berry and plum; a berry or plum-rose blush; black, aubergine and charcoal on the eyes, with an emerald liner for colour; black mascara.
- **Bright Winter:** fuchsia, magenta, clear cherry and a vivid cool pink; a clear cool pink blush, applied sheer so the lips and eyes lead; black liner with an electric blue or icy turquoise accent; black mascara.

Orange, peach, warm brown nudes and heavy golden shimmer blur the Winter contrast and leave the skin looking sallow.

## Brows, and the face that wears little make-up

Brows follow the family of your natural hair: ash-taupe or cool brown for cool colourings, warm brown or a soft auburn-brown for warm ones. Stay within a shade of your natural colour. On very dark hair, a brow a shade lighter than the hair keeps the face from looking severe; on fair hair, a brow a shade deeper gives it a frame. If you colour your hair, [Hair Colour by Season](https://colour-sense.com/en/guides/hair-color-by-season) explains how to keep hair and brows in the same family.

If you wear almost nothing, one product does most of the work: a tinted balm or a sheer lip colour in your family, the peach of a Spring or the rose of a Summer. Everything above still applies to it. And if you wear no make-up at all, the same logic moves to what sits at your collar; [Wardrobe Neutrals by Season](https://colour-sense.com/en/guides/wardrobe-neutrals-by-season) starts there.

## When you are not sure of your subtype

Start at the level of the season. The four families above (peach and coral, rose and raspberry, terracotta and bronze, true red and fuchsia) are the most useful single thing to know. Then set the strength by eye with the depth and clarity check. Which end of your family works best, lighter or deeper, cleaner or softer, is already a clue to your subtype.

If your season is still a guess, the [free colour test](https://colour-sense.com/en/color-test) is a short quiz in your browser that estimates it. The [personal colour analysis](https://colour-sense.com/en/color-analysis) works from a few questions about your hair, eyes and skin and one to three photos taken in natural light, determines your season and your subtype, and delivers a PDF report by e-mail with named make-up and hair colours alongside the rest of your palette.

## Questions and answers

### How do I know if my foundation undertone is right?

Swatch two or three shades along your jawline, let them settle for a few minutes and look in daylight by a window. The right one disappears into your face and neck. If it sits on top as a pink or orange layer, the undertone is off; if it looks grey or ashy, it is too cool or too light for you.

### What lipstick colour suits my season?

Spring suits peach, coral and warm pink; Summer suits rose, raspberry and mauve; Autumn suits terracotta, brick and warm brown-red; Winter suits true red, berry and fuchsia. Within each season your subtype sets the strength: sheer for the light subtypes, rich for the deep ones, vivid for the clear ones and blended for the soft ones.

### Can I wear red lipstick if I am not a Winter?

Yes. Every season has a red; the reds differ in warmth and clarity. Spring wears coral-red and poppy, Summer a soft raspberry or rose-red, Autumn brick, rust and tomato red, and Winter a clear, blue-based cherry. The red that suits you looks like an extension of your own colouring rather than something laid on top of it.

### Should I wear black or brown mascara?

Black suits the Winters, Bright Spring and Deep Autumn, whose colouring is deep or high in contrast. Brown or brown-black is kinder to Light Spring, Warm Spring and the soft subtypes, where black can look like a hard line drawn round the eye. Summers often do best in charcoal or a soft black. Very fair lashes are usually happiest in brown-black.