Deep Winter Color Palette

The Deep Winter color palette

The Deep Winter color palette on this page has 30 reference shades: the 8 colors of the Deep Winter palette that the selfie analysis in the Wearton phone app uses, and 22 shades we chose as styling examples. Most are cool, deep jewel colors and dark neutrals; pure white and the icy shades are the light accents.

Seasonal color analysis describes colors by three qualities. Value is how light or dark a color is. Temperature is how warm or cool it is; many color analysis guides call this quality hue, although hue in color science means the color family, such as red or blue. Chroma is how saturated a color is. Deep Winter colors are deep and cool, with rich chroma: darker than True Winter colors, cooler than Deep Autumn colors and softer than Bright Winter colors.

Deep Winter and Dark Winter are two names for one season in the 12-season system. One guide we read describes Dark Winter as a separate, even deeper season, so check which system a guide uses. The Wearton app uses 12 seasons and shows this season as Deep Winter.

Seasonal color analysis usually recommends cool, deep, rich shades for Deep Winter, and counts warm, dusty or light warm shades as harder to wear near the face. These are styling recommendations, not measured effects on your skin.

Below are 30 reference shades with names and hex codes. A hex code shows how a color looks on a screen. Fabric looks different in different light, so use the swatches as a guide when shopping, not as an exact match.

See the difference

Color analysts test colors with a plain fabric cape under the face, in the same light. Drag the handle to compare mustard, which is harder to wear for many Deep Winters, with burgundy from the palette.

Burgundy

Mustard

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Deep Winter neutrals

Deep Winter neutrals are dark and cool, with pure white and icy grey as the light ones. Soft black, charcoal and cool espresso are the dark neutrals, and pewter and cool taupe the middle ones. Coats, trousers, shoes and bags in these colors go with the rest of the palette. Midnight navy, in the blues, works as a neutral too.

Deep Winter greens

Greens are deep and blue-leaning: emerald is the brightest, deep emerald and pine the everyday greens, and deep teal the bluest. Olive, khaki and lime are warmer or more yellow than the palette.

Deep Winter blues

Deep Winter blues go from royal blue and sapphire to ink blue and midnight navy. The darkest blues work as neutrals for suits, coats and jeans. Dusty denim blue and powder blue are softer or lighter than the palette.

Deep Winter reds

Deep Winter reds lean blue or are deep: true red is the brightest, cranberry the middle, and burgundy and wine the deepest. Orange-reds such as rust, tomato red and terracotta are warmer than the palette.

Deep Winter pinks and purples

Six of the 30 colors are pinks and purples. Fuchsia is the brightest pink and deep berry a darker one; royal purple and indigo are the clear purples, and plum and aubergine the deepest. Dusty mauve and dusty rose are softer than the palette.

Deep Winter icy colors

The light colors of Deep Winter are icy: icy pink, icy lavender, icy blue, icy mint and lemon ice, a cool, pale yellow. Each is very light with a cool cast. Several guides suggest wearing them next to a dark color, such as an icy blue shirt under a charcoal suit. Warm pastels such as peach and butter yellow are warmer than the palette.

Colors to avoid for Deep Winter

Camel, orange, mustard, peach, warm beige, dusty sage, rust and cream are harder to wear for many Deep Winters, because they are warm, dusty or light and warm. They are not forbidden. Each one has a cooler swap in the palette. If you love one of them, wear it away from the face (trousers, shoes, a bag), in a small amount, or with a palette color between it and your face, such as a charcoal scarf or a white collar.

• →Camel → Charcoal #36454F
• →Orange → True red #C8102E
• →Mustard → Lemon ice #F5F0B0
• →Peach → Icy pink #F3D9E6
• →Warm beige → Icy grey #D9DDE3
• →Dusty sage → Pine #1F4D3A
• →Rust → Burgundy #800020
• →Cream → Pure white #FFFFFF

Can Deep Winter wear brown, gold or cream?

Deep Winter can wear brown, gold and cream with some care: brown in its darkest, coolest versions, gold in darker, antiqued finishes, and cream away from the face, in trousers, shoes or a bag.

Can Deep Winter wear black?

Yes, Deep Winter can wear black: guides list it among the core neutrals of this season. Two guides we read add that an all-black outfit can seem to diminish people with darker skin, so add a palette color such as emerald, true red or pure white near the face.

Can Deep Winter wear white?

Yes, Deep Winter can wear pure white, and most guides we read include it. Several guides suggest pairing it with a dark color, such as a white shirt under a navy coat, because the contrast fits Deep Winter coloring.

Can Deep Winter wear cream?

Cream is warmer and softer than pure white, so it is harder to wear near the face for many Deep Winters, and one guide calls it warm in every shade. Pure white and icy grey give a light color that suits the cool palette. Cream trousers or a cream bag are easier, because they are away from the face.

Can Deep Winter wear brown?

Yes, Deep Winter can wear brown when it is very dark and cool, like cool espresso. Guides agree that camel, tan and golden browns are harder, because they are warm and lighter than the palette. A dark brown coat with a burgundy or emerald scarf keeps the look cool.

Can Deep Winter wear grey?

Yes, Deep Winter can wear grey: charcoal is one of the app's key colors, and pewter and icy grey are in the palette. Greys with a warm, beige cast are further from the palette.

Can Deep Winter wear olive or mustard?

Olive and mustard are harder to wear for many Deep Winters, because they are warm and earthy, and several guides we read list them as colors to avoid. One guide calls olive a good neutral and mustard a good yellow. Pine and deep emerald are the palette's greens; lemon ice is its yellow.

Can Deep Winter wear pastels?

Warm or dusty pastels, like peach, butter yellow and dusty rose, are harder for many Deep Winters, because they are light and warm or soft. Icy colors are in the palette: icy pink, icy lavender, icy blue, icy mint and lemon ice. Guides suggest wearing them with a dark color.

Can Deep Winter wear gold?

Yes, Deep Winter can wear gold, but most guides say cool metals are easier: silver, white gold, platinum and pewter. Guides that accept gold suggest a darker, antiqued gold, and advise against bright yellow or orange gold.

Deep Winter clothing and outfits

Color combinations

Seasonal color guides usually describe Deep Winter coloring as medium-high to high contrast, and suggest outfits that pair a dark color with a light or bright one. A simple formula: one dark neutral, one jewel color and one icy or white accent. Outfits of only soft, mid-tone colors are further from the palette.

• Midnight navy + Pure white + True red
• Charcoal + Icy pink + Burgundy
• Soft black + Emerald + Pure white
• Deep emerald + Icy grey + Plum
• Wine + Pewter + Icy lavender
• Sapphire + Charcoal + Icy blue

Outfit ideas

Four outfits built only from the palette. Under each one are the colors it uses, so you can rebuild it from your own clothes.

A Deep Winter capsule wardrobe

Twelve pieces in palette colors. The five tops and four bottoms make 20 top-and-bottom combinations, each worn with the boots; the coat and the bag go with all of them.

• Wool coat, midnight navy
• Silk blouse, pure white
• Knit sweater, burgundy
• Turtleneck, soft black
• Fine-knit sweater, emerald
• Shirt, icy blue
• Tailored trousers, charcoal
• Dark jeans, ink blue
• Midi skirt, plum
• Straight trousers, cool espresso
• Leather boots, soft black
• Leather bag, wine

Prints and fabrics

Prints with clear contrast in palette colors sit closest to it: a black-and-white stripe or houndstooth, a navy and white polka dot, and bold florals or geometric prints on a black, navy or charcoal ground. Faded, washed-out or warm, earthy prints are further from it. Smooth wool, silk, satin, velvet, leather and crisp cotton in palette colors fit its deep, clear look.

Am I a Deep Winter? How to tell

A season describes how your overall coloring works with color: its depth, how warm or cool it leans, and how soft or clear it looks. It is not tied to one skin depth, ethnicity, eye color or hair color. Guides we read say Deep Winter skin ranges from fair to deep.

Skin depth and undertone are different things. Depth is how light or dark the skin is. Undertone is the warm, cool or neutral lean of the skin; an olive look does not decide it on its own. Deep Winter is about the depth and coolness of your overall coloring, hair and eyes included, so it can occur at any skin depth.

Skin

Any depth, from fair to deep; guides describe the undertone as neutral-cool or cool, and some say it can look olive.

Eyes

Often dark brown, black-brown or deep hazel, but guides also name dark olive, cool green, deep blue and icy blue eyes.

Hair

Often dark brown to black, with little warmth in daylight. Dyed or grey hair changes the picture, so look at roots, brows and older photos too.

Contrast

Usually medium-high to high: dark hair and eyes stand out against the skin or the whites of the eyes. One guide says dark-on-dark coloring with lower contrast also occurs.

A side-by-side comparison

Use clothes or fabrics you already own. Sit by a window in daylight, with no makeup or a light base and your hair pulled back. Compare one pair at a time, and change nothing else between them.

1. Temperature: a cool and a warm color of similar depth, such as burgundy against rust.
2. Depth: a deep and a medium version of a similar cool color, such as midnight navy against a medium blue.
3. Chroma: a clear and a dusty version of a similar color, such as emerald against dusty sage.

For each pair, note which one makes your skin look more even and your features more balanced. Taking photos in the same light, or asking a friend, helps. Clothes at home rarely differ in only one quality, so treat the results as a rough guide, not a diagnosis.

If deep, cool and clear win most of the time, Deep Winter is a reasonable starting point. If deep wins but the warm color looks better, look at Deep Autumn. If cool and clear win and the deepest colors look heavy, look at True Winter. If the brightest colors look best, look at Bright Winter. If your comparisons give mixed results, use Deep Winter as a starting point, not a fixed label.

Two quick tests are weaker than they seem. Jewelry: guides disagree about gold for Deep Winter, so a gold-or-silver test alone does not settle a season. Selfies: light and camera settings change how a photo shows color. Wearton's selfie analysis is a starting point too; check it against real clothes in daylight.

Deep Winter vs similar seasons

Deep Winter sits between Deep Autumn and True Winter in the 12-season system, so it is not always clear which one fits. The table compares it with those two seasons and with Bright Winter, the third winter season.

The sample colors of each season are the first three colors of the palette the Wearton app uses for it. The qualities follow the app's season descriptions where they give one, and the guides we read where they do not. The table follows the 12-season system. Names differ between systems: Deep Winter is also called Dark Winter, Deep Autumn is also called Dark Autumn, True Winter is also called Cool Winter, Bright Winter is also called Clear Winter, and 16-season systems split the seasons further.

Deep Winter vs Deep Autumn

Guides describe both as deep seasons with high contrast, so the difference comes down to temperature. Deep Winter leans cool: midnight navy, burgundy, emerald, pure white as an accent. Deep Autumn leans warm: chocolate, rust, dark olive, mustard gold.

Compare a rust scarf and a cool burgundy or royal blue scarf of similar depth in daylight. If the cool color makes your skin look more even, Deep Winter is more likely; if rust does, Deep Autumn is more likely. The two palettes on this site share a few deep colors, such as deep teal and aubergine.

Deep Winter vs True Winter

Both are cool winter seasons; the difference is depth. True Winter, also called Cool Winter, is cooler and a little lighter, and its colors are clearer, like cobalt and icy blue. Deep Winter colors are deeper and a little softer, like midnight navy and wine. If the deepest colors look balanced on you and the icier ones look harsh, Deep Winter is more likely.

Deep Winter vs Bright Winter

Both are cool and high in contrast; the difference is chroma. Bright Winter, also called Clear Winter, has the most vivid colors, like hot pink and bright emerald. Deep Winter colors are darker and softer. If very bright, clear colors make you look fresher than deep ones, look at Bright Winter.

Best hair colors for Deep Winter

Hair color does not decide your season, and you can wear any hair color you like. If you want a color that works with the Deep Winter palette, dark, cool shades close to your natural depth are the easiest. Guides call golden, caramel and copper shades harder, because they are warm. The shades and hex codes below are our examples, not dye formulas or colors from the selfie analysis; a dye result depends on your starting color and the product.

Does black hair mean Deep Winter? Not on its own. Guides call dark brown to black hair typical for Deep Winter, but one guide says coloring is confirmed by draping, never by hair or eye color alone. For greying hair, a cool silver or keeping your natural grey are options we suggest; cool, dark lowlights are another.

Deep Winter makeup

Deep Winter makeup follows the same idea as the clothes: cool, deep and clear. The shades below are our suggestions to try, not rules, and not one shade for everyone. Choose the depth that matches your skin: a shade that looks rich on fair skin can disappear on deep skin, and a deep shade can look heavy on fair skin.

Lipstick

Our suggestions for fair to light skin: cranberry, true red, cool rose. Medium skin: true red, deep berry, wine. Deep skin: wine, plum and deep berry. Guides we read advise against a nude, skin-colored lip and orange-based reds for Deep Winter.

Blush

Our suggestions for fair to light skin: cool pink, cool rose. Medium skin: raspberry, berry. Deep skin: deep raspberry and plum rose. Guides suggest skipping peach and bronze tones, and one suggests skipping bronzer.

Eyeshadow and eyeliner

Our suggested eyeshadow colors are charcoal, plum, midnight navy, deep emerald and pewter; on deep skin, try deeper versions too, such as aubergine and soft black. Test the depth and opacity of a product on your own skin. Black or deep plum eyeliner and black mascara are the usual advice.

Nails

We suggest burgundy, true red, midnight navy, deep emerald or a cool pink matched to your skin depth. Pure white is crisper than cream.

Jewelry and metals for Deep Winter

Seasonal color guides recommend cool metals for Deep Winter: silver, white gold, platinum, pewter and gunmetal. Some guides accept gold when it is darker and antiqued, not bright yellow or orange-gold; one guide says many Deep Winters can wear gold. Stones in palette colors, such as ruby, sapphire, emerald and amethyst, follow the same deep, cool range.

Deep Winter celebrities

Celebrity seasons are opinions from photos, not facts: lighting, makeup, hair dye and editing change how someone looks, and analysts often disagree. The people below are often typed as Deep Winter: each name appears on two or more of the published lists we read.

• Sandra Bullock
• Anne Hathaway
• Lucy Liu
• Viola Davis
• Lea Michele
• Salma Hayekother lists type her as Deep Autumn

Other lists name more people, each on one list only. We leave them out, because analysts often type the same person differently.

Deep Winter for men

The same palette works for men. Suits and trousers in charcoal, midnight navy, ink blue and soft black give a dark base. For shirts: pure white, icy blue, icy grey and icy pink. Black leather shoes and belts, a silver or steel watch and knitwear in burgundy, emerald or wine complete the palette.

When does winter start and end?

Weather services in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Japan and South Korea count winter from December 1 to the end of February; calendars use the December solstice to the March equinox. In the Southern Hemisphere, winter starts in June. Some countries use temperature or their own calendars instead (table below). Deep Winter itself is a color season, not a time of year: you can wear the palette in any month.

The answer depends on the hemisphere, and on which of two definitions your country uses.

Meteorological winter

Three whole calendar months, used for weather records: December 1 to the end of February in the Northern Hemisphere, June 1 to August 31 in the Southern Hemisphere.

Astronomical winter

From the solstice to the equinox. The dates move by a day from year to year, and the day can differ by time zone.

The times come from the US Naval Observatory's seasons data. Where two days are given, the day depends on your time zone. The Americas can be one day earlier than East Asia and Oceania. The map below shows where winter usually starts in December, where it starts in June, and the tropics, where many places have no winter.

Deep Winter colors work in every season. In a warm place or a hot month, wear the same colors in linen, cotton and light knits.

Common Deep Winter mistakes

Typical choices that move away from the Deep Winter palette are camel and beige basics, warm or dusty colors near the face, and outfits of only black. They are styling suggestions, not rules.

1. 1

   Choosing camel and beige basics

   A camel coat or a beige trench is warmer and lighter than the palette. Charcoal and midnight navy are its everyday dark neutrals.

   Instead: Charcoal, Midnight navy

2. 2

   Choosing dusty, muted colors

   Dusty sage and dusty rose are soft and greyed. The palette has clearer, deeper versions of the same hues.

   Instead: Pine, Cranberry

3. 3

   Picking warm, orange-based reds

   Rust, terracotta and orange lean warm. Deep Winter reds lean blue or are deep.

   Instead: True red, Burgundy

4. 4

   Wearing only black

   Black is in the palette, but an outfit of only black hides its deep colors, and one guide says all-black can seem to diminish people with darker skin. Navy, emerald and wine are dark too, with more color.

   Instead: Midnight navy, Deep emerald, Wine

5. 5

   Low-contrast outfits

   Guides describe Deep Winter coloring as medium-high to high contrast, so an outfit of only mid-tones can look flat. A white or icy piece next to a dark one adds contrast.

   Instead: Pure white, Soft black

6. 6

   Warm pastels

   Peach and butter yellow are light and warm. The palette's light colors are icy.

   Instead: Icy pink, Lemon ice

7. 7

   Bright yellow gold everywhere

   Guides suggest cool metals first for Deep Winter, and the analyst Parade quotes calls bright orange-gold too overwhelming. Silver, white gold and pewter sit closer to the palette.

   Instead: Pewter

8. 8

   Cream near the face

   Cream is warmer and softer than the palette's light neutrals.

   Instead: Pure white, Icy grey

Deep Winter FAQ