Q&A - Am I A Deep Autumn or Deep Winter?

YourColorStyle.com/quiz ~ Jen Thoden answers a question from her subscribers. This question has to do with a woman that can't figure out if she's a deep autumn or a deep winter. She has dark eyes and dark hair. So, how can she easily tell if she has warm undertones or cool undertones?

[@liz257]

These are my people, confused between deep winter and deep autumn. I have pale olive skin, dark Hazel eyes, dark brown hair that has a ginger tone in direct sunlight but a greenish tone in normal lighting. High contrast. I burn in the sun but then tan. I suit gold and silver but prefer silver. Foundation is either too orange or too pink on me. I prefer pink lipstick to oranges, some deep winter colours feel too cool and bright for me and some deep autumn colours feel way too warm.

[@isateasane]

Maybe you're not a deep winter but more cool or true winter since you mention it being too bright but deep autumn too warm. If smt is too bright, you might be in the correct season/undertone but wrong value/chroma? :)

[@TracyD2]

@@isateasane That’s what I was thinking.

[@erin.x]

I have the exact same problem. Deep autumn in natural light but deep winter in indoors white light. Maybe we should dress as autumns if staying out, and as winters if staying in?

[@justlivinglife465]

Me too!! I genuinely can’t decide. Fairly neutral dark hair, hazel eyes with shades of everything, beige skin - no idea! I love deep, saturated colours. Anything pastel is just yuck..

[@darlinglittlethree5860]

You probably already figured this out by now, but I have almost the same exact coloring as you, down to the pale olive skin and hair tones. The only difference is, my hazel eyes are a little lighter and overall I'm not super high contrast, but I'm not super muted either. I was draped by HOC yesterday and I am a Deep Blue Autumn in their system or Dark Autumn in other systems. When she was draping me, it was very clear I was warm undertoned and then again when she went between Autumn and Spring, the higher intensity colors of spring were too overpowering, almost like I was playing dress up, while the deeper, richer colors of Autumn looked as though they belonged on me.

[@heidiluotolahti4305]

If you have to wonder it a long time, it does not matter. Use what you like.

[@misslyntheena]

The only thing that helped me figure this out was dying my hair black on accident. I wanted an even darker black brown (already have dark brown hair) but it ended up pitch black. I looked constantly sick, super pale, the green in my olive skin was sickly and it clashed with me way too much. So now I know, I’m a warm autumn and so happy about it, I love more muted warm colours.

[@realSimoneCherie]

this is the most helpful thing I've ever heard

[@stacydavidson7353]

This was very helpful-thank you! I had a color analysis done about 2 years ago and was determined I was a dynamic winter. I definitely have warm undertones so I was so confused why I was labeled as such. Waste of money for me but at least now I’ve learned what I am, deep autumn 🍂

[@aiaman]

The description at the beggining is EXACTLY me lol I have black brown eyes, very (!!) pale olive skin and black brown hair that used to be warmer and slightly lighter when I was a kid and had a slightly tanner skin. I'll watch the rest because the answer will help me out a lot

[@masquitaful]

Took me a long time to figure out I am deep autumn. I would try to wear red clothes, and literally take them off because they made my face look...so sick. Then one day I found some clothes in burnt sienna (Dark burnt brown). Oh, it looked SO fabulous on me, it took my breath away. Burnt orange also looks so fabulous on me. The problem I have is finding makeup that is dark enough. Plus, I am hypoallergenic. Sigh. So frustrating. Think I am going to throw away all the pink makeup I have bought over the years. It's of no use to me.

[@lemmings6516]

had a similar journey, i think it has to do with the skin being a little olive. i have very little reds in my skin, but still look light brown somehow because of the green + blue + yellow. browns always flew under the radar for me, but burnt sienna and brown-greens, brown-yellows are now my absolute go-to. for being "so warm" i still can wear a big amount of cool colours, like purples and greenish blues... i was super confused :D and for archieving a red lip now i just use dark orange browns and somethow it looks red on me. i dont get it haha

[@persephoneomnia8506]

This video really helped me! I look terrible in "oranges" but I was convinced Deep autumn suited me Perfectly . Actually some wines, greens and black suits me well and the other colors just doesn't work. The orange is the key. The orange! haha

[@Nik-ko9eq]

It really is, as well as that Goldy/mustardy yellow. I'm pretty sure if it makes you look sick, you're not Autumn! But I do think the purples and greens look really nice on more winter leaning colorings too!

[@persephoneomnia8506]

@@Nik-ko9eq That's right... I found myself bright spring, bright and vivid colors suits me very well

[@Aisstylish]

This was really helpful! Thank you ❤️

[@h.l.asolomonov7674]

Black look astonishing on u Thank you for explaining now I'm sure I'm winter

[@ruthannemackinnon588]

Took me a very long time to figure out I'm a deep autumn. Just embrace the burnt orange and terra cotta! Lately been looking for lip color as the oranges are too bright.

[@JuliaShalomJordan]

Thank u.🌸

[@lemmings6516]

had a similar journey, i think it has to do with the skin being a little olive. i have very little reds in my skin. its actually fascinating, i feel regardless of the actual brightness people with pinkish skin always look paler than olive skinned people. when i used foundation of my pinkish friend who looks a lot paler than me, it was surprisingly dark on me. i needed it two shades lighter but still ended up looking darker/richer than her. it might be because of the green + blue + yellow. i think thats also why the colours i wear need so much depth and darkness even though i am white + rather fair there is something not so "light" in my complexion. browns always flew under the radar for me, but burnt sienna and brown-greens, brown-yellows are now my absolute go-to. for being "so warm" i still can wear a big amount of cool colors, like purples and greenish blues... i am super confused :D and for achieving a red lip now i just use dark orange browns and somehow it looks red on me. i dont get it haha

[@justlivinglife465]

I thought I was autumn but looking at a photo in daylight with a dark orange cardigan (rust coloured) I realised how it does look a bit off.. my natural hair is a more neutral dark brown and while my skin overtone is a bit yellow, I don’t think there is enough warmth there. A neutral brown is sooooo much better! This has been my question for.. ages. My advice: stop looking at yourself in indoor light to decide- you really need daylight to be sure. I thought I was very warm as I look so yellow inside the house.

[@tomars312]

I know it's not easy to analyze oneself...but I'm pretty sure at the moment that I'm more a deep winter...but I do like some colors of the deep autumn too. You know what I found difficult? As a man analyzed as deep autumn though, it's not easy coming up with a lot of these autumn colors and not look somehow old-fashioned sometimes...Men try to appear strong vivid, clear and mostly they tend to use traditional color schemes like black/white or blue...so even if someone might be analyzed as a deep autumn he might turn to more the winter palette in his style because he finds it more appropriate in daily outfits. just a thought. :D what's your thought on that Jen Thoden.

[@gokcenihal]

I know this is a very old comment, but I was thinking this same thing! I have self diagnosed my boyfriend to be a True Spring, but honestly those colors are not the most traditionally masculine😅. I haven't even suggested that he wears these colors because all he ever wears is black, white, navy and regular blue.

[@leftcoaster8]

Helpful, I look absolutely horrid in orange and corals. Like sickly. Thanks 🙏

[@ifthesh0efits]

Would have been useful to see the winter palette! Thank you, still helpful

[@realSimoneCherie]

An example that a deep winter could pull off but not a deep autumn, is heather grey. Grey hues on a wam undercurrent makes deep autumn women look so sad. (e.g. Zoe Saldana, Tyra Banks. Penelope Cruz)

[@TwilightBornGirl]

Ok I have a question, and it’s kinda lengthy haha my skin tone/undertones is VERY mixed. I naturally have dark hair and dark eyes. While on the surface I appear to have warm undertones, whenever I wear warm colors depending on the undertone; it normally washes me out. Whenever I wear cool colors, again depending on the undertone. It’ll drown me out as well sometimes be too loud. I tan somewhat well, burn before tanning if anything. And I feel like I look better with ash colors or neutral colors. Also, I did a color drop tool on my chest area and I def seem to come up as a neutral salmon color, on the RGB color scale I come up with Red 237 Green 212 and Blue 184. I def need help. Haha

[@misslyntheena]

What helped me was when I accidentally died my hair pitch black, made me look sick and unflattering- warmer undertones in my hair look so much better so I figured I’m a dark autumn. Maybe try on wigs? Haha

[@tinamariefranco3885]

It's strange to say, but I am a bright winter but for some reason, I can pull off warm pinks, warm taupe, nudes, and even blue/green colors. I am a light/neutral olive ( I burn and then tan, but my tan doesn't last long) . My hair is naturaly ash dark brown. I have blue/grey/green eyes with one fleck of amber in one eye. I cannot pull of red, blonde and lighter hair color that does not fall into the ash dark color or almost-grey-color hair. I have black hair right now, and I always get compliments with black hair. Yes, I am complicated.

[@gaisb9418]

Yes I understand not all autumnal were super muted colors some colors can be bright LIKE orange pumpkin tomatoes red chartreuse ☺

[@mhorset]

most of my results on online tests indicate deep winter, I want to know more about colors to my daily things

[@brittanystorey9460]

Yeah I had orangeish red hair from a bad dye job in high school I looked constantly washed out and then tried to go blond with warm hues that was a huge no no. Now I keep my hair a dark brown with the tinyiest tone of purple and I've never looked so alive in the face. Color tones make a world of a difference!

[@sashayy1232]

I can relate, I went a yellow blonde looked awful. Color seasons make a difference!)

[@Nik-ko9eq]

Blonde is NOT my color. Honestly I wish I had my natural deep brown that had reddish tones in the sun. It was perfect. Now I'm going white with dark brown. Which is nice but... Not the same lol

[@FeliciaFollum]

If I have neutral undertone, which would I be?

[@RAND882]

I have dark brown eyes and my hair is dark black but no brown highlights in it. My skin is fair with warm undertones I believe. So I’m confused what sort of season I am because I don’t really look like deep autumns (I feel they have too much brown in their hair compared to mine) and I’m not a clear winter with cook undertones?

[@gigics1612]

How do I tell if I am medium to deep WARM undertoned or medium to deep OLIVE undertoned? Previously. my hair was very dark brown but now it is fully white to white/silver... with just a very few threads of dark here and there. my eyes are dark brown. Also, how would you classify me depending if I am warm or olive in undertones? (I look beyond sick in any golds, tans, creams, browns... but with a tan, I look good in bright strong clear coral, and bright light , icy yellow... if that helps at all.). Thank you!

[@lorihenry3294]

Good lord Im still so very confused as to which I am. I mainly wear black and think all colors just about look bad however if I were to wear colors I love bright but still dont know.

[@Espressoqueen9894]

Cant tell what I am though 🤔 my eyes change from blue to green depends on my mood I'm pale I have naturally dark brown hair

[@manelfarasha9422]

i"am deep autumn a'am little bit confusing about bright and soft i still d'ont understand thank you so so much please do for us how we corect brassy pigment in our hair after dying our hair par example for red pigment we neutrelize with green but what coloration have a green pigment are ashy or goldor...... please help me thank's so much

[@Darcella]

You mentioned colors that a deep winter would NOT wear as a way to determine if they were winter or autumn. My question is if there are winter colors that a deep autumn would have that same visceral reaction against?

[@kitty_s23456]

Hi. I'm an TA/ DA and royal blue, black & fuschia drain the colors from my face (and my eye bags are more pronounced) - as opposed to navy blue, rust orange, mustard, choco brown which all look good on me. I've seen a winter gal wear mustard yellow & it looked horrible on her.

[@katitadeb]

Dusty purples are very draining and tend to bring out the yellowness of "autumns" (or any warm undertone) in a sick and pale looking way

[@FeliciaFollum]

Ok I did the test with a couple people who know this stuff fairly well and I had always been labeled deep winter or feel autumn. Some times it seems like I'm a true winter... Ahhh

[@dishani_1822]

I have neutral undertone. I have purple kind of veins..but my face looks a little bit yellowish. White does makes me look very yellowish. Still Don't know what my undertone is🥲

[@mernam5056]

I love white but it doesn't look good on me.

[@flowersafeheart]

I feel a little confused about what sub-seasons are the equivalent of Jen's Soft Warm Deep and Soft Cool Deep at this point but will keep trying to understand. Here and on another of Jen's videos she describes Deep Autumn as Bright Warm Deep (calling it Shaded Autumn too in other video and a palette she made). And here Dark Winter is described as Bright Cool Deep. On one website (not Jen's), I see Deep Autumn described as right between soft and bright. Did she break Deep Autumn into two categories: SWD and BWD?

[@khadijabey7964]

They medium in chroma, but there are some in this category that brighter than others. For instance, Deep Autumns can be borderline springs, if they are very warm, and very bright.

[@miaytuxa]

I would find it very helpful for you to illustrate this with images

[@M.Moadeli123]

I can never seem to get to the bottom of which of the 2 I am. As a child I had very dark eyes and hair, with light olive skin. With age my hair turned an ashy medium chestnut brown and my eyes are heavily saturated dark chocolate brown. I tend to gravitate towards autumn colours, but orange doesn't suit me at all. I thought perhaps I'm a dark winter as I'm on the neutral side of warm. So I tried a black blue hair dye and it's made me look dead and washed out. Hating it. I also love soft autumn colours and they look good on me. Perhaps because I have a grey olivy cast to my skin. My veins are both blue and green. Both gold and silver suit me, but rose gold doesn't stand out but blends into my skin. In my au nature hair colour etc I have a very earthy look to me. My favorite colours to wear are military green, mustard, red, soft pistachio colour, plum etc. I once had plum (claret violet) hair colour and it suited my complexion alot. Im next trying a dark chocolate or mahogany brown hair colour to get closer to my natural hair colour then let my own grow out. I guess the best hair colour is one we were born with as its harmonious with the rest of our futures. I just wish I could figure out which season I am. :(

[@minivan1680]

It sounds like you are deep autumn

[@AishaVamps]

i'm very confused between the two cause my naturally hair is brown and i even shaved my head and let my natural hair grow out for like almost 6 months but my eyes can look brownish red or a golden brown and i'm also olive so its really hard to tell which if i have cool or warm tones also i mainly wear black but if i do add color i always wear red (especially love dark blood red), purple, or green

[@masquitaful]

You are probably a winter. I am a deep autumn and cannot wear red.

[@lifeofthepardee]

Is it possible to just be deep and bright? I think I fall in the middle of warm and cool - probably slightly more warm undertones in my skin as I tan easily but there are some colors in the bright and warm palette that I only feel I can wear if I am tanned (e.g., orange and yellow) and I think I look good in colors like cobalt blue which I believe would be considered a cool blue. Thanks!

[@tomars312]

I'd say some people's coloring it's not very obvious leaning towards cool or warm...the skin might look like a mix of both warm and cool features. As Jen once said cool undertone coloring lacks all warmth but people with warm undertones may have some cool features. It's just not rocket science, you have to work with what you have. If you like colors of both palettes on you, why not use both palettes . In the end its all about your best colours to shine and look great and not trying to fit in a certain typology just for the sake of it.

[@lifeofthepardee]

I agree with much of what you say but it seems like the goal of color analysis is to to categorize people into different schemes so that they can know and use their best colors. If people can straddle across two aspects (warm and cool) I think the system should accommodate that. For example, I personally find it difficult at times to buy makeup foundation shades, even when they offer a "neutral" option. I currently use shade Medium by IT and it works pretty well but there are so many brands where you need to choose by undertone and some sales people have typed me cool and some have typed me warm. But I guess in the end I have to trust my own instincts!

[@YourColorStyle]

You said it better than me, Tom!

[@rositatomashevska6136]

Totally me😂

[@Nik-ko9eq]

I'm pretty much the same and kinda mix and match from the darker colors of Deep Autumn/Winter. I'm really a mix of both but was given a very bright orange shirt which I got SO many compliments on that I feel like I may lean more towards Autumn than Winter.

[@liluv1987]

This is so confusing. I’ve always thought I had warm undertone, because my veins are green and gold jewelry looks better on me although I liked silver. I get compliments when I wear my mustard yellow dress. However, Style DNA app, not sure how accurate, every single time came up as Deep winter. I did their white paper test as well. Funny enough, one of the colors suggested under that matched my work office shirt I wore often, which I got a lot of compliments on also. I am so freaking confused😅

[@missk6571]

Same!!

[@arielleririn9751]

Is it possible to be deep soft and medium? I was typed as a soft winter. I have brown almost black hair and medium olive skin (medium value contrast, low color contrast), and I look great in some light pastels and some winter true colors (true blue etc), but the deep colors look HORRIBLE on me and they are supposed to look great on Winters, so I am wondering is it possible to be medium instead of deep? Or is it possible to have dark hair and not be made for deep colors?

[@gaisb9418]

arielleririn sure deep hair medium skin dark eyes

[@marie.theartist]

I have a question Jen, why can I wear a bright warm autumn colors and deep winter colors well? I have grey/blue eyes with a fleck of amber in one of my eyes. I have dark Brown hair, light olive/neutral skin. I am so confused

[@YourColorStyle]

Many of the cool colors are universal colors. Blues, blue-greens and greens are all colors that can be worn by warm and cool people.

[@Carrie-sgda]

I'm dark autumn , I'm very muted , how can a dark autumn be bright and clear? I'm confused by this description.

[@anlla3]

I see a bit of a contradiction here. I took the quiz and got bright, cool and deep. So one of the recommend colours for my skin tone is Pumpkin; but now you’re saying that pumpkin does not work for cool undertone 😂. Don’t know what to believe now.

[@nnicolettorres]

The quiz is wrong.

[@Katie-kp6cf]

I am still very confused. I seem to have very yellow skin when I hold a piece of paper to my skin which suggests I have warm undertones, but then someone told me this might be my overtone? I’m unsure how to tell the difference between overtones and undertones. Also my veins are blue/purple which suggests I have cool undertones? My hair is deep brown but seems to have very ashy tones near the roots but more golden tones in the shaft? I tan, freckle and burn easily so again that’s a mix of warm and cool traits. I still cannot decide if I look better in gold or silver jewellery. I do tend to lean more towards gold but I think this may just be because i feel it goes with my outfits better. Other people say they think silver suits me better. I’m thinking maybe I have a neutral undertone but none of the seasons include a neutral undertone. I’m also confused about contrast. My skin is pale and my eyes are bright green so I don’t know if I have a high or low contrast? The contrast between my hair and skin is high but it’s low between my eyes and skin? I think I may be a deep autumn as I do seem to have the deep autumn colours in my wardrobe (pine greens, khaki greens, reds, burgundies, maroons, greys, whites, creams, blacks, beiges/browns, and some mustards/oranges but not many) but I don’t really seem to fit the specification for deep autumn as my eyes are not dark and I may not have warm undertones

[@aermsche]

When you look good in spice colours you are warm. When you look awful in them then you are cool. My skin overtone is also yellowish but I´m a cool type(blue veins), because I look terrible in spice colours. You can see your undertone when you wear the wrong colours.

[@jasmintea8825]

You discribed me and I'm also very confused + my veins are sometimes greens and sometimes blue wthh

[@jgalt5002]

What if you are neutral?

[@Ravenna17]

I have a light to medium skin tone (I’m tanning) with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes with neutral undertones. Not neutral warm or cool. Just neutral. What would you say I am?

[@justlivinglife465]

Take selfies in daylight with different colours and see what looks best- looking in a mirror indoors is a waste of time imo as you really don’t see the reality.

[@kitty_s23456]

I agree with @Anna Long. Take selfies in daylight. Warm colors vs cool. Bright vs muted versions. Analyze the pics - you'll see the differences clearer than via a mirror. From your description, it seems like you're either a DW or DW (or could be TA/ TW - depends on your contrast levels). Take a selfie w/ no makeup on, switch it to B&W. You'll see if you have high or low contrast (if it's your natural hair color). Good luck!

[@olihhayes]

3:03

[@letempsdaimer601]

Bonjour, Je suis chatain foncee.. peau clair sous ton jaune avec des taches de rousseurs enfant.. et yeux verts kakis. Le kaki, vert émeraude vert bouteille me vont Le rouge profond le prune et le bordeaux le rouge coquelicot aussi Le bleu marine pétrole et bleu ciel. Et j ai beaucoup de compliment également en camel, marron et kaki... Suis je deep automn ou deep winter? Ou Spring? Merci.. J aimerrais tant que vos vidéos soient traduites en français ! Je ne comprends pas tout et ne suis pas assez douée pour vous écrire en anglais. Je vous remercie pour tout! Belle journée

[@estefaniabouscayrol2802]

I can use tomato red and chocolate but i look horrible in soft warm Brown or anything gold

[@gaisb9418]

Estefanía Bouscayrol only way to really tell is have your colors done draped by a professional. And when you go to her were no makeup hope this helps

[@martaxo1625]

Your camera is out of focus. Watching hurts my eyes.