Bright Spring

Vivid and striking, Bright Spring is the most fully charged of the seasons.

This is the palette of jungles, alpine meadows, glacial lakes, Greek islands, coral reefs and dulce de leche; of white chocolate, goldfish and sunflowers.

Overview

Bright Spring is warm-neutral and high value with maximum chroma.

Winter’s influence on the palette adds a little coolness, a little darkness and a lot of saturation.

Bright Spring is sleek and glazed like shiny fruit jelly or a freshly peeled lychee.

These colours are brand new and hot off the press. There’s nothing worn or antique here; everything is crisp, clean and bold.

Winter’s presence gives the palette edge - like a chilled melt water stream rushing through a mountain forest.

Key colours are hot pink, marigold, parakeet green, coral cocktail, electric orange and creamy frangipani white.

The palette contains black but it needs to work to look great and is best when used in accents or as a base to ground warmer colours.

Lighter neutrals include cornsilk, malted milk, spun sugar, shiny yellowed ivory and vanilla.

Greys are blended with cream or bright beige and quite unique.

As a neutral season, mixing warmer with cooler colours from the palette will look especially interesting.

Jewellery

Metallics can be warm or cool and reflective finishes are terrific.

Very yellow gold, bordering on orange, won’t look overdone or garish.

If copper is super clean, like a newly minted coin, Bright Spring can wear it like no other.

Shiny silver, platinum or white gold are lovely but try teaming them with warmer colours in your outfit or mixing metals for a balanced look.

Keep rose golds bright and chromy.

You want a gleaming effect that compounds your beautiful lightness and repeats the palette’s newness.

Opt for crystalline and faceted stones rather than rough or uncut finishes.

Overly textured, oxidised or earthy-looking jewellery will appear dull on you and is better suited to other seasons.

Anything the light passes through, like clear resin, glass or Swarovski crystal, is extraordinary.

Pearls look good on high value seasons but can present a little lightweight on a Bright Spring so team with something edgy, like sparkly diamonds.

Finally, embrace the bling! On you it looks luxurious and expensive.

Eyewear

Keep glasses lightweight, shiny or colourful. You may have darks in the palette but you respond particularly well to high value effects.

Plain black isn’t particularly interesting; it’s ok for Bright Springs with deeper complexions but you can do so much better.

If you really can’t resist the convenience of black, opt for styles with plenty of warm metallic details or contrasting accent colours to create lift.

Classic tortoiseshell doesn’t repeat your vitality and tends to look clunky on a Bright Spring.

Some transparency can be nice but beware of anything very airy or “barely-there”. Your energy has more punch.

Road test frames with blingy details - a touch of shine or sparkle will add finish.

Sunglasses with coloured chrome or mirrored lenses look perfectly at home on your face.

Plastic is a great material for Bright Springs, especially when kept colourful.

Wardrobe basics

Black and white are manageable in some contexts but both need work.

Because of it’s lightness, white often trumps black but both need warming up, especially around the face, and shouldn’t constitute more than half your outfit.

Wherever possible, wear your palette’s versions - bright creams, taupes and browned charcoal - leaving the chessboard looks to Winter.

Denim will present best when the dye is bright, fixed and not too worn. Try solid, purple-based indigo or cobalt for your traditional blue jeans look.

Clear pumpkin-orange is a terrific substitute for brown. It works surprisingly well as a neutral in shoes, bags and accessories - just don’t confuse it with Autumn versions which can look dowdy on a vibrant Bright Spring.

Patent leather is amazing. So is blingy hardware or detailing.

Bright lagoon teals and Santorini blues also make good neutrals, especially in suiting.

High-shine, sheen or satiny finishes are particularly flattering on Bright Springs.

This is a highly contrasting, highly coloured season so break up monochromatic or overly neutral looks with an accent somewhere in the outfit.

Don’t be afraid of the colour, you need it to look your best. On you this palette looks perfect, natural and not at all outlandish.

Hair

Bright Spring has one of the broadest variation in hair colour of any season.

If you are a fairer Bright Spring, you may be able to go all-over blonde quite convincingly. Alternatively it can make a great accent or feature in ombre or balayage styles.

Make sure blondes are yellowed or a little coppery, definitely not platinum or ashy.

Keep fairer tones from edging too far towards high value seasons, it will wash you out.

Reds are strawberry blonde or coppery, not auburn. Bright rose gold is a lovely fashion colour.

Natural grey often has a tinsel-like quality which catches the light and is very beautiful.

Black-haired Bright Springs are striking but unless you have it naturally, this colour is likely too cool. Consider a deep, glossy chocolate if you want to go darker.

Bright Spring is a season where high value Spring collides with low value Winter. This means you can mix lowlights and highlights with magical results.

Even if you have textured hair, keep the colour glazed.

Because this season is so variable, hair colour is not interchangeable. If you choose to dye your hair, assess your own level of pigmentation and work within that range to achieve a harmonious look.

Beauty

If you are a Bright Spring with darker colouring, you can get away with black eye makeup. If you’re fairer, then brown or charcoal are always better options.

Skin will look best when kept sheer, fresh and dewy.

Avoid contouring, it will create a thick or muddy effect and drag your face down. Skip bronzer for the same reasons.

Use highlighters or illuminators to generate lift.

Bright Springs have a very special art-like beauty and can capture the look of a painted or animated character, like a china doll come to life.

Peach or coral blush is lovely, especially in cream form.

This palette is beautifully brash so Bright Springs can play with bold, colourful eyeshadows and still look like themselves.

Neutrals are creamy greys, bright vanilla, champagne beige and gold.

Vermilion orange, hot pink and maraschino cherry are showstopping lip colours, while pigmented versions of coral, peach and tangerine are great for everyday.

You are colourful but delicate so beware of hard glitter - clean shimmer and shine are safer.

Keep away from matte, powdery or overly dry finishes.

You want a lustrous, lacquered effect so experiment with sparkle, chrome, gloss and wet looks.