Is the True Autumn Color Season your best?
Have you ever tried wearing black and felt it looked too harsh on you? Or put on a soft peach and suddenly felt radiant? If your natural coloring is warm, earthy, and rich, you might be best suited to True Autumn!
True Autumn belongs to the 16-season color analysis system and is one of the warmest seasons, sitting between Soft Autumn and Dark Autumn. This guide will help you determine if you’re a True Autumn, which colors suit you best, and how to style your palette effortlessly.
How to Know If the True Autumn Palette is for you
A True Autumn has golden warmth, medium depth, and a softly blended appearance. If you resonate with the following characteristics, this may be your best season!
Key Characteristics
While characteristics don’t fully determine which of the 16 season color palettes may be your best, they can give clues that help narrow it down. If you have any of the following characteristics (you don’t have to have them all!), the True Autumn color palette may be the best for you:
|
Skin Tone |
Warm, golden undertones Usually tans easily, often with a golden glow Full range of skin depth - True Autumn can suit anyone from a pale to deep skin tone |
|
Hair Color |
Medium to dark brown, warm auburn, golden blonde Sunlight brings out golden, caramel, or bronze highlights |
|
Eye Color |
Warm hazel, golden brown, olive green, or deep amber Eyes often have a soft, blended look with warm flecks |
✅ Quick Color Analysis Quiz: Is True Autumn your best palette?
Answer YES if you…
✔ Glow in mustard yellow, rust, or warm olive but look washed out in icy blue or pastel pink
✔ Look best in gold jewelry over silver
✔ Have a medium contrast between your features rather than high-contrast coloring
Want to take the full Seasonal Color Analysis Quiz? Get yours below:
True Autumn Palette Characteristics
With seasonal color analysis, there are generally 12 seasons while some use the 16 season color analysis system. Each season sits on a spectrum of color, and the palette will usually have characteristics to match. When looking at the seasons we take a look at three main color dimensions: Hue, Chroma and Value.
Hue
This is how warm or cool a color is - also known as its temperature. Colors in the True Autumn palette are generally warm and sit at the warmest end of the color spectrum. Most colors in the True Autumn color palette have an undertone of yellow when viewed in a color picker. The palette is heavy on warm-based colors such as tan and brown for warm neutrals and lots of yellow, orange and red. There are warmer greens in this palette as well as warm versions of blue even though it’s a cool color (picture blue with a bit of yellow mixed in but not enough to make it green).
Chroma
This is how saturated or soft a color is. Saturated means the color in its truest form and soft means that either black or white (or both - grey) are added. Most colors in the True Autumn palette are medium saturation meaning each has a bit of grey mixed in to make it appear less bright and intense. This isn’t to be confused with richness though - because the colors start warm, and we associate richness with deep colors like orange and gold, there still appears to be a healthy amount of saturation in the palette. What separates it from sister palette True Spring is that it is less saturated and more deep whereas True Spring is bright and light.
Value
This is how light or dark a color is. The True Autumn palette leans towards the dark or deep end of the spectrum, meaning most colors in the palette have more black in them than white. It is still considered medium value, as it’s sister palette Deep Autumn has more colors that are deeper and darker and have more black added. This makes it so that the colors are deep enough to balance with someone with medium contrast but not so deep that they overwhelm.
The True Autumn Color Palette
True Autumn’s palette is rich, warm, and muted, inspired by autumn foliage, golden sunsets, and earthy tones. This gives it more of a “natural” vibe, but this can be adjusted by how you style the colors (see later on in this post…)
Best Colors for True Autumns
|
Best Shades |
How to Wear Them |
|---|---|
|
Rust Red |
A rust sweater with camel boots |
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Burnt Orange |
A burnt orange dress for autumn warmth |
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Olive |
A deep olive blazer for a refined look |
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Mustard |
A mustard scarf for a warm pop of color |
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Camel |
A classic camel trench coat as a wardrobe staple |
These are examples of classic colors you will find in almost any True Autumn palette. There are many more colors, including other shades of green, red and orange and even pops of purple and blue.
Download the True Autumn Digital Color Palette for Shopping
Colors to Avoid for True Autumns
These are colors with opposing color dimensions to the True Autumn palette. If this is the palette that suits you the best, wearing colors that are too cool, bright, or deep can clash with your warm and muted undertones and medium contrast.
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Avoid These Colors |
Choose These Instead |
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Black |
Dark Chocolate Brown |
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Icy Blue |
Soft Turquoise |
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Cool Grey |
Warm Taupe |
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Neon Pink |
Salmon |
Sister Palettes
You’ve probably heard the term Sister Palettes in seasonal color analysis but if not - it basically means the color palettes that share some of the similar color dimensions / characteristics. Because these palettes are not far off on the color spectrum, it makes sense in color theory that they could also suit you.
For True Autumn which is warm, deep and muted - it’s sister palettes are Soft Autumn and Deep Autumn. Soft Autumn leans warm but also contains some cool colors as it’s on the cusp of the temperature scale. It’s more muted or softer than True Autumn meaning that the colors appear a bit more smokey with grey added to them. It’s also slightly less deep meaning the colors while not light are lighter than True Autumn. Moving more towards the deep end of the spectrum is Deep Autumn which also leans warm but contains some cooler colors. It is deeper than True Autumn meaning the colors are less saturated and darker with black added. It is slightly more clear than True Autumn meaning less grey or softness is added but still is overall quite soft.
If True Autumn is your best palette, usually you’ll suit the more saturated colors from the Soft Autumn palette and the lighter colors from the Deep Autumn palette.
The only exception is if your main characteristic is warmth but you aren’t super deep or super bright - but somewhere in the middle. This is where the 16 season color analysis system comes in handy as there is a True Warm palette that sits in between True Autumn and True Spring.
Styling Your True Autumn Palette
To get the most out of your True Autumn colors, build a wardrobe that is warm, deep, and harmonized with medium contrast. While the vibe of the True Autumn palette can be earthy and associated with a more natural, earthy style like boho - the colors can easily be adapted to different style vibes like dark academia, romantic, clean girl, corporate and whimsigoth (think: the outfits in Practical Magic!)
Best Outfit Combinations
🍂 Casual Look: Olive green sweater + warm navy jeans + camel boots
🌞 Workwear: Mustard blouse + camel blazer + warm brown pants
🔥 Evening: Brick red dress + gold jewelry + deep brown heels
💄 Hair & Makeup for True Autumns
Have I used the term “earthy” enough? The thing with seasonal color analysis is that they follow the natural four seasons and their characteristics so by now you should see that the True Autumn palette mimics what you’d see during a classic Autumn season. Warm, rusty, soft, gold and glowing. Keep these keywords in mind when thinking of your makeup look - but just like style, True Autumn makeup can be adapted to a variety of different looks and occasions - everything from a natural “makeup free” look to a bold and dramatic romantic look.
Makeup
|
Feature |
Best Shades |
|
Lipstick |
Brick Red, Terracotta, Burnt Orange |
|
Blush |
Warm Peach, Cinnamon, Apricot |
|
Eyeshadow |
Copper, Bronze, Olive Green |
|
Jewelry |
Gold, Brass, Copper |
Hair
When looking at hair color, your natural shade is usually your best! But I know we all crave change (and possibly highlights) sometimes. Those that suit the True Autumn palette should lean towards shades that aren’t too light or deep and that have a warm undertone.
FAQs: Everything You Need to Know About True Autumn
Q: How do I know if True Autumn is my best season or a different autumn season would be better?
A: If you think you have a warm undertone but feel like Deep Autumn colors are too dark and Soft Autumn colors are too grey or wash you out, you’re likely suited to the True Autumn color palette.
Q: Can True Autumns wear black?
A: Those that suit True Autumn tend to look better in dark brown, olive, or warm rust instead of black, which can be too harsh.
Q: What’s the difference between True Autumn and True Spring?
A: Both are generally warm seasons but True Autumn is muted and deep, while True Spring is brighter and lighter.
Still not sure? Take the Color Analysis quiz to narrow down which sub season may be for you!
Embrace Your True Autumn Beauty
Knowing your seasonal color palette allows you to build a wardrobe, makeup routine, and style that naturally enhances your features. If True Autumn resonates with you, start embracing warm, rich hues today!
Book a Personal Virtual Color Analysis to Confirm Your Season
