Seasonal Color Palettes: Your Best Pinks
It’s not rocket science. But… I’m not going to lie, learning to use your seasonal color palette has a learning curve. And finding your best pinks, and spotting them in “the wild” will be a big step towards mastering your best colors.
Discovering your seasonal color palette can be a transformative experience, allowing you to enhance your natural beauty and elevate your personal style. It’s one of the easiest ways to have a style glow up.
Instead of colors that are washing you out or making you look extra tired (and let’s be honest, most of us can’t afford to look more tired), you have colors that support your natural beauty.
Among the myriad hues each season offers, pink is an especially important color, because it will show up not only in your wardrobe but in a lot of your makeup choices as well.
Now, I know seasonal colors can seem like an intimidating concept when you first dig in, which is why I’m starting this series. We can get overwhelmed by full-color palettes that seem so expansive. Or maybe we feel boxed in by some traditional colors within a palette, thinking that Dark Winter doesn’t have fun colors, or that Bright Spring doesn’t have neutrals.
Here are the pinks for each of the 12 seasons, which helps you see how expansive each palette can be, and how every palette includes a version of each hue. Some palettes may have many pink and pink-influenced colors, and some may only have a few. But, they all have their own version.
So let’s get your honing down your style toolbox, and refining your wardrobe color palette.
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A Tool To Help: Lip Color Fan
Pinks, pink variations, and reds are going to be some of the most important colors to learn to identify because they will be prominent in your makeup choices.
My favorite tool as an analyst to help you do this is the NDU Lip fan (being released July 1, 2024). This fan has all 12 color palettes within the fan so that when you’re vetting your lipsticks or pinks/reds you can have a lot of comparison points. You can watch me use similar fans in this video series (also NDU brand)
NDU is the fan brand I use for my in-person color analysis services, and you can get 10% off using my code Arruda10 here (on any product).
Seasonal Color Palettes: Your Best Pinks
If you’re confused about any of the color quality terms of the seasons, check out this seasonal color basics guide.
But here’s a quick reference for hue, value, and chroma using the Munsell color wheel.
All of these colors have been pulled directly from my palettes, so if you’re thinking “Hey that looks a little warm” or “Is that a bit dark?”, you should remember that there is a wider spectrum for each palette than you might originally think.
Also note that you may find your style preferences affecting what parts of your palette you use, this is great! Please don’t feel like you need to wear every color in your palette, because honing it down to your favorite and how you like to use them in relation to your essence blend, body type, and style lines is a huge step to defining authentic style.
Now, let’s find your best pinks!
Dark Winter
Hue: Neutral/Cool
Value: Dark (low)
Chroma: Medium High
Dark Winter pinks are rich and dramatic. They have a huge range from mauves to berries, to vibrant magentas, so take your pick of pinks! They feel luxurious and bring a sense of elegance, grace, and opulence to your look. They are saturated and bold, yet their depth gives them a moodiness that matches your unforgettable look.
Dark Winters border Dark autumn, so we see some warmth creep in, but they always feel intense and alluring. Your sultriness will shine in these colors.
True Winter
Hue: Cool
Value: Medium
Chroma: Medium High
True Winter pinks may surprise some people because they can feel a bit softer than you might expect. But all of these pinks are vibrant, cool, and intense on their own. They have an electricity and dramatic effect when paired with the regalness of the True Winter. They elevate them in a luminous way.
Whether it’s an icy pink or a pink gemstone color, these pinks will look captivating on you.
Bright Winter
Hue: Neutral/Cool
Value: Medium
Chroma: High
Bright winter pinks pack a punch. They are crisp and clear and have a lively twist to them. They look fantastic as a lip color, or as a dress. Bright winter colors may feel intimidating at first, but you have the natural vibrancy to match them! They look dynamic, playful, and sophisticated on you.
So if you’re on the fence, try one of these pinks in a lip color and see how you like it. Getting acquainted with your palette is a huge element and learning how you like to use the colors will be a gradual process.
Bright Spring
Hue: Neutral/Warm
Value: Medium
Chroma: High/Bright
Bright spring pinks evoke a sense of vibrancy, energy, and youthfulness. It has a sense of renewal, and can create an enthusiastic energy to your style. This can be toned down with the neutrals in your palette or played up with other brights.
If you’re looking for a great bright spring lipstick kit, try this one. As a bright spring myself, I’ve found it my go-to affordable lip kit.
True Spring
Hue: Warm
Value: Medium
Chroma: Medium High
True spring pinks are lively and range from fresh corals to warm pinks. They have an uplifting feel and a buoyancy to them. They feel like blooms picked from a fresh spring garden, evoking a sense of joy and zest.
Light Spring
Hue: Neutral/Warm
Value: Light (high)
Chroma: Medium
Light spring + pink is a match made in heaven! They have a fresh and vivacity in them that just shines. They have a wide range of pinks from traditional blush colors to lively pinks that Barbie would adore. It feels like a blooming flower on a warm, sunny day.
Light Summer
Hue: Neutral/Cool
Value: Light (high)
Chroma: Medium
The Light Summer Color Palette of Pinks conveys a serene, delicate, and slightly more muted atmosphere compared to the Light Spring palette. These pinks range from gentle pastel pinks to deeper, more elegant berry colors, providing a calming and refined aesthetic. It’s like a beautiful watercolor painting or a beautiful meadow of wildflowers.
True Summer
Hue: Cool
Value: Medium
Chroma: Medium
True Summer pinks have a calming and refined feel. They range from light and airy pinks to deeper berry colors, all with cool undertones. Their tranquility makes them feel at home in an English rose garden with dew-kissed flowers. Their balance and petal-soft appeal make them a perfect lip color or dress option. True Summers look absolutely enchanting in pink!
Soft Summer
Hue: Neutral/Cool
Value: Medium
Chroma: Soft/Muted (low)
Soft Summer pinks are gentle, elegant, and understated. You have a wide range of pinks from delicate muted pastels, to deeper mauves and berry tones. It feels refined and has a dreamy and understated quality. These soft colors help you shine.
Soft Autumn
Hue: Neutral/Warm
Value: Medium
Chroma: Soft/Muted (low)
Soft Autumn pinks radiate subtle warmth, earthiness, and inviting beauty. They have this subdued quality that feels warm and gentle. Soft Autumns really can’t go wrong using all of these lovely and gentle pinks. They are like a warm hug.
True Autumn
Hue: Warm
Value: Medium
Chroma: Medium
True Autumn pinks have a warmth and soft glow emitting from them. They feel cozy and definitely have a purely warm influence. These natural, toasty pinks feel rich and harmonious on you. They blend seamlessly and feel like a cozy autumn evening; richly textured with a slightly faded, aged quality.
Dark Autumn
Hue: Neutral/Warm
Value: Dark (low)
Chroma: Medium High
The Dark Autumn (or deep autumn) pinks exude a rich, warm, and earthy essence. They combine a beautiful subdued elegance with an earthy robustness. The pinks in this palette are magnetic and create a beautiful harmony with your coloring. They allow your natural warmth to shine.
Seasonal color analysis is a process. First, you explore the seasons, then you determine your palette, and then you learn how to actually apply that palette to your style and wardrobe.
It doesn’t happen overnight.
If you’re looking for help determining your season, I offer in-person analysis using the Sci/Art system and you can find more about that here.
If you’re looking for more information on how to use a color fan, check out my video series here.
I know some analysts may say “oh you don’t need to know any color theory for this!”, but I think that having a base understanding of how your colors work together is invaluable when shopping and learning how to pair your outfits together.
I also have seasonal color capsule wardrobes each season with outfit ideas, if you want some visual help.
Now, go live your Barbie dream world in your best pinks. 💖👛🌺
Pin the below image so you can have this as a reference: