Dark, rich and earthy, Warm Autumn has the deepest colour palette of the 4-seasons. Imagine walking through a forest on an autumn day with the warmth of the sun shining through the trees. Everything is rich and muted – which is why Autumn types stand out in more subdued colours. Think burnt orange, deep red, coffee brown or mustard yellow.
Do you shine in these colours? If so, you’re likely a Warm Autumn (also known as a True Autumn). Wearing colours that flatter your natural colouring will not only elevate your style game but improve your overall appearance. The right colours will make your skin glow, features more defined and imperfections minimised. So, finding your perfect colours is essential.
In today’s post, I share my quick guide to Warm Autumn skin tones: what they are, how to know if you’re an Autumn type, their best colours and celebrities who share this season.
Defining Characteristics of a True Autumn
If you’re a Warm Autumn, the first thing you’ll notice is your muted and warm appearance. Your hair, eyes and skin have warm yellow undertones. This can show up on the skin as sun-kissed. You’ll also have a low to medium contrast in your features. There are really are no hard and fast rules regarding hair, eyes and skin contrast – its ultimately about what colours work in harmony with your natural features that matter most.
Hair
Autumn types typically have golden blonde, auburn, brunette or black hair. These shades will have a warmth to them that may appear as red or golden tones.
Eyes
The eyes can be blue, green, hazel, brown or deep brown, sometimes grey hazel ombre. Again, each of these colours will have a noticeable warmth to them.
Skin
Warm Autumn skin appears soft due to its low to medium contrast in features. It can range from fair to dark (with ethnic skin types this must be considered within your race, if you are fair or dark). The skin may have a yellow or peachy undertone.
In the images above and below, you can see how the hair, eyes and skin are muted and blend into one another. The image is largely grey with medium-low-contrasting areas of light and dark. There is no stark contrast.
So, am I Warm Autumn?
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Identifying your colours via online resources isn’t as straightforward as it may seem (due to the fact we’re all unique and the 4-seasons system relies on us al fitting neatly into one of the descriptions). For colour analysis to be accurate, you have to analyse your features correctly. Looking at how your skin reacts to certain colours is a great indicator of your natural colouring and something everyone can do.
If you’re an Autumn type, you’ll find your muted yet rich colouring means you look better in dark, earthy colours, like mustard, olive green and burgundy. Whereas Warm Spring, your sister season, is better suited to vivid, saturated colours and should steer away from these muted colours.
Despite sharing the same warm undertones, Spring and Autumn have very different colourings and confusing them could signal disaster for your wardrobe colour palette.
Warm Autumn worst colours
As I said, figuring out your season within the colour analysis system is tricky. Each season can share similar characteristics. If you have warm undertones and you look best in warm colours but depending on your contrast and brightness, you’ll look better in muted colours (autumn) or brighter ones (spring).
Warm Autumn Vs warm Spring
Your soft and gentle contrast and colouring means you look better in soft, muted colours. Warm Autumn is better suited to warm earthy tones and should stay clear of any bright colours in the sister season Warm Spring as the intensity of these colours will leave you in the background.
Because these sister seasons share the same warm undertones they are often confused – which can wreak havoc on your wardrobe’s colour palette. So I always recommend you complete a thorough colour analysis. If you do find yourself going between an Autumn and Spring palette, try and stick to the soft earthy colours near your face and wear the much brighter Spring colours on the lower body, avoiding too harsh of a contrast.
Discover your perfect colours
If you’d like to complete your own DIY colour analysis and discover your perfect colours, then my online personal styling course is a great option for you. Or if you’re in London and would like to enquire about my next availability for in-person analysis, please get in touch.
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Warm Autumn Colour Palette
Autumn colours are mostly earthy and rich. Think back to the autumn forest – it’s full of muted browns, warm reds and oranges. Unlike Warm Spring, your lower contrasting features are easily overwhelmed by bright colours. Instead, stick to more muted colours such as: forest green, moss green, mustard, mahogany and oyster.
If you’re struggling to tell the difference between warm and cool colours, then check out my warm colours blog for a step-by-step breakdown.
It’s worth noting that although your colours are warm and muted this doesn’t limit you to just the deep earthy colours. The warmth compliments your natural glow, as for the intensity of the colour that depends on your natural contrast between your skin and hair. For example, blush pink can look amazing on an Autumn type with much softer features, but if you have a medium-high contrast, deeper mahogany and browns are going to be more harmonious. They key to wearing harmonious colours for those with warm and soft features is the matching the warmth and the contrast intensity.
Best Colours for Warm Autumn
- Every shade of warm green (forest green, army green, moss green, olive green, kiwi green)
- Golden yellows
- Terracotta and burnt oranges
- Deep reds
- Oyster
- Coffee brown
This is a small selection of your most flattering colours. If you’d like to learn more about your go-to colours (and which ones to avoid), then enrol on my course to access my bespoke autumn colour wheel and handouts.
Warm Autumn best colours
Warm (True) Autumn Celebrities
As with every season, Autumn types can vary in appearance. First up, you have Jennifer Lopez and Jessica Alba who both have a gorgeously warm, soft complexions and low contrast in features. Beyonce Knowles, Tyra Banks both rock the softer and brighter shades of autumn. Then you have Kim Kardashian who has warm, peachy skin and can effortlessly wear earthy colours. Lindsay Lohan is another great example of a Warm Autumn that glows in the right colours.
Do you think you’re a Warm Autumn? Not sure? Let me know why in the comments below and I’ll pick one of you to win a virtual colour consultation with me.
Think you might be a different season? Read my other posts to find out:
9 thoughts on “Warm Autumn: Colour Analysis Guide”
I definitely think I’m a warm autumn have warm green eyes and warm skin tone, but I find pinks really suit my complexion
I initially thought I was a warm autumn or true autumn. The odd thing is that I bought a rust colored sweater and it doesn’t look good on me. I look good in black, but I don’t know if I have a high contrast between my skin and eyes I don’t really think so I have medium brown hair with red and gold highlights Light olive complexion my vans are purple and green. I look really good and ivory, but sallow in burgundy.
Hi, thanks for leaving a comment. This is quite usual, many people will have one or two colours that just don’t work with their complexion. Not all of the colours in the autumn palette will look great on everyone – the key is being able to identify why the colour(s) don’t work and that can help you focus on wearing colours that do work.
Autumns don’t always high contrast between their hair and skin, they can have a medium-low contrast. I’m intrigued as you say black looks good on you but you don’t have high-contrast. I’m curious, have you looked at the colours on the Soft and Deep Autumn palettes? https://robertastylelee.co.uk/seasonal-tonal-palettes-a-comprehensive-guide-to-colour-analysis/
Love the samples as simple and straightforward. I am definitely a warm autumn with the only “exception”, for me, to the colors shown is the red(s). I tend to look better in a true red (no blue undertone) as it “brightens” my rather drab face.
Hi Susan, Thanks for sharing your feedback. It’s interesting you say that because I often find True Autumns can vary a lot with their preferred red!
We are all unique so not every colour recommendation in the charts we produce will be a 100% perfect match for individuals.
True red with an absence of blue or orange tones, tend to suit most people. 🙂 Glad you have found one that helps to lift and light up your complexion. Lipstick can be amazing for brightening our faces.
Hi, loved reading your article about warm autumn although I’m not sure if it’s really me. I have Auburn hair, brown eyes and would say I’m fair although I do have a bit of a tan currently. But think I have a bluish undertone and Lots of freckles.
I can see on others when a colour looks great but have real problems looking at myself and working out what suits.
i dont know if i am a warm or cool because my veins are a mix of greenish and bluish, so i thought i was a neutral undertone but then silver looks awful on me, so i thought gold would look good on me, but so far i feel like rose gold looks the best on me. until now i have no idea what is my skin tone and undertones
Hi Farzana,
Have a look at the colours in the soft autumn and soft summer colour palettes – see if any of those colours work best with your complexion. Rose gold tends to be a colour that those with softer features can carry off with ease. The other two metallics can be too harsh. Most people who are neutral tend to lean every so slightly towards cool, or warm, but some people are fairly neutral with an equal mix of both warm and cool.
Let me know how you get on after reviewing the soft colours https://robertastylelee.co.uk/colour-examples-within-the-12-seasons-of-colour-analysis/
Roberta
I am new to color to color seasons. But I have noticed how olive greens look dashing on me. Also orangy reds…What about purple colors? I remember some purple colors looking really good on me. But the sad part is that Black is mentioned as a worst color for warm autumn???? That color was my favourite. But I have never checked whether black highlights the problem areas in my face or not.