What colors are in the clear winter palette?

Fuchsia, cobalt, emerald, purple, red and white are the core shades. Neutrals are true black, pure white and cool grey. Every colour is vivid at the maximum chroma of 1.00, which is what separates this palette from the slightly less bright Cool Winter.

What is the difference between Clear Winter and Clear Spring?

Temperature. Both score 1.00 on contrast and chroma. Clear Winter is cool at -0.55 and Clear Spring warm at 0.55. Hold pure white against cream: Clear Winter prefers the white.

Can a Clear Winter wear pastels?

Only icy pastels, and best used as the light half of a high-contrast pairing. A soft, warm pastel is both too muted and too warm for this palette.

Is Clear Winter the brightest season?

It ties with Clear Spring at the maximum 1.00 on chroma and contrast. The two are equally bright and differ only in temperature, which is why they are described as mirrors of each other.

What jewellery suits a Clear Winter?

Silver, white gold and platinum, which match the cool base and the high clarity at once. Polished finishes work better than brushed or antiqued ones, because a matte finish mutes the metal and muting is the one thing this season cannot carry. Bright coloured stones also work here in a way they do not for the softer seasons.

Clear Winter colour palette

Maximum clarity and contrast at 1.00, on a cool base, with medium depth.

Last reviewed 14 September 2026By Sravya

Editorial saree reference for the clear winter palette

The four scores that place it

colour

Temperature

-0.55

slight cool, blue base

Depth

0.00

medium

Contrast

1.00

high, striking

Chroma

1.00

clear, bright

The palette

FuchsiaFuchsia, #E6005C
CobaltCobalt, #0057B8
EmeraldEmerald, #00A09A
PurplePurple, #6B2FB9
RedRed, #D71920
WhiteWhite, #F2F4F8

Each axis runs from about -1 to +1 and is scored separately. These are editorial centres for a repeatable comparison, and the hex values are screen references rather than measured standards. Scoring the four apart is what lets the tool tell you which single call was the shaky one, instead of handing you a season and no reasoning.

Find my colour season

The clear winter colour palette is built from vivid, high-contrast shades on a cool base: fuchsia, cobalt, emerald, purple, red and white. These are the brightest colours in the twelve-season system, sitting at the maximum 1.00 on both contrast and chroma with a cool lean at -0.55.

Colouring in this season is vivid and sharply separated: bright clear eyes, hair that contrasts strongly with the skin, and an overall impression of brightness rather than depth. It is the mirror of Clear Spring, which shares the identical clarity and contrast on a warm base. Temperature is the only axis separating them, and it is the axis to check when a result feels almost right but slightly off. The same season is written as the clear winter color palette in American spelling.

How to check whether this is your season

Assess contrast. If your features sit sharply apart from each other rather than blending, you are in a high-contrast season.

Test clarity. Hold a bright fuchsia against your face, then a dusty rose. Clear Winter needs the bright one; the dusty version leaves the face flat.

Then temperature. Against Clear Spring, this season is cool at -0.55. Pure white should work better than cream, and silver better than gold.

What it gets mistaken for

Mistaken for
Clear Spring
Identical contrast and chroma at 1.00. Temperature separates them: -0.55 cool here, 0.55 warm there. Pure white against cream is the fastest check.
Mistaken for
Cool Winter
Cool Winter is more strongly cool at -1.00 and slightly less bright at 0.70 against 1.00 here. If pure cool colours suit better than vivid ones, look there.

Every season, every colour

12 seasons · 72 shades

Light Spring

Warm Spring

Clear Spring

Light Summer

Cool Summer

Soft Summer

Soft Autumn

Warm Autumn

Deep Autumn

Deep Winter

Cool Winter

Clear Winter

These are the actual palettes the colour tool works from, not a sample. Point at one to hold it. Twelve seasons rather than the old four, because four cannot separate someone light and cool from someone deep and cool.

The principle behind every suggestion below

Maximum clarity with a cool base, built into high-contrast pairings. Muting is the single thing this palette cannot survive.

Your colours

Along with Clear Spring, this is one of the two seasons that can carry genuinely vivid colour. Both are frequently talked out of it.

Worth reaching for

Fuchsia, hot pink and true red
Cobalt, bright emerald and clear turquoise
Purple and bright violet
Pure white and true black, used together

Works against it

Muted, dusty or greyed colours
Warm earth tones and camel
Tonal outfits in a single soft shade
Cream and warm ivory

Contrast is the outfit

Pair your brightest colour with true black or pure white rather than with another mid-tone.

At contrast 1.00 the colouring is built on sharp separation. Two mid-tones together remove the structure the face is matching, which is why this season so often looks flat in a tonal outfit that would suit anyone else.

Where people go wrong

Muting colours to look sophisticated
This palette collapses under muting more than any other. At chroma 1.00 there is no version of a dusty colour that works, regardless of how well the hue is chosen.
Choosing warm neutrals
Cream, camel and beige are all warm and are the standard neutrals in most wardrobes. Here they fight the cool base and remove the contrast at the same time.
Being sorted as Clear Spring
Clarity and contrast are shared exactly. Temperature is the only difference, and it is easy to skip once two axes have matched so strongly.

Common questions

Sources and review record

Color Palette Analysis
Seasonal color analysis
The temperature, value and chroma framework behind the four season families.
Last checked 2026-07-31
Color Palette Analysis
Seasonal color analysis chart: 12 seasons
The twelve-season grouping and neighbouring season descriptions.
Last checked 2026-07-31
Color Palette Analysis
What is color analysis?
Why undertone is considered alongside depth, chroma and contrast.
Last checked 2026-07-31

Not sure this is you?

The tool scores temperature, depth, contrast and chroma separately across all twelve seasons, then shows which of the four calls was closest to a boundary. That is the honest answer to why different sites give you different seasons.