Nitido
Deep Winter Color Palette: Best Colors and What to Avoid
Short answer
Deep Winter looks best in deep, cool and saturated colors with strong contrast: navy, sapphire, emerald, deep teal, plum, raspberry, black and pure white. What Deep Winter should avoid are warm, light and powdery shades such as peach, apricot, melon, sand, pistachio and pale sky blue, which make the face look tired next to its natural depth.
In this guide
What makes a Deep Winter
Deep Winter is one of the three Winter types in the 12 season system. Its dominant trait is depth: dark hair and eyes, and a skin tone with a cool or neutral cool undertone. Contrast between hair, eyes and skin is usually high.
Its neighbor is Deep Autumn, which shares the depth but leans warm. That is why many Deep Winters can wear some Deep Autumn shades, such as a deep teal or an aubergine, while orange and mustard look wrong on them.
The full Deep Winter palette
These are the thirty colors of the Deep Winter palette in the Nitido app, sorted by hue.
Neutrals
Black, graphite, smoke grey, optic white and cream are the base. Unlike most types, Deep Winter carries pure black next to the face without looking drained.
Blues and greens
Navy, Prussian blue, sapphire and midnight blue work as a second neutral. Forest green, fern, spruce and teal are the greens: deep and slightly blue, never olive.
Berries and purples
This is where Deep Winter shines: raspberry, blackberry, grape, plum, wine and aubergine. A raspberry top or a wine red lip is often the single most flattering choice.
The six colors to avoid
These shades fight Deep Winter coloring. The reason is either that they are too warm or too light for the type.
| Color | Why it does not work |
|---|---|
| Apricot | Too warm |
| Melon | Too warm |
| Peach | Too warm |
| Sky blue | Too light |
| Pistachio | Too light |
| Sand | Too light |
You do not have to throw these out. Keep them away from your face: a sand colored pair of trousers is fine, a sand colored scarf is not.
How to combine Deep Winter colors
- Contrast is your friend. Navy with optic white, black with raspberry, emerald with graphite. Deep Winter can carry combinations that would overwhelm a Summer.
- One strong color, one neutral. A sapphire sweater with black trousers looks intentional. Two strong colors together can work, but pick colors that share depth.
- Avoid beige head to toe. Camel and beige outfits look soft and warm, which is the opposite of what this type needs.
- Metals. Silver, white gold and platinum usually sit best.
Makeup for Deep Winter
- Lips: berry, wine, cool red, deep plum.
- Blush: cool rose or raspberry, lightly applied.
- Eyes: charcoal, navy, plum, deep green. Black eyeliner works.
- Avoid: orange coral, golden bronzer and peachy nudes, which turn sallow on cool skin.
Are you really a Deep Winter?
Deep Winter is often confused with Deep Autumn and with Cool Winter. A quick check: if black and pure white look sharp on you while olive and orange look muddy, Deep Winter is likely. If emerald looks good but icy pink looks harsh, consider Deep Autumn.
The surest way is to measure. The Nitido app measures skin and eyes from a selfie, tells you your type out of twelve and, if the result is close, which neighbor is also possible. In the Fitting Room you can then hold all thirty colors and the six to avoid under your own face. If you want to try it without the app first, follow our guide on color analysis at home.
FAQ
What colors should a Deep Winter wear?
Deep, cool and saturated colors: navy, sapphire, emerald, teal, raspberry, plum, wine, black and optic white.
What colors should a Deep Winter avoid?
Warm and light shades near the face, such as apricot, melon, peach, sand, pistachio and pale sky blue.
Can a Deep Winter wear brown?
Warm browns usually look heavy. A cool, dark taupe or a deep aubergine brown works better than chocolate or camel.
Can a Deep Winter wear white?
Yes. Optic white is one of the best neutrals for this type, especially next to navy or black.
What is the difference between Deep Winter and Deep Autumn?
Both are deep. Deep Winter leans cool and wears berry, sapphire and black; Deep Autumn leans warm and wears rust, olive and chocolate.
