Personal Color Sub-Types: Light, Bright, Muted, Deep

Each of the four seasons divides further by brightness and saturation into light, bright, muted and deep tendencies. This axis is separate from warm versus cool — and for some people, brightness and saturation matter even more than warm or cool.

Light

High brightness · low-to-medium saturation

Bright, soft colors. They sit across the lighter side of spring and summer, where pastel-like, delicate shades make your face look fresh and luminous.

Bright

High saturation · clear contrast

Clear, vivid colors. They sit across the crisp side of spring and winter, where bold, saturated hues suit you well.

Muted

Low saturation · toned down

Calm colors with a touch of grey mixed in. They sit across the softer side of summer and autumn, with a smooth, gentle sense of cohesion.

Deep

Low brightness · rich depth

Dark, deep colors. They sit across the lower-brightness side of autumn and winter, where dense, saturated shades sharpen your features.

Read sub-types as boundaries, not boxes

Sub-types simply slice colors into ranges; they rarely map onto a person with sharp edges. Plenty of people sit on a boundary — between light and muted, or between bright and deep — and there is no need to force yourself into a label on a chart. What matters is finding the range of colors that brings out your natural glow.