Exploring the Perfect Shades of Pink for Every Season and Subtype

I like to describe pink as the marmite of the colour wheel because my clients either really love it or absolutely despise it. More often than not, their reasons are the same and that is the gender significance of the "girly" hue. Not all of us were happy to be adorned head-to-toe in it!

Regardless of your stance on the colour, here we explore the some options suitable for your season and subtype. For further examples, please see our paid content section.

Bright Spring

We see dominant clarity and subordinate warmth in Bright Spring. Note how the Bright Winter example hardens Claire's face but the Bright Spring variation softens her. This is because we have added yellow to balance her warmth. You can also see how the Light Spring pink washes her out. This is because, while Spring is influenced by light value, Bright Spring types have high contrast so their colours need some depth to create shade variance.

Warm Spring

Warm Spring is hue dominant with bright chroma as their subordinate quality. While there is too much white in the Light Spring pink, the Bright Spring pink does not contain enough yellow to echo April's warmth. Therefore, the Bright Spring pink overpowers her and the Light Spring pink blanches her. The Warm Spring pink, in comparison, balances her image.

Light Spring

Though Light Spring sits in a season that is influenced by bright chroma, it is dominantly light and subordinately warm. In the Light Spring example, we see Maya's face before we see the colour. This is how we know it balances her. The Warm Spring variation contains more yellow than white and intensifies her features, which suggests it is too deep for her. Whilst the Light Summer example contains enough white to balance her fairness, it also contains some blue as it is subordinately cool. This means it reflects on her skin.

Light Summer

The Light Summer example is mixed with both white (lightening) and blue (cooling). It balances Rose and emphasises the glow in her cheeks because she is dominantly light and subordinately cool. As a Summer type, she is also influenced by soft chroma. However, if we look at the Cool Summer example, it is somewhat overpowering for Rose. This is because it contains more blue and grey than white. The Light Spring example contains no grey at all as Spring is a bright season. However, the casts yellow on Rose's face as it has some warmth.

Cool Summer

Also known as a True Summer, this subtype is dominantly cool and subordinately soft. As it belongs to a season influenced by light value, individuals with this colouring may also have some fairness. The Cool Summer examples sharpens and refines Jasmine's delicate appearance. Her features stand out and the colours balances her undertones. She doesn't look as defined in the Soft Summer example. However, it definitely works better than the Light Summer example, which blanches her image. Remember, every person has unique colouring so some Cool Summer types may be able to handle the Light Summer pink.

Soft Summer

Soft Summer is dominantly muted with a cool hue as it's subordinate colour quality. This means this subtype's example is mixed with grey to soften as well as some blue to cool, which balance Poppy's gentle image. The Cool Summer pink contains more blue and less grey. It therefore feels to intense and it deepens her natural colouring. In comparison, the Soft Autumn variation has enough grey but is mixed with yellow instead of blue. This visibly reflects on Poppy's skin and gives her a sickly appearance.

Soft Autumn

This subtype is dominantly muted and subordinately warm so this pink is mixed with grey to soften and yellow to warm. Amber is not darkened in this example as she is with the Warm Autumn pink. This is because this variation contains too much yellow and not enough grey. The Soft Summer pink blanches her image as the blue reflects on her skin.

Warm Autumn

Sienna is a Warm Autumn. Her colours are dominantly warm and subordinately soft so this warm, muted pink works particularly well for her. The Soft Autumn variation is not terrible but throws white on Sienna's overall appearance. We want a colour to light up the face, not the whole image. this is how we know if it is balancing. Now, if we look at the Dark Autumn example, we can see how the deeper colour emphasises the orange in Sienna's appearance. Again, we're looking to balance the natural image rather than add something that isn't there.

Dark Autumn

As a Dark Autumn, Hazel is dominantly deep and subordinately warm. The Dark Autumn pink balances her appearance - her face is lit up but her hair and eyes maintain their enticing depth. She looks sickly against the Warm Autumn pink as this does not contain any deepening black and therefore blanches her image. However, the Dark Winter pink also throws white on her appearance as it is too cool for her. This is because it contains blue instead of yellow as well as black.

Dark Winter

Winter is a season influenced by cool hues, deep values and bright chromas. In the Dark Winter example, you can see how the dominantly deep and subordinately cool pink draws out Ivy's rosy glow. However, in the Cool Winter example, she begins to look slightly pale as the colour contains little to no black and therefore doesn't echo her natural intensity. Dark Autumn also appears to darken her as the yellow is reflecting onto her skin. The colour does not balance her natural appearance.

Cool Winter

In the original Winter subtype, we see a dominant cool hue and subordinate bright chroma. Bianca's best colours are those mixed with blue and nothing else, which is why the Cool Winter pink works well for her as it is icy and clear. The Dark Winter variation on the left throws black on her face and darkens her as she does not have the required depth in her image for such shades. Finally, the Bright Winter example doesn't look terrible but is still slightly overpowering as the colour priorities don't match hers.

Bright Winter

Crystal is dominantly bright and subordinately cool so she can handle the pure pigment shown in the Bright Winter example. Her features are not as clear in the Bright Spring example as this colour is mixed with warming yellow. The Cool Winter variation also blanches her image as it is too icy.

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Our virtual colour analysis service includes 25 colours hand picked for you. To discover what your best hues, shades and tints of pinks are, purchase in the store today or shop via Etsy.