Can a Spring type wear cool colors?

A Whoopsy Daisy Spring!

In the early 1980’s my sister, Bethany, had a seasonal color analysis done by a consultant with “Color Me Beautiful”. The draping showed she looked lovely in a cool pink and less lovely in a warm peach. So, simple as that, she was typed a Summer.

But Bethany’s energy is definitely not Summer. In fact, she personifies just about everything Suzanne Caygill wrote about the personality of the Spring type. “She has a ready wit, and ease and charm of manner; laughter seems to lurk in the corners of her mouth. She is characterized by hospitality that is effortless and informal. She likes people to drop in; she meets people easily and overcomes formalities with ease. She loves a parade, a picnic, and often takes the children to the circus as an excuse to go herself." (Color the Essence of You, by Suzanne p. 46).

We also find she is lit from within by sunlight and in nature her features and style lines relate to the Spring flowers. She’s drawn to clear and tinted quality in her colors and they are, in turn, visually harmonious with her.

Bethany was my first client when I was training to be a Seasonal Color consultant over a decade ago. I had complete confidence in typing her as a Spring (she is my sister after all). But I was, at the time, using a fabric fan system which, while extensive, did not provide me with the option of a “cool” clear or tinted pink for a Spring and I didn’t have the knowledge or experience to realize that this was even an option for a Spring type.

Bethany’s first palette 2014 using a Suzanne Caygill inspired system

So, I gave Bethany a somewhat warm-neutral pink and peachy skintones, which we both thought “worked”. But when she asked me about the cooler pinks that I, and others, had always told her she looked good in, the novice that I was told her I wasn’t confident it was still right for her— I mean how could it be when I didn’t have it in my fan system? It was a question that haunted both of us for over a decade. Because we both knew, instinctively, that she really did look great in cooler pinks.

Of course in this intervening time my knowledge and depth of understanding of this work grew and I started to notice cooler pinks in clothing that, because of their quality of color, would be most suitable for a Spring type.

Bethany was badly in need of a palette update and this time around I chose to have her daughter, Caitlin (@seasonalcolorbycait) to assist with the palette as part of our ongoing training and mentorship.

What Caitlin and I discovered in the process was not surprising. Using our personal color swatch lab (not a set of pre-determined colors), Caitlin and I were able to update Bethany’s skin tone (much deeper after years of sun exposure), and to choose cooler pinks for her skintone blush and related red colors coming from the Magenta pigment. We also found an alternate hair color, related white, and refined her eye color. And the outcome is not only a beautifully harmonious color palette, but one that is truly reflective of her unique personal color harmony.

Bethany’s color palette April 2025 using a Suzanne Caygill inspired personal fabric swatch lab

Suzanne Caygill never put people in boxes. There were no pre-determined colors that belonged solely to a particular season (although certainly some that were more typically aligned with a seasonal type or sub-type) nor did she define the seasons as simply warm/cool although often the classic type for each season would fit neatly into one camp or the other. The quality of the colors for each season was more specifically defined by Suzanne, and what the quality of the color brings out in the person. This is the true visual harmony we look for.

Pretty in Pink

In a simplistic warm/cool color analysis system, Bethany would end up as a Winter or Summer type simply because she needs a cool clear or tinted pink. But to type her as anything but a spring would be to do her a great disservice.

What Suzanne found in the Spring type was that the color quality/person interaction shows refreshment and upliftment, an affect that Bethany very much needs to support her cheerful & vibrant personality.

A Whoopsy Daisy Spring with a beautiful cool clear & tinted color palette

The magic of Seasonal Color Analysis comes from finding the colors that are true to you and support you in the essence of your being. In other words, the magic comes from the very alive relationship between you and your colors. 

This is a very important part and distinction of the Suzanne Caygill Method of Seasonal Color Analysis. Spring colors can be on the warmer side, the cooler side or even be neutral – but they will always uplift and refresh a Spring person.