Warm Autumn makeup and hair colors: rich, golden, and never blue based

Direct answer

What is Warm Autumn makeup? Warm Autumn makeup is warm, rich and golden: terracotta, peach and warm coral blush; warm brown, bronze and olive eyes; brick red, warm coral and caramel lips, with not one blue based shade in the bag. Warm Autumn (also called True Autumn) is the warmest season in the twelve season system, defined by warmth first, then richness, then medium depth. The quickest test is the base test: if a shade has blue or gray underneath it, it reads cold and tired on this face.

How is Warm Autumn different from Soft Autumn and Deep Autumn?

The three autumns share warmth and divide on one axis each. Soft Autumn is run by softness: the same warm family, muted and lighter. Deep Autumn is run by depth: the same warm family pushed darker, with more contrast and the only autumn coloring that flirts with winter. Warm Autumn is run by temperature itself. It is the pure middle of the family, where warmth is the whole point.

That position is easy to test. Soft shades wash a Warm Autumn out, because the coloring needs its warmth at full strength, not grayed down. Very deep shades sit heavy, because darkening past the face's natural medium depth closes it down. Warm Autumn lives between those two failures: richer than Soft, lighter than Deep, warmer than both.

It is also the season autumn itself wears. Rust, pumpkin, mustard, moss, chestnut and bronze are not a mood board for this palette; they are the palette. If a shade could grow, fall or be dug out of the ground in October, it belongs to this face.

Source: Calida, autumn color palette guide

Which makeup colors suit a Warm Autumn?

Think of an autumn market in late afternoon light: every shade warm, most of them edible, none of them icy.

Foundation undertone is where this season is most often failed: golden or yellow based foundations sit natural on this coloring, while pink based ones are the usual reason Warm Autumn makeup looks right in the shop and ashen at home.

• •Brick red: lips. The season's signature red: red with brown and orange underneath, never blue.
• •Warm coral: lips. Coral kept orange based; pink coral belongs to spring.
• •Caramel: lips, nude option. The true nude for this season is warm and golden, not beige pink.
• •Terracotta: blush. The blush reference shade: earthy, warm, strong enough to register.
• •Peach: blush, lighter days. Peach reads as a natural flush here; the skin is already golden.
• •Warm coral: blush. When the lip and blush need to match in tone, this is the bridge shade.
• •Warm brown: eyes, lid and crease. The season's neutral: brown with red or gold in it, never gray.
• •Bronze: eyes, metallic. The metallic for this season; silver is the one that reads cold.
• •Olive: eyes. Green with warmth and earth in it; blue based greens fail like blue based reds.
• •Copper: eyes, liner. Warmth at close range; this season holds more of it than any other.

Source: We Heart This, Warm Autumn color palette guide

Which shades fail on a Warm Autumn: wrong vs right?

Put a blue-red and a brick red on your own photo and see which one your face agrees with.

• •Blue-red lipstick vs brick red: both are strong reds, but the blue based one sits cold on golden skin and tires the whole face around it. Brick red carries the same strength at the face's own temperature, so the features look richer, not just redder.
• •Gray eyeshadow vs warm brown or bronze: gray is blue based by construction, and at close range it drains the warmth out of the eyes and reads as fatigue. Warm brown gives the same definition while adding to the face's golden cast.
• •Berry or plum lips vs warm coral: berry shades are built on blue and purple, and on this coloring they read as a cold stain. Warm coral keeps the depth of color and loses the cold base.
• •Cool pink blush vs terracotta or peach: pink blush sits on golden skin as a separate cool layer that never joins the face. Terracotta reads as blood and sun under the skin, which is what blush is meant to imitate.
• •Silver highlighter and jewelry vs gold, bronze and copper: silver is the season's clearest failure, a cold metal against warm skin, and at the neck and ears it is on constant display. The warm metals match the skin's own cast.

What hair colors suit a Warm Autumn?

Keep the warmth, and keep the richness. This season has more good hair colors than any other, because most warm shades were named after it.

Avoid ash and platinum. Ash is gray based, platinum is blue based at the root, and both pull the warmth out of the hair and leave the skin sallow next to it. Blue-black fails the same way, from the deep end.

Test copper and auburn on your photo before anyone reaches for an ash toner.

• •Copper: the signature color, orange red with real heat in it; the shade this season is photographed in for a reason.
• •Auburn: red brown at medium depth, the everyday version of copper for anyone who wants the warmth without the brightness.
• •Golden brown: mid brown lit with gold; the safest move for a Warm Autumn who has been wearing ash by mistake.
• •Warm chocolate: brown with red underneath, kept clearly warm; the deeper option that belongs to this season, not to Deep Autumn.
• •Rich caramel: lightness placed through golden brown, warm enough to glow; caramel fails this season only when it is toned cool and beige.

Am I Warm Autumn, Soft Autumn or Deep Autumn?

All three are warm, so the gold test cannot separate this family; it only confirms you belong to it. Inside the family, the dividers are softness and depth, each with a direct test.

Against Soft Autumn, test strength. Take a muted, dusty version of a warm shade and a rich, clear version of the same shade: sage against deep olive, dusty peach against terracotta. If the soft versions wash you out and the rich ones light your face up, you are Warm Autumn. If the rich versions shout and the soft ones settle, read our Soft Autumn guide.

Against Deep Autumn, test depth. Hold the deepest palette shades, espresso and black brown, at your face. If deep shades define your features and add contrast you look better for, you are Deep, and that palette is broken down in our Deep Autumn guide. If they sit heavy and medium depth keeps your face open, you are Warm. The full twelve season map is in our hub, and the hardest cases, warm skin with a cool hair history, are worked through in our copper on olive skin guide.

Source: Bombah Laskah, seasonal colours: autumn

What should I ask my colorist for?

Warmth is easy to lose in a salon for the opposite reason to cool seasons: ash toners are the default fix for brassiness, and this season's warmth is often corrected away as brassiness. Brief against it, and bring a photo of the target shade on your own face rather than a celebrity reference. Save the shade name, level and toner as a Salon Card.

• •Keep the warmth and keep the richness: gold, copper or red reflects only, and no ash toner at the end. Say the toner part out loud; it is where warm colors most often get quietly cooled.
• •Your natural level stated and agreed before anything is mixed; most Warm Autumn regrets are depth accidents, too dark toward Deep or too light and washed out.
• •Toner with a name: copper, golden, auburn. Warm alone in a busy salon can come back neutral, which reads cool on this coloring.
• •The fade plan: copper and red reflects fade fastest, so ask what the color will look like at week six and what gloss keeps the warmth in between visits.