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Complete Guide

Clean blue red. Brown by the window.

True Winter, used.

The True Winter Complete Guide turns your season into makeup you can name, outfits that work and the words for a colorist.

$29 once, two books and phone files

Know your season? See how to use it.

Tell me when it is out

Opens with the site. The heads-up also joins The Palette Post.

No subscription. Free swap to any season within 30 days of buying.

Not sure? Take the free test

True Winter guide, book 1 cover: the cover of Book 1, the guide, with the season name in dark plum letters and a fan of paint chips, with olive.True Winter guide, book 2 cover: the cover of the lookbook and toolkit, the second of the two books, with the season name.
True Winter Complete Guide, Book 1 and Book 2

01 Softer or bolder

Softer or bolder.

Cool rose, your everyday lip, two amounts. Pick the amount by the day, and the shade stays yours.

Softer

Cool rose#D4588ASheer

One dab, pressed in with a finger.

Bolder

Cool rose#D4588AFull coat

A full coat.

02 What you own

Start with your makeup bag.

You do not need to replace anything today. Sort your lipsticks into three piles.

  1. Keep

    Same family as a palette shade, and about the same depth.

    True red#D01B35Raspberry#C2185BCool pink#E4639F

  2. Adapt

    Press it on sheer with a fingertip, then put True red on the center of the lip.

  3. Replace later

    Use it up. When it runs out, buy True red.

    True red#D01B35

03 Before you decide

Two reds that look the same in the store. One is yours.

The guide answers this one shade at a time: which is yours, and what to do with the one that is not.

Yours

True red#D01B35

In the True Winter lip family.

Not quite

Vivid red#E0192F

Too strong, from Bright Winter. Wear it low, away from your face.

See a 4 page sample (PDF) No email. Softer or bolder, a palette page with codes and the olive skin page.

04 Inside, page by page

Turn the real pages

Drag sideways, or tap a page to see it larger.

  • True Winter guide, book 1 cover: the cover of Book 1, the guide, with the season name in dark plum letters and a fan of paint chips, with olive.
    Book 1 · coverYour season, in two books
  • True Winter guide, book 1 palette page: page of color swatches, each with its name, HEX, RGB and CMYK, with colors such as true red, burgundy, raspberry and fuchsia.
    Book 1 · p. 13Your palette
  • True Winter guide, two sister palettes: page that puts the season next to its two neighbors on the wheel, with a strip of colors for each, with colors such as raspberry, sapphire, emerald and turquoise.
    Book 1 · p. 21Two sister palettes
  • True Winter guide, note for deep skin: page of notes for deep skin with a row of best colors, what goes wrong and the fix, with colors such as true red, royal blue, pure white and raspberry.
    Book 1 · p. 30A page for deep skin
  • True Winter guide, lip on a deeper lip: page of eight lip shades as flat color blocks at sheer, half and full coverage over a deeper, cooler lip, with colors such as true red, burgundy, raspberry and fuchsia.
    Book 1 · p. 35Lip on a deeper lip
  • True Winter guide, why bases go gray or orange: page on why a base goes gray on deep skin or orange on olive skin, with a jawline test to do at home, with colors such as orange, black and olive.
    Book 1 · p. 47Why bases go gray or orange
  • True Winter guide, rescue your closet: page of four fixes, in order, for a piece in a color that is not yours: distance from your face, proportion, texture and pattern, and one of your colors at the neck.
    Book 1 · p. 59Rescue your closet
  • True Winter guide, book 2 cover: the cover of the lookbook and toolkit, the second of the two books, with the season name.
    Book 2 · coverLookbook and toolkit
  • True Winter guide, book 2 outfits drawn for you: page of two outfits drawn flat in the palette, with lip, eyes and metal listed, with colors such as true red, black, silver and pure white.
    Book 2 · p. 7Outfits drawn for you
  • True Winter guide, book 2 combination book: page of three color combinations at one contrast level, with colors such as navy, charcoal, slate and cool mink.
    Book 2 · p. 13The combination book
  • True Winter guide, is it mine?: page of three yes or no questions to ask while holding a color under your chin by a window, with colors such as orange, mustard, olive and camel.
    Book 2 · p. 18Is it mine?
  • True Winter phone palette, the neutrals family page: phone-sized page with a swatch and a name for each neutral of the season.
    Phone palette · p. 4A family page
  • True Winter guide, phone palette, one color page: phone-sized page for one color with its name, HEX, RGB and CMYK and three pairings, with colors such as navy, pure white, royal blue and true red.
    Phone palette · p. 9One color, one page
  • True Winter makeup phone PDF, lip on a deeper lip: phone-sized page of lip shades drawn over a deeper, cooler lip, marked as a screen estimate.
    Makeup phone PDF · p. 18Makeup, over a deeper lip
  • True Winter phone wallpaper 1 of 4: a lock screen on cream paper with flat swatches of the season colors and a painted corner, the top left clear for the clock.
    Wallpaper 1 of 4A wallpaper
  • True Winter palette check, the gray strip: page with a strip of nine gray steps to print and cut, and the steps to use it at a window.
    Palette Check · p. 1The gray strip

05 Two ways to wear it

Two ways to wear it.

A color from a sister season does not have to leave your closet. The True Winter guide says where it goes.

Full, near your face

True red#D01B35Fuchsia#D1308FRoyal purple#6B2E9E

Tops, scarves and a lip. These are yours, so they go where the light meets your face.

Low, away from your face

Cool gray#8E97A1too deep, Deep WinterMidnight navy#14213Dtoo dusty, Deep WinterBerry#8B1F4Ftoo cool, Deep Winter

Close, but a little off near your face. Trousers, skirts, shoes and bags.

06 Your skin

Your skin picks your page.

Five pages, one for each skin depth. Pick yours.

Olive skin
True Winter guide, book 1 note for olive skin: page of notes for olive skin with a row of best colors, with colors such as olive, emerald, teal and orange.
Book 1, page 28

What goes wrongOrange-based colors pull orange.

The fixPick raspberry or a blue-red over coral, and a blue-red over an orange-red.

Tan skin
True Winter guide, note for tan skin: page of notes for tan skin with a row of best colors, what goes wrong and the fix, with colors such as true red, raspberry, fuchsia and royal blue.
Book 1, page 29

What goes wrongAn orange bronzer looks yellow on a cool tan.

The fixChoose a taupe or neutral brown bronzer.

If you call yourself morena or trigueña, this page is likely for you.

Deep skin
True Winter guide, note for deep skin: page of notes for deep skin with a row of best colors, what goes wrong and the fix, with colors such as true red, royal blue, pure white and raspberry.
Book 1, page 30

What goes wrongWhite-base pastels go ashy.

The fixChoose blush and highlighter with a clear or tinted base, in deep, cool shades.

Fair and medium have their own pages too.

07 What is inside

What is inside.

  • Book 1Your True Winter palette with names and codes, makeup shade by shade, a page for your skin depth and the words to take to a colorist.
  • Book 2Outfits drawn in your colors, the combinations that go with them and a check for any piece you are not sure of.
  • Phone filesYour colors and your makeup shades, one to a screen, to open in the store.
  • To keepPhone wallpapers, a gray strip to print and a free swap to any season within 30 days.

Your first five buys

  1. A top in pure white
  2. A dark neutral in navy
  3. Denim: dark indigo, black denim
  4. A lip in true red
  5. One accent in royal blue

Sold alone, without the swap: Phone Palette, $9 See inside and Makeup Kit, $12 See inside.

Shop these shades: a list picked by color for True Winter lives on this site, with a shade to look for if one is gone. See the True Winter finds

08 Before you buy

Is this for you?

For you

  • You know (or half know) your season and still buy shades that read wrong.
  • You want an everyday routine you can repeat.
  • You want to start with what you own.

Not for you

  • You want someone to tell you your season from a photo. The free test comes first: about 6 minutes, no photo.
  • You already shop your palette with ease.
  • The problem is fit, tailoring or skin care.

09 Asked often

Questions that are hard to ask

A guide that forgets deep skin?

Deep skin has its own page, Book 1 page 30, beside olive, tan, medium and fair.

Between True Winter and Bright Winter?

The free test says so. The guide holds both side by side, and the swap is free for 30 days.

Does it list brands?

No. It teaches you to read the shade by its name and code. A list picked by color for True Winter is free on this site, on the Makeup pages.

Can I return it?

Instant downloads are not refundable. A wrong season swaps free within 30 days of buying.

Your colors, picked to let your face come first.

Opens with the site at $29, the same here and on Etsy. One email when it is on sale, plus The Palette Post.

True Winter Guide + Manual, $45, against $53 bought separately. Between two seasons? Both guides, $49 against $58 bought separately, with Deep Winter or Bright Winter. Compare them side by side

True Winter guide, book 1 cover: the cover of Book 1, the guide, with the season name in dark plum letters and a fan of paint chips, with olive.