Teal vs Turquoise: How to Tell Them Apart and Pick Yours

Teal sits in the middle: medium lightness, medium intensity, and a hue that falls between blue and green. Its shades run from muted, blue-leaning ones like Teal Blue and Cadet Blue to richer blue-greens like Dark Cyan and Pine Green.

Near a face, teal is the deeper of the two, so it is the color you see next to the skin. On a fabric it looks steady.

If you want it quieter, go to the blue-leaning ends of the family. If you want it richer, move toward Dark Cyan.

Turquoise is lighter. Turquoise and Medium Turquoise are both light, with medium intensity and a blue-green hue. Turquoise is the lightest of its family and the most intense.

Warm Turquoise and Cool Turquoise sit one step deeper. Warm stays blue-green, Cool tips toward blue, and Cool is the least intense of the four.

Near a face, turquoise is the lighter color. On a fabric it looks fresh and open, where teal looks steady.

One does: lightness. Turquoise is lighter, and that is the whole gap.

Intensity is the same, and both sit in the blue-green range. If turquoise looks brighter to you, you’re probably reading its lightness. Look for a difference in vividness and you won’t find one.

Near a face, the deeper teal reads first. The lighter turquoise reads softer. Same hue, same intensity, different weight.

One caution. Both families have shades that lean toward blue (Teal Blue in one, Cool Turquoise in the other). Judge the piece in your hand, not the label on it.

Each of the twelve sub-seasons leans one way. My advice: read your sub-season by its axes, not by the name of the color.

Turquoise belongs to five. Light Spring has it in its palette, matched with Aqua. Warm Spring is matched with Warm Aqua, Bright Spring with Bright Aqua.

Their temperature and clarity differ. Light Spring is slightly warm and very light, Warm Spring very warm, Bright Spring very bright. Turquoise fits each of them. Light Summer and Bright Winter are only close: their neighbors in the palette are Seafoam Green and Bright Mint.

Teal belongs to seven. Warm Autumn has Teal itself. For Deep Winter and Deep Autumn, teal is matched with Deep Turquoise in their palettes: both are dark, with high contrast. Cool Summer’s teal is matched with Soft Spruce Green.

Teal is only close for Soft Summer (Grayed Spruce), Soft Autumn (Soft Petrol Blue) and True Winter (Cool Turquoise).

Where a color is not for you, the palette offers a stand-in, not a match. Teal is not for Light Spring, Light Summer or Bright Winter. Their closest colors are Light Turquoise, Light Denim Blue and Bright Turquoise. Turquoise is not for Soft Autumn, whose closest is Sage Green.

I’d rather you test than assume. Sit by a window with a bare face and hair tied back, then hold one color under your chin at a time; the setup is in color draping at home.

Teal has six partners. White and cream give it room. Camel and charcoal are the quiet neutrals.

Mustard and coral push against it, so let them be small. For the version of teal that belongs to each sub-season, see what goes with teal.

Turquoise has no listed partner, so look at the piece itself. Hold your neutral next to it in daylight and see whether the turquoise still reads clearly or gets lost.