This application describes laundry care compositions that contain shading leuco colorants and their use in the laundering of textile articles. These types of shading leuco colorants are provided in a stable, substantially colorless state and then may be transformed to an intense colored state upon exposure to certain physical or chemical changes such as, for example, exposure to oxygen, ion addition, exposure to light, and the like. The laundry care compositions containing the shading leuco colorants are designed to enhance the apparent or visually perceived whiteness of, or to impart a desired hue to, textile articles washed or otherwise treated with the laundry care composition.