Soft summer color palette
Soft summer is the muted side of summer: cool but gentle, light to medium in depth, low in contrast. Its colors are powdery and greyed: dusty rose, blue grey, mauve and soft teal.
Find your season on your photoThe palette
Soft white#E9E4DC Grey taupe#8F857D Pewter#8C8D90 Rose brown#8A6A68 Dusty rose#C9989E Mauve#A7808F Muted raspberry#A9566F Soft plum#7E5A72 Lavender grey#A7A2BC Blue grey#7D8FA3 Denim blue#5B7593 Greyed navy#3F4C63 Soft teal#5E8A8A Sage grey#95A398
Neutrals carry this palette: soft white, pewter, grey taupe and rose brown stand in for black and pure white. Dusty rose, mauve and muted raspberry work near the face; blue grey, denim and soft teal are easy everyday colors. Wearing colors of similar lightness together keeps the effect soft.
What makes it soft summer
- Undertone
- Cool, leaning neutral. The coolness is subtle: pinkish or neutral-beige skin rather than an icy look. Soft summer is the summer that sits closest to autumn.
- Depth
- Light to medium. Most of the palette sits in the lighter half of the value scale, with deeper anchors such as greyed navy and soft plum.
- Clarity
- Soft, and this is the defining trait. Bright, saturated colors and stark black-and-white contrast tend to take over a soft summer face.
Soft summers often have ash blonde to ash brown hair and grey-blue, grey-green or soft hazel eyes, with little contrast between hair and skin. These are tendencies, not rules; the palette is what matters, not the checklist.
Hair colors for soft summer
These hair colors usually sit well with soft summer: ash and neutral browns and beige blondes in the middle depths. Each one opens the shade, so you can try it on your own photo.
For women
For men
Colors to go easy on
Black#141414 Optic white#FFFFFF Bright orange#E8771E Mustard#C99A1C Rust#A84A23
Warm, saturated and high-contrast colors are the usual trouble: bright orange, mustard and rust, plus black and optic white. Near the face, greyed navy can replace black and soft white can replace optic white; further from the face, the rules relax.
Close seasons
Soft summer or soft autumn?
Both palettes are muted and many people sit near the line between them, which is why it is the question asked most often. The deciding axis is warmth. On a soft summer, cool muted colors such as dusty rose, blue grey and mauve make skin look clear, while camel and olive can make it look sallow. On a soft autumn it is the other way round. Neutral browns like mocha sit in both palettes, so they are a safe middle while you decide.
Soft summer or true summer?
True summer is cooler and a little clearer: powder blue, raspberry and periwinkle at full brightness. If those look strong on you and their greyed versions look better, soft summer is the closer match.
Questions
What colors look best on a soft summer?
Cool, muted colors of light to medium depth: dusty rose, mauve, soft plum, blue grey, denim, soft teal and sage grey, with soft white, pewter and grey taupe as neutrals.
Should a soft summer wear gold or silver?
Silver, white gold and pewter usually sit best, in a matte or brushed finish rather than high shine. Rose gold is a common compromise if you prefer a warmer metal.
What hair color suits a soft summer?
Ash and neutral shades in the middle: mushroom brown, mocha, bronde, light brown or ice beige blonde, often with a softer root. Strong gold or red tones tend to clash with the cool, muted palette.
Is soft summer warm or cool?
Cool, but only slightly: it is the summer closest to the warm side. That is why soft summers can often wear neutrals like taupe and soft white comfortably, and why the season is so often confused with soft autumn.
Your own season
Mark your cheek and your hair on one daylight photo. The color reading shows your likely season, a close second and how sure it is; when the reading is clear it also names the sub-season. It is a reading of that photo in that light, not a verdict.
Find your season on your photoMore palettes: Light spring · True spring · Bright spring · Light summer · True summer · Soft autumn · True autumn · Deep autumn · Deep winter · True winter · Bright winter