Summer Color Palette
The summer color palette is the cool, soft side of seasonal color analysis. The summer color season splits into three: Light Summer, True Summer and Soft Summer. All three lean cool with low natural contrast, and each is led by a different trait: lightness, coolness or softness.
Find out which season you areThe three Summer seasons
Cool undertones and gentle, blended color. Summers glow in shades seen through soft daylight: rose, powder blue, lavender, sea green.
- All 37 colors, light to dark
Light Summer
Pale Summer Light first, cool second: hazy, pale colors like powder blue and soft lavender. See the Light Summer palette - All 38 colors, light to dark
True Summer
Cool Summer Cool first, soft second: dusty, composed colors at a medium value. See the True Summer palette - All 38 colors, light to dark
Soft Summer
Muted Summer Soft first, cool second: the most muted Summer colors, grayed and blended. See the Soft Summer palette
Summer color palette for clothes
The capsule wardrobe of each Summer, by color
Summer wardrobes rest on cool, quiet neutrals. Light Summer builds on soft grays, taupe and white, True Summer on cool grays, navy and soft taupe, and Soft Summer on gray, charcoal and taupe.
Color sits on top: powder blue, lavender and dusty rose for Light Summer; sea green, dusty rose and plum for True Summer; mauve, sage and dusty plum for Soft Summer.
Prints stay gentle across the family: watercolor, brushstroke and loose floral designs at low to medium contrast. Denim works best with a cool or gray cast in all three.
Summer skin tone and complexion
Undertone and contrast of each Summer, next to its neutrals
- Light Summer
- Undertone
- cool-neutral
- Contrast
- low
- True Summer
- Undertone
- cool
- Contrast
- low-medium
- Soft Summer
- Undertone
- cool-neutral
- Contrast
- low
Summer skin has a cool or cool-neutral undertone, often beige, pink or ashy. It ranges from fair to medium in Light Summer and from fair to tan in True and Soft Summer. Soft Summer's range also includes olive skin.
Contrast between hair, skin and eyes stays low: low for Light and Soft Summer, low to medium for True Summer. Hair runs ashy, without natural golden highlights, and eyes are often gray, blue or gray-green, frequently with a crackled-glass pattern.
Summer vs winter: the two cool families
Signature colors side by side
- True Summer Sea Green · Aster Purple · Storm Blue · Wild Rose · Marlin
- True Winter Dazzling Blue · Marine Green · Ibis Rose · Everglade · Blue Iris
Summer and Winter are the two cool families, both with a blue-based undertone. Summer is soft and muted with low contrast, Winter bright and clear with high contrast, which is why Jet Black is a Winter neutral but on every Summer avoid list.
Summer colors to wear
Signature colors of each Summer
- Light Summer Blue Topaz · Lavender · Provence · Cyclamen · Chardonnay
- True Summer Sea Green · Aster Purple · Storm Blue · Wild Rose · Marlin
- Soft Summer Moonlite Mauve · English Manor · Dusk Blue · Lichen Blue · Iris Orchid
Each Summer season has five signature colors, shown here next to the colors at least two Summers avoid.
Jet Black and Bright White are on all three Summer avoid lists, and Light and Soft Summer also skip Bone Brown. Warm, saturated colors miss as well, such as Vibrant Orange for Light Summer and Blazing Yellow for Soft Summer.
Colors to skip
Silver or gold for Summers
The metals of each Summer, next to its neutrals
- Light Summer
- Metals
- silver · white gold · light yellow gold (not orange) · silver-set pearls · rose quartz
- True Summer
- Metals
- silver · white gold · platinum · brushed or satin finishes · amazonite, amethyst and apatite stones
- Soft Summer
- Metals
- silver · pewter · soft gold · rose gold if pink-toned · brushed, matte or lightly antiqued finishes
Silver is the one metal on all three Summer lists. Light Summer adds white gold and a light yellow gold that is not orange, True Summer adds white gold and platinum, and Soft Summer adds pewter, soft gold and rose gold if the skin leans pink. Finishes differ: brushed or satin for True Summer, brushed or matte for Soft Summer.
Summer makeup, hair color and more
Lip shades and hair colors from each Summer guide
Each Summer season has its own guides to makeup shades, hair colors, nail colors, outfits and celebrity examples. Men use the same seasonal palettes, mostly through suiting neutrals, shirts and ties.
Summer color analysis: which Summer are you?
Two side-by-side comparisons help. Hold a pale lavender next to a richer, dustier plum: if the pale one is more flattering, lean Light Summer. Then compare a clean slate blue with a grayed, khaki-leaning blue: the clean one points to True Summer, the grayed one to Soft Summer.
The free color test weighs hue, value, chroma and contrast and names your closest season when your answers point clearly to one.
Summer color palette questions
How do I know which summer color palette I am?
Look at your strongest trait. Very light coloring points to Light Summer, clearly cool coloring to True Summer, and heavily muted, grayed coloring to Soft Summer.
Which color is not good for summer?
Jet Black and Bright White are on the avoid list of all three Summer seasons, since both are too stark for this soft coloring. Hot, warm, saturated colors such as Vibrant Orange, Lemon Chrome and Blazing Yellow also clash with the cool, muted base.
Can a Summer wear black?
Pure black is usually too stark for Summer coloring. Charcoal, navy, navy-gray or deep plum give the same grounding without the harshness.
Is summer warm or cool?
Cool. Light and Soft Summer sit closer to cool-neutral, while True Summer is the coolest of the family.
Which Summer are you?
Put it into practice: 16 questions in about 4 minutes, free, no photos, no sign-up.