Soft Summer
vs. True Summer
Two palettes. A clearer way to tell them apart.
Soft Summer
Color with the edges softened.
Robin's Egg Blue
#77CAD2
Cloudy Blue
#ABA6C3
Light Mauve 2
#AF8995
Dusty Teal
#509084
Grey/blue
#6C7485
Ugly Blue
#396A8F
True Summer
Cool color, softly spoken.
Baby Blue
#94C9FC
Pale Teal 2
#7FC6B6
Greeny Blue 2
#4BB698
Carolina Blue
#8496D8
Faded Blue
#818DBE
Dusty Lavender 5
#AE7397
The three color qualities
| Quality | Soft Summer | True Summer |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | Cool-neutral | Cool |
| Depth | Medium | Medium-light |
| Clarity | Soft | Soft |
| Makeup direction | Dusty rose, muted mauve, rose-brown | Rose, mauve, cool berry |
| Hair families | Mushroom blonde, ash brown, cool soft chestnut | Ash blonde, cool medium brown, soft charcoal brown |
Start with temperature
Compare warm peach with cool rose at similar depth and saturation. The temperature difference is the largest in these two palette profiles.
Soft Summer is cool-neutral; True Summer is cool. Notice the effect of that change, then test the other qualities separately.
Set up a consistent fabric testKeep the comparison fair
- Use indirect daylight and similar fabric finishes.
- Hold the same amount of each color below your face.
- Repeat the pair and look for a consistent preference.
Neighboring palettes overlap. A preference between two colors is a clue, not a confirmed season.
Use the quiz to collect more cluesDescriptions referenced from Soft Summer and True Summer guides. The swatches and comparison here are original.