Soft Summer Color Palette

Soft Summer is led by chroma. Your colors need a gray veil over them before they look right on you, and that matters more than how light or dark they are. Temperature comes second: you lean cool, but only a little, so a few colors sit close to neutral. Depth is in the middle of the range.

The skin is usually neutral, neutral-cool or olive with an ashy quality, sometimes with a pink tinge. Eyes are often gray, gray-blue, gray-green or gray hazel, and on deeper coloring a muted brown. The features blend softly together.

Hair usually runs from medium ash blonde to light or medium ash brown. It looks muted and ashy rather than bright, and the sun lightens it to ash blonde, not gold or copper. Contrast between hair, skin and eyes is usually low to medium.

Black and bright white make a quick check. Both tend to make your skin look tired and your features recede, while a smoky charcoal or a soft off-white lets your face come forward.

• Soft white #E7ECEF
• Grayed navy #344359
• Rose brown #826762
• Powder blue #AFCADC
• Soft lavender #C4BDD9
• Dusty rose #C08F93
• Mauve #A48197
• Soft teal #598C8E
• Sage green #89A18E
• Plum #664359
• Soft raspberry #AB5873
• Cornflower #6086B4

Soft Summer or Soft Autumn?

Soft Autumn shares your muted, low-contrast look but leans warm. Hold a Dusty rose (#c08f93) and a muted salmon (#d39a80) under your chin in daylight. On a Soft Summer the rose evens out redness and the salmon turns the skin yellow and sallow. On a Soft Autumn the salmon gives a healthy warmth and the rose makes the skin look gray-pink. A second check: Pewter (#92999f) against camel (#b8956a). Soft Summers look clearer in the pewter; Soft Autumns look clearer in the camel.

See the Soft Autumn palette

Soft Summer or Cool Summer?

Cool Summer (True Summer) is cooler and a step clearer than you. Hold your Mauve (#a48197) next to a clear raspberry (#bd4874). On a Soft Summer the raspberry arrives before your face does and the mauve looks like part of you. On a Cool Summer the mauve looks flat and dusty and the raspberry brightens the eyes. Grayed navy (#344359) against a cleaner navy (#1b4370) tells the same story: you look better in the grayer one.

See the Cool Summer palette

Your workhorse neutrals are grayed and soft: Pewter, Slate gray, Grayed navy and Blue charcoal for trousers, coats and suiting, with Rose brown and Gray taupe when you want something warmer-looking that still has no gold in it. Light gray and Soft white handle tops and shirts. Keep the darkest neutral in an outfit no deeper than Blue charcoal, and keep contrast between pieces low.

Your best white and what to wear instead of black.

Five outfit formulas

• Office day

  • Blazer: slate gray
  • Blouse: powder pink
  • Trousers: grayed navy

• Weekend layers

  • Knit sweater: sage green
  • T-shirt: soft white
  • Jeans: denim blue

• Dinner out

  • Wrap dress: plum
  • Cardigan: pewter
  • Shoes: rose brown

• Smart casual

  • Shirt: powder blue
  • Chinos: gray taupe
  • Knit tie or scarf: soft teal

• Statement top

  • Silk top: soft raspberry
  • Wide-leg trousers: blue charcoal
  • Bag: light gray

Prints and fabrics

Pick prints where the colors sit close together in depth: watercolor florals, smudged abstracts, tonal paisley, heathered tweeds and soft herringbone. Small, blended patterns beat large graphic ones. Matte and brushed finishes suit you: washed linen, brushed cotton, cashmere, suede, chalky silk. High-shine satin and patent can look harsh, and stark black-and-white stripes are the hardest print for this season to wear.

Colors to avoid

• Jet black #000000
• Optical white #FFFFFF
• Orange #E8732A
• Mustard #C9A227
• Rust #A14A1F
• Hot pink #FF1493

These colors are too pure, too dark or too warm for you. Black and optical white set up more contrast than your face has, and bright pinks and reds look like they are wearing you. Orange, mustard and rust bring in gold that turns the skin sallow. If you own one, wear it below the waist and put a Soft white or Light gray near your face.

Look for neutral or neutral-cool shades labeled with a soft rose or beige base. A strong yellow or golden foundation will look like a mask on you, and a very pink one will show redness. Test on the jaw in daylight and choose the shade that disappears.

Lips

• Dusty rose #AD747C
• Mauve #956B7D
• Soft berry #8F4F68
• Rose brown #866160

Blush

• Muted rose #CB999D
• Soft plum pink #B18B9E

Eyes

• Taupe gray #8F817D
• Slate blue #546E80
• Soft plum #6A5267
• Pewter #91979B

Liner and brows

• Charcoal gray #42474D
• Soft navy #344357

Blend everything. Sheer, satin or matte textures look better than glitter or frost. Swap black mascara for brown-black or charcoal if your lashes are light, and pick a lip one step deeper than your natural lip color rather than a bold red.

Your best hair colors are ash and beige shades with no visible gold or red: mushroom brown, ash brown, cool light brown and beige or ash blonde. Stay within two levels of your natural depth so hair, skin and eyes keep the low contrast that suits you. If your hair looks flat, ask for soft ash or beige babylights rather than a single bright color, and use a purple or blue toning gloss every few weeks to stop brass from building. Very dark brown, blue-black, copper, golden blonde and platinum all add contrast or warmth your coloring cannot carry.

Move toward

• Ash brown #675C56
• Mushroom brown #7D6F68
• Cool light brown #94837C
• Ash blonde #AFA496
• Beige blonde #C3B3A3

Move away from

• Copper #B5562A
• Golden blonde #D4A94A
• Blue-black #141824
• Platinum white #F2F0EA
• Bright burgundy #8C1C3C

Gray hair and highlights

To blend early gray, ask for ash or beige lowlights in your natural depth so the gray reads as dimension. Once you are mostly gray, a silver or pearl gloss keeps it from yellowing.

Brushed and matte metals suit you better than high polish. Silver and pewter are the safest. Rose gold works because its pink tone is soft. Bright yellow gold tends to look brassy next to your skin; if you love gold, choose a pale, brushed champagne tone in small pieces.

• Brushed silver
• Pewter
• White gold
• Rose gold
• Matte champagne gold

Glasses frames

Gray tortoiseshell, taupe, soft navy, slate and muted plum frames blend with your coloring. Avoid glossy black and bright red frames; they draw more contrast than your face carries.

People often typed as Soft Summer. Typing a famous face from photos is guesswork (lighting, makeup and hair dye all change it), so use it as a reference for coloring and check your own season with the drape tests above.

• Jennifer Aniston: Cool, muted undertones; often wears soft beige and ash blonde hair shades, which keep her look low in contrast. Source for Jennifer Aniston, opens in a new tab
• Dakota Johnson: Fair skin, soft blue eyes and cool-toned brunette hair. Source for Dakota Johnson, opens in a new tab
• Kristen Stewart: Light, muted skin with cool undertones and green eyes. Source for Kristen Stewart, opens in a new tab
• Taylor Hill: Fair skin with cool undertones and soft green eyes. Source for Taylor Hill, opens in a new tab
• Adriana Lima: Olive skin with cool, muted undertones and blue-green eyes; a deeper example of the season. Source for Adriana Lima, opens in a new tab
• Rooney Mara: Fair skin; often wears a soft mid-brown hair shade, which keeps contrast low. Source for Rooney Mara, opens in a new tab
• Sarah Jessica Parker: Blue eyes and fair skin; often wears soft bronde and ash-beige hair shades. Source for Sarah Jessica Parker, opens in a new tab
• Matt Damon: Light skin and blue eyes; often seen with ash-brown hair, so the face reads at low contrast. Source for Matt Damon, opens in a new tab