True Summer Color Palette

What True Summer coloring looks like

True Summer, also called Cool Summer, is the coolest of the summer seasons. Coolness is the trait that stands out, and it comes with a soft, gentle quality. The coloring looks rosy, cool and calm.

Typical True Summer coloring includes the following.

• Skin with a clearly cool, pink or rosy undertone, from fair to medium deep. It often flushes pink and can burn before it tans.
• Hair in cool shades, such as ash blonde, ash brown or cool medium brown. Many True Summers gray to a soft silver.
• Eyes that are cool and soft, such as gray blue, soft blue, gray green or cool brown.
• Contrast that is low to medium.

How to tell if you are a True Summer

• Rosy, blue based colors make your skin look clear and fresh.
• Silver and white gold look natural, while yellow gold looks brassy.
• Orange, mustard and camel make your skin look sallow or ruddy.
• Soft white flatters you more than cream, and navy flatters you more than black.

If even softer, smokier colors look better, you may be a Soft Summer. If light pastels look best of all, you may be a Light Summer. Our free color analysis or undertone test can confirm how cool your coloring is.

How to wear the True Summer palette

The True Summer palette is cool and soft, with gentle rose and blue tones. It includes Rosewood, Bubblegum, Rose, Orchid, Mauve, Primrose, Soft jade, Jade, Mint, Emerald, Aqua, Sky blue, Cornflower, Lilac, Lupine and Heather rose.

• Near your face, wear cool, medium colors. Rose, Jade and Cornflower bring out cool eyes.
• For neutrals, choose Snow, Fog and Smoke for light pieces, and Steel, Granite and Charcoal for darker ones. Navy and cool taupe work well too.
• Keep it soft. Medium contrast outfits, such as navy with soft pink or gray with cornflower, suit you better than black and white.
• For prints, soft florals, gentle stripes and cool toned patterns of medium size.
• For accessories, silver, white gold, platinum and pearls, with stones such as sapphire, aquamarine and amethyst.

A simple True Summer capsule wardrobe

A small wardrobe in your colors means almost everything goes with everything else. Start with these pieces and add color from your palette over time.

• A Snow or soft white shirt and a navy knit.
• Navy and Steel gray trousers, plus medium blue denim.
• A Rose or Raspberry top for a cool, fresh accent.
• A Jade or Cornflower dress for summer.
• A navy or soft gray coat.
• Gray or navy shoes, a cool toned bag and silver jewelry.

Common True Summer mistakes

• Orange, mustard and golden browns near the face.
• Black as your main neutral. Navy and charcoal are softer and cooler.
• Warm, bronzing makeup. Cool pinks and soft berries suit you better.

True Summer at every skin depth

People of every skin depth can be a True Summer. The season describes how your coloring fits together, not how light or deep your skin is. Within the palette, though, skin depth still guides which tones look best right next to your face.

• If your skin is on the lighter side, lean on the lighter tone of each color family, such as Pink sand, Primrose, Aqua and Lilac.
• If your skin is on the deeper side, the stronger tones carry more presence, such as Rosewood, Straw, Lagoon and Lupine.

Either way, the test is the same. Hold the color under your chin in daylight and keep it if your skin looks smoother and your eyes look brighter.

Makeup for True Summer

• Foundation with a cool or pink undertone. Our guide to foundation for cool undertones explains how to test shades.
• Lips in rose, raspberry, cool pink and soft berry.
• Blush in cool pink, rose or soft raspberry.
• Eyes in gray, navy, soft plum, cool taupe and blue gray.
• Brows in ash brown or cool taupe.

Hair colors for True Summer

Ash blonde, cool light brown, ash brown and soft silver all suit you. Cool, beige or pearl highlights add brightness without warmth. Avoid golden, copper and red tones, which clash with cool, rosy skin.

True Summer compared with its neighbours

True Summer sits between Soft Summer and Light Summer on the season wheel.

• True Summer and Soft Summer are both cool. Soft Summer is more muted and gray. True Summer is a little clearer.
• True Summer and Light Summer are both cool. Light Summer is lighter and more delicate. True Summer can carry medium depth colors.

True Summer is also often compared with True Winter, the other fully cool season. True Winter is deeper and much clearer, with jewel tones and black. True Summer is softer and lighter.

The colors to avoid come from Warm Spring, the season furthest away. They are warm, golden and clear, the opposite of cool and soft.

True Summer at a glance