Soft Summer
Muted and blended — every colour has grey folded into it.
Soft Summer is defined by mutedness rather than temperature. The colouring is gentle and blended, with medium depth and low contrast, and the palette is everything with a little grey mixed in: dusty rose, sage, soft teal, mushroom. Anything clear or vivid immediately looks like it is wearing the person.
Clarity is the dominant axis here: how muted or how vivid a colour is matters more than whether it is warm or cool. (Clarity is what the 12-tone system calls this season's primary characteristic.)
Where this season sits
Every one of the twelve seasons is a position on three axes. These are the coordinates our analysis scores you against.
Is this you?
- Skin
- Neutral-cool, medium depth, often with a soft grey or rosy-beige cast.
- Hair
- Ash brown, mousy brown or dark ash blonde — rarely strongly golden.
- Eyes
- Soft, often marbled: grey-green, grey-blue, soft hazel.
- Contrast
- Low. Hair, skin and eyes blend into one another.
The palette
The 20 colours that work hardest for Soft Summer, with hex codes so you can match them exactly.
- Dusty rose#C08497
- Soft berry#A5677A
- Muted plum#8F5F6E
- Soft mauve#B08BA5
- Dusty lilac#8E7C9E
- Dusty periwinkle#7A809E
- Slate blue#6E8CA0
- Soft teal#5C7D8A
- Muted jade#7FA398
- Sage#8FA88B
Neutrals to build on
- Soft white#EDEAE4
- Greige#C4BEB4
- Mushroom#9A938A
- Soft charcoal#6F6C68
- Soft navy#3F4A57
Metals and makeup
Best metals: Brushed silver, Matte gold, Pewter.
Lip
- Dusty rose
- Muted berry
- Soft mauve pink
Blush
- Soft rose
- Muted pink
- Rosewood
More on Soft Summer
Often confused with
Frequently asked
What is a Soft Summer?
Soft Summer is one of the twelve seasonal colour types. It is moderately cool, medium in depth and strongly soft. In practice that means dusty rose, soft berry and muted plum sit comfortably on you, while the colours in the avoid list make you look tired. Clarity is the dominant axis here: how muted or how vivid a colour is matters more than whether it is warm or cool. (Clarity is what the 12-tone system calls this season's primary characteristic.)
How do I know if I am a Soft Summer?
Three checks. Neutral-cool, medium depth, often with a soft grey or rosy-beige cast. Ash brown, mousy brown or dark ash blonde — rarely strongly golden. Soft, often marbled: grey-green, grey-blue, soft hazel. Contrast is the fourth: low. hair, skin and eyes blend into one another. If two of those four describe you, Soft Summer is very likely your season — our free analysis scores all twelve and tells you how close the runners-up are.
What colours should a Soft Summer avoid?
The clearest ones to drop are black, pure white and hot pink. The contrast is far too stark for blended, low-contrast colouring. Full explanations for each are on the colours-to-avoid page.
What is the difference between Soft Summer and True Summer?
They are neighbours, which is exactly why they get confused. The deciding axis is clarity: Soft Summer is the soft one and True Summer is the bright one. We have a full side-by-side comparison if you are torn between them.
Can a Soft Summer wear black?
Not near your face. Soft Summer colouring is too gentle for true black — it drops a hard edge under the chin and pulls shadows forward. Use Soft navy (#3F4A57) instead for anything worn up top, and keep black for trousers, shoes and bags where it has no effect on your skin.
What metals suit a Soft Summer?
Brushed silver, Matte gold and Pewter. Metal is one of the fastest at-home tests there is: hold silver and gold either side of your face in daylight and watch your skin rather than the jewellery — the wrong metal leaves a grey or sallow cast along the jaw.