Soft SummerversusTrue Summer

The Soft Summer palette sits in the Summer family: The Soft Summer palette is a nuanced and elegant collection of cool, muted colors. If you're a Soft Summer, your features have a gentle, dusty quality, and you shine in colors that are blended and soft, rather than bold and bright. Think of a tranquil, misty landscape – those are your colors. The True Summer palette belongs to the Summer family: The True Summer palette, also known as Cool Summer, is the quintessential summer palette. It features entirely cool undertones with medium intensity. If you are a True Summer, you look best in colors that are serene and tranquil, like a calm ocean. The clearest way to tell them apart is to compare their signature shades side by side and notice which set feels more harmonious against your skin, hair, and eyes.

Both Soft Summer and True Summer are variations within the Summer family, so they share an overall temperature and mood but differ in the specific shades, contrast, and saturation that flatter you most.

Soft Summer leans on shades such as Powder Pink, Sky Blue and Lavender Gray, while True Summer is anchored by tones like Icy Blue, Rose Pink and Deep Sea Green. Holding these signature colours next to your face is the simplest way to feel which palette harmonises with your colouring.

Seasonal colour analysis matches a palette to your natural undertone, contrast level, and the depth of your skin, hair, and eyes. Soft Summer is characterised by cool & muted undertones, whereas True Summer is characterised by purely cool undertones. Drape the key colours of each palette in natural light and choose the set that makes your skin look clearer and more even.

Faces often associated with the Soft Summer palette include Jennifer Aniston, Sarah Jessica Parker and Leona Lewis. Examples linked to the True Summer palette include Emily Blunt, Kate Middleton and Allison Williams. These examples are illustrative — your own colouring is the most reliable guide.