Light Summers have an ethereal quality to their complexions. They are very low in contrast and can wear pale colors that wash out others.
Soft Summer is the warmest of the Summer seasons, it is bordering the Autumn category and has a neutral quality rather than purely cool.
Cool Summer has more contrast than other versions of Summer, it is flowing into the Winter category and includes shades (colors mixed with black).
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Meet Breann Bowman of Things We Fancy, also a Cool & Delicate, Light Summer. Her profile page states that she never wears color, but maybe these candy colored options can give her some inspiration. Follow along through the color draping to uncover your own coloring. Each drape represents a season: Warm & Rich – Autumn, Warm & Fresh – Spring, Cool & Delicate – Summer, Cool & Brilliant – Winter.
click to watch, or follow along with the photographs.
I absolutely adore Breann in Silver, it shows off the beautiful rosy tones in her skin and makes her blue-green eyes pop.
It’s easy for a light summer to get overwhelmed by color. With the Mint, we see her first, not the color.
Her best blue, Powder Blue, really shows off her flawless skin.
So many other complexions are drained by pastels, but the subtle contrast between Breann’s eyes, hair, and lips means she shines in pastels like Lavender.
Breann’s cheeks and lips are enviable, and I love how the Powder Pink picks up that healthy glow. I also love the coral on her. It’s not uncommon to be able to borrow a color or two from a similar season, in this case Light Spring, which shares a similar saturation.
Breann really shines in Cranberry, unlike the Burgundy which has too much black and leaves her looking pale, and the Flame and Brick which are too warm, the Cranberry contrasts the green in her eyes and brings out the pink in her cheeks. It’s one of my favorite colors on her and according to David Zyla in Color Your Style, this would be her Romantic Color..
Orange may not be the new black for Breann, but peach is definitely the least offensive of the group. It matches up with the subtle contrast in her complexion.
Typically warm colors like yellow can have cool interpretations, by subtracting some of the red, it leans away from gold toward Lemon and Chiffon.
Photos by Red Poppy Photo, Breanne Johnson
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Not Cool & Delicate (aka Summer)
TRY
Warm & Rich (aka Autumn)
Cool & Brilliant (aka Winter)
Warm & Fresh (aka Spring)
How to Pick your Best and Worst Colors (Get Started)
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These are really interesting because (to me) she looks very pretty, approachable, and young in the cool and delicate colors. Very girl next door. But in the greens and blues and maybe to a lesser degree the pinks and reds, she looks stunning in the cool and brilliant colors. Maybe you notice the clothes first, but they don’t seem to compete with her skin or hair. It makes me think for summers the cool and delicate is a great casual look, and the cool and brilliant is great for dressier occasions when you’re looking to turn heads. 🙂 Or it might also just be that I think that green and blue in the cool and brilliant category are gorgeous colors in and of themselves!
Erica, that’s a good observation. I’ve found that most people have some versatility in the range of colors they can wear. They usually have a “best” set of colors but can also wear colors from bordering seasons successfully. For example, my son is a Soft Autumn, who can also borrow quite a bit from Soft Summer. He can also pick a few colors from Deep Autumn, though not as many as Soft Summer. In short, I believe the colors are a great starting point, but never be afraid to continue to experiment. Thanks for reading!
What neutrals would look best on soft summer/light summer? Where does a utility jacket fit into these categories? Is there a way for cool tone people to wear bits of warm neutrals?
Kari, soft summer or light summer could definitely wear a soft olive utility jacket especially if there’s another flattering color underneath it. You can basically wear any color on your bottom half or in accessories. What you want to avoid are very dark, warm neutrals. Other possible neutrals include taupe, putty, and medium to light grey.
I have copper hair, pale skin (blue veins) teal eyes (equally blue and green) however colors for each eyes looks terrible. Please add teal eyes some place on your color charts.
Daun, you sound like a possible Warm Spring. You can check out a model with similar coloring here: https://cardiganempire.com/2017/08/best-worst-colors-for-spring-seasonal-color-analysis.html
What are your suggestions for pure natural white hair. Your cool and delicate summers are bottle blondes so they have dark roots to frame their face and eyelashes and eyebrows. I am norwegian and cannot find myself in any of the colour catergories. I have really blue eyes blonde eyebrows and lashes and to make matters worse a light olive complexion that tans with a light scattering of freckles. I have the platinum silver colour hair. My wrist veins are blue and green. When younger was often asked if i was albino. I am not. Which pallete could you suggest for me.
April,
My first inclination would be a Light Spring. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to help you with a full analysis. You can purchase it at the bottom of this post above the comments.
Ive noticed that cara delvigne is in soft summer and clear spring categories.
Thanks for the heads up. That was a mistake. I believe Cara is a Soft Summer. I’ve moved her out of Clear Spring 🙂
Where would you place fair olive/cool yellow skin? I’ve got Eastern European ancestry and I recently learned through some makeup communities that my undertones are greenish rather than clearly warm or cool. Mustard and most yellows look abysmal on me, like startlingly terrible. I feel like this probably makes me a cool of some type – hence ending up on this post, and feeling like the worst colours listed here are close to those alarmingly terrible shades!
I would look at the Winter categories. Initially, I’d lean towards Clear Winter if you are very fair, but it could also be Deep Winter. If you want help with a virtual color analysis, there’s a link to purchase at the bottom of this post above the comments.
I have sallow skin, blue eyes and have my medium brown hair colored to a medium ashy blonde. I used to look better in winter colors when I hard dark ash hair. Now, would I be a summer? I don’t gravitate towards pastels…
Depending on your exact skin tone, you would most likely fall into Clear Spring or Cool Summer. Neither of these categories are particularly pastel, but Clear Spring is definitely more vibrant. I’d love to help you with a virtual color analysis if you’re interested. There’s a link to purchase one at the bottom of this post, above the comments.
Hello I just wish to now more specific what is included in the online color analysis Its a only quite and I can send you pictures of mine you to see my colouring? I’m locking for my season so long for now I’m between soft summer or soft autumn. I have hazel green eyes ash brown hair my skin tone seems cool but still have warnes in it too. I can’t decide. hard for me to find color what is suite me.
An online color analysis process proceeds as follows: First I conduct an online survey and have you send photos. I evaluate the information and respond by e-mail to let you know what your color category is. I hope that information helps. I’d love to work with you.
This is.such. a good article! You really went out of your way to show the different colours on the model each time, and it is very interesting! I am a soft summer (same hair and skin as cara, but with hazel eyes) and it is true that some colours from autumn can work, especially in summer when I’m a bit more golden and my hair is a bit lighter..
Anyway, I’m a big fan of your approach and I can’t wait to read the rest of your blog!
Thank you for this site! I’ve always been a winter (dark hair, pale skin, green eyes) but as my hair has been greying I’ve been dying it blonde and it has affected my color palette. Is there a better solution that I’m not thinking of
Hello
I have cool skin tone . I have lightest ash blonde hair ( natural brown ) brown eyes . Skin is cool vanilla. I’m not sure what category I would fall into? I tend to be drawn to a lot of natural colours black , white . Please can you help