Free test

Complete Guide

Dusty rose in the tube. Brown by three.

Soft Summer, used.

The Soft Summer Complete Guide turns your season into makeup you can name, outfits that work and the words for a colorist.

$29 once, two books and phone files

Know your season? See how to use it.

Tell me when it is out

Opens with the site. The heads-up also joins The Palette Post.

No subscription. Free swap to any season within 30 days of buying.

Not sure? Take the free test

Soft Summer guide, book 1 cover: the cover of Book 1, the guide, with the season name in dark plum letters and a fan of paint chips.Soft Summer guide, book 2 cover: the cover of the lookbook and toolkit, the second of the two books, with the season name.
Soft Summer Complete Guide, Book 1 and Book 2

01 Softer or bolder

Softer or bolder.

Dusty pink, your everyday lip, two amounts. Pick the amount by the day, and the shade stays yours.

Softer

Dusty pink#D9A5B0Sheer

One dab, pressed in with a finger.

Bolder

Dusty pink#D9A5B0Full coat

A full coat.

02 What you own

Start with your makeup bag.

You do not need to replace anything today. Sort your lipsticks into three piles.

  1. Keep

    Same family as a palette shade, and about the same depth.

    Dusty rose#C98393Mauve#A9788FSoft raspberry#B35C7C

  2. Adapt

    Press it on sheer with a fingertip, then put Dusty rose on the center of the lip.

  3. Replace later

    Use it up. When it runs out, buy Dusty rose.

    Dusty rose#C98393

03 Before you decide

Two pinks that look the same in the store. One is yours.

The guide answers this one shade at a time: which is yours, and what to do with the one that is not.

Yours

Dusty pink#D9A5B0

In the Soft Summer lip family.

Not quite

Soft warm pink#D99A95

Too warm, from Soft Autumn. Wear it low, away from your face.

See a 4 page sample (PDF) No email. Softer or bolder, a palette page with codes and the olive skin page.

04 Inside, page by page

Turn the real pages

Drag sideways, or tap a page to see it larger.

  • Soft Summer guide, book 1 cover: the cover of Book 1, the guide, with the season name in dark plum letters and a fan of paint chips.
    Book 1 · coverYour season, in two books
  • Soft Summer guide, book 1 palette page: page of color swatches, each with its name, HEX, RGB and CMYK, with colors such as dusty pink, soft cranberry, dusty rose and mauve.
    Book 1 · p. 13Your palette
  • Soft Summer guide, two sister palettes: page that puts the season next to its two neighbors on the wheel, with a strip of colors for each.
    Book 1 · p. 22Two sister palettes
  • Soft Summer guide, note for deep skin: page of notes for deep skin with a row of best colors, what goes wrong and the fix, with colors such as blue-gray, deep rose, soft raspberry and muted plum.
    Book 1 · p. 31A page for deep skin
  • Soft Summer guide, lip on a deeper lip: page of eight lip shades as flat color blocks at sheer, half and full coverage over a deeper, cooler lip, with colors such as dusty rose, mauve, soft raspberry and dusty pink.
    Book 1 · p. 36Lip on a deeper lip
  • Soft Summer guide, why bases go gray or orange: page on why a base goes gray on deep skin or orange on olive skin, with a jawline test to do at home, with black.
    Book 1 · p. 48Why bases go gray or orange
  • Soft Summer guide, rescue your closet: page of four fixes, in order, for a piece in a color that is not yours: distance from your face, proportion, texture and pattern, and one of your colors at the neck.
    Book 1 · p. 60Rescue your closet
  • Soft Summer guide, book 2 cover: the cover of the lookbook and toolkit, the second of the two books, with the season name.
    Book 2 · coverLookbook and toolkit
  • Soft Summer guide, book 2 outfits drawn for you: page of two outfits drawn flat in the palette, with lip, eyes and metal listed, with colors such as soft raspberry, rose brown, muted navy and soft silver.
    Book 2 · p. 7Outfits drawn for you
  • Soft Summer guide, book 2 combination book: page of three color combinations at one contrast level, with colors such as greige, soft gray, stone gray and cool taupe.
    Book 2 · p. 13The combination book
  • Soft Summer guide, is it mine?: page of three yes or no questions to ask while holding a color under your chin by a window, with black.
    Book 2 · p. 18Is it mine?
  • Soft Summer phone palette, the neutrals family page: phone-sized page with a swatch and a name for each neutral of the season.
    Phone palette · p. 4A family page
  • Soft Summer guide, phone palette, one color page: phone-sized page for one color with its name, HEX, RGB and CMYK and three pairings, with colors such as muted navy, soft white, dusty charcoal and dusty pink.
    Phone palette · p. 9One color, one page
  • Soft Summer makeup phone PDF, lip on a deeper lip: phone-sized page of lip shades drawn over a deeper, cooler lip, marked as a screen estimate.
    Makeup phone PDF · p. 18Makeup, over a deeper lip
  • Soft Summer phone wallpaper 1 of 4: a lock screen on cream paper with flat swatches of the season colors and a painted corner, the top left clear for the clock.
    Wallpaper 1 of 4A wallpaper
  • Soft Summer palette check, the gray strip: page with a strip of nine gray steps to print and cut, and the steps to use it at a window.
    Palette Check · p. 1The gray strip

05 Two ways to wear it

Two ways to wear it.

A color from a sister season does not have to leave your closet. The Soft Summer guide says where it goes.

Full, near your face

Dusty rose#C98393Mauve#A9788FDusty periwinkle#8791BE

Tops, scarves and a lip. These are yours, so they go where the light meets your face.

Low, away from your face

Charcoal blue#3F4650too cool, too deep, True SummerRose#D4608Atoo bright, True SummerRaspberry#B8336Atoo strong, True Summer

Close, but a little off near your face. Trousers, skirts, shoes and bags.

06 Your skin

Your skin picks your page.

Five pages, one for each skin depth. Pick yours.

Olive skin
Soft Summer guide, book 1 note for olive skin: page of notes for olive skin with a row of best colors, with colors such as muted jade, soft teal, teal and mauve.
Book 1, page 29

What goes wrongGolden and orange tones pull yellow.

The fixPick dusty rose or mauve over coral and peach.

Tan skin
Soft Summer guide, note for tan skin: page of notes for tan skin with a row of best colors, what goes wrong and the fix, with colors such as dusty rose, soft raspberry, rosewood and slate blue.
Book 1, page 30

What goes wrongA very pale pink goes flat.

The fixChoose dusty rose or soft raspberry, with some pigment.

If you call yourself morena or trigueña, this page is likely for you.

Deep skin
Soft Summer guide, note for deep skin: page of notes for deep skin with a row of best colors, what goes wrong and the fix, with colors such as blue-gray, deep rose, soft raspberry and muted plum.
Book 1, page 31

What goes wrongWhite-base pastels go chalky.

The fixChoose blush and highlighter with a clear or tinted base, in soft rose shades.

Fair and medium have their own pages too.

07 What is inside

What is inside.

  • Book 1Your Soft Summer palette with names and codes, makeup shade by shade, a page for your skin depth and the words to take to a colorist.
  • Book 2Outfits drawn in your colors, the combinations that go with them and a check for any piece you are not sure of.
  • Phone filesYour colors and your makeup shades, one to a screen, to open in the store.
  • To keepPhone wallpapers, a gray strip to print and a free swap to any season within 30 days.

Your first five buys

  1. A top in soft white
  2. A dark neutral in dusty charcoal
  3. Denim: faded medium blue-gray wash
  4. A lip in dusty rose
  5. One accent in dusty periwinkle

Sold alone, without the swap: Phone Palette, $9 See inside and Makeup Kit, $12 See inside.

Shop these shades: a list picked by color for Soft Summer lives on this site, with a shade to look for if one is gone. See the Soft Summer finds

08 Before you buy

Is this for you?

For you

  • You know (or half know) your season and still buy shades that read wrong.
  • You want an everyday routine you can repeat.
  • You want to start with what you own.

Not for you

  • You want someone to tell you your season from a photo. The free test comes first: about 6 minutes, no photo.
  • You already shop your palette with ease.
  • The problem is fit, tailoring or skin care.

09 Asked often

Questions that are hard to ask

A guide that forgets deep skin?

Deep skin has its own page, Book 1 page 31, beside olive, tan, medium and fair.

Between Soft Summer and Soft Autumn?

The free test says so. The guide holds both side by side, and the swap is free for 30 days.

Does it list brands?

No. It teaches you to read the shade by its name and code. A list picked by color for Soft Summer is free on this site, on the Makeup pages.

Can I return it?

Instant downloads are not refundable. A wrong season swaps free within 30 days of buying.

Your colors, picked to let your face come first.

Opens with the site at $29, the same here and on Etsy. One email when it is on sale, plus The Palette Post.

Soft Summer Guide + Manual, $45, against $53 bought separately. Between two seasons? Both guides, $49 against $58 bought separately, with True Summer or Soft Autumn. Compare them side by side

Soft Summer guide, book 1 cover: the cover of Book 1, the guide, with the season name in dark plum letters and a fan of paint chips.