Deep skin
If your swaps land you here, keep the cool colors rich, like a deep raspberry or a plum that stays clear against your skin. Dusty or very pale versions can read gray, so check them at your jaw by a window.
- Deep raspberry
- Plum
Summer, the cool one
TrueSummer.
Think cool, muted and calm, with nothing icy or sharp.
- Cool pink
#E79AB4At the window - Raspberry
#B8336AOn a video call - Slate blue-gray
#6F8096In the closet
01 Is this you
Is this you?
- DepthLight to medium
- ClaritySoft
- TemperatureCool
Temperature leads. The cool lean stands out first, so temperature names this season, and softness and depth confirm the side.
Colors with a blue or pink base and a little gray in them tend to read cleanest.
02 Your colors
Your colors.
Tap a color to copy its HEX.
Neutrals
Accents
Statements
Handle with care
Best white
Cool white
#F4F6F8A softer black
Charcoal blue
#3F4650Denim
Medium cool blue wash
03 Wear it
Wear it.
Keep cool, muted color closest to your face.
Try cool rose, soft blue or plum.
Cool white, cool gray, slate and navy are your neutrals.
If you wear black, keep a cool color between it and your face.
Keep your pieces a couple of steps apart in lightness.
Let one muted accent sit near your face.
04 Neighbors
Or a neighbor?
Light Summer
True Summer
Light Summer
Both lean cool. Light Summer stays light, where True Summer sits at medium depth.
The swap test. Use this swap only if the gray strip left you close to the line between light and medium. Hold a light powder pink under your chin by a window, then a medium pink with some gray in it.
Soft Summer
True Summer
Soft Summer
Both lean cool. Soft Summer is more muted, where True Summer keeps a little more clarity.
The swap test. Hold a clean blue-pink under your chin by a window, then a dusty blue-pink at the same depth. If the dusty one keeps your face first, you are closer to Soft Summer.
05 Your skin
Same season, your skin.
Olive skin
Olive tends to sit between warm and cool, so a cool pink can turn it gray. Hold a rose and a slightly warmer rose by the window and ask whether your skin looks grayer or more yellow-green.
- Cool pink
- Rose
Medium to tan skin
A tan can shift your depth reading, so run the strip again in another season. Cool rose and soft blue are easy first swaps to hold against a warm coral.
- Rose
Fair skin
Redness in your cheeks can look like a cool undertone when it is only blood flow, so test with a rested face. Cool white against cream, by a window, is a quick first swap.
- Cool white
07 Questions
Questions about True Summer.
Two apps gave me two seasons.
Photos carry their own light, and a consultant's room has another. The two answers are often next door: Light Summer and Soft Summer.
Can deep skin be True Summer?
If your swaps land you here, keep the cool colors rich, like a deep raspberry or a plum that stays clear against your skin. Dusty or very pale versions can read gray, so check them at your jaw by a window.
Do I have to give up black?
No. Charcoal blue and cool navy sit closer to you near your face.
Is True Summer the same as Cool Summer?
Some systems use other names for the same idea, and Cool Summer is a common one for what I call True Summer. The twelve season names are a convention, so they drift from one source to the next.
Does True Summer look better in silver?
Cool metals like silver and white gold tend to sit quietly with a cool palette, so they are a fine place to start. Metal is a style choice, though, and no study ties it to undertone.
Can True Summer wear black?
It can. Black is the sharpest neutral, so near the face it can read harder than a soft coloring.
Carry True Summer with you.
A closet in cool, muted colors with outfit formulas, the words for a colorist, and a page for your skin tone.
or just the palette on your phone
Not sure it is yours? Take the free test.
