True Summer color palette: a cozy corner painted in its colors

Summer · Color season

True Summer color palette

Cool and soft

Also called Cool Summer

Cool and powdery, like the sea on a cloudy day.

Cool is your key: rosy skin, ashy hair, a calm, soft look. Blue-based colors with a soft, powdery finish suit you best; warm golds and oranges make you look sallow.

Take the color test

The True Summer palette: 24 colors

With their names and hex codes. The first twelve are the essentials; the other twelve round out the palette.

The essentials

  • Slate#6F8FAF
  • Cornflower#9AB3D5
  • Denim#4F6D8A
  • Lilac#C0A2C7
  • Heather#8E7FA8
  • Peony#D98BA3
  • Dusty rose#C57B8F
  • Eucalyptus#7FA89B
  • Seafoam#A9C9C4
  • Storm gray#5C7A8C
  • Mist#B8B8C8
  • Pearl#E8DDE6

More colors

  • Raspberry#C2456E
  • Rose#D47A93
  • Lavender#B4A7D6
  • Plum#6E4A6E
  • Navy#2C3E5C
  • Petrol blue#2F5E6E
  • Sage#8EA693
  • Jade#4F9C8A
  • Periwinkle#8C9EDB
  • Mauve#A6849B
  • Mushroom#8F8580
  • Charcoal#4A4E57

True Summer neutrals, metal and lips

Neutrals

  • Pearl #E8DDE6
  • Storm gray #5C7A8C
  • Navy #2C3E5C

Metal

Silver

Your white

  • Pearl #E8DDE6

Your black

  • Navy #2C3E5C

For your lips

  • Dusty rose #C57B8F
  • Raspberry #C2456E
  • Peony #D98BA3

True Summer hair and makeup

Hair

True Summer hair color leans clearly cool: mushroom brown, medium ash brown or dark ash blonde. Very dark hair looks best in a cool espresso with no red, and gray tends to look elegant here, above all a blue-toned silver. Gold, copper and honey highlights usually turn brassy and make skin look sallow.

Makeup

True Summer makeup looks best blue-based and powdery. A rose blush goes with dusty rose, raspberry or peony lips, and heather, mauve or slate shadow with a navy liner defines the eyes without harshness. Leave out tangerine, rust and camel tones and gold shimmer, which tend to look yellow on cool skin.

True Summer colors to avoid

The ones that dull this coloring most, next to the face.

  • Tangerine #FF8C1A
  • Mustard #C9A227
  • Camel #C19A6B
  • Rust #A0522D

Where it sits

Every season is a point on three axes: undertone, depth and chroma. The one that defines it is marked.

Undertone: Cool Defining trait

CoolWarm

Blue, pink or rosy undertones: colors with a touch of blue light you up.

Depth: Medium

LightDeep

Chroma: Soft

SoftBright

Your features blend gently: muted, dusty colors look elegant on you.

Neighboring seasons

The two closest to True Summer: if a color here doesn’t convince you, look at theirs.

Opposite season

The palette furthest from True Summer.

How to wear it

  • Wear your colors close to your face: a top, a scarf, your glasses. Further away, they matter less.
  • Build on your neutrals, then add one or two colors from the palette.
  • Try them in daylight, next to your face: the right ones even out your skin and light up your eyes.

A test can’t see you, so take it as a starting point: try your colors next to your face, in daylight.

All twelve seasons