Summer Season
Soft Summer
Blended, hazy, and sophisticated. Low contrast with the most muted palette of the cool seasons.
- Undertone
- cool & Soft
- Contrast
- Low
- Best metals
- silver, rose gold
Palette Comparison
Soft Summer vs Cool Winter Color Palette
Soft Summer and Cool Winter both run cool, which is why a Summer palette and a Winter palette can look closer than you would expect. Soft Summer is cool and soft, low contrast, while Cool Winter is cool and cool, high contrast. Here are both palettes side by side, with the eye, skin, and hair traits behind them.
Winter Season
Cool Winter
Striking, sophisticated, and icy. High contrast with vivid blue-based brights and true neutrals.
- Undertone
- cool & Cool
- Contrast
- High
- Best metals
- silver, white gold
The Soft Summer and Cool Winter Palettes
Each type's eight signature shades. Read them as a set rather than one color at a time: it's the overall temperature and clarity that separates these two palettes.
Soft Summer colors
Soft Summer colors are blended and hazy, as if seen through morning mist. Nothing in your palette is fully saturated — that softness is the point.
Dusty Rose
Your signature shade
Sage Green
Hazy and restful
Soft Denim
Gentle cool blue
Soft Plum
Your richest tone
Muted Teal
Blended and calm
Dusty Lilac
Soft cool accent
Slate Blue
Quiet and refined
Soft Oyster
Everyday light neutral
Cool Winter colors
Cool Winter colors are blue-based, clear, and saturated. Icy pastels and true jewel tones both work — what matters is that nothing is muddied with warmth.
True Fuchsia
Your signature shade
Royal Blue
Vivid and clear
Emerald
Cool jewel tone
True Violet
Rich and cool
Icy Aqua
Frosted and light
Icy Orchid
Your softest accent
Deep Navy
Your best dark
Pure White
Crisp and clean
Key Characteristics
The coloring each palette is built around. Where you land on these three is what decides which of the two is yours.
Eyes
Soft Summer
Soft grey-green, blue-grey, or muted hazel. The iris tends to look slightly clouded, with colors that shift depending on the light.
Cool Winter
Light brown, cool hazel, blue, or icy grey, usually with a sharply defined ring around the iris that contributes to your contrast.
Skin
Soft Summer
Medium to deep brown with muted neutral-cool undertones. Soft Summer skin often has an olive cast layered over coolness, which is what pulls it toward the Autumn border.
Cool Winter
Olive, or fair to medium with cool pink or blue undertones. Cool Winter skin looks noticeably better beside pure white than beside cream.
Hair
Soft Summer
Medium to dark ashy brown, softly muted. It rarely holds a strong tone in either direction — neither clearly golden nor clearly ash.
Cool Winter
Ashy blonde, dark brown, black, or cool ash brown. There is no golden or coppery cast even in the lighter shades.
Not sure which season you are? Take the quiz
One photo tells you whether you are a Soft Summer, a Cool Winter, or one of the other ten types, with your full palette and a preview on your own face.
Get my color analysisSoft Summer vs Cool Winter Celebrities
Style icons for each palette. Comparing two faces you already know is often quicker than comparing swatches.
Jennifer Aniston
Soft Summer
Cameron Diaz
Soft Summer
Bella Hadid
Soft Summer
Sarah Jessica Parker
Soft Summer
Liv Tyler
Cool Winter
Elizabeth Taylor
Cool Winter
Lucy Liu
Cool Winter
Aishwarya Rai
Cool Winter
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the real difference between Soft Summer and Cool Winter?
Not undertone: both palettes are cool, so warm-versus-cool will not settle it. What differs is weight. Soft Summer is the soft type at low contrast, and Cool Winter is the cool one at high contrast. Hold dusty rose next to true fuchsia by your face: one will let your features read clearly, and the other will either flatten them or overpower them.
Are Soft Summer and Cool Winter the same season?
No. Soft Summer belongs to Summer and Cool Winter belongs to Winter, two separate seasons in the twelve-type system. They read as similar because both are cool, and soft and cool coloring can look alike in poor light. The shades each one is named for do not transfer between them.
Which key colors define Soft Summer vs Cool Winter?
Soft Summer is defined by dusty rose, sage green, soft denim and soft plum. Soft Summer colors are blended and hazy, as if seen through morning mist. Nothing in your palette is fully saturated — that softness is the point. Cool Winter is defined by true fuchsia, royal blue, emerald and true violet. Cool Winter colors are blue-based, clear, and saturated. Icy pastels and true jewel tones both work — what matters is that nothing is muddied with warmth. Metals are the quickest tell of all: Soft Summer wants silver or rose gold, and Cool Winter wants silver or white gold.
Am I Soft Summer or Cool Winter? How can I tell the difference?
Skip the undertone test. Both are cool, so vein color, jewelry instinct and the usual warm-versus-cool questions will point both ways. Start with depth: Soft Summer carries low contrast between hair, skin and eyes where Cool Winter carries high, so judge how much contrast your own bare-faced photo shows. Then metals: Soft Summer suits silver or rose gold and Cool Winter suits silver or white gold. When two of the three agree, that is your answer.
Who are some celebrity examples of Soft Summer and Cool Winter?
For Soft Summer, look at Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz, Bella Hadid and Sarah Jessica Parker. For Cool Winter, look at Liv Tyler, Elizabeth Taylor, Lucy Liu and Aishwarya Rai. Read them for the relationship between hair, skin and eyes rather than for individual outfits, since a stylist can put anyone in anything. Daylight photographs without heavy makeup or filters are far more useful here than red-carpet shots.
Why does getting Soft Summer vs Cool Winter right matter?
Because the two palettes fail in opposite directions, and the failure is quiet rather than obvious. The mismatch is weight, so nothing clashes outright: Cool Winter colors on a Soft Summer simply drain the life out of the face, and Soft Summer colors on a Cool Winter sit too heavily on it. It also costs money. Most of a wardrobe is neutrals and basics, and buying those on the wrong side of the line means every top you own works slightly against your face while none of them looks obviously wrong on the hanger. Metals compound it: Soft Summer suits silver or rose gold and Cool Winter suits silver or white gold, so jewelry bought for the wrong season quietly undercuts the rest.
Can Soft Summer and Cool Winter share any colors?
Not the same shades, but a large share of both palettes sits close enough that one garment could pass for either. Those near-matches are the softest, most neutral parts of each palette, where the gap narrows to a degree or two of warmth. Everything either season is known for stays on its own side: dusty rose and sage green for Soft Summer, true fuchsia and royal blue for Cool Winter. Treat the near-matches as safe ground, not as proof the palettes are interchangeable.
What's the fastest way to confirm my season at home?
Stand at a window in indirect daylight, without makeup, in something that will not bounce color onto your face. Hold dusty rose against true fuchsia under your chin, one at a time, and watch your skin rather than the fabric: the right one evens out redness and softens the shadows under your eyes, and the wrong one adds a grey or yellow cast. Then repeat at your wrist with silver or rose gold against silver or white gold jewelry. Two signals pointing the same way is usually enough, and a photo-based analysis will confirm it in minutes.
Browse All Palettes
All twelve color seasons, three to a family. Open any one for its full palette, traits, and the colors to keep away from your face.
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
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