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 Deep Autumn Color Palette
Soft Summer is a cool palette and Deep Autumn is a warm one, so the two pull your complexion in opposite directions. Soft Summer is cool and soft, low contrast, while Deep Autumn is warm and deep, high contrast. Here are both palettes side by side, with the eye, skin, and hair traits behind them.
Autumn Season
Deep Autumn
Dark, luxurious, and intense. High contrast with rich chocolate, burgundy, and forest tones.
- Undertone
- warm & Deep
- Contrast
- High
- Best metals
- gold, rose gold
The Soft Summer and Deep Autumn 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
Deep Autumn colors
Deep Autumn colors carry weight. Every shade in your palette has depth and warmth — this is the richest, most saturated corner of the Autumn family.
Mahogany
Your signature shade
Burgundy
Deep and luxurious
Deep Olive
Dark and earthy
Bronze Gold
Rich metallic warmth
Forest Teal
Your cool accent
Burnt Sienna
Warm and intense
Chocolate
Everyday deep neutral
Warm Buff
Your best light base
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.
Deep Autumn
Dark blue, deep green, dark hazel, dark brown, or nearly black, usually with warm golden or olive tones visible up close.
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.
Deep Autumn
Ivory, olive, or medium to deep with golden-olive warm undertones. Deep Autumn skin holds a tan well and rarely looks pink.
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.
Deep Autumn
Medium to dark brown with a golden shine, or dark auburn. There is warmth in it even at the darkest depths.
Not sure which season you are? Take the quiz
One photo tells you whether you are a Soft Summer, a Deep Autumn, or one of the other ten types, with your full palette and a preview on your own face.
Get my color analysisSoft Summer vs Deep Autumn 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
Eva Mendes
Deep Autumn
Kelly Rowland
Deep Autumn
Sofía Vergara
Deep Autumn
Penélope Cruz
Deep Autumn
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the real difference between Soft Summer and Deep Autumn?
Undertone. Soft Summer is cool, built around shades like dusty rose, sage green and soft denim, while Deep Autumn is warm, built around mahogany, burgundy and deep olive. Depth differs too, Soft Summer sitting at low contrast against Deep Autumn at high, but temperature is what you should test first. A palette on the wrong side of that line leaves skin looking sallow or grey however well the depth matches.
Are Soft Summer and Deep Autumn the same season?
No. Soft Summer belongs to Summer and Deep Autumn belongs to Autumn, two separate seasons in the twelve-type system. They also sit on opposite sides of the warm and cool line, which makes confusing them the more costly kind of mistake. The shades each one is named for do not transfer between them.
Which key colors define Soft Summer vs Deep Autumn?
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. Deep Autumn is defined by mahogany, burgundy, deep olive and bronze gold. Deep Autumn colors carry weight. Every shade in your palette has depth and warmth — this is the richest, most saturated corner of the Autumn family. Metals are the quickest tell of all: Soft Summer wants silver or rose gold, and Deep Autumn wants gold or rose gold.
Am I Soft Summer or Deep Autumn? How can I tell the difference?
Temperature first: hold dusty rose and mahogany fabric under your chin in daylight and watch which one evens out your skin instead of adding shadow. Then depth: Soft Summer carries low contrast between hair, skin and eyes where Deep Autumn carries high, so judge how much contrast your own bare-faced photo shows. Then metals: Soft Summer suits silver or rose gold and Deep Autumn suits gold or rose gold. When two of the three agree, that is your answer.
Who are some celebrity examples of Soft Summer and Deep Autumn?
For Soft Summer, look at Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz, Bella Hadid and Sarah Jessica Parker. For Deep Autumn, look at Eva Mendes, Kelly Rowland, Sofía Vergara and Penélope Cruz. 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 Deep Autumn right matter?
Because the two palettes fail in opposite directions, and the failure is quiet rather than obvious. Wearing Deep Autumn colors as a Soft Summer lays a warm cast over cool skin, which shows up as dullness, grey under the eyes, or a yellow flatness people read as tiredness rather than as a wardrobe problem. 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 Deep Autumn suits gold or rose gold, so jewelry bought for the wrong season quietly undercuts the rest.
Can Soft Summer and Deep Autumn 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, mahogany and burgundy for Deep Autumn. 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 mahogany 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 gold or rose 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.
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Summer
Autumn
Winter
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