12-season color analysis · Summer family
Soft Summer color palette
Also called Muted Summer
Muted, cool and velvety, like lavender fields in haze, sea mist and weathered stone.
In the 12-season system, Soft Summer, sometimes called Muted Summer, is defined by softness above all. Your best colors are blended with gray, so they look smoky and gentle, not bright. The undertone leans cool but sits close to neutral, and value lands in the middle. The soft summer color palette includes dusty blue, mauve, blue spruce, soft plum and cool taupe, shades that seem to melt into one another.
- Undertone
- Cool-neutral
- Value
- Medium
- Chroma
- Soft, muted
- Contrast
- Low to medium-low
The palette
The Soft Summer color palette
Twenty-four shades that flatter soft summer coloring: neutrals to build a wardrobe on, core colors for everyday pieces, and accents for statement moments. Wear the core and accent colors closest to your face.
Neutrals
- Oyster White#EBE7E0
- Pearl Gray#C6C2BC
- Cool Taupe#A0938F
- Pewter#8C9095
- Rose Brown#806869
- Soft Navy#3B4A63
Core colors
- Dusty Blue#7C98AB
- Mauve#A67B8C
- Blue Spruce#5B7E7F
- Dusty Rose#C89AA0
- Lavender Gray#A29EBE
- Gray Sage#8FA596
- Soft Plum#7C5E73
- Denim Blue#5E7A9D
- Seafoam Gray#93BDBB
- Mulberry#7B4658
Accents
- Raspberry Rose#B0587E
- Soft Cherry#A84D5E
- Dusty Orchid#A175A1
- Soft Teal#4F9A9C
- Smoky Jade#6B9E8B
- Hydrangea Blue#8490C0
- Blue Slate#435C94
- Soft Lemon#E3DCA6
Is it you?
How to tell if you're a Soft Summer
If you are a soft summer, your features blend rather than pop. Hair is often ash brown, taupe brown or dark ash blonde, eyes are gray-green, soft hazel, gray-blue or muted brown, and skin is neutral-cool, sometimes with a subtle olive or beige quality. Overall contrast stays low to medium. This palette smooths your skin and brings out the quiet color in your eyes, while bright or stark shades can overwhelm you.
- Hair in ash brown, taupe brown, dark ash blonde or smoky light brown, often without obvious red or gold. Gray grows in softly.
- Eyes that look blended or smoky: gray-green, soft hazel, gray-blue, teal-gray or muted cocoa brown.
- Skin that is neutral to cool, sometimes with a subtle olive or beige cast, which is why many soft summers struggle to tell if they are warm or cool.
- Colors with a hint of gray make your face look calm and even, while stark white, black and neon make your features recede.
- Soft Summer turns up across many ethnic backgrounds, on fair to medium-deep skin. The unifying clue is softness, with gentle contrast and no single feature that jumps out.
Keep away from your face
Colors a Soft Summer should avoid
- Stark White#FFFFFF
- Black#0D0D0D
- Bright Orange#FF7417
- Hot Fuchsia#FF1493
- Kelly Green#1FA84F
- Golden Yellow#F7B500
If you love black or a bright shade, wear it in shoes, bags or trousers, or soften it with a muted layer at the neckline, such as a dusty blue scarf over a black coat. Adding gray or taupe nearby also tones down the contrast.
Finishing touches
Makeup, hair and jewelry
Makeup
- Lips
- Dusty rose, mauve, soft berry and muted raspberry in satin or cream finishes. Bright orange, coral and neon pinks look jarring on you.
- Blush
- Dusty pink, muted mauve or a rosy brown, blended until it barely shows.
- Eyes
- Taupe, pewter, soft plum, smoky gray-brown and slate shadows. Smudge a soft brown-gray or charcoal liner rather than drawing a sharp black line.
Hair color
Ash brown, mushroom brown, soft ash blonde and cool taupe shades suit you, ideally with subtle, low-contrast lowlights. Silver and salt-and-pepper sit beautifully with your palette, while brassy gold, bright copper and blue-black look harsh.
Metals and jewelry
Soft, low-shine metals flatter you: brushed silver, pewter, white gold and muted rose gold. Satin and matte finishes beat high polish, and gray or rose-toned pearls echo your palette.
Put it together
Soft Summer outfit color combinations
Country Club
A dusty blue linen shirt with oyster white wide-leg trousers and soft navy suede loafers looks relaxed and refined.
Quiet Office
A pewter suit or trousers with a mauve silk blouse and rose brown loafers keeps work outfits soft but serious.
Weekend Layers
A gray sage sweater with denim blue jeans and pearl gray sneakers is an easy, blended weekend uniform.
Dinner Date
A raspberry rose wrap dress with a cool taupe coat and soft navy heels adds color while staying muted.
Building a soft summer wardrobe
- Swap black for soft navy, rose brown or pewter, and swap stark white for oyster white or pearl gray.
- Blend instead of contrast: pair colors of similar depth, such as dusty blue with blue spruce and pewter, rather than light against dark.
- Medium and faded blue denim and soft gray washes suit you; skip dark raw indigo and bright white jeans.
- Choose matte and textured fabrics like linen, washed silk, cashmere, suede and brushed cotton. High-shine satin and patent leather can look harsh on muted coloring.
- Pick blended, low-contrast prints such as watercolor florals, heathered knits and soft plaids in blue and mauve. Graphic black-and-white prints and neon fight your softness.
Close neighbors
Soft Summer or a neighboring season?
Soft Summer vs. Soft Autumn
Soft Autumn is just as muted but leans warm, with olive, sage, camel and salmon. If rose, mauve and blue-gray look fresher on you than olive and camel, you're Soft Summer.
Soft Summer vs. Cool Summer
Cool Summer is cooler and a little clearer, with raspberry, slate blue and periwinkle. If those look slightly too crisp and you look best when colors are grayed, you're Soft Summer.
Soft Summer vs. Light Summer
Light Summer is lighter and airier. If pastels wash you out and you need a bit more depth, like blue spruce or soft plum, you're Soft Summer.
Neighboring seasons share one trait and differ in another, which is why they are easy to mix up in a mirror. A drape test settles it: the same face, the same light, and two colors side by side. Avarobe's color report includes one made from your own selfie.
Questions
Soft Summer FAQ
What is the difference between soft summer and soft autumn?
The temperature. Soft Summer tilts cool and Soft Autumn tilts warm, though both are muted, medium in value and gentle in contrast. Soft summers look best in dusty blue, mauve, cool taupe and blue spruce; soft autumns in sage, olive, camel and salmon. Hold a mauve and a camel sweater under your chin: the one that smooths your skin shows your side of the line.
Can a soft summer wear black?
Only at a distance from your face. Black is too dark and sharp for muted, low-contrast coloring, so it tends to gray out your skin and harden your features. Soft navy and rose brown are gentler dark neutrals that still look polished. If you love black, keep it on your lower half and wear mauve or dusty blue near your face.
What colors should a soft summer avoid?
Avoid anything very bright, very warm or starkly contrasting: stark white, black, bright orange, hot fuchsia, kelly green and golden yellow. Nothing in the soft summer color palette is that intense, so these shades can leave your skin looking uneven or sallow. Reach for the softened versions instead: oyster for white, soft navy for black, raspberry rose for fuchsia, blue spruce for kelly green.
What hair color is best for a soft summer?
Soft, ashy, blended shades suit a soft summer best: ash brown, mushroom brown, soft ash blonde and cool taupe. Subtle lowlights add depth without contrast, and gray or silver hair tends to look elegant on you. Skip brassy gold, bright copper and blue-black, which look harsh or overly warm against muted skin.
Is soft summer warm or cool?
Slightly cool. Soft Summer, also called Muted Summer, sits on the cool side of neutral, because its defining trait is softness rather than temperature. That is why many soft summers see a hint of olive in their skin or look fine in a few in-between shades like cool taupe and soft teal. Clearly golden or orange colors, though, still make your skin look sallow.
All 12 seasons
Explore the other seasons
Avarobe
Are you a Soft Summer? Find out from one selfie.
Avarobe reads your undertone, hair and eyes to find your season, then shows your best colors in complete outfits on your own avatar.
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