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Soft Summer vs Soft Autumn: how to tell them apart

Both are muted, medium and low in contrast: the undertone under the softness decides which one you are.

Find what fits me best

Soft Summer and Soft Autumn side by side

Soft Summer

Its best colors

  • dusty rose #C4959A
  • soft blue-grey #7F96AB
  • sage #7FA39A
  • mauve #A1838F
  • slate navy #4A5A72
  • rose brown #8E7470

Its neutrals

  • soft white #F2F2EF
  • soft grey #9FA4A9
  • greyed taupe #9C918F
  • soft charcoal #585C62
The full Soft Summer palette →

Soft Autumn

Its best colors

  • camel #C19A6B
  • muted mustard #B79F5E
  • dusty peach #E5B9A3
  • khaki olive #8F8B5C
  • warm taupe #A08C78
  • soft rust #B5714B

Its neutrals

  • ivory #F4EBD9
  • oyster #DDD3C4
  • khaki #B3A47C
  • coffee brown #6F5847
The full Soft Autumn palette →

The difference test

Undertone

Soft Autumn leans warmer

In daylight, hold dusty rose under your chin, then dusty peach. If the rose evens out redness and the peach turns you yellow, you lean Soft Summer; if the peach brings color to your cheeks and the rose looks chalky, Soft Autumn.

Depth

Similar depth

Both sit at a medium depth: slate navy and soft charcoal on one side, coffee brown and khaki olive on the other, none of them as pale as a pastel or as dark as black. Depth will not decide this pair.

Chroma

Similar clarity

Both are soft, so clear colors look loud on either. Hold emerald green next to sage or khaki olive: if the emerald arrives before your face does and the greyed green settles in, you are soft, and this pair is the right question.

Contrast

Similar contrast

Both are low in contrast, with hair, eyes and skin close together in value. Black and pure white look harsh on either; soft charcoal or coffee brown with soft white or ivory keeps the gap as gentle as the coloring.

  1. 1

Step 1 / 1

Take a selfie in daylight

Face a window, without makeup if you can, hair as it naturally falls. Daylight and no filter keep your real skin tone — colored lamps and beauty filters change the result.

🙂

Your selfie is used for your reading and saved in your private Color Suite only if you go on to a try-on. Never shared, never used for training.

Soft Summer and Soft Autumn are the two softest seasons, and they sit right next to each other. In both, hair, eyes and skin blend into one another: ash, mousy or dark blond hair, eyes in a muted grey-green or hazel, a medium overall depth, nothing stark. Clear, pure colors overpower both.

The undertone is what separates them. Soft Summer leans cool: its skin reads neutral-cool, and greyed colors with a hint of blue or pink, such as dusty rose, soft blue-grey and sage, make it look even. Soft Autumn leans warm: its skin reads neutral-warm, and the same softness with a little gold in it, such as camel, dusty peach and muted mustard, makes it glow.

At stake are your pinks, your yellows and your neutrals. A Soft Summer in camel and muted mustard tends to look sallow; a Soft Autumn in mauve and soft blue-grey tends to look grey and tired.

Colors that work for both

A few colors sit on the line between the two palettes: muted enough for either, and neither cool nor warm enough to tip the balance. Taupe is the clearest case. Soft Summer's greyed taupe and Soft Autumn's warm taupe are close cousins, and a taupe halfway between usually suits both. Rose brown, from the Soft Summer palette, has enough warmth in its brown to flatter many Soft Autumns too, and a muted grey-green between sage and khaki olive does the same for greens.

They are safe buys for a coat or a scarf while you are unsure, and rose gold is the metal both share.

Moving a wardrobe from one season to the other

If you have been dressing as the wrong one, most pieces translate color for color. Soft Summer's dusty rose becomes dusty peach, mauve becomes soft rust, slate navy gives way to coffee brown as the dark basic, and soft white to ivory or oyster. Soft blue-grey has no twin in the Soft Autumn palette; khaki olive takes over its job as the quiet everyday color.

Going from Soft Autumn to Soft Summer, camel becomes greyed taupe, khaki olive becomes sage, soft rust becomes rose brown or mauve, and coffee brown becomes soft charcoal. Muted mustard has no summer counterpart, so let it go rather than hunting for a cooler yellow.

How to tell if you are a Soft Summer or a Soft Autumn

  1. 1

    Gather a rosy and a peachy fabric

    A dusty rose top and a dusty peach scarf, or anything close: same softness, same depth, opposite undertone.

  2. 2

    Swap them under your chin in daylight

    Stand at a window with a bare face and watch your skin rather than the fabric. The right one smooths redness and shadows; the wrong one turns you grey (rose on an autumn) or yellow (peach on a summer).

  3. 3

    Repeat with brushed silver and gold

    Hold each against your jaw. Brushed silver or pewter favoring you points to Soft Summer, brushed gold or bronze to Soft Autumn.

  4. 4

    Get your free season reading

    Take one selfie in the same daylight, without a filter, and tap "Find what fits me best". You get your season out of 12, the reason in one sentence, and your colors.

FAQ

Can a Soft Summer wear Soft Autumn colors?

Some of them. Taupe, rose brown and the greyed greens work for both. The golden ones, camel, muted mustard and soft rust, usually make a Soft Summer look sallow because they add yellow the skin does not have. Wear them away from the face, in trousers, bags or shoes.

Can you be between Soft Summer and Soft Autumn?

You can sit close to the line, with skin that reads almost neutral. You still lean one way, and that lean decides which colors belong nearest your face. If both sets of drapes look fine, build on the shared colors and pick the side that wins when you compare the two directly.

What hair colors suit Soft Summer vs Soft Autumn?

Soft Summer suits ash and mushroom shades: ash blond, ash brown, beige highlights with no gold in them. Soft Autumn suits warm, muted shades: honey or golden brown, dark blond, soft copper lowlights. Platinum, jet black and vivid red overpower both.

Should a Soft Summer or Soft Autumn wear black or white?

Neither suits black or pure white next to the face. Soft Summer replaces black with soft charcoal or slate navy, and white with soft white. Soft Autumn uses coffee brown for its dark basics and ivory or oyster instead of white.

What makeup suits Soft Summer vs Soft Autumn?

Both want sheer, matte or satin textures rather than glossy, bright ones. Soft Summer looks best in rose and mauve lips with taupe or grey-brown eyes. Soft Autumn suits peach, warm nude and brick-brown lips, with bronze or olive eyeshadow.

Why did a color test say Soft Autumn when I think I am Soft Summer?

Warm light is the usual culprit: a lamp or a sunset tints the skin golden and pushes a reading toward autumn. Dyed warm hair, bronzer and beauty filters do the same. Repeat the drape test, or a photo reading, in daylight from a window and compare.