Summer Season
Cool Summer
Elegant, refined, and cool. Medium contrast with clearer blues, teals, and cool berry tones.
- Undertone
- cool & Cool
- Contrast
- Medium
- Best metals
- silver, white gold
Palette Comparison
Cool Summer vs Soft Autumn Color Palette
Cool Summer is a cool palette and Soft Autumn is a warm one, so the two pull your complexion in opposite directions. Cool Summer is cool and cool, medium contrast, while Soft Autumn is warm and soft, low contrast. Here are both palettes side by side, with the eye, skin, and hair traits behind them.
Autumn Season
Soft Autumn
Gentle, mellow, and warm. Low contrast with blended earth tones and a soft golden glow.
- Undertone
- warm & Soft
- Contrast
- Low
- Best metals
- gold, rose gold
The Cool Summer and Soft 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.
Cool Summer colors
Cool Summer colors are blue-based and gently softened. They have real presence without the hard edge of a Winter palette.
Raspberry
Your signature shade
Deep Teal
Cool and grounded
Cool Cerulean
Clear and calm
Orchid
Rich cool pink
Cool Navy
Your best dark
Soft Jade
Gentle cool green
Dusty Lilac
Soft and refined
Dove Grey
Everyday cool neutral
Soft Autumn colors
Soft Autumn colors are warm but softened, as though a little grey has been stirred into every shade. Nothing in your palette is fully saturated.
Soft Terracotta
Your signature shade
Moss Green
Earthy and grounded
Camel
Everyday warm neutral
Dusty Rosewood
Soft warm berry
Muted Jade
Your cool accent
Warm Blush
Gentle and mellow
Dusty Blue
Softened and calm
Warm Oatmeal
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
Cool Summer
Cool blue, soft grey-blue, or cool grey-green. The iris often has a slightly clouded quality with a soft outer ring rather than a defined one.
Soft Autumn
Soft hazel, warm green, or muted amber-brown. Soft Autumn eyes often shift between green and brown depending on the light, with a hazy outer edge.
Skin
Cool Summer
Medium to deep with clear cool undertones. Cool Summer skin has a rosy or blue-toned cast and rarely takes on a golden colour in the sun.
Soft Autumn
Ivory, olive, or medium brown with soft golden-warm undertones. The warmth is understated rather than obviously bronzed.
Hair
Cool Summer
Medium to dark ash brown. Cool Summer hair keeps its ashy quality even when it lightens, and rarely develops golden or red highlights.
Soft Autumn
Light golden brown, warm blonde, or soft auburn. The warmth is present but muted, rarely as vivid as a Warm Autumn’s copper.
Not sure which season you are? Take the quiz
One photo tells you whether you are a Cool Summer, a Soft Autumn, or one of the other ten types, with your full palette and a preview on your own face.
Get my color analysisCool Summer vs Soft Autumn Celebrities
Style icons for each palette. Comparing two faces you already know is often quicker than comparing swatches.
Jacqueline Kennedy
Cool Summer
Dakota Fanning
Cool Summer
Carey Mulligan
Cool Summer
Emily Blunt
Cool Summer
Drew Barrymore
Soft Autumn
Gisele Bündchen
Soft Autumn
Sienna Miller
Soft Autumn
Cindy Crawford
Soft Autumn
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the real difference between Cool Summer and Soft Autumn?
Undertone. Cool Summer is cool, built around shades like raspberry, deep teal and cool cerulean, while Soft Autumn is warm, built around soft terracotta, moss green and camel. Depth differs too, Cool Summer sitting at medium contrast against Soft Autumn at low, 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 Cool Summer and Soft Autumn the same season?
No. Cool Summer belongs to Summer and Soft 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 Cool Summer vs Soft Autumn?
Cool Summer is defined by raspberry, deep teal, cool cerulean and orchid. Cool Summer colors are blue-based and gently softened. They have real presence without the hard edge of a Winter palette. Soft Autumn is defined by soft terracotta, moss green, camel and dusty rosewood. Soft Autumn colors are warm but softened, as though a little grey has been stirred into every shade. Nothing in your palette is fully saturated. Metals are the quickest tell of all: Cool Summer wants silver or white gold, and Soft Autumn wants gold or rose gold.
Am I Cool Summer or Soft Autumn? How can I tell the difference?
Temperature first: hold raspberry and soft terracotta fabric under your chin in daylight and watch which one evens out your skin instead of adding shadow. Then depth: Cool Summer carries medium contrast between hair, skin and eyes where Soft Autumn carries low, so judge how much contrast your own bare-faced photo shows. Then metals: Cool Summer suits silver or white gold and Soft Autumn suits gold or rose gold. When two of the three agree, that is your answer.
Who are some celebrity examples of Cool Summer and Soft Autumn?
For Cool Summer, look at Jacqueline Kennedy, Dakota Fanning, Carey Mulligan and Emily Blunt. For Soft Autumn, look at Drew Barrymore, Gisele Bündchen, Sienna Miller and Cindy Crawford. 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 Cool Summer vs Soft Autumn right matter?
Because the two palettes fail in opposite directions, and the failure is quiet rather than obvious. Wearing Soft Autumn colors as a Cool 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: Cool Summer suits silver or white gold and Soft Autumn suits gold or rose gold, so jewelry bought for the wrong season quietly undercuts the rest.
Can Cool Summer and Soft 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: raspberry and deep teal for Cool Summer, soft terracotta and moss green for Soft 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 raspberry against soft terracotta 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 white 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.
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
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