Summer Season
Light Summer
Airy, delicate, and cool. Very low contrast with soft pastels and a gentle, ethereal quality.
- Undertone
- cool & Light
- Contrast
- Low
- Best metals
- silver, white gold
Palette Comparison
Light Summer vs Cool Summer Color Palette
Light Summer and Cool Summer are both Summer types, so they share an undertone and differ in how light and how saturated their best colors are. Light Summer is cool and light, low contrast, while Cool Summer is cool and cool, medium contrast. Here are both palettes side by side, with the eye, skin, and hair traits behind them.
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
The Light Summer and Cool Summer 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.
Light Summer colors
Light Summer colors are cool, light, and slightly softened. They flatter by staying close to your own gentle contrast rather than fighting it.
Soft Rose
Your signature shade
Powder Blue
Calm and airy
Lavender
Soft and dreamy
Pale Aqua
Cool and fresh
Soft Mint
Gentle cool green
Blush Pink
Delicate and cool
Cool Butter
Your softest yellow
Sky Grey-Blue
Everyday cool neutral
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
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
Light Summer
Blue, green, pale blue-grey, or soft lavender-grey, usually with a hazy, blended edge to the iris rather than a sharp ring.
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.
Skin
Light Summer
Fair with delicate cool undertones and often a slight pink tinge. Light Summer skin flushes rather than tans and burns easily in strong sun.
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.
Hair
Light Summer
Light ash blonde, strawberry blonde with a cool cast, or medium ash brown. It usually looks slightly cool or smoky rather than golden in daylight.
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.
Not sure which season you are? Take the quiz
One photo tells you whether you are a Light Summer, a Cool Summer, or one of the other ten types, with your full palette and a preview on your own face.
Get my color analysisLight Summer vs Cool Summer Celebrities
Style icons for each palette. Comparing two faces you already know is often quicker than comparing swatches.
Reese Witherspoon
Light Summer
Taylor Swift
Light Summer
Gwyneth Paltrow
Light Summer
Kristen Bell
Light Summer
Jacqueline Kennedy
Cool Summer
Dakota Fanning
Cool Summer
Carey Mulligan
Cool Summer
Emily Blunt
Cool Summer
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the real difference between Light Summer and Cool Summer?
Not undertone: both palettes are cool, so warm-versus-cool will not settle it. What differs is weight. Light Summer is the light type at low contrast, and Cool Summer is the cool one at medium contrast. Hold soft rose next to raspberry by your face: one will let your features read clearly, and the other will either flatten them or overpower them.
Are Light Summer and Cool Summer the same season?
No. They are two types inside the same Summer family, which is why they share cool undertones and still call for different colors. Light Summer is the light version and Cool Summer is the cool one, so their palettes sit at different levels of lightness and saturation. Being told you are "a Summer" is only half an answer, and the half that decides your best shades is the type.
Which key colors define Light Summer vs Cool Summer?
Light Summer is defined by soft rose, powder blue, lavender and pale aqua. Light Summer colors are cool, light, and slightly softened. They flatter by staying close to your own gentle contrast rather than fighting it. 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. Metals will not help you choose between these two, since both want silver or white gold.
Am I Light Summer or Cool Summer? 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: Light Summer carries low contrast between hair, skin and eyes where Cool Summer carries medium, so judge how much contrast your own bare-faced photo shows. Metals will not break the tie here, since both types want silver or white gold. That leaves the fabric test as the deciding one, which is exactly why this pair is worth checking against a photo rather than a mirror.
Who are some celebrity examples of Light Summer and Cool Summer?
For Light Summer, look at Reese Witherspoon, Taylor Swift, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kristen Bell. For Cool Summer, look at Jacqueline Kennedy, Dakota Fanning, Carey Mulligan and Emily Blunt. 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 Light Summer vs Cool Summer 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 Summer colors on a Light Summer simply drain the life out of the face, and Light Summer colors on a Cool Summer 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. Jewelry is the one thing you can buy safely either way, since both types want silver or white gold.
Can Light Summer and Cool Summer 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: soft rose and powder blue for Light Summer, raspberry and deep teal for Cool Summer. 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 soft rose against raspberry 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. Do it twice on different days, since both types want the same metals and jewelry cannot act as your second opinion here. Two readings that agree are 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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