True Summer vs Soft Summer

Soul of Colour
Dec 22, 2025
6 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

So, you’re pretty sure you’re a Summer. You know cool colors suit you best, overly warm or bright colours drain you, and you shine in softer, more muted shades. But now you’re stuck on the finer details: are you a Soft Summer or a True Summer? This is one of the most common sticking points in seasonal colour analysis, and the difference can feel subtle at first. Let’s clear it up.

Both Soft Summer and True Summer belong to the Summer family. That means they are cool, soft, and muted overall. Neither season does well with brightness, warmth, or high contrast. However, despite these similarities, they are not interchangeable.

The key difference lies in the primary characteristic.

For Soft Summer, the primary characteristic is softness (mutedness)
For True Summer, the primary characteristic is coolness

If we go back to the colour wheel, the distinction becomes clearer:

Soft Summer: soft, cool, medium-light
True Summer: cool, soft, medium-light

True Summer sits right at the centre of the Summer season and is fully cool. Soft Summer, on the other hand, is pulled toward Autumn. It’s still cool, but less so, and noticeably softer and more blended.

True Summer colours feel crisp in a gentle way, like a cool, misty day with clear air. Soft Summer colours feel hazier and more diffused, like early evening light or a soft overcast sky.

So while both palettes are understated and elegant, Soft Summer is hazier and more blended, whereas True Summer is cooler and cleaner.

True Summer colours are cool and softly desaturated, but they retain a sense of clarity. All colours have a grey or blue base, which keeps them calm and refined.

Soft Summer colours are also muted, but more blended and slightly warmer by comparison. There’s more grey mixed in, which lowers contrast and creates a gentle, smoky effect. These colours feel quieter and more neutral overall.

How to Determine If You’re a True Summer vs Soft Summer

To tell these two apart, focus on coolness vs softness rather than lightness.

True Summer is cool first, soft second
Soft Summer is soft first, cool second

1. Find Your Primary Characteristic

This can be difficult to determine, since as a Summer you share all characteristics, regardless of your home season. The trick is finding out whether you are primarily light or primarily cool. Which one is your dominant characteristic?

What stands out more about your appearance: your cool, crisp undertone, or how blended and low-contrast your features are?
Do you look better in colours that feel distinctly cool, or in colours that feel neutral, smoky, and softened?
Do colors like dusty rose, taupe, dusty blue, muted green feel effortless on you? Or do you look better in rose, slate blue, soft navy, cool mauve? Which one feels more harmonious?
Does your appearance have some contrast to it with darker hair and lighter skin (True Summer), or do your features tend to blend more together with your hair color being around the same depth as your skin color (Soft Summer)?
When a colour is too cool, do you look pale and drained, or perfectly balanced? If overly cool colours start to look stark or draining, that’s a big clue you’re leaning Soft Summer.

2. Eye and Hair Color:

True Summer: True Summers typically have blue, grey, or soft green eyes. Their hair is often an ashy medium brown, cool brown, or light brown. There is usually a gentle contrast in their appearance, with darker hair and lighter skin and eyes. The contrast is not enough to make them a Winter but they do have the most contrast out of the Summer seasons.
Soft Summer: Soft Summers are more likely to have gray, blue-gray, green-gray eyes or cool hazel eyes. Their hair will typically have a cooler ashier quality to it instead of a golden glow. Colors like mushroom brown, dirty blonde, dark ash blonde, light ash brown, medium ash brown, are common. The overall features are soft and dusty.

3. The Color Test:

Another great way to see which season suits you best is to pick up fabrics from the True Summer and Soft Summer palettes and compare them to each other. Look at the effect the color has on your skin tone and eyes.

Cool Rose vs. Muted Mauve: Which one makes your complexion look more vibrant?
Cool Blue vs Dusty Teal: Which one brightens your eyes and skin?
Soft Navy vs Taupe: Which one makes you look more radiant?

This should give you some indication of which season might be your home season and which colours suit you best. Experiment a little with the different colours and watch how you feel and how other people react - some hints that you are on the right track are:

people asking you if you changed something about your appearance (even if you haven’t)
feeling more refreshed, awake, confident and radiant
not needing to wear as much make-up

4. Contrast Check

True Summer can handle slightly more contrast, for example, darker hair with lighter skin.

Soft Summer struggles with contrast. If bold colour differences overpower you and everything needs to be toned down to feel harmonious, that’s a strong Soft Summer indicator.

5. Comparing Sister Seasons

Finally, the method that might give you the most reliable answer - looking at the sister seasons. This should give you a pretty clear answer since one of them will usually be a complete no-go.

All palettes in the 12-season color analysis system have a sister season which shares the primary characteristic. You should be able to borrow some colors from your sister season and feel comfortable in that palette as well.

For True Summer, the sister season is True Winter. For Soft Summer, it's Soft Autumn.

Could you pull off wearing soft camel, muted olive, warm taupe? Do you still look good in soft gold jewellery if needed? If so, you might be a SoftSummer.
Could you wear more vivid blues, reds, greens and purples? Do you look good with more contrast in your appearance? If so, you might lean more towards True Summer.

True Summer: Cool and Soft Palette

The True Summer palette is filled with cool, delicate, feminine and soft colours that are gentle and harmonious. These colours have a subtle, understated beauty that’s perfect for those who prefer a more natural, elegant look. Key colours include:

Soft Blue: A light, cool dusty blue with a soft, calming quality.
Rose Pink: A gentle, cool pink that’s soft and romantic.
Lavender: A cool, soft purple with a delicate, soothing feel.
Cool Gray: A soft, cool grey that’s neutral and elegant.
Soft Navy: A deep, cool blue that’s more muted and less intense than True Winter’s version.

Check out the best and worst colors and color combinations for True Summers in this in-depth color palette guide.

TRUE SUMMER FULL PALETTE

Wardrobe Staples: Choose soft, cool colours like dusty blue, rose pink, soft teal and lavender. Think light, flowy fabrics that create a calm, harmonious look.
Makeup: Opt for soft, cool tones in your makeup—think soft pink blushes, cool mauves, and light grey eyeshadows. Avoid anything too dark, intense, contrasting or warm.
Hair Color: Embrace cool, soft hair colours, such as ash blonde, light brown, or cool grey. Keep your hair colour light and avoid overly warm tones.

Soft Summer: Muted and Cool Season

The Soft Summer color palette is characterized by a wide range of cool, muted tones. Think of soft blues, grays, muted pinks, and gentle purples. The colors have a calm, serene quality to them. Some key colors include:

Dusty Rose: A muted pink with a cool, almost blue undertone.
Cool Lavender: A soft, light purple that leans toward blue rather than red.
Soft Blue-Gray: A muted blue with grayish tones that cool it down further.
Muted Teal: A gentle teal that has been softened with a hint of gray.
Light Periwinkle: A cool blue with a hint of purple, soft and delicate.

Check out the best and worst colors and color combos for Soft Summers in this in-depth color palette guide.

SOFT SUMMER FULL PALETTE

Wardrobe Staples: Go for soft blues, cool grays, muted purples, delicate pinks and mauves. Think of airy fabrics and soft knits in these shades.
Makeup: Opt for cool-toned makeup like rosy pinks, soft mauves, and cool browns. Avoid overly warm or orange-based products.
Hair Color: Stick to cool-toned highlights, like ashy blonde, dark blonde or soft, cool browns. Avoid too much warmth in your hair color.

SOUL OF COLOR