12 seasons colour analysis: Soft Summer comprehensive guide

Welcome to the Soft Summer Season!

Now that you've discovered your unique color palette, this guide will take you on a deep dive into everything that makes this season shine. From your best colors and those you’ll want to skip, to ideal prints, patterns, and makeup choices—we’ve got it all covered to help you get the most out of your season.

If you are one step ahead and want to always have your best colours with you (and stop spending money on garments that don't flatter your natural beauty), make sure to check our digital and physical colour swatches. Think of this as your ultimate style companion!

Intro

Soft Summer has a captivating, smoky mystery, like a memory captured in an old, faded postcard. There's something timeless and understated about this palette—colours that evoke nostalgia and gentleness.

It’s as if each shade has been softened by the touch of time, blurring the lines between cool and warm, and creating a harmonious, balanced feel that is both unique and refined.

These are colours that whisper rather than shout, reminiscent of vintage hues found in nature. Imagine the delicate, muted tones of duck egg blue, soft sage green, and bluestone gray. Picture the wild moors blanketed in heather and the hazy silhouettes of distant mountains.

Together, these tones create a palette that feels serene and quietly sophisticated—perfect for those who want to embrace their understated elegance.

Colour Dimensions

On the three dimensions of colour, Soft Summer has the following settings:

Hue

Soft summer colours are neutral-cool. That means the colours lean towards the cool end of the scale but are not extremely cool.

Chroma

This is the season primary apect. The colours are very low in chroma and sit at the muted end of the scale. Soft Summer has the least tolerance for brightness.

Value

The soft summer colour palette is medium in value, meaning neither light nor dark colours dominate it. And while there are lighter and darker colours, most of the colours fall somewhere in the middle of the value scale.

Your beauty and contrast

If you are a soft summer, your primary colour aspect is the softness of your features (low chroma). Your colouring is muted – meaning your features blend rather than contrast each other.

Your secondary colour aspect is your neutral-cool undertone (hue), meaning blue based colours suit you better than yellow based colours.

Overall, the level of contrast between your features is medium to low.

The contrast is important when we talk about hair colour, makeup, prints and patterns, and the rule never changes: if you want a harmonious look, repeat your natural contrast!

Soft summer colour palette

The soft summer colour palette combines softness with coolness.

The palette has the gentleness and delicacy typical of the Summer family. The colours are mid-range, meaning you don’t go all the way to black nor all the way to pure white. Most of the colours are greys and blue-based colours with a heavy focus on pinks, purples, blues and greens.

Soft Summer sits on the border to Autumn. Adding Autumn to Summer makes the Soft Summer palette even more faded. But Autumn also brings warmth, which adds a brownish element to the colours. Autumn also adds depth, and for that reason, Soft Summer colours are the darkest of the Summer family.

Due to the softness of your natural colouring, true black is too bright and harsh. In its place, you have dark greys, blues and browns, which you can use as dark neutrals.

True white also does not go well with your appearance because it’s brightness clash with your natural softness. Instead, you have light greys, sand tones, and muted browns.

Pinkish nude tones tend to work a lot better for you, as they bring the softness that matches your beauty. You can use them as your light neutrals.

What if I still want to wear white or black?

No one is going to stop you. Remember, this is a collection of the best colours, what works best for you, but you also get to decide how and when to apply that information.

Colours to avoid

Since Soft Summer’s colour aspects are softness and coolness, your worst colours are the opposite of that: bright and warm.

Bright colours, such as dark purple, intense pinks and blues, black and white will overpower your soft appearance and you better avoid.

Warm colours, such as earthy colours with yellow undertones will clash with your natural coolness.

If you want to learn how to use the colours that are not in your palette, make sure to read this post.

Colour Combinations

One of my favourite things about colour analysis is how effortlessly it makes mixing and matching. When you have a colour-coordinated wardrobe based on your ideal shades, every piece works in harmony with the others. It’s like having a personal style formula – no more second-guessing or wondering if that new top will go with your favourite trousers!

Each item complements the next, making it easy to create fresh, stylish outfits without the stress. With your personalised palette as your guide, your wardrobe becomes a curated collection where everything flows together beautifully.

How to choose the right combo:

• For a Clean, Sophisticated Look: Monochrome is your go-to.

  
  

• For a Harmonious, Balanced Outfit: Analogous combos.

  
  

• For Bold Outfits: Complementary combinations are perfect to create that impactful look.

Patterns and Prints

Since your natural colouring has medium to low contrast, opt for patterns that reflect this natural contrast level.

Below you can find an example of low, medium and high contrast respectively.

The best prints will always be the ones that contain Soft Summer colours only. But what if most of the colours in a pattern are soft summer, but there’s one that clearly isn’t? Does it matter?

1. Try checking it against your face. If the colours are right, you’ll see similar effects to what you saw during your colour analysis (maybe your skin is brighter, your eyes pop, etc).

2. As a rule of thumb, an off colour is less likely to ruin a print if it’s:

• a neutral;

• from a nearby tone, like your sister palettes

• a smaller element in the print

See below some perfect prints if you are a soft summer:

Are you ready to discover your best hair colours, accessories and make-up? Click here to access our exclusive guide!

Now, let's get personal, shall we?

Firstly, getting acquainted with your new palette takes time. Many people get surprised with their results, so make sure to give it some time to sink in and to explore your new palette.

Secondly, you absolutely don’t need to discard everything that is out of your season or buy a whole new wardrobe. Instead, start by replacing one clothing piece you wear regularly with a similar piece in your palette. And remember, your palette has a range of colours, so if you don’t like pinks don’t start with pinks – let's keep it simple.

Over time you will develop a new baseline and begin to see how the new colours can work for you and how versatile and easy to mix & match your wardrobe is.

Embracing your palette is not just about following rules, but celebrating your unique self. If you have any questions or need help with anything—whether it's how to use your swatch or styling tips—please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m always here to support you along the way!

Yours in style,