True Summer vs Soft Summer
Both are cool, calm Summers. True Summer is cool first and can wear fairly clear color; Soft Summer is soft first and wants its color smoky.
True Summer · Cool first, then soft
Soft Summer · Soft (muted) first, then cool
Top band: each season's 16 best colors. Lower band: its 6 neutrals.
What they share, and why they get mixed up
True Summer and Soft Summer live side by side in the cool, medium-depth part of the color wheel. Both look calm and elegant in blue-based color, both find orange and golden yellow difficult, and both prefer softened neutrals to stark black. Blue-greys, spruce-like greens and plum-roses appear on both palettes, so a wardrobe built for one rarely looks wrong on the other.
The difference is how much grey each needs. True Summer is the coolest Summer and wears raspberry, blueberry and periwinkle at a moderate, fairly clear strength. Soft Summer is the most muted Summer and wants those same colors smoked down: dusty rose instead of raspberry, denim instead of blueberry. Because softness and coolness are both quiet qualities, they are easy to mistake for each other, and many people decide they are soft when what they really are is cool.
The deciding differences
| True Summer | Soft Summer | |
|---|---|---|
| Warmth | Very cool, blue-based | Gently cool, can borrow a hint of warmth |
| Depth | Medium | Medium |
| Clarity | Moderately soft; colors can be fairly clear | Very soft; colors need visible grey |
| Neutrals | Pewter, blue grey, charcoal blue, summer navy | Mushroom, taupe grey, charcoal, greyed navy |
| Pinks | Raspberry, summer rose, sweet pea | Dusty rose, mauve, smoked raspberry |
Compare a clear raspberry with a dusty rose of similar depth. On a True Summer the raspberry makes the face look rosy and alive, and the dusty rose looks a touch dull. On a Soft Summer the raspberry seems to sit on top of the face, a little too sharp, and the dusty rose melts in. Blueberry against denim is a good second check.
How to tell at home
- Daylight, a mirror and no strong makeup. Cover your hair with a light grey towel so it doesn't tip the balance.
- Hold a clear raspberry or cool pink under your chin, then a dusty rose or mauve.
- Repeat with periwinkle or blueberry against denim or slate blue.
- Repeat with a cool blue-grey against a taupe-grey or mushroom.
- If the clearer item wins each time, True Summer is likely. If the smoky item makes your skin look smoother each time, Soft Summer is likely. A mix suggests you sit near the boundary.
Still split? That's common.
Lots of people find these two in a near tie, because both are quiet, cool and medium in depth. The free quiz measures cool against warm and clear against soft separately with side-by-side drapes on your own face, then shows your top two seasons with a confidence level.
Take the free quizQuestions
Is Soft Summer a warm season?
No, it is still cool overall. It sits closer to neutral than True Summer does, which is why it can borrow a few softened, slightly warmer shades such as cocoa rose.
Which of the two wears navy better?
Both wear navy well. True Summer suits a clearer summer navy; Soft Summer suits a greyed navy.