Color Season
True Summer Color Palette
True Summer is purely cool (blue-based) with a watercolor, muted quality. Your palette stays in the lighter to medium range, avoiding deep Winter values. Like watercolor paints vs acrylics.
The full True Summer palette — 55 colors.
This is your wardrobe palette.
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Colors to use sparingly
These shades tend to fight True Summer coloring — too pure or saturated for a True Summer palette. Wear them only as small accents away from the face, if at all.
True Summer characteristics
The defining quality of True Summer is cool undertone.
- Undertone
- purely cool (blue-based)
- Value
- light to medium, with some medium-dark values (avoiding deep Winter values)
- Chroma
- muted, not bright (higher pigment is okay but should feel soft compared to Winter - like watercolor paints vs acrylics)
- Contrast
- varies - darker True Summers with ash brown hair have more contrast; lighter blonde True Summers have less contrast overall
New to undertone, value, and chroma? Learn the color fundamentals →
Best neutrals for True Summer
- Black: medium-dark blue, deeper green/gray, navy, dark cool brown (can have red but not yellow) - not true black
- White: slightly softened white, muted white (not stark winter white), soft white (feels slightly warmer but lacks the blue undertone of winter white)
The True Summer mood
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True Summer — frequently asked
Is True Summer warm or cool?
True Summer has a purely cool (blue-based) undertone. Its defining quality is cool undertone.
What does the True Summer color palette look like?
True Summer is purely cool (blue-based) with a watercolor, muted quality. Your palette stays in the lighter to medium range, avoiding deep Winter values. Like watercolor paints vs acrylics.
What black and white should a True Summer wear?
For black, choose medium-dark blue, deeper green/gray, navy, dark cool brown (can have red but not yellow) - not true black. For white, choose slightly softened white, muted white (not stark winter white), soft white (feels slightly warmer but lacks the blue undertone of winter white).
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