You are a Soft Summer type if the contours of your hair, skin, and eyes blend softly together, leaving a harmonious, cool overall impression. When you look in the mirror, nothing particularly stands out—no bright eyes, no radiant hair. This may have bothered you at times, but if you wear the right colors, it doesn’t matter at all. If you’re unsure whether you’re a Soft Summer, feel free to book my Online Course for your DIY Seasonal Color Analysis.
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Soft Summer is the most muted color type within the already-muted Summer palette. Its main characteristic is “Muted,” with the secondary characteristic being “Cool,” while the brightness of the colors plays a minor role.
As a result, there are “light” and “dark” Soft Summer types, and determining them can sometimes be challenging. There are color systems in which these types are further divided into medium, light, and dark types. The Soft Summer Light utilizes the Light Summer palette, but the colors are even more muted. The Soft Summer Dark corresponds to the actual Soft Summer palette, and the True or medium type bears much resemblance to the Cool Summer palette—however, the colors are more muted, and the very cool colors are replaced by a few warmer colors from the “normal” Soft Summer.
I differentiate the Soft Summer more clearly from the other two Summer types than is often the case. So, I tend to have a more muted Light Summer rather than having a Soft Summer Light. This approach seems more logical to me. However, over time, I have decided to include color passes for intermediate types in my offering and to consider them in consultations as well. Especially people who seek advice often fall into intermediate types—that also explains why self-determination is relatively difficult for them.
Sometimes determining your color type isn’t straightforward because you may not possess all the “typical characteristics.” That’s perfectly normal. If you are having problems, try my online course “DIY Seasonal Color Analysis“.
Characteristics of the Soft Summer:
If you need help determining your characteristics, click here.
The Soft Summer is a summer slightly inclined towards autumn. The most important criterion is the low contrast between skin, eyes, and hair. You can look neutral. However, a warm undertone should never appear anywhere.
Skin: light to medium beige, can be dark but always ashy, possibly freckles, tans with difficulty
Hair: light to medium ash brown, dark ash blonde, possibly with blonde highlights but without golden highlights
Eyes: gray-blue, green, or hazel eyes, not sparkling
Based on the Soft Summer, there are also some atypical color types and intermediate types. If the characteristics listed above do not apply to you correctly, but you still believe that your main characteristic is “Soft,” continue reading: Atypical Soft Types.
The Colors of the Soft Summer
Colors to avoid for Soft Summer:
You should definitely avoid colors that are both clear and warm. A Soft Summer will never be able to borrow colors from the Clear Spring and Warm Spring palettes. They would swallow up the soft contours of this type and always stand out. The cool and clear colors of the Cool and Clear Winters usually don’t work either. While these are cool in varying degrees, both have clarity of colors as their main or secondary characteristic. Similarly, the colors of Warm Autumn should be avoided; these are not only warm but also less muted due to their proximity to Spring.
Pure black and white unfortunately do not flatter the Soft Summer type at all. Instead, opt for a dark brown-gray and light gray tones.
Color types from which Soft Summer might borrow:
As described above, you can borrow from neighboring types Cool and Light Summer as long as the colors are muted enough and correspond to the respective brightness and temperature. Colors can also be borrowed from the Soft Autumn palette, as long as they are not too warm. Generally, these are the blue tones and the more neutral beige tones of Soft Autumn.
After this wealth of information, you’re probably wondering how you can put it all into practice. Read on here about make-up and clothing for Soft Summer!
Digital Color Palette 12 Seasons
Color Type: Soft Summer
incl. VAT
Soft Summer Make up
The optimal Soft Summer makeup is rather subtle, matching the soft overall appearance of the color type. Avoid black eyeliner and eyeliner, as it could appear too harsh and quickly “painted on.” Shimmer and glitter also look unflattering and unnatural.
*In this post, you’ll also find product suggestions that suit your color type. Please note that there can be no guarantee that all the suggested products will universally flatter you. Often, certain features may be a little “atypical” – for example, you may be clearer or lighter than average. So, choose your favorite products from my suggestions, taking your uniqueness into account. If you’re unsure, it’s better to order sample sizes first or take my online course to find out if you’re atypical.
Foundation & Concealer
Choose foundation and concealer according to your skin tone. Soft Summer types usually have a neutral to cool undertone. A shade of beige often works well.
It’s best to choose a matte shade with neutral or cool undertones.
Finishing Powder
You don’t have to compromise on a perfect finish for your makeup. There are matte finishing powders that complement your appearance wonderfully. Choose a finishing powder that matches the tone of your foundation and avoid shimmer or silk powder.
Bronzer, Contouring & Highlighter
Due to the proximity to autumn, Soft Summer types can tolerate a bit of bronzer and contouring. Make sure both are matte. The bronzer should not be too brown and warm. For contouring, you can choose a matte foundation that is two shades darker than your normal one. Avoid shimmering highlighters.
Product Recommendations for Soft Summer Makeup Base*
*To keep the number of products manageable, I recommend only selected brands that I particularly like. If you prefer other brands, you can surely find corresponding colors with a little research. When you click on the link, you will be directed to my Pinterest board where I have listed the products for you. On the computer, you can hover over your desired product with the mouse and click on the link that appears. On your mobile device or in the app, first click on your desired product, and after it opens, click on “Visit”. This will open the corresponding shop in a new window. If you make a purchase, I will receive a small commission as a thank you for the recommendation. You won’t incur any extra costs, and I can maintain my free offering on color types.
Eyeshadows
Use matte eyeshadows without shimmer and glitter that complement your soft appearance. Clear and very dark colors can make you look quickly overdone. For accents, you can use the colors from the Soft Summer color pass; for base colors, use the colors from the Neutral Colors for Soft Summer color pass. You can find more suggestions on the makeup card for Soft Summer. If you use different eyeshadow colors, blend them well so that no harsh lines are created.
Mascara
Strictly speaking, I should recommend not using black mascara here, as it highlights the lashes very strongly. However, this is usually the purpose of mascara, so feel free to use black if you feel comfortable with it. I would only advise against black for very long, dense lashes. These could look overloaded when tinted black. In that case, opt for a dark gray or a cool chocolate brown instead.
Eyeliner & Kohl
Choose an eyeliner or kohl pencil color that is not much darker than the color of your eyeshadow. This way, you avoid harsh lines. With a special eyeliner brush, you can also use your eyeshadows as eyeliner and blend out harsh lines.
Product Recommendations for Soft Summer Eye Makeup*
Blush
Prefer matte shades in pink and berry tones for your blush and blend it well for a natural look.
Lipstick
Matte pink and lilac tones suit you best. Lipsticks with the addition of “Glossy,” “Pearly,” “Shiny,” or “Brilliant” in the name are less suitable for you, as they bring the lips to the forefront and push the rest of your face into the background.
Product Recommendations for Soft Summer Cheeks and Lips*
Daytime Makeup
The “Natural Makeup Look,” consisting of minimal eye makeup and lipstick similar to your natural lip color, works best for your daytime makeup.
Evening Makeup
Soft smokey eyes with beige or gray tones and darker berry tones for the lips create a dramatic look for the Soft Summer type.
You can learn how to put together clothing, accessories, and jewelry suitable for your color type below.
Soft Summer Clothing and Accessories
The main features of the Soft Summer type are its soft overall impression and low contrasts. Color selection and combination of Soft Summer clothing and accessories should reflect and complement these main features so that the Soft Summer type looks vibrant.
This works best with monochromatic color combinations. Monochrome colors are colors of the same hue in different shades, also called tone-on-tone. Other color types may look pale and washed out with this combination, but the Soft types are flattered by the tone-on-tone combo.
Also advantageous for the Soft Summer type is combining analogous colors. These are hues that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel.
Another harmonious option would be to combine a light color from your “Neutral Colors” with a slightly darker one from your accent colors. Both you can find in your Digital Color Palette.
Color Combinations Soft Summers Should Avoid
All color combinations that have high contrasts like complementary colors (opposite on the color wheel), triadic, tetradic, or square color systems are not suitable. The latter consist of three or four colors evenly distributed on the color circle.
I have described which colors you should generally avoid further up.
Patterns and Prints for Soft Summer Clothing
For patterns and prints in Soft Summer clothing, the same applies as for color combinations. Soft patterns consisting exclusively of Soft Summer colors are best. If only a very small part of the pattern consists of a color from a disharmonious color palette, the pattern will surely flatter you as well.
Soft patterns are gentle and delicate patterns that look like they were painted with watercolors. Floral prints and natural elements such as birds, vines, and feathers arranged in small and loose arrangements are excellent choices.
Avoid geometric and large patterns with high contrasts and harsh lines.
You can find examples of patterns and prints in your Digital Color Palette.
Appropriate Clothing
You’re best off choosing appropriate clothing with the help of a color palette. You always have your Digital Color Palette with you. Simply place it on the garment you’ve chosen and see if the colors harmonize. At first, this may be a bit difficult for you, but over time, you’ll develop a good eye for which colors match and which don’t.
For color combinations and matching patterns, my Digital Color Palette also help you further. If you want regular suggestions for clothing that suits your color type, feel free to follow me on Instagram.
Jewelry for the Soft Summer Type
Soft Summer types usually have many neutral undertones, so both silver and gold jewelry suit you. However, the undertones are generally neutral-cool, so avoid warm, deep gold tones that tend towards orange. White gold and rose gold with a high pink content are more suitable.
Whether you choose silver or gold jewelry: it should always be matte.
If you opt for pearls, make sure they are not too white. Semi-precious stones such as fluorite, charoite, and jade are more suitable. Again, pay attention to matte stones and soft combinations.
If you want to set up your wardrobe sustainably and always find something to wear, my article on the capsule wardrobe or minimalist wardrobe will help you.