Cool Summer vs Cool Winter

The test that settles it

Which suits you more, gentle slate blue or a sharp black and white outfit?

If slate blue and soft berry melt into your look while a stark black and white pairing feels severe, that's Cool Summer. If true black and crisp white give your features definition while slate blue reads as flat and dusty, that's Cool Winter.

What sets them apart?

Both seasons are cool, and both are medium in depth, so the difference is clarity: whether soft, muted colors or bright, crisp ones look better near your face. You may also see them called True Summer and True Winter.

Try your own daylight test at home

A phone camera and artificial lighting both distort how skin really looks, so grab a mirror and some daylight instead.

1. Find a window with good natural light and sit facing it.
2. Take off your makeup so nothing covers your skin.
3. Place a slate blue or dusty rose top just beneath your chin, then study your skin.
4. Change into pure black and stark white. Watch which one smooths your skin out and which one pulls it gray.

Signs you're Cool Summer

• Cool rose pink perks up your face and fades dark circles fast.
• Your eyes look clearer beside dusty blue or slate grey than they do beside navy.
• True black feels heavy and leaves your face drained.
• Silver sits quietly against your skin, while gold looks brassy and sits apart from it.
• Orange and warm yellow leave your skin sallow and worn out.

How to spot Cool Winter

• Cobalt blue and fuchsia bring your eyes into focus right away.
• Black worn close to your face works without much makeup at all.
• Pure white lights up your face, while cream reads as dingy.
• Bright silver looks fresh next to your skin, while gold fights it.
• Orange and warm peach fabrics turn your skin sallow and worn out.

What do both seasons share?

Each of these seasons is fully cool, no warmth anywhere, and silver jewelry suits both. Orange, bright peach, bright copper and moss flatter neither one.

Still between the two?

Put the gentle and the strong versions side by side. Hold up soft raspberry or dusty rose, then compare it with fuchsia or true red at their boldest. If the strong shades feel like too much and the soft ones look easier on you, lean Cool Summer. If the strong shades make your features look sharper and the soft ones look a bit flat, lean Cool Winter.

A plain black top is a good next check. If black near your face looks heavy and drains your color, that points to Cool Summer. If black alone makes your skin look even and awake, Cool Winter is your better bet.

Our home quiz is another option. It walks you through three questions: which metal suits you better, whether your features run light, medium or deep, and whether bright or soft colors flatter the skin near your face. From your answers it names one of the 12 seasons. Treat a quiz as a first step, since daylight mirror checks and an in-person draping session can both confirm what it suggests.