Light Summer celebrities

What these famous faces share

Of all the Summer seasons, Light Summer is the lightest. It fits fair, quiet coloring that strong dark tones easily dominate. The famous faces usually placed here tend to share a few traits.

Their skin is typically fair with a cool pink or rosy note. People often mention Cate Blanchett's cool ivory complexion, and Diane Kruger's fair rosy one. That coolness comes from undertone, the subtle shade beneath the skin's surface that stays put whether you're pale or tanned.

Their hair is generally light ash blonde, a blonde with little or no warm gold in it. Both Kirsten Dunst and Saoirse Ronan get typed this way.

Eye color in this group runs to pale blue, blue gray or a gentle blue. Gwyneth Paltrow, with her pale gray blue eyes, is a frequent example.

The biggest giveaway is low contrast. Contrast means how far apart your skin, hair and eyes sit in lightness. When those three are close, like Naomi Watts's, bold dark shades pull focus away from the face itself.

Shades that flatter and shades to pass on

This season's palette is made of gentle, cool, light shades. A few key colors show the idea:

• Powder Blue
• Soft Mint
• Light Lavender
• Light Rose Pink and Pale Watermelon

One lovely example is Taeyeon, who is often praised for looking fresh in pastel pink and lavender.

Deep, heavy or very warm shades are the ones this palette skips:

• Dark Emerald
• Deep True Red
• Dark Cognac
• Bright Terracotta
• Dark Magenta and Moss

As a neutral, Dove Grey is the easiest pick here. It plays the calm supporting role that black plays for other people, without weighing things down.

Why is celebrity typing just an estimate?

No one outside a private session has ever checked these people in real daylight, so every typing is a guess based on photos. That's why this page says "often typed as" instead of "is".

Several things can change how a famous face appears on screen:

• Dye can push ash blonde toward gold, or back again.
• Makeup can fake warmth, depth or contrast.
• Studio and stage lights alter skin color.
• Filters and retouching shift skin, hair and eye tones.

Analysts don't always agree either, so one star can land in two or three seasons depending on the source. Draping is the most dependable way to pin down a season: someone holds colored fabric near your face in good light and compares what it does.

Checking yourself with their photos

Celebrity photos work best as training for your own eye. The aim isn't to copy anyone famous. You're training your eye to recognize when a shade helps and when it overwhelms.

1. Pick two or three stars whose hair, eye and skin tones come close to yours. One person's photos can lead you astray, so a few give a fairer read.
2. Find pictures of them wearing palette colors such as soft mint, light rose pink or powder blue. Watch whether their skin seems fresh and even.
3. Look for shots of them in skip colors like dark emerald, deep true red or black. Watch whether the color steals focus from their face.
4. Check several events for each star. Lighting and makeup shift from event to event, so a pattern counts for more than a single image.
5. Run the same test on yourself at a mirror in daylight. Put a soft pastel under your chin, then a deep shade, and notice which one brings your face into focus.

When you test yourself, clues like these usually suggest Light Summer:

• Black near your face drains your skin and brings out dark circles.
• Heavy warm tones like mustard or rust turn your skin yellow.
• Gentle cool pinks and baby blues wake up your face instantly.
• Silver jewelry settles quietly into your skin, while yellow gold turns brassy.
• Dark lipstick dominates so completely that people notice only your mouth.

Seasons easily confused with Light Summer

All 12 seasons trace back to four root families: the spring, summer, autumn and winter groups. Every family divides into three seasons named for its strongest quality. So Light Summer sits near a few neighbors, and celebrity typings drift between them.

When mustard and other warm shades make your skin look yellow, that steers you away from Light Spring. If you can handle a bit more depth without losing your face to the color, one of the other Summer seasons might fit better.