Soft Summer vs Cool Summer

What actually sets them apart?

Both are medium depth and both look soft rather than bright. Clarity describes whether a color reads bright or soft, and these two palettes both land on the soft side. What separates them is which trait comes first.

Soft Summer suits people whose coloring is low-contrast and gentle, and its palette is full of quiet, gray-tinted shades. "Muted" just means a color carries a bit of gray, giving it that dusty, softened feel instead of a punchy one. Soft Summer leans cool but not all the way, so a touch of gray suits it better than a purely cool color.

Cool Summer sits at a medium depth and keeps things soft, but its blues, roses and plums are all thoroughly cool with not a drop of warmth. Cool Summer is fully cool, so warm colors like orange work against it.

Trying the daylight test at home

Selfies and indoor lighting both distort how your skin reads, so grab a mirror by a window instead.

1. Face a window during the day so your features are lit evenly.
2. Pick out 2 pieces of fabric or clothing: a sage green with some gray in it, and a blue that's purely cool.
3. Put the sage beneath your chin and study your face for a moment.
4. Switch to the cool blue and check the same areas of your face again.
5. If you have jewelry handy, compare brushed silver or pewter with silver, and notice which looks more at home against your skin. Pewter and brushed silver suit Soft Summer, while silver and white gold suit Cool Summer.

Reading your reflection

Check your skin before you judge the fabric. A good color leaves your skin looking even and rested. A bad one brings out darkness beneath your eyes, a dull gray tone, or a sallow cast, which is when your skin reads yellowish and worn out.

If true blue feels a touch too strong and a dusty sage or pewter smooths your skin out, you're probably a Soft Summer. If sage turns your skin sallow while a cool blue or silver perks up your face, Cool Summer is the likelier fit.

Signs you're Soft Summer

Here's what Soft Summers tend to notice when they play with color:

• True black steals the life from your complexion and darkens the area under your eyes.
• Loud neon shades overpower you, so the shirt gets noticed before you do.
• Dusty rose and sage green leave your skin looking smooth and well rested.
• Brushed silver and pewter jewelry sit quietly against your skin, but yellow gold comes off brassy.
• Warm orange and bright yellow can leave your complexion looking yellowish or drained.

Signs you're Cool Summer

Cool Summers tend to notice a slightly different set of things:

• Orange and warm yellow leave your skin looking yellowish and weary.
• True black feels heavy and lifeless on you, draining color from your face.
• Silver jewelry melts into your skin, while gold sits apart and reads brassy.
• A cool rose pink wakes up your face right away and softens the darkness under your eyes.
• Your eyes look clearer framed in dusty blue or slate gray than they do in navy.

Muted Summer and True Summer: where they overlap

Soft Summer also goes by the name Muted Summer, and Cool Summer is sometimes called True Summer. Different labels, same comparison.

Both seasons are at their best in calm, medium shades without any harsh contrast. Pure black drains color from the face in both, gold and bright royal blue are on both skip lists, and dusty rose flatters them equally. And in either palette, warm orange and yellow tones will make the skin look yellowish.

Still between the two?

Begin with colors the two palettes share, like dusty rose. Then try the sage and cool blue test once more on another day, since a bright morning can read differently than a gray one.

A quiz is only the first step. Checking yourself in a mirror by daylight, or sitting down for a draping with a professional, can confirm it. Draping is when someone trained drapes a range of colored fabrics beneath your chin and compares how each one treats your skin.