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Color season ยท Summer family

Cool (True) Summer Color Palette

The cool summer color palette is built from blue-based, medium-depth, slightly softened colors: slate blue, raspberry, rose, spruce and soft navy. Cool Summer, also known as True Summer, is the summer season where coolness leads and softness comes second. Every shade has a clear blue or pink base, with no yellow in it.

Start here if silver always beats gold on you, your cheeks flush pink, and orange makes you look unwell. Below are 30 true summer colors with hex codes, followed by makeup, hair and jewelry, outfit ideas and side-by-side checks against Cool Winter and Soft Summer.

Undertone
Cool
Depth
Medium
Chroma
Soft to medium
Contrast
Medium

The Cool Summer color palette, color by color

Tap any swatch to copy its hex code, or download the full palette as an image for your phone.

Cool Summer color palette with 30 muted, cool, medium-depth colors including cornflower, teal blue and berry
Download palette (PNG)

How to read this palette

Think of the cool summer palette as a cloudy coastline: grey-blue sea, wet slate, pink sea thrift and dark spruce. Temperature is the defining trait. Blues lean toward periwinkle and denim, reds lean toward raspberry, and even the greens are blue-green.

Depth is medium. Pale shades such as pink mist and pale blue grey cover shirts and blouses, while soft navy, graphite and midnight slate anchor tailoring. Nothing reaches true black, and nothing drops to a whisper-pale pastel.

Saturation is moderate. Raspberry and soft fuchsia are the strongest notes, lively enough to wake up your face, yet each has a slightly smoky edge. The sharpest jewel tones and pure brights belong to winter, not to you.

What is Cool Summer?

Cool Summer is the most blue-based of the summer seasons, with medium depth and gentle color. Slate blue, raspberry, soft navy and rose look natural on you. Orange and warm earth tones turn your skin sallow or ruddy.

  • Skin: fair to medium-deep, with a pink, rosy or blue-red undertone. Deeper skin tends to show a cool, slightly ashy richness rather than golden warmth.
  • Hair: ash blonde through cool mid brown. It can look a little smoky or matte rather than glossy gold.
  • Eyes: grey-blue, cool blue, grey-green, or a soft cocoa brown with a grey rim.
  • Contrast: medium. There is a visible step between hair and skin, but it is gentler than the sharp dark-on-light of a winter.
  • Cheeks may redden easily, and warm makeup such as bronzer or orange blush tends to sit on the surface instead of blending in.

A quick self-test

Find two fabrics or lipsticks: a true orange and a raspberry pink. In daylight, hold each near your mouth. If orange brings out redness or yellows your teeth while raspberry evens your skin, you are cool. Then check depth by comparing a soft navy top with a black one. If navy looks kinder, think Cool Summer.

Best Cool Summer neutrals

Every neutral you own should be grey- or blue-based. Soft navy replaces black for suits and coats, charcoal blue and graphite cover knitwear and trousers, and cool white stands in for bright white. If you want a brown, cool cocoa is a rose-brown with no gold in it.

Colors Cool Summer should avoid

  • Tangerine#F28C38
  • Mustard Yellow#D9A520
  • Rust#B5562E
  • Neon Coral#FF6F50
  • Golden Camel#C8995F
  • Olive Drab#6E6B2F
  • Warm Chocolate#5B3A26
  • Jet Black#0A0A0A

Notice the common thread: each of these is warm, earthy or harsh. Tangerine, mustard, rust and neon coral carry yellow that fights your pink undertone. Golden camel, olive drab and warm chocolate look muddy on you. Jet black is too stark for medium contrast. Save these for shoes or a belt, if at all.

Metals and jewelry

  • Sterling silver
  • White gold
  • Platinum
  • Pewter
  • Rose gold

Bright and brushed silver both work. You have enough depth to carry polished silver without it looking cheap, and enough softness that satin finishes look refined. Rose gold is the one warm-looking metal that blends in. Pair any of them with amethyst, sapphire, pink tourmaline or grey pearls.

Cool Summer makeup

Look for cool, rosy or neutral-pink undertones at your depth. If a shade reads orange or yellow along the jaw in window light, it is too warm. Set with a translucent powder rather than a yellow one.

  • Rose Petal#C27A90
  • Cool Pink Nude#B88593
  • Raspberry Crush#A84768
  • Berry Mauve#8F5470
  • Plum Wine#7A3E5C
  • Cool Pink#E0A0B4
  • Soft Rose#D68FA6
  • Berry Flush#B86A87
  • Muted Plum#A8728E
  • Blue Grey#8A9AAE
  • Cool Taupe#8E8288
  • Mauve#9C7C92
  • Slate Grey#6E7685
  • Grape#7E5F8E
  • Soft Navy#3E4E6E

Cool Summer hair colors

  • Cool ash brown

    Your most natural-looking option. A smoky brown keeps medium contrast without warmth.

  • Mid ash blonde

    If you are fair, stay at a mid ash rather than platinum, which is too pale and icy for you.

  • Smoky lowlights

    Thin, cool lowlights through light hair add depth and match the medium contrast of the season.

  • Plum-brown gloss

    A sheer violet-brown glaze on brown hair adds richness without any copper.

  • Natural silver

    Grey is cool by nature, so it often blends well with your skin. A violet toner keeps it clear.

Hair colors to avoid

  • Golden, honey or caramel shades, which bring out redness in your skin.
  • Copper, auburn or strawberry blonde, which clash with a pink undertone.
  • Jet or blue-black dye, which looks stark beside medium-contrast features.

Nail colors for Cool Summer

Satin and cream polishes suit you, and a fine silver shimmer works for evenings. For a reliable classic, raspberry is your red; for the office, pink mist or rose.

Cool Summer clothing and outfit tips

  • Treat raspberry as your red and soft navy as your black. Those two swaps alone move a wardrobe toward Cool Summer.
  • Aim for medium contrast. Pair a mid or light top with a darker bottom, like sky grey over charcoal blue, rather than cool white against midnight slate.
  • If an outfit feels flat, add a blue-pink accent near your face: a rose scarf, soft fuchsia earrings or a lilac shirt.
  • Choose matte or softly lustrous fabrics: wool crepe, jersey, chambray, cashmere and washed silk. Very glossy satin pushes you toward winter.
  • Mid-wash denim with a cool blue cast is ideal. Skip yellowed or acid-washed jeans.
  • For workwear, a soft navy or graphite suit with a pale blue grey or pink mist shirt is hard to beat.

Outfit combinations

  • Coastal Monday

    Slate BlueCool WhiteGraphite

    A slate blue blazer over a cool white tee, with graphite trousers.

  • Raspberry and navy

    RaspberrySoft NavySilver Grey

    A raspberry knit, soft navy trousers and a silver grey coat. Your version of red, white and blue.

  • Sea glass

    Seafoam GreySprucePale Blue Grey

    A seafoam grey shirt with spruce chinos and a pale blue grey cardigan.

  • Rose suit

    RoseCharcoal BluePink Mist

    A rose silk blouse under a charcoal blue suit, with a pink mist pocket square or scarf.

  • Lilac denim

    LilacDenimPewter

    A lilac sweater with denim jeans and pewter suede shoes.

  • Night out

    GrapeMidnight SlateLavender Blue

    A grape wrap dress, midnight slate tights and a lavender blue clutch.

  • Summer greens

    Sea GreenBlue-GreyCool White

    A sea green dress with a blue-grey denim jacket and cool white sneakers.

Build a small capsule wardrobe

  1. Make soft navy your anchor: a coat, a blazer and one pair of trousers.
  2. Add a lighter neutral, silver grey or pale blue grey, for knits and a second pair of trousers.
  3. Pick two accents that work with both neutrals. Raspberry and slate blue are a dependable pair.
  4. Fill in with tops in cool white, pink mist and lilac, so every piece swaps with every other.
  5. Keep shoes and bags in graphite, pewter or soft navy, so the whole capsule shares one cool base.

Patterns and prints

  • Geometric

    Lavender Blue and Spruce on Cool White

  • Fine stripes

    Teal Blue and Plum on Pink Mist

  • Polka dots

    Lavender Blue and Soft Navy on Seafoam Grey

  • Small florals

    Teal Blue and Midnight Slate on Orchid Pink

  • Medium contrast suits you: slate stripes on cool white, or raspberry florals on a soft navy ground.
  • Watery, flowing motifs echo the palette: paisley, painterly florals, ripples and loose abstract brushwork.
  • Medium scale is your safe zone. Tiny prints read as texture, while very large graphic ones can look harsh.
  • Classic shirting works when kept cool: blue Oxford stripes, grey Prince of Wales check and glen plaid.

Accessories and natural materials

  • Leather in navy, grey, cool taupe or a rosy burgundy rather than tan or cognac.
  • Glasses in grey, navy, blue-grey, translucent rose or silver metal.
  • Stones such as amethyst, sapphire, blue lace agate, grey pearl and pink tourmaline.
  • Scarves are your quickest color tool. One in rose or soft fuchsia lifts any navy or grey coat.

How to tell Cool Summer from Cool Winter and Soft Summer

Cool Summer vs Cool Winter

What you share
Both seasons are blue-based and both glow in silver, navy and berry pinks. Neither can wear orange, camel or golden brown.
What differs
Cool Winter is cool and bright, with high contrast, so it handles pure white, black and saturated royal blue. Cool Summer is cool and soft, at medium contrast, and those same shades shout over your features.
How to tell which you are
Try a black top and a soft navy top one after the other in daylight. If black makes your eyes sparkle, look at Cool Winter. If black shows lines and shadows that navy hides, you are Cool Summer.
Colors to borrow from Cool Winter
Cool Winter is sharper than you, but the two palettes touch at their edges. Raspberry, soft navy and cool white are your closest match to its crimson, navy and pure white, minus the glare.
RaspberrySoft NavyCool White

Cool Summer vs Soft Summer

What you share
Both are summer seasons with cool undertones and a liking for rose, blue-grey and teal. Both are swamped by neon and look severe in black.
What differs
Cool Summer is defined by coolness, so it can take clearer raspberry, cornflower and lavender blue. Soft Summer is defined by muting, and its versions are greyer: dusty rose, taupe and sage.
How to tell which you are
Put a raspberry scarf next to a dusty rose one. If raspberry wakes up your face, you belong here. If it looks loud and the dusty rose looks right, read the Soft Summer page next.
Colors to borrow from Soft Summer
For a quieter day, lean on the greyed shades that Soft Summer lives in. Blue-grey, seafoam grey and pewter are smoky enough to feel calm but still firmly blue-based.
Blue-GreySeafoam GreyPewter

Cool Summer questions

Yes. Both names describe the summer where coolness is the strongest trait, and different analysts simply prefer one label or the other. So the true summer color palette and the cool summer color palette are the same set of blue-based, medium-depth colors.

We don't list cool summer celebrities. A celebrity photo is shaped by studio lighting, makeup and dye, so it rarely settles your own season. Our quiz and a daylight test with navy and raspberry are more reliable.

Navy is one of your best colors, as long as it is a soft, slightly greyed navy rather than an inky near-black. It gives you the authority of black without its harshness. Pair it with rose, cool white or silver grey.

Blue-based pinks and berries at a medium depth: rose petal, raspberry crush, berry mauve and plum wine. Satin and cream finishes are the easiest to wear. If you want a classic red, pick one that leans raspberry, not orange or brick.

This season appears across many skin depths. If your skin is deeper, favour the middle and darker shades, such as raspberry, spruce, grape and soft navy, so the clothes match your own depth. Cool olive skin often looks good in blue-greens like sea green and teal blue. Always confirm in daylight.

Not sure you are Cool Summer? The quiz scores warmth, depth and clarity separately and also shows your runner-up season.

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