Light Summer
Cool, light and gentle, watercolor, not poster paint.
Light Summer is the lightest cool season. Skin, hair and eyes are all light and slightly muted, with a cool blue or rosy cast. The palette is soft cool pastels, powder blue, dusty rose, soft periwinkle, colors that look like they have had a drop of water added.
Depth is the dominant axis here: the palette is defined first by how light or deep it is, and only then by temperature. (Depth is what the 12-tone system calls this season's primary characteristic.)
Where this season sits
Every one of the twelve seasons is a position on three axes. These are the coordinates our analysis scores you against.
Is this you?
- Skin
- Fair to light with a cool pink, rosy or neutral cast.
- Hair
- Light ash blonde to light ash brown; cools further with age.
- Eyes
- Soft blue, gray-blue, gray-green or soft light hazel.
- Contrast
- Low. Everything sits in a light, blended range.
Light Summer celebrities
Famous faces that share Light Summer coloring. The point is the pattern in skin, hair and eyes, not a resemblance.
Cate Blanchett
Dakota Fanning
Gwyneth Paltrow
Kristen Bell
Photos via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY / CC BY-SA / public domain. The credit for each one is on the Light Summer celebrities page.
The palette
The 20 colors that work hardest for Light Summer, with hex codes so you can match them exactly.
- Powder pink#F2C4D0
- Dusty rose#E5A9BC
- Rose pink#D98BA5
- Soft raspberry#C2739A
- Soft lilac#B8A4CC
- Periwinkle#A6A9D6
- Powder blue#93B4DB
- Cornflower#7FA8CC
- Soft denim#6C97BF
- Sea glass#9CC8D6
Neutrals to build on
- Soft white#F4F1EC
- Pearl gray#D5D2CC
- Light cool gray#A9A6A2
- Blue gray#7C8894
- Soft navy#4A5C78
Metals and makeup
Best metals: Silver, White gold, Rose gold (pale).
Lip
- Rose pink
- Soft berry
- Cool nude pink
Blush
- Powder rose
- Cool pink
- Soft mauve
How to wear the Light Summer palette
A styling example: three women who share Light Summer coloring, each in a different outfit built from this palette.
More on Light Summer
Often confused with
Watch: this season explained
Hand-picked videos on Light Summer from working color analysts, a different teacher, the same season.
LIGHT SUMMER COLOR PALETTE AND SEASONAL GUIDE / 12 Seasons Color Analysis
Mikaela Carrizo · YouTube
How to Find Your Color Season: True, Soft & Light SUMMER Color Analysis
Isabella Zamuner · YouTube
Frequently asked
What is the Light Summer color season?
Light Summer is one of the twelve seasonal color types. It is cool, strongly light and moderately soft. In practice that means powder pink, dusty rose and rose pink sit comfortably on you, while the colors in the avoid list make you look tired. Depth is the dominant axis here: the palette is defined first by how light or deep it is, and only then by temperature. (Depth is what the 12-tone system calls this season's primary characteristic.)
How do I know if I'm a Light Summer?
Three checks. Fair to light with a cool pink, rosy or neutral cast. Light ash blonde to light ash brown; cools further with age. Soft blue, gray-blue, gray-green or soft light hazel. Contrast is the fourth: low. everything sits in a light, blended range. If two of those four describe you, Light Summer is very likely your season, our free analysis scores all twelve and tells you how close the runners-up are.
What are the worst colors for a Light Summer?
The clearest ones to drop are black, bright orange and mustard gold. Too heavy for delicate light coloring, soft navy gives the same anchor without the harshness. Full explanations for each are on the colors-to-avoid page.
Am I a Light Summer or a True Summer?
They are neighbors, which is exactly why they get confused. The deciding axis is depth: Light Summer is the light one and True Summer is the deep one. We have a full side-by-side comparison if you are torn between them.
Can a Light Summer wear black?
Not near your face. Light Summer coloring is too light for true black, it drops a hard edge under the chin and pulls shadows forward. Use Soft navy (#4A5C78) instead for anything worn up top, and keep black for trousers, shoes and bags where it has no effect on your skin.
Is Light Summer warm or cool?
Cool. Light Summer sits clearly on the cool side of the temperature axis, which is why silver, powder pink and the rest of the Summer palette settle the skin while orange and golden colors turn it ruddy or gray. Its dominant axis is depth, though, so a cool color still needs the right depth to work.
Should a Light Summer wear gold or silver?
Silver, White gold and Rose gold (pale). Metal is one of the fastest at-home tests there is: hold silver and gold either side of your face in daylight and watch your skin rather than the jewelry, the wrong metal leaves a gray or sallow cast along the jaw.
How does Light Summer color analysis work?
Light Summer color analysis places your coloring on three axes, depth, temperature and clarity, and checks they match Light Summer, which is cool, strongly light and moderately soft. You can approximate it at home with the metal, vein and contrast tests, but those disagree often. Our free analysis settles it: it scores all twelve seasons from your answers and one photo, so you see how far Light Summer leads the neighbors it gets confused with.