Soft Autumn
Warm but dusty, the colors of a dried bouquet.
Soft Autumn is the muted, gently warm season that sits between Soft Summer and True Autumn. The coloring is blended and medium in depth, with warmth that whispers rather than shouts. Its palette is everything sun-faded: camel, sage, salmon, soft terracotta and warm mushroom.
Clarity is the dominant axis here: how muted or how vivid a color is matters more than whether it is warm or cool. (Clarity 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
- Neutral-warm, medium depth, with a soft golden-beige or peachy cast.
- Hair
- Dark blonde to soft golden or mousy brown, with dusty warmth.
- Eyes
- Soft hazel, warm green, muted teal or soft golden brown, often marbled.
- Contrast
- Low. The whole face blends, which is why bright colors overwhelm it.
Soft Autumn celebrities
Famous faces that share Soft Autumn coloring. The point is the pattern in skin, hair and eyes, not a resemblance.
Drew Barrymore
Gigi Hadid
Isla Fisher
Jennifer Lopez
Photos via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY / CC BY-SA / public domain. The credit for each one is on the Soft Autumn celebrities page.
The palette
The 20 colors that work hardest for Soft Autumn, with hex codes so you can match them exactly.
- Salmon#D98A76
- Soft terracotta#C4705C
- Muted rust#B5654A
- Warm rose beige#C98F7A
- Dusty brick#B07C7C
- Soft mulberry#A86F7E
- Warm mushroom#8E7C6E
- Soft gold#C4A76A
- Wheat#D6BC7E
- Moss gold#A89B5C
Neutrals to build on
- Soft cream#F0E8D8
- Oat#D3C3A8
- Camel#B79B75
- Warm taupe#8C7A62
- Soft olive brown#57503F
Metals and makeup
Best metals: Matte gold, Antique brass, Rose gold.
Lip
- Soft terracotta
- Muted rose
- Warm nude
Blush
- Soft peach
- Warm rose
- Muted apricot
How to wear the Soft Autumn palette
A styling example: three women who share Soft Autumn coloring, each in a different outfit built from this palette.
More on Soft Autumn
Often confused with
Watch: this season explained
Hand-picked videos on Soft Autumn from working color analysts, a different teacher, the same season.
SOFT AUTUMN COLOR PALETTE: Your Best Colors / 12 Seasons Color Analysis
Mikaela Carrizo · YouTube
Soft Autumn vs Soft Summer | Seasonal Color Analysis
Isabella Zamuner · YouTube
Frequently asked
What is the Soft Autumn color season?
Soft Autumn is one of the twelve seasonal color types. It is moderately warm, medium in depth and strongly soft. In practice that means salmon, soft terracotta and muted rust sit comfortably on you, while the colors in the avoid list make you look tired. Clarity is the dominant axis here: how muted or how vivid a color is matters more than whether it is warm or cool. (Clarity is what the 12-tone system calls this season's primary characteristic.)
How do I know if I'm a Soft Autumn?
Three checks. Neutral-warm, medium depth, with a soft golden-beige or peachy cast. Dark blonde to soft golden or mousy brown, with dusty warmth. Soft hazel, warm green, muted teal or soft golden brown, often marbled. Contrast is the fourth: low. the whole face blends, which is why bright colors overwhelm it. If two of those four describe you, Soft Autumn 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 Soft Autumn?
The clearest ones to drop are black, pure white and hot pink. Too deep and too cold, it drops a hard line under a soft, blended face. Full explanations for each are on the colors-to-avoid page.
Am I a Soft Autumn or a True Autumn?
They are neighbors, which is exactly why they get confused. The deciding axis is undertone: Soft Autumn is the cool one and True Autumn is the warm one. We have a full side-by-side comparison if you are torn between them.
Can a Soft Autumn wear black?
Not near your face. Soft Autumn coloring is too gentle for true black, it drops a hard edge under the chin and pulls shadows forward. Use Soft olive brown (#57503F) instead for anything worn up top, and keep black for trousers, shoes and bags where it has no effect on your skin.
Is Soft Autumn warm or cool?
Warm. Soft Autumn sits clearly on the warm side of the temperature axis, which is why gold, salmon and the rest of the Autumn palette settle the skin while icy or blue-based colors leave it sallow. Its dominant axis is clarity, though, so a warm color still needs the right softness to work.
Should a Soft Autumn wear gold or silver?
Matte gold, Antique brass and Rose gold. 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 Soft Autumn color analysis work?
Soft Autumn color analysis places your coloring on three axes, depth, temperature and clarity, and checks they match Soft Autumn, which is moderately warm, medium in depth and strongly 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 Soft Autumn leads the neighbors it gets confused with.