Cool Summer vs Soft Autumn: The Real Differences

Coolness. Everything else in Cool Summer follows from it.

The temperature is very cool, the lightness medium, the intensity soft to medium and the contrast moderate. Nothing’s loud, but nothing’s washed out either.

The signature is Raspberry. Next to it sit Cool Lavender, Denim Blue and Gray Blue, with Navy as the anchor. Think of an overcast English garden: old roses, lavender, blue-green leaves.

Warm shades are the trap here. Orange and Golden Yellow muddy the complexion, and Terracotta pulls the same way. Black is too harsh, so navy does its job instead.

Softness. The warmth is real, but it comes through a filter.

Soft Autumn is neutral to warm, medium in lightness, very soft and desaturated, with low to moderate contrast. The colors blend into each other the way your hair, eyes and skin do.

Light Terracotta leads, and around it you find Sage Green, Caramel and Soft Mustard. Cream and Sand Beige carry the neutrals. Picture dry fields, sage leaves and a clay pot warmed by the afternoon sun.

The sharp shades are the ones to skip. Fuchsia and Electric Blue break the blend, optic white dims you, and black looks harsh.

Temperature comes first, because the eye reads it before anything else.

Cool Summer is very cool, Soft Autumn is neutral to warm. On a Cool Summer, blue-based colors clear the skin, while golden ones can leave it looking muddy. On a Soft Autumn, the golden base stays, and a cool, icy pink can turn the face ashen.

Intensity comes second. Cool Summer sits at soft to medium, Soft Autumn at very soft and desaturated. So Soft Autumn needs the haze left in every color. A clear, bright color can make a Soft Autumn look costumed. On a Cool Summer, try Raspberry and watch your skin.

Contrast is the smallest gap: moderate against low to moderate. Treat contrast as a clue, not a decider.

What they share is lightness. Both sit in the middle, so don’t go looking for a difference there. Neither palette’s pale, and neither’s dark. You won’t find the answer there.

The setup (daylight, bare face, hair covered) is in the color draping at home article. Here, only this pair matters.

Hold Raspberry under your chin. Then Light Terracotta. One at a time, with a pause for your eyes between them.

Ask three questions about each.

Does the skin turn yellow, or does it go gray? Watch for sallow patches near Raspberry, and for a flat, ashen look near Light Terracotta. Whichever one does that is the color to set aside.

Does the color look loud, or faded? If a color arrives before your face does, it’s too loud for the softer palette. If it looks flat and tired, it may be too gentle for the cooler one.

Do your features stand out, or do they blur? Eyes and lips that sharpen point to moderate contrast. Features that melt together nicely point to the softer side.

If the same color keeps coming out ahead, you have a direction. Repeat it on another day, in a different top, before you decide.

Nothing links these two directly. Cool Summer’s neighbor is True Winter, and Soft Autumn’s is Soft Summer.

So when both seem to fit, start with the lead. Ask whether the cool temperature or the softness is the stronger thing in your coloring.

If you lean cool, a Soft Summer may sit between your two results. It shares the softness of Soft Autumn and the Summer family of Cool Summer. These two pages help you check that:

• Soft Autumn against Soft Summer
• Cool Summer against Soft Summer

Both palettes hold blue-greens and plums, so it’s tempting to swap them. Soft Petrol Blue and Grayed Teal belong to Soft Autumn, Cool Turquoise and Soft Spruce Green to Cool Summer. A Soft Autumn can test Soft Eggplant as a quiet cousin of Light Plum. Nothing crosses until your skin agrees.

The free quiz is a fair place to start, but it can’t watch your skin react to a color. In my view, that reaction is where the answer lives.

Metals point a direction, nothing more. Cool Summer leans toward silver and white gold, Soft Autumn toward matte gold and rose gold. Hold each near your bare face, and let the drape confirm it.

Lips split along the same line: a cool red for one, a rosy peach for the other. The Cool Summer makeup page and the Soft Autumn makeup page cover each in detail.

Hair is the weakest clue. Ash tones suit Cool Summer, golden light browns suit Soft Autumn, but the skin decides. Judge it with the hair covered.