Summer: explaining the different types

This is the second of four blog posts, exploring the different ‘types’ of each season. When discussing each season I will try to use the most commonly understood terms of each type, but please do contact us if you feel we’ve missed out a term that would help colour analysis clients understand their season.

We’re into week two of our exploration of the different types within each season, and it’s the turn of Summer. If you missed last week’s post, why not hop back for an introduction to what I’m doing and a look at the different types of Spring palettes.

As I said last week, do remember that your seasonal type is a guide. If you fall at one end of, say, the Autumn palette, it doesn’t mean you can’t ever wear colours from other areas of the palette you may have been given, just that this particular area is the strongest part of the palette for your personal skin tone and contrast level.

This week, we’ll be looking at Summer colours.

True/Sweetpea Summer

This is the ‘classic’ Summer. The colours are mid-range, neither too light nor too dark, and are at the cooler end of the summer palette – the rose browns and jade greens of Summer are often a little too warm for True Summers, even though they are cool toned colours.

Often a True Summer has a real Summer ‘look’; ashy mid-brown hair, grey, blue or green eyes, and relatively light skin. Their best colours are mid pinks, lots of blues from denim to sky and the beautiful blue-greys of the Summer palette.

Your best Kettlewell colours: pink clover marl, rose, soft orchid, light grey marl, dove grey, mid grey, steel blue, light blue grey, delph, french grey, bluebell, summer blue marl, periwinkle, lapis blue.

 

Light/Pastel/Cotton Wool Ball Summer

Summer is, on the whole a lighter palette than either Winter or Autumn – only Spring can compete on lightness – but Light Summers are best at the lightest end of this relatively light palette. They can have the bright look of Springs about them, and might be blonde and blue eyed. If the four seasons are viewed as a spectrum rather than four distinct blocks of colour, it makes sense when you see that the Light Summer colours are those that head towards the Spring palette; they are still cool toned, but begin to be less cool that True Summer’s colours, and gain a tiny bit of Springs brightness.

Light Summers look amazing in sky blues, primrose yellow and light pinks and greys.

Your best Kettlewell colours: powder pink, pink ice, light grey marl, silver, silver blossom print, soft grey, light grey lace, pebble grey, mint ice, iced aqua, mist, ice blue, light aqua, pastel jade, light teal marl, light blue grey, cobalt blue marl, cornflower, summer blue marl, oxford blue, wisteria, ice lavender, ice hyacinth, primrose.

Deep/Cool/Dark Summer

Deep Summer sits at the very coolest, wintery end of the Summer palette when all four seasons are viewed as one linked spectrum. Its colours are, unsurprisingly, the darkest and brightest Summer colours, and often work best with a degree of contrast not found with other types of Summer.

Dark Summers can often be mistaken (or mistake themselves) for Winters, with a bright or dark look about them, and it is only with a professional analysis with precision dyed drapes that the difference can be seen.

Your best colours are those deep dark Summer colours that land just on the cusp of the Winter palette, like deep grape and aubergine shades, bold pinky reds and the darkest and brighter Summer blues.

Your best Kettlewell colours: passion flower, shocking pink, raspberry, dark red, deep claret, cassis, blackberry, charcoal, dark slate, spruce, dark emerald, bright navy, light navy, midnight blue, iris, navy, french navy, purple, violet.

 

Soft/Brown Summer

The name Soft Summer can be a little misleading, as it seems that it ought to be similar to Light Summer but actually it tends towards the Autumn end of the Summer palette, which lends it some depth of colour and warmth (although all Summer colours are still very definitely cool toned, soft Summer colours are less cool than others).

Soft Summers often look like they might be autumns, perhaps with olive coloured eyes or red glints in their hair. Your best colours are cool toned sea greens and teals, rose browns and soft navy, and you also do rose gold as well as silver when it comes to jewellery.

Your best Kettlewell colours: soft orchid, musk rose, true red, cassis, blackberry, aubergine, dark mole, mocha, rose brown, mole, rose taupe, taupe, warm grey, soft white, duck egg, soft teal, peacock, antique teal, seaspray, deep teal, petrel blue, heliotrope, french navy.