Summer family

True Summer Color Palette

Cool, calm and quietly magnetic — the elegance of dusk over water.

True Summer is the cool, medium, moderately clear season of the Summer family. The True Summer palette holds 16 colors — led by French Blue, Raspberry Ice and Cool Jade — plus 6 neutrals that stand in for black and white, and 6 shades to avoid. True Summers wear silver best.

What are the True Summer colors?

All 16 True Summer colors, each with its hex code — screenshot it, match a paint chip to it, paste the values straight into a shopping filter. French Blue, Raspberry Ice and Cool Jade carry the season; the rest are here so you can dress a whole week from the palette rather than one outfit.

  • French Blue#5B7FB4
  • Raspberry Ice#C4577E
  • Cool Jade#5FA88F
  • Slate Blue#6A7BA2
  • Orchid#B06BA8
  • Dusty Teal#4E8E96
  • Cool Rose#D07C97
  • Periwinkle#7C89C9
  • Soft Fuchsia#C4519E
  • Sea Blue#3E7CA6
  • Plum Mist#8E6790
  • Cool Emerald#3B8A6E
  • Blueberry#4A5D94
  • Rosewood Pink#B96A80
  • Lagoon#2E8B9A
  • Amethyst Smoke#9678B6

What are the True Summer neutrals?

These 6 do the quiet work — the coat, the trousers, the knit you wear weekly. Black and optic white are not among them. Grey Navy (#3C4A63) and Soft White (#F5F3EF) are the True Summer versions of “black” and “white”, and swapping to them is the single change that makes a wardrobe look considered instead of harsh.

  • Soft White#F5F3EF
  • Cool Grey#A9AEB6
  • Slate#5D6874
  • Grey Navy#3C4A63
  • Rose Beige#CBB6AC
  • Cocoa Taupe#94807A

What colors should a True Summer avoid?

Nothing here is a bad color — it is a color that is wrong next to True Summer coloring. Each of the 6 below misses the palette on one of the three axes, measured against the 16 colors above rather than asserted.

  • Orange Rust#B65119
  • Golden Yellow#E2A72E
  • Camel#C89F68
  • Tomato Red#D63A2A
  • Warm Olive#7A7031
  • Copper Brown#8A4B26
Why each color is on the True Summer avoid list
Orange Rust #B65119Too golden and too loud — it turns the skin sallow rather than lit.
Golden Yellow #E2A72EToo golden and too loud — it turns the skin sallow rather than lit.
Camel #C89F68Too golden and too pale — it turns the skin sallow rather than lit.
Tomato Red #D63A2AToo golden and too loud — it turns the skin sallow rather than lit.
Warm Olive #7A7031Too golden — it turns the skin sallow rather than lit.
Copper Brown #8A4B26Too golden and too heavy — it turns the skin sallow rather than lit.

Every one of them has a replacement inside the palette — the True Summer colors to avoid, with the swap for each.

How do you know if you’re a True Summer?

True Summer coloring is cool (pink/blue-based), medium in depth, and moderately clear.

True Summer at a glance
Undertonecool (pink/blue-based)
Depth (value)medium
Clarity (chroma)moderately clear
Best metalsSilver
Palette size16 colors · 6 neutrals · 6 to avoid
FamilySummer, alongside Light Summer and Soft Summer
Signature colorsFrench Blue, Raspberry Ice and Cool Jade

If two of those three feel right and one doesn’t, you are probably one of the neighbouring seasons rather than this one. Undertone is the axis to settle first — start with the free undertone quiz or the longer guide to finding your undertone, then come back and see whether the True Summer palette still looks like yours.

What makeup suits a True Summer?

True Summer makeup direction
Lipscool berry, raspberry rose and mauve pink — satin, not gloss-heavy
Blushmuted cool rose
Foundationrosy-neutral; avoid anything golden or bronzy

The rule is the same as the wardrobe rule: keep makeup on the palette’s temperature and let the intensity match your own. True Summer makeup in full — lipstick, blush and foundation.

What hair color suits a True Summer?

For True Summer coloring: ash brown, cool mocha, smoky blonde — depth is fine, warmth is not. Hair is the largest block of color you wear, so a shade that fights the palette undoes the wardrobe work before you have dressed. Best hair colors for a True Summer.

Should a True Summer wear gold or silver?

Silver. True Summer coloring is cool (pink/blue-based), so a cool metal matches the palette's base; gold pulls yellow into the skin and fights it. True Summer jewelry & metals.

How does a True Summer put an outfit together?

Blended cool tones; grey navy over black; matte fabrics over shine. Keep the strongest palette color nearest the face — that is where the color is actually doing its job — and let the 6 neutrals carry everything below the shoulders.

Which everyday colors can a True Summer wear?

19 of the colors people actually shop for land inside the True Summer palette. Each verdict is measured — the color’s reference hex against all 22 True Summer swatches — not decided by name.

Shop the True Summer palette

7 picks, each anchored to a color you just saw — so they sit inside your range instead of near it. Clothes and jewelry are chosen for the Summer palette, which the three summer seasons share; the lip and cheek shades are picked for True Summer specifically, because that is where a family parts ways.

Heads up: links below may be affiliate links — if you buy through them, Palettewell may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only pick items that genuinely fit your palette.

True Summer questions

Can a True Summer wear black?

Black is not one of the True Summer colors. The deepest neutral in the True Summer set is Grey Navy (#3C4A63), and that is the anchor to reach for when an outfit wants a black — it holds the same weight without flattening True Summer coloring.

What colors should a True Summer avoid?

The 6 colors True Summer should avoid are Orange Rust, Golden Yellow, Camel, Tomato Red, Warm Olive and Copper Brown. Each one misses the palette on undertone, depth or clarity rather than on taste — the measured reason for each is on this page, with a palette swap for every one of them on the True Summer colors-to-avoid page.

Does a True Summer wear gold or silver jewelry?

Silver. True Summer coloring is cool (pink/blue-based), so a cool metal matches the palette's base; gold pulls yellow into the skin and fights it.

What is the best hair color for a True Summer?

True Summer hair follows the same undertone rule as the clothes: ash brown, cool mocha, smoky blonde — depth is fine, warmth is not. The point is to keep hair, skin and palette on one temperature so nothing in the picture argues.

How many colors are in the True Summer palette?

16 palette colors plus 6 neutrals, and Palettewell publishes every one with its hex code. Add the 6 shades to avoid and the True Summer page carries 28 named values in total.

Is True Summer warm or cool?

True Summer is cool (pink/blue-based). On the other two axes it is medium in depth and moderately clear, and those two are what separate True Summer from the other Summer seasons.

What is the difference between True Summer and Light Summer?

Both are Summer seasons, so both share a cool base. They part on value (True Summer is medium, Light Summer is light). In practice that is French Blue, Raspberry Ice and Cool Jade against Powder Blue, Ballet Rose and Sea Glass.

Go deeper on True Summer

Seasons people confuse with True Summer