Discover your color palette and your style type.

True Summer Makeup Word Cloud

9/24/2018

The True Summer (a.k.a. Cool Summer) makeup list has almost 800 products on it that have been precisely matched to original Sci/Art True Summer colors.

(For those of you just joining us, if you're a True Summer, the colors in your True Summer palette are your most beautiful makeup colors.)

In terms of hue, value, and chroma, True Summer's colors, and therefore its makeup products, are

- very cool (appearing blue-toned)
- somewhat more light than dark
- somewhat faded

When you look at a list of makeup products that all match a very defined palette, you start to see certain color words over and over again. Let's look at the list of ~800 products that match the True Summer palette, and see which color words appear the most often.

Pink, blue, and grey. That pretty much sums up True Summer, actually.

Here's True Summer's makeup word cloud next to Light Summer's makeup word cloud, which I talked about last week:

Pink is super-important for True Summer, as it is for Light Summer. But as we move from Light Summer into True Summer, the colors become both cooler and darker. The increase in coolness explains why blue and grey suddenly become much more important, while brown almost disappears; the increase in darkness explains why plum is now making a huge showing.

While we're on the subject of darker colors, you may be wondering why "black" appears in any True Summer makeup names, since True Summer technically does not contain black in its palette. (And True Summers are overwhelmed by black.) In the True Summer makeup list, you see "black" appear as a modifier indicating a darker shade: for example, Estee Lauder's Black Plum eyeliner, or CoverGirl's Black Sapphire mascara. True Summer neutrals don't go as dark as pure black, but True Summer does have some deep blues, purples, charcoals and purple-browns. (By contrast, there's no Light Summer makeup color that could be described as "black" anything.)

Here are True Summers Ashley Green and Georgina Chapman in makeup that's great for their season.

If you're a confirmed or suspected True Summer, do you recognize your best makeup in these color names? Share in the comments!

(If you don't know your color season, consider trying the at-home draping cards.)

14 Comments

Lilac

9/24/2018 03:23:41 pm

Could I be a true summer, if I can't pull off icy pinks, orchids, cool violet and indigo? (Neither for makeup nor for clothes)
Some of the true summer palettes I found online have those colors, and some don't.
(The rest of the palette fits perfectly!)

9/24/2018 04:54:54 pm

It's really hard to answer that without being able to look at the same colors you're calling 'orchid' etc. But as a thought, icy pinks are actually winter colors. This is what threw me off from realizing I was a light summer - I thought what people commonly call 'pastels' were actually the icy-cold-pure tones of winter. They're overwhelming to summers, even though they are light. There's a kind of vivid cold intensity that leeches all the color right out of my face - but looks great on a true winter. (see http://tealinspiration.com/how-to-wear-pink-if-youre-a-winter/) Summer winters should look more like berries or petals. Sometimes, it's the fabric that makes it softer.

Indigo, as in purple/blue can be tricky for true summer because it often has an undertone of purple, which takes it away from pure blue and into red (so, warmer). And cool violet... I'm not sure what that means. So... purple but bluish? Again, if it leans purple, it might be too red. TSu purples all lean greyish. There is little to no red in them.

If you're looking at TSu works but not the deeper and/or icy colors, maybe LSu? Or SSu? TSu is the old 'classic' summer, so this was the season my grandmother wore before they went from 4 seasons to 12. A lot of the old style advice still dumps a lot of summers into TSu, I think.

I hope that helps!

9/26/2018 02:10:39 pm

Thanks, I'll try SS. :-)

9/27/2018 03:40:02 pm

Best of luck! Finding a season takes a while if you're doing it on your own. But I think it can be done. I'll add - Rachel's draping cards on this site were really useful and a very affordable way to get my color season figured out on the cheap. I take them shopping with me and even though I get weird looks while swatching stuff in the stores, I come home with spot-on results.

Qui

10/1/2018 06:04:23 am

What is the difference between: „Shopping Guides” and „Visual Style Guides” in the store?
I don't know which one to choose.

9/25/2018 10:37:41 pm

Not every color in your native palette will necessarily be great on you--the ones that aren't are often better as small accents away from your face rather than as, say, a shirt. I know there's some colors in my TW palette that I wouldn't wear in large blocks! :) So long as the TSu palette *as a whole* is your best fit compared to the others, you're good.

Could also be that those particular colors don't go well with your Style ID. I'd hazard a guess you don't have a lot of Ingenue or Dramatic?

9/26/2018 02:20:38 pm

It's just that I have olive skin. I definitely look better with cool colors rather than warm, but the magentas (orchids, cool pinks, etc) are a bit of a problem. Magenta is the opposite color of green, and it makes my olive skin (which already has a bit of green in it) even more greenish :-)
(I'll try the soft summer pallete, it seems to have less of those colors.)
About the style identity, that's a good idea. I'm an ingenue, which is probably the real reason why I dont like dark violet and indigo near my face... they are just too grown up and severe. Thanks!

9/29/2018 12:45:05 am

Oh yes, the olive tones would make the pinks difficult. At least as a Summer, you have lots of pretty lighter blues, purples, and periwinkles to choose from. I wonder if the lighter greens from whichever palette you settle on might agree with you--they might cancel out some of the green tones in your skin, and mint equivalents are often great on Ingenues.

9/28/2018 12:38:47 pm

Now, when you are talking about True Summer I had to ask - do you think that colour called 'dove grey' is True Summer's colour or Bright Spring? What is real dove grey colour? because I've seen pigeons with light and dark but cool grey feathers, and with more brownish, warm and I'm confused with one is dove grey :)

9/29/2018 12:38:55 am

Dove grey is actually listed on this site's True Summer page :). Bright Spring has gray, light gray, medium gray, stone, pewter, and silver, but no dove grey.

9/30/2018 04:42:51 am

KC, I just needed to confirm this information :). Now I know I was right when telling one person that dove grey isn't for BSP. That person gives advices on her page as PCA analist. We have to beware of such amateurs who are wrong, they are everywhere, (but not here) :)
First I thought that she has different idea of that colour, but I see that dove grey is just light grey, no warm.

SuD

10/17/2018 07:40:06 am

I sit somewhere between true and soft summer. Gray is my best neutral, but I can cross into some soft summer and soft autumn colors. Neither true or soft has fully worked for me.

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3/19/2019 02:40:23 am

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Dennice

8/11/2021 11:38:27 am

I would like to buy the makeup list recommendations, but I worry if most products are not cruelty free? Just taking a glimpse of the photo of products I see mostly if not all products as not being cruelty free. Should I not buy the shopping list? Does anyone know if there’s a good amount of cruelty free products on the list that I can actually use?

Truth is Beauty

True Summer Makeup Word Cloud

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