Summer colour analysis: makeup shades that suit you

The summer season groups people with a cool undertone and soft, delicate colouring. Picture a hazy summer evening: powdery colours with a hint of grey and nothing too loud. If you're a summer, very saturated or very dark colours tend to shout louder than you do, while soft, cool shades make your skin look even and luminous.

How to recognise a summer

• Skin: fair to medium, with pink or neutral hints. Usually burns easily and tends to flush.
• Hair: ash blonde, light or medium brown without golden highlights, sometimes greying early.
• Eyes: grey-blue, muted green, grey or soft brown.
• Contrast: low to medium. Skin, hair and eyes have similar intensity.

Our colour analysis test measures your contrast by comparing the lightness of your skin, hair and iris; for summers it's usually low.

The three summers

• Light summer: the brightest. Pale pinks, lavender and sky blue.
• Cool summer: the coolest. Soft raspberry, navy, blue-grey.
• Soft summer: the most muted. Mauves, dusty rose, sage green, taupe.

Makeup that flatters a summer

Lipsticks

Cool, soft, medium-intensity shades:

• Dusty pinks and rose.
• Mauves and soft berries.
• Muted raspberry.
• Pinky nudes.

Avoid oranges, bright corals and warm browns — they tend to make your skin look sallow.

Blush

Soft pink, dusty rose and mauve. A cool-toned liquid blush gives a very natural flush. Strong peaches can look muddy on your skin.

Eyeshadow

Taupe, soft grey, lavender, mauve, dusty pink and blue-grey. For night, a smoky eye in taupe-grey or soft plum is more flattering than black.

Liner and brows

Grey, taupe or cool brown liner. For brows, taupe or ash brown.

Colours that dull you

Orange, mustard yellow, warm brown and pure black. If you love black, separate it from your face with a pink lip or a scarf in your colours.

Clothes, accessories and hair

Summers shine in blue-grey, lavender, dusty pink, pearl grey, sage, soft navy and cool off-white. Prints work best when they're soft and low-contrast. In jewellery, silver, white gold and white or grey pearls flatter you more than yellow gold.

If you colour your hair, ash blondes, cool beige and browns without red tones respect your natural harmony. Copper or very golden shades can make your skin look ruddy.

If the test is torn between summer and another season

Torn between summer and winter? Look at contrast: if a bold red lipstick overwhelms your face, you're a summer. Torn between summer and autumn? Compare a dusty pink with a terracotta: the first flatters summers, the second autumns. In the test result you can pick your season manually and see the catalogue shades that suit you best.

Common summer mistakes

• Choosing yellowish beige nudes — look for pink-based nudes instead.
• Wearing harsh black liner every day — grey or taupe is more flattering.
• Overdoing bronzer — try a pink blush instead.

A summer look in three steps

1. Satin taupe shadow on the lid, blended towards the crease.
2. Dusty rose blush on the cheeks.
3. A satin mauve or cool pink lipstick.

Try it on your own face with the office look, which uses soft, medium shades.

Frequently asked questions

Can a summer wear red?

Yes: a raspberry red or a soft blue-red. Avoid orange-reds.

Why do bright colours make me look tired?

Because your natural contrast is low. Very saturated colours grab attention and make your features look muted by comparison.

Summer or winter?

Both are cool. The difference is contrast and intensity: winter has high contrast and pure colours; summer has low contrast and soft colours.