Light Summer hair

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Welcome to one of the trickiest Tones of all for hair.

Why this outrageous claim?

Because so many Light Summer women can’t resist blonde.

I’ve talked about blonde before so let me once again check in with a standard caveat:

Do whatever you like!

This is simply a guide for those who are interested in finding out more about the breadth of Light Summer hair options based on the principles of colour theory.

So everything in this post is about how these principles apply in the context of natural beauty.

Now back to that claim.

Plenty of Light Summers are natural blondes already, while others make convincing blondes with a little assistance from the salon.

But not as many people from this Tone are as super fair as the preference for dye would imply.

And a disproportionate number of Light Summers tend to style themselves quite far from their natural baseline.

Today let’s explore the gorgeous range of Light Summer hair.


 
 


The dimensions of Light Summer

Here’s a reminder about the parameters structuring this Tone.

Light Summer is the transition between Summer and Spring.

The palette is characterised by:


1. Chroma: medium leaning into softness

2. Hue: cool with a small amount of Spring warmth

3. Value: extreme expression of lightness


We can be guided by the neutrals in a given palette for hair inspiration.

Here I’m using the term “neutral” in the context of a palette’s more subtle or understated foundation colours, rather than in the context of hue (warm vs cool vs neutral).



Consider the neutrals stacked to the left of this palette.

What hair might be inspired by these building blocks?

Pale pearl, dove grey, a wide range of taupe laced with chocolate milk, and into all kinds of fascinating mushrooms.

Plus a hint of clouded lemon at the lighter end of yellow.

Let’s not forget the metallic elements missing from this image too - delicate versions of silver, gold or rose gold.

And of course combinations of any of these colours.

But are these colours really the same as those found in hair?

Absolutely.

The paintbox above and the paintbox of a Light Summer person’s natural pigmentation are one and the same.

Harmonious colours find each other.

Meet a Light Summer with undyed hair and you’ll spot these colours in action.

This incredible effect is amplified even more when the palette is applied across all elements of styling.

Case in point:

Model Annemarie Kuus seems to have very real-looking hair in this image.

And you can see how closely the different colours correlate with the neutrals in the Light Summer palette above.

 
 

“Real” blonde

In this post I want to demonstrate that Light Summer offers just as much range in hair colour as any other Tone.

Blonde is the most well-known chapter.

But it’s not the whole story.

Let’s start with the familiar.

This is the aim of many a Light Summer:

 
 


These beautiful ladies are wearing versions of light blonde that are absolutely fine for Light Summers.

Sure there’s a lack of dimension here as the dye is very static and samey root to tip so it doesn’t appear natural.

It’s what you might call a fashion colour.

These examples embrace the concept of hair as an accessory.

Their balance of hue, chroma and value presents in the range of what I personally dub “ash lemon”.

This isn’t perfect harmony but it’s in the ball park - even if the colour is super homogenous or a bit too yellow all-over.

So if these blondes aren’t real, what is?

Here are a few examples of how very light, more natural Light Summer blonde might present:

Add to this our already-visited image of Annemarie Kuus.

 
 



This hair is quite ashy by comparison.

Can I be sure the hair in these examples hasn’t been tampered with?

Nope.

But they present as extremely believable.

I also love the amount of dimension here, it’s really beautiful.

Those yellower or more lemon tones we saw before can definitely be present.

Especially for the occasional Light Summer with pigmentation that leans into the warm.

But generally yellow is more likely to be mixed as hints of Spring-ish warmth amongst a cooler or ashier base, rather than the main event.

The more obviously yellow the hair, the more likely it will overlap with Spring.

The limits of light

Can Light Summer go even lighter than the examples we’ve seen?

Sure.

Very occasionally you’ll find people with striking soft silver hair that looks not-of-this-world.

An example is this ethereal National Geographic portrait of Swedish Sami girl, Ella-Li Spik.


 
 



This hair is the powdery white-blonde we see in some babies or older folks.

Since this is the only image I’ve ever seen of Ella-Li, I can’t be at all sure she is a Light Summer.

After all, although some Light Summers have features that lean cool, there’s a metric shedload of coolness here so True Summer is extremely likely - but who knows.

I also can’t guarantee this hair is natural.

Yet however unusual, Ella-Li’s pigmentation presents as totally balanced and there isn’t a hint of regrowth or shadow at the roots so it’s quite possible.

Perhaps this is the very reason she caught the photographer’s eye in the first place.

And since Ella-Li is still quite young here, there’s also a chance the hair has darkened since the photo was taken.

Can hair like this be captured with a bottle?

Sure.

But because its so rare, it’s unlikely to balance in a truly believable way.

So for most cases, it will read as a fashion colour.


A little more context

Dye has really changed our understanding of just how uncommon natural blonde is for any Tone.

Artificial blonde is so ubiquitous we often don’t notice when it isn’t working that well.

A brunette with blonde ambition will almost always be pushing beyond their natural range.

Very few dyed blondes I’ve seen don’t look forced.

Even amongst Light Summer.

It’s key to understand that blonde as a kid doesn’t always mean artificial blonde as an adult is the most harmonious fit for everyone.

Many kinds of platinum blonde reach too far into the cool for cool-neutral Light Summer.

In addition, the beauty of fair skin and light eyes isn’t necessarily enhanced with blonde.

And stretching into the upper levels of lightness doesn’t always flatter with ease, irrespective of the season.

For example, fair-haired True Autumns exist but they aren’t typical and just because there are lighter hair colours naturally occurring in a small minority of people from that Tone, it doesn’t mean that particular hair will suit every True Autumn equally.

The same principle applies to Light Summer.

Super blonde is a perennial favourite and if anyone can come close to pulling it of, it may well be a certain kind of Light Summer.

The problem arises in that many Light Summers feel that this is their best or most striking look.

Especially because of the false but widespread belief that the mid-dark range of natural hair commonly found in this Tone is boring or mousey and needs blonde to become attractive or a lift to become interesting.

On that point, here’s a reminder:

All natural hair colours are stunningly beautiful.

And all Light Summers are already built out of lift.

 
 

Touring Light Summer hair

Time to put some pictures to all these words!

Let’s take a walk through a tiny sliver of Light Summer options.

I’ve included examples of both natural and fashion colours.

Keep in mind some of these might only harmonise well on a small minority of people from the Tone.

The boundaries of hue, chroma and value in your pigmentation will differ from the next Light Summer’s.

And don’t forget, human colouring is really varied so this is far from an exhaustive list!

Light Summer can balance soft platinum or very fair champagne…

…as well as that popular ash lemon/ Nordic blonde…


…warm-cool blends of pale gold or silvery cream - perhaps with a hint of rose gold - are lovely…

…so is dirty blonde, sometimes laced with strawberry…

…light cool mushroom brown…

…light warm(ish) latte beige and milk tea, occasionally with a barely-there trace of pink…

…versions of medium ash-brunette which for many Light Summers will read as quite dark…


…and a variety of soft silver as hair naturally transitions to grey:

Told you there was range!

There’s some masterful hair colouring going on here as well.

These examples are dynamic and interesting.

Most contain plenty of dimension too.

Light Summers falling naturally at the lighter end of the range are going to find well-applied blonde a breeze.

But those at the medium or darker end may struggle to achieve the same effortless, convincing result.

Likewise the reverse.

Going dark can be equally tricky when the starting point is high on the value scale.

As with any Tone, the very lightest hair colours usually look more natural as blends or highlights rather than applied root-to-tip.

How successfully the proportions of dark vs light or warm vs cool will balance, depends entirely on the person and their own pigmentation.

Some Light Summers have warmer hair, some cooler, some lighter, some darker et cetera.

Add in your own aesthetic preferences and you really have a lot of scope to work with.

Beware the heat

A common repeat mistake I see with Light Summer hair is going too warm.

Western beauty standards are borderline obsessed with the whole golden hair, golden skin thing.

But this look will present as muddy, jaundiced or heavy on cool, airy Light Summers.

Perhaps many Light Summers worry that ash will wash them out.

Or that it looks kinda off when paired with fake tan or contoured makeup.

Which it probably does because adding shadows or bronzing upsets Light Summer balance, leading to a domino effect of changing everything else in response to that one disruption.

Light Summers are really sensitive to changes in value as well.

A dash of dark that’s barely be detectable on another Tone is magnified out of proportion in their delicate, high value colour space.

Let’s consider a few comparisons.

Constance Jablonski

 
 

Joely Richardson

 
 


Doutzen Kroes

 
 

Princess Charlene of Monaco

 
 



Case Study: Robin Wright

I’m not stopping!

I’m on a roll.

The gorgeous Robin Wright will take us on our next hair adventure.

 
 


Robin’s natural colour seems to be somewhere near the medium-light end of the typical Light Summer range and contains some warmth.

But the ashiness is absolutely there too.

Robin’s real hair is a sunlit dirty blonde.

Despite the usual challenges of bad lighting and poor resolution, I hope you can still see enough of what I’m talking about here:

 
 


Robin’s hair in beloved film The Princess Bride is dyed.

It’s a bit yellower than she can balance and there’s an ashy shadow at the roots.

It’s probably a better fit for Light Spring.

But at least the colour is plenty light which does work in Robin’s favour.

 
 



These days Robin usually opts for a mixed look with a blend of light, dark, warm and cool.

It can end up a bit too yellow at times but works out well just as often.

I think she looks her best when she keeps the hair ash-forward.

Case in point:

 
 



Loving Blonde

Just to be really clear - when done well - I do actually love blonde for many Light Summers.

I just want to get a little perspective and celebrate the beauty of the full range of hair.

To prove my point, let’s dig deeper with some more winning examples.

Cate Blanchett sometimes edges into too-warm blondness but here are some of her best Light Summer-friendly choices.

Very pretty.

These blondes suit Cate.

But I expect the colour below is much closer to her natural hair:

 
 

We can clearly tell that younger Cate’s hair - before she dedicated herself to super light dyes - was a lovely shade of beige-blonde.

You can see similar hair in some of her earlier film roles.

It looks miraculously effortless and no less beautiful.

Cate’s Hollywood blonde is gorgeous but definitely a more heightened, artificial, and high-maintenance choice, quite removed from her natural colouring.


Famous blonde Reese Witherspoon usually gets the balance right.

There are loads of pics of her nailing the exact levels of hue and value for her pigmentation.

I’ve used this image in posts before but it’s such a terrific example of warm/cool Light Summer bottle blonde, I’ve trotted it out again:


 
 


Behold this breathtakingly clever example of Light Summer colour mixing, care of Naomi Watts:


 
 


This gradient of ash blonde is heavenly.

Not too light, not too cool, not too yellow.

Striking, sheer perfection.

Because just like other seasons, Light Summers often benefit from depth.

Their version of depth of course!

Let’s remember that hair is an accessory for loads of people.

And fashion colours that aren’t intended to look like real hair can still be great.

Here January Jones is doing all kinds of Light Summer candy-coloured fun with lemon butter blonde and pastel pink:


I have referenced Sasha Pivovarora before but here she is again, because this hair colour just feels so very, very real:


This is what I mean when I use the term “convincing blonde”.

Something like this could very well be Sasha’s actual hair colour.

Overlooking that the image is very clearly photoshopped of course.

And now for a special thanks to Aussie model Abbey Lee Kershaw for being a Light Summer hair hero.

Abbey loves all the Light Summer hair.

Considering how often she changes her look (she’s a model after all!), there are a surprising number of examples where she repeats her personal levels of hue, chroma and value to very flattering effect.

Here is Abbey embracing the season’s varied glory:

 
 

Light Summer in action

And if I haven’t offered enough examples already, I’m adding a few more for good measure.

Here are some possible Light Summer celebs nailing the season’s hair:


Wrap up

The ultimate goal of the aesthetic of natural beauty is to balance a group of proximate colours.

Balance is achieved when combining colours that share the same levels of hue, chroma and value.

Why is this result so appealing?

Because we can so easily see the person before us.

Real and alive and utterly unique.

Case in point:

 
 


Just wow.

So multi-dimensional.

Features connected in high relief.

All elements of the face and hair belonging to each other.

Attention does not jump joltingly between hair, lips, brow, skin.

No single part competes over another.

When you look at these people you see every element of the face at the same time, united.

You start to fall into the eyes.

These people look original and uniquely themselves.

Sure, they are young and genetically blessed.

But that’s not the only reason we are drawn magically and comfortably into their gaze.

It’s also because we can see a real human being - without any distractions.

The main message here is similar to that from other posts.

If you like dying your hair blonde - or any other hair colour - go for it.

Just think about your incentive and perhaps reassess the best fit for your particular colour space.

Committing to dyed hair in any form is expensive and extremely high maintenance.

Your borrowed blonde doesn’t always need to be drawn from the very lightest versions available.

Consider highlights or balayage rather than uniform, all-over dye.

A good colourist will know all about mixing in some darker ash or mushroom to craft a more natural result.

And remember that blonde isn’t the only option so for those who prefer a deeper or more brunette look, absolutely explore your season’s range.

Or forgo the dye altogether and rediscover your gorgeous natural hair colour.

So be blonde.

Or don’t.

And give a little love to your special Light Summer magic.