The face of True Summer
/I have almost never seen a True Summer styled in their best natural colours.
Stylists cannot resist warming up this season.
It’s compulsive.
There’s a broad lack of acceptance that some people really do look better entirely bereft of heat.
A bronzy, sun-kissed base does not always communicate a healthy glow.
The merest suggestion of peach or gold will ruin True Summer’s gauzy shimmer.
Blonde highlights with even an infinitesimal amount of yellow will look dirty and disconnected, like poorly matched hair extensions.
Occasionally True Summers are styled like Winters.
This at least keeps things cool but the effect is very harsh.
To look at, True Summers often appear similar to other seasons.
Their inherent coolness, softness or lightness is not always obvious to the untrained eye.
Hair may seem to contain warmth but when surrounded by the palette, its ashiness is revealed.
Complexion may be a little sallow but the effect disappears when styled as True Summer, leaving an extremely attractive silvery highlight across the skin.
This landscape captures something of that energy:
Would this image be enhanced with orange or brown?
Ergo a True Summer face.
The most flattering True Summer hair or makeup colours often seem like they wouldn’t suit anyone.
Most people are washed out in cloudy lavender and mink.
Cool taupes find and deepen all the face’s hollows and shadows - with only True Summer spared.
Most folks appear rather cadaverous in purely cool watercolour pastels.
Given that comparatively there aren’t many True Summers around, and they almost never wear their natural palette, we seldom have the opportunity to experience the elegance of the season.
Luckily I have done some homework for you!
Here are a few celebs I believe are True Summers wearing minimalist makeup.
Megan’s eyeshadow and the hair in her bun are too warm but her coolness is still coming through loud and clear.
I am particularly enraptured with Caitriona’s look because she is wearing grey mascara, silver highlighter and an exquisitely delicate sweep of rose.
Mother of pearl magnificence.
You can’t necessarily pick a person’s Tone by looking at their hair, eyes or skin colour.
But you can spot patterns.
What are these faces not?
They are not rich and smouldering.
They are not emitting brilliant, sunny light.
They are not dark, crisp or graphic.
What do these faces seem to share?
A delicate, clean airiness.
Rose pink undertones even if there’s a hint of yellow to the skin.
Pale yet luminous complexion like moonlight has been shaped and formed into a human.
Summers look like they’re wearing the fade filter all the time.
Almost-bright Light Summer sports this quality the least and vintage Soft Summer the most.
Our True Summer friends are somewhere in between.
True Summer’s filter is also overlaid with the cool blue-grey setting as if the photo was taken in the rain.
Pretty sure that’s what’s happening with the portrait of Yael Shelbia.
A little “grey-out” is a True Summer’s happy place.
More examples, I hear you ask?
Sure thing.
I’ve noticed most True Summer celebs dress as Soft Summers.
It’s a closely related season so the results aren’t terrible yet even a hundredth of an ounce of warmth oxidises as a muddy brown residue on their skin.
It was tricky finding good examples and although not 100% perfect (I implore you to ignore Anna Kendrick’s black liner), these are fairly well balanced.
When wearing their palette, a True Summer’s teeth and whites of the eyes lighten and skin lifts.
You see the person.
Makeup becomes an accessory to an individual’s beauty, not the other way around.
And here are a few extra glamour looks courtesy of Monika Jagaciak:
Sublime. I swoon.
Not a speck of bronzer or peachy cheek in sight.
Zero cocoa or gold shadows to muddy the complexion.
Blue-based rose pink.
Pay particular attention to the way taupe and grey are swept around the eyes.
Depth and drama without losing sight of Monika.
Look at the attention to detail in the choice of jewellery.
This is an English rose version of old Hollywood glamour.
Let me unpack that idea that a little more.
We are usually much more familiar with True Winters and the black, white and red (or fuchsia) of their classic and popular makeup palettes.
Remember that faded blue-grey filter?
Imagine using it on these True Winters:
Oh wait a second!
With the wonders of technology we actually can try that.
Check out our True Winters now with a cool filter and 15% transparency.
The coolness carries but their punchy crispness is clouded out.
Black becomes charcoal.
Reds dissolve to rose.
Skin turns luminous silver.
Our True Winters looked better before they started masquerading as True Summers.
This exercise is about how to conceptualise a starting point for someone whose natural template is already set at this cool fade.
Sometimes True Summers are even enhanced by this photography effect.
Or at least less bothered by it.
Zooey Deschanel is a True Winter but her sister Emily is a True Summer.
Here they are at the 2013 Emmys:
Zooey is on the left, Emily on the right.
Predictably there’s too much warmth creeping in for both of them (sighs tiredly).
But we will discount that where we can since it’s not a deal breaker for this discussion.
Now, who looks better when the resolution does something odd?
Emily is struggling less to stand up against the drained colour.
Although still impacted of course, she looks more like herself and the colour of her cool silver-grey dress is almost unchanged.
In fact, there are a few elements of Emily’s styling that are actually improved.
The lipstick she wore at this event belongs to True Winter but in this altered photo the match is spot on.
Zooey on the other hand needs way more brightness to look her best.
Note how the icy blue of her eyes look flattened and less lively.
Her choice to skip pigmented lipstick is not paying off either.
This isn’t a perfect example sure, but it can still offer us some learning.
Just for fun, here are Zooey and Emily styled more favourably towards their separate seasons.
Red vs rose.
Pure white vs cloudy white.
Cool, bright and dark vs cool, soft and light.
Many True Summers deride their fair skin.
What a mistake.
Is the moon pasty and washed out?
How about a polished mother of pearl necklace?
Does this extraordinary peacock need “fixing” because it’s too pale?
Of course not.
That striking silvery radiance is the very quality we admire.
Yet we fail to extend that consideration to ourselves and even each other.
We need to expand our understanding of beauty and break away from socially accepted lies that you aren’t good enough as you are.
All human colouring is beautiful.
Since most True Summers almost never see themselves in flattering colours, there’s a strong chance they have never seen their skin truly come alive either.
They are ignorant of their showstopping colour presence.
Locked in a cycle of forever trying to figure out what looks right.
And because what looks right is unusual and poorly understood they are constantly disappointed.
I have a lot of sympathy for why True Summers fall prey to the constant refrain of smothering their ethereal coolness with heat.
Which is why it’s important to review styling habits from time to time.
Are our styling choices working in our best interest?
Take the following examples.
Is the natural beauty of these lovely ladies improved with fake tan?
How about spicy depth or bright fruitiness?
Odeya Rush
Emily Blunt
Bella Heathcote
Even when the makeup is masterfully applied, warmth completely disconnects with a True Summer.
It’s drab at best and kind of weird at worst.
A tiny element, like a touch of gold liner, will stand out like a grubby mark on a freshly painted wall.
Contouring drags the face down with weight not befitting such a light airy person.
Heavy black or Winter-shaded eyes create an alien-like illusion that I actually find a bit disturbing.
Emily DiDonato is outrageously beautiful but even she can’t escape these exact effects:
In these cases, Emily is showcasing the makeup.
So it isn’t really about her per se.
She is just a canvas.
The makeup is more important than Emily.
In case you aren’t familiar with Emily, here she is looking more natural.
Emily is a model so she’s a vehicle for the fashion and beauty business.
It’s her job to look different a million times over.
She needs to be a chameleon for the artist, stylist or photographer.
But no matter what you try, you simply cannot turn a True Summer into an Autumn irrespective how on-trend copper eyeshadow may be.
Meet English fashion maven Victoria Magrath.
Here are some of her more True Summer-friendly makeup looks.
Not everything here is perfectly on-season but there’s a good deal to admire.
Look what Victoria is doing with cool grey, pink, dark slate and taupe eyeshadows.
It’s breathtaking.
True Summer taupes are pinkish or purplish.
Light or Soft Summer taupes will read as brown on a True Summer face, even though they aren’t particularly.
That first pink lipstick is too bright and probably belongs with True Winter, yet the coolness is translating.
I’m spotting a very pretty cheek in Picture 2.
Yes yes yes to silvery highlights with a hint of shimmery colour.
I adore that deep rose lipstick in the last image.
I wish Victoria chose versions of that colour over the Soft Summer earth rose appearing in several other pics.
Just remember, a neutral lip on a cool season will be blue-based pink, not a browned Autumny “flesh tone”.
The darker, warm foundation is beautifully applied but less flattering.
Victoria looks more alive and natural bathed in softly pale radiance.
Great True Summer silver ash hair.
Not at all natural of course but a fab fashion colour.
Victoria has such a heightened sense of style I couldn’t hazard a guess at her natural Tone.
Maybe she is a True Summer under there since some of these colours do look particularly good on her.
The cool eyes are trumping the cool-netural lips, for example.
Ultimately I just really appreciate that Victoria is exploring this rarely seen corner of the colour space.
Bravo Victoria!
Now for a few tips so you can approach the True Summer cosmetic counter with confidence.
True Summer tempest darks are plenty dramatic.
Look at this incredible image that captures the value range of True Summer:
I’ve turned it into a photo palette by lifting out a few key colours.
This is the direction a True Summer should look to for inspiration.
Not black.
Never black.
Mascara and eyeliner in deep slate, soft navy or cool charcoal like the sea and the cloud.
Keep gradients smooth between colours.
You are more powdery than glowy.
Stormy eyes offer drama; opaline layers let you play with colour.
Shadows don’t generally suit light seasons so just beware.
Depth is ok if palette-friendly - a smoked eye or deeper lip colour, for example.
But lowlights really are very unflattering (I’m looking at you, contouring!).
This season is all about iridescent softness.
Nacre meets cotton wool.
Highlight is everything but be careful not to go shiny.
A pearl is luminous not juicy.
Look to finely milled shimmer products and bypass anything too frosty.
Avoid anything with even a barely-there hint of warmth.
Under all circumstances. At all times. Without exception.
Here are some examples to help you along.
You can actually go more colourful than this, I just had trouble finding examples of the range.
So refer to your palette and take free reign to experiment with anything there!
And a quick caveat: if you see black anywhere please ignore it.
It is nigh on impossible to avoid when scouting for images and in no way implies a recommendation.
This is a love letter to True Summers everywhere.
Yes, your teenage self was right all along.
You are misunderstood!
But now you have a roadmap out.
You are very special.
Don’t deprive us of your remarkable magic by hiding behind other seasons.
We are dying to admire your sea storm beauty.
