Summer season · Hair color

Hair colors for a Light Summer

Hair shades that flatter Light Summer coloring and the ones that flatten it — matched to your undertone, depth and contrast, with swatches.

The hair colors that flatter a Light Summer are led by Platinum Blonde (#EDE4D3), Ash Blonde and Beige Blonde — 6 shades in all, scored against Light Summer's cool undertone and light depth. 4 shades pull the other way, Dark Chocolate among them.

What hair color suits a Light Summer?

Cool and light: ash blonde, beige blonde, light ash brown — golden warmth fights you. That is the stylist summary. The list below is the computed one: every shade in our reference set scored against Light Summer's cool undertone and light depth, best first.

  • Platinum Blonde#EDE4D3
  • Ash Blonde#D9CDB4
  • Beige Blonde#DCC9A6
  • Ash Brown#6A5B4E
  • Mushroom Brown#7C6E64
  • Mahogany#6E2E33
Hair shades that flatter a Light Summer
Platinum Blonde #EDE4D3cool tone · light depth · icy, no yellow cool tone agrees with your cool undertone, sits exactly at your light depth
Ash Blonde #D9CDB4cool tone · light depth · greyed-off, no gold cool tone agrees with your cool undertone, sits exactly at your light depth
Beige Blonde #DCC9A6neutral tone · light depth · balanced, neither gold nor ash neutral tone agrees with your cool undertone, sits exactly at your light depth
Ash Brown #6A5B4Ecool tone · medium depth · cool, smoky cool tone agrees with your cool undertone, sits one step off your light depth
Mushroom Brown #7C6E64cool tone · medium depth · greyed, soft cool tone agrees with your cool undertone, sits one step off your light depth
Mahogany #6E2E33cool tone · medium depth · red-violet brown cool tone agrees with your cool undertone, sits one step off your light depth

Can a Light Summer go dark?

Not without losing the effect. None of the 6 shades that flatter a Light Summer sit at deep depth, and Dark Chocolate lands on the avoid list outright. Light Summer coloring is light in depth, and hair that far off it stops reading as contrast and starts reading as a wig.

Which hair colors should a Light Summer avoid?

4 shades score low enough to skip. Each one either fights the undertone or sits too far from Light Summer's natural depth to read as yours.

  • Dark Chocolate#3E2A1E
  • Light Caramel#B07B41
  • Copper#A85426
  • Auburn#8C3B22
Hair shades a Light Summer should avoid
Dark Chocolate #3E2A1Ewarm tone fights your cool undertone, sits two steps off your light depth
Light Caramel #B07B41warm tone fights your cool undertone, sits one step off your light depth
Copper #A85426warm tone fights your cool undertone, sits one step off your light depth
Auburn #8C3B22warm tone fights your cool undertone, sits one step off your light depth

Light Summer hair color: common questions

What hair color should a Light Summer avoid?

Dark Chocolate, Light Caramel, Copper, Auburn — 4 of the 19 shades scored come out low for a Light Summer. Dark Chocolate is the clearest miss: warm tone fights your cool undertone, sits two steps off your light depth.

Do ash or cool tones suit a Light Summer?

Yes — 5 of the 6 shades that flatter a Light Summer are cool-toned, against 0 warm. Ash is the register to ask your colorist for.

What is the safest hair color for a Light Summer?

Platinum Blonde (#EDE4D3) — icy, no yellow. It scores highest of all 19 shades for a Light Summer because its cool tone agrees with your cool undertone, sits exactly at your light depth.

Does dyeing your hair change your color season?

No. Your season comes from undertone, which lives in your skin and does not move. Dyed hair changes your contrast level, which is why a Light Summer who goes several shades off their depth often feels like their old colors stopped working — the palette is unchanged, the balance is not.

More Light Summer guides

The other Summer seasons