Soft Autumn: A Complete Guide to Characteristics & Color Palettes

What do Gigi Hadid, Drew Barrymore, and Tyra Banks all have in common? They all share Soft Autumn as their color season, and if you have warm undertones and low contrast between your eyes, hair, and skin, you just might, too! We’ve compiled a complete guide for Soft Autumns, including your best and worst colors, style advice, and makeup and hair tips. We’ve also included some expert insights from professional stylists and hair and makeup artists, so keep reading!

What colors should you wear if you’re a Soft Autumn?

Soft Autumns look best in gentle, warm, earthy tones. Color analyst Bethany Brenneman says the palette includes a blend of autumn and summer colors, like olive green, soft pink or rose, neutral taupe, sandy beige, and soft browns. Warm creams and off-whites also work. Avoid vivid, oversaturated colors and cool tones.

Section 1 of 12:

The Soft Autumn Palette

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Soft Autumns look best in warm, earthy tones like taupe and sage. Think muted and softened versions of the changing colors you might see in nature during the fall season. Examples include soft brown, sandy beige, taupe, dusty rose, salmon pink, olive green, sage green, and pistachio.^{[1]
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- Value: Colors in the Soft Autumn palette tend to have medium value, which means colors are neither super light nor very dark; they’re somewhere in between.
- Hue: Colors lean toward the warm end of the spectrum, meaning they have more yellow than blue undertones.
- Chroma: Colors are low in chroma, meaning they are soft and muted, rather than intensely saturated or bright.^{[2]
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Section 2 of 12:

Colors to Avoid for Soft Autumns

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If you’re a Soft Autumn, very bright and saturated colors tend to overpower you. Because of this, your least flattering colors include vibrant yellows, oranges, and reds, bright pinks and greens, and anything neon.^{[3]
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Research source} Avoid jewel tones, like royal blue or deep purple, which are too intense and too cool.
This includes colors like grey, pure white, pale blue, lavender, and very light pink, which may wash you out. Instead, opt for warmer creams, beiges, and taupes for your neutrals—they’ll complement the natural warmth of your complexion and make you glow. For darker neutrals, opt for caramel brown, deep brown, and warm-leaning gray (gray with a bit of brown in it), rather than pure black.^{[4]
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Section 3 of 12:

Soft Autumn Characteristics

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Soft Autumn individuals have warm undertones and low-contrast features. If you’re a Soft Autumn, you have warm skin undertones and a low contrast level (which means that your skin tone, hair, and eyes are similar in color and blend together, rather than contrasting each other). Soft Autumn falls between True Autumn and Soft Summer on the color season chart, and it includes aspects of both the Autumn and Summer seasons.^{[5]
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Research source} Here’s a breakdown of some specific characteristics:
- Hair colors: Golden blonde, strawberry blonde, auburn, caramel browns, golden brown^{[6]
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- Eye colors: Light brown, medium brown, amber, hazel, soft blue, blue-green^{[7]
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- Skin tones: Light, medium, tan, and deep skin tones with warm or neutral undertones

Section 4 of 12:

Soft Autumn Style Advice

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Put together outfits with similar colors that blend well together. Try not to pair very light and very dark colors together when you’re coming up with outfits. Soft Autumns look best in similar colors that blend together, rather than bold colors that contrast each other. For example, a Soft Autumn would look great in a muted rose dress with a beige jacket, or a sage green top with light brown bottoms. The colors in these combos don’t contrast each other too sharply, so they won’t overpower you.^{[8]
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- On the other hand, Soft Autumns should avoid color combos like light ivory and deep hunter green, or very pale pink and deep brown. The contrast between the colors in these combos is too intense.
- As a Soft Autumn, you can also rock monochromatic looks (outfits with different shades of the same color), since these naturally have lower contrast levels.
- For example, you could wear a neutral brown dress with a tan jacket and caramel-colored heels, or an olive green button-down with a deeper green blazer.
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Choose patterns with low contrast levels in the Soft Autumn color palette. When choosing patterned clothing, try to make sure the pattern itself contains mostly colors within your Soft Autumn palette. For example, a pattern with a sage green background and muted pink and cream-colored flowers would look great on you. On the other hand, if the background is very bright, saturated green, it may not suit you as well.^{[9]
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- Avoid patterns with very high contrast levels, such as a white background with black polka dots. If the background and polka dots are closer in color (like tan and muted rose, or beige and sage green), it will likely suit you more.
- Additionally, large shapes and sharp geometric edges don’t suit you quite as well. Instead, opt for patterns with smaller elements and softer shapes, like florals or small polka dots.^{[10]
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Opt for gold and rose gold accessories over silver tones. For jewelry and metal accents on other accessories, gold and rose gold tend to look better on Soft Autumns than silver. Beyond this, muted or brushed metals are ideal, rather than super shiny or blingy metals. For things like bags, scarves, shoes, or ties, you can pick pretty much anything you’d like, as long as it falls within your regular Soft Autumn palette.
- For sunglasses, stylist and image consultant Sarah McDonald recommends keeping your undertones and contrast level in mind.^{[11]
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- As a Soft Autumn, stick to warm and muted colors like caramel brown, olive green, taupe, or rosy pink, rather than stark or intense colors like black or pure white. Tortoiseshell sunglasses look especially amazing on you, too!
- To complement your low to medium contrast levels, McDonald suggests “find[ing] ones that are pretty similar to your coloring already.”^{[12]
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- For example, if you have a tan or golden skin tone, golden brown frames would look great. If you’re a bit fairer, frames in the beige or soft pink family may suit you best.

Section 5 of 12:

Soft Autumn Capsule Wardrobe

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Build a Soft Autumn capsule wardrobe with pieces you can mix and match. The idea is to build up your wardrobe with quality, versatile basics that you can pair together to create lots of outfits for different occasions, all within your Soft Autumn color palette.^{[13]
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Research source} According to sustainable fashion writer Natalie Kay Smith, 40 pieces is a good rule of thumb to follow. “10 tops, 10 bottoms, 5 trousers, 10 outerwear pieces, 5 dresses; I feel like that would be the main, easy guide to go by,” she explains.^{[14]
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Natalie Kay Smith
Sustainable Fashion Writer

Expert Interview} If you want to build your own capsule wardrobe, here are some tips:
- Start with neutral tops, pants, jackets, and dresses. The bulk of your capsule wardrobe should be made up of neutrals within your color palette (sandy beige, tan, taupe, khaki, caramel browns, muted dark browns, creams) because these are easiest to mix and match.
- Add some colorful statement pieces. Include a few pops of color that are still within the Soft Autumn palette. These could be dresses, tops, jackets, or accessories. Good accent colors include warm-toned pinks, sage, and olive greens, as well as muted teals.
- Include some patterned pieces. A few patterned blouses or dresses are a good way to spice up your capsule wardrobe and add variety. Just make sure the patterns are within your color palette, low contrast, and made up of smaller elements (like florals or small polka dots).
- Pick mostly versatile shoes. Opt for neutral-colored heels, flats, and sneakers, so that you can wear them with several different outfit combos. Once you have your basics, you can include one or two fun pops of color, like a pair of dusty rose or muted green heels.

Section 6 of 12:

Soft Autumn Makeup

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Choose warm-neutral eyeshadows, like shimmery golds and muted pinks. For everyday looks, warm neutrals like beiges, browns, coppers, muted pinks, peaches, and taupes look great. Shimmery golden or rose-toned shadows also work well for some sparkle, and subtle greens work well for a pop of color.^{[15]
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Research source} Due to your lower contrast levels, subtler natural-looking makeup also tends to suit you best, as opposed to more dramatic or striking looks.
- However, if you want to amp up the drama with a smokey eye, opt for brown tones or muted plums, instead of the usual grey and black, which are too cool and too high-contrast for Soft Autumns.
Warm-toned blushes look amazing on Soft Autumns. Rosy pink, peach, or coral blushes are perfect to bring out your natural glow.^{[16]
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Research source} Warm bronzers also work well. If you want to add some highlighter, make sure it leans toward golden or peach-y toned shimmer, rather than cool silvery tones.
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Apply natural-looking lip colors in nude, rosy pink, coral, and caramel. Natural-looking lip colors tend to suit Soft Autumns best. This includes nudes, warm rosy pinks, corals, and coppery or caramel-y brownish shades.^{[17]
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Research source} Try to steer clear of dramatic cool-toned shades, like bright berries, dark reds, or vibrant pinks.
- When it comes to choosing the right lip color, professional makeup artist Katya Gudaeva stresses the importance of trying it on. “There are so many undertones and tones, thousands and thousands of different colors and textures and finishes, so you really need to try it on,” she says.^{[18]
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- She also explains that different shades will look different on different skin tones. “You might pick a color and think, ‘Oh, it's nude,’ and apply it on your lips, and if you have a bright lip color naturally, it will appear pink on your lips instead of being nude […] it’s really trial and error,” Gudaeva explains.^{[19]
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Section 7 of 12:

Soft Autumn Hair Color

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As a Soft Autumn with warmer undertones, cool shades will likely wash you out, but warm shades will bring out your natural glow. For blonde, this means “more golden tones and honey tones,” as opposed to platinum or ashy shades, explains Waldman.^{[20]
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Steven Waldman
Professional Hair Stylist

Expert Interview} For brunettes, rich caramel-y shades or medium browns with golden highlights look great, as well. Reddish tones like auburn also suit a Soft Autumn very well.^{[21]
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Section 8 of 12:

How to Tell if You’re a Soft Autumn

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Look for warm-toned natural hair colors and warm, muted eye colors. Soft Autumns tend to naturally have warm-leaning hair colors, such as golden or strawberry blond, auburn, or caramel brown. They also tend to have softer, more muted eye colors, such as golden or medium brown, amber, hazel, soft green, or soft blue. If you have any of these characteristics, you may be a Soft Autumn.^{[22]
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- Keep in mind that these are basic guidelines, and there may be exceptions. You can definitely still be a Soft Autumn if you don’t fit completely into these categories, especially if a professional has told you that this is your color season.
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Check for green veins on your wrist to see if you have warm undertones.^{[23]
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Julia Dobkine
Color Analysis Expert, Certified Image Consultant, and Style Coach

Expert Interview} Soft Autumns have warm or warm-leaning undertones, so you'll want to check for this first. The easiest way to do this is to look at the veins on the inside of your wrist to check if they’re greenish. “Green veins are an easy, uncomplicated way to say that there's usually a little bit of gold tones in your skin, and a warmer palette would be more flattering,” explains professional hair stylist Steven Waldman.^{[24]
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Steven Waldman
Professional Hair Stylist

Expert Interview} On the other hand, if you only see bluish or purple-ish veins, you likely have cool undertones.
- Another way to check is to try on both gold and silver jewelry. If the gold looks better, you’re likely warm, but if silver looks better, you’re likely cool.
- You can also try on a plain white shirt and see how it looks against your skin. If your skin looks yellowish or golden against the white color, this suggests you have warm undertones, but if it looks pinkish, you may have cool undertones.^{[25]
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- If you have a mix of these characteristics, you may have neutral undertones (a blend of warm and cool). Soft Autumns can have neutral tones, as long as they’re slightly warm-leaning.
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Assess if your hair, eyes, and skin all have a similar coloring and depth. Soft Autumns have a low to medium contrast level, which means your hair, eyes, and skin tone are all similar colors, and none of them stands out super intensely.^{[26]
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Research source} A good way to test this is to take a photo of yourself in black and white. If your skin, hair, and eye colors seem to blend and have a similar level of darkness, you likely have low to medium contrast.
- For example, someone with golden tan skin, medium brown hair, and soft brown eyes would have low contrast because these shades are all pretty close to each other.
- On the other hand, someone with very pale ivory skin, dark black hair, and piercing blue eyes would have high contrast because all of these colors are very different from each other.

Section 9 of 12:

Soft Autumn Celebrities

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Many other celebrities fall into this color season as well, including Drew Barrymore, Mariah Carey, Scarlett Johansson, Gisele Bündchen, Vanessa Williams, Adele, Devon Aoki, Nicole Richie, Angelina Jolie, Thandiwe Newton, Kate Moss, Nathalie Emmanuel, Robert Pattinson, Ryan Gosling, and Justin Timberlake.^{[27]
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Section 10 of 12:

Soft Autumn vs. Soft Summer

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Soft Autumns have warmer undertones than the cool-toned Soft Summer.^{[28]
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Julia Dobkine
Color Analysis Expert, Certified Image Consultant, and Style Coach

Expert Interview} They sit next to each other on the color season chart, so they have a lot in common. For example, both palettes are combinations of Summer and Autumn characteristics, both have lower contrast values, and both look best in soft, muted colors. The main difference is that Soft Autumns have warmer undertones and look best in earthy colors and brownish neutrals, while Soft Summers have cooler undertones and look best in airy pastels and greyish neutrals.^{[29]
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- For example, Soft Autumns would look best in muted olive green, taupe, soft brown, and dusty rose tones, while Soft Summers would look best in soft lavender, blues, greys, and cooler pinks.^{[30]
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  Julia Dobkine
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  Expert Interview}^{[31]
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- If you’re not sure which one you are, use your skin undertones as a guide. Look at your wrist—if you see blue veins under your skin, you're more likely a Soft Summer, and if you see green veins, you’re more likely a Soft Autumn.^{[32]
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Section 11 of 12:

FAQS about the Soft Autumn Color Season

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Can Soft Autumns wear black? Because black is such an intense and striking color, it isn’t always the most flattering on Soft Autumns, who look best in more muted tones. If black clothing tends to overpower you, try wearing a deep brown, or warm-leaning dark grey instead. These neutrals will bring out the warmth in your complexion, hair, and eyes, and they won’t overpower you as much.^{[33]
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- If you still want to wear black, you absolutely can! These aren’t hard and fast rules, and some Soft Autumns look absolutely amazing in black.
- The most important thing is that you feel comfortable and confident in what you’re wearing, and if you feel that way in a black ensemble, go for it!
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What’s the difference between True Autumn and Soft Autumn? True Autumn and Soft Autumn sit next to each other on the color wheel, so they are similar, and both are warm-toned. The main difference between them is that Soft Autumns have slightly lower contrast levels, which means they look best in very muted colors, while True Autumns can handle a bit more saturation.^{[34]
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- For example, the True Autumn palette includes richer, darker, and slightly brighter colors, like coffee brown, burgundy, hunter green, and even some oranges and yellows.^{[35]
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- Soft Autumns, on the other hand, look best in softer browns and olive and sage greens, and they should usually avoid orange and yellow.
- If you’re not sure which one you are, use your contrast level as a guide. If your skin tone, eyes, and hair are all very similar colors, you have lower contrast and are more likely a Soft Autumn. If there’s slightly more contrast between them, you may be a True Autumn.
As a general rule of thumb, Soft Autumns look best in gold because they have warmer skin undertones.^{[36]
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Julia Dobkine
Color Analysis Expert, Certified Image Consultant, and Style Coach

Expert Interview} Gold or rose gold jewelry brings out the natural warmth and glow in your skin. Silver jewelry, on the other hand, may clash with your natural coloring or wash you out.^{[37]
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Yes, Soft Autumns can have brown eyes. However, because Soft Autumns have lower contrast levels, they’ll usually have lighter and more muted brown eyes, as opposed to very deep or saturated brown eyes. They may also have amber-ish or hazel-ish brown eyes.^{[38]
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I don’t like the colors in my palette. Could my season be wrong? The color season system isn’t an exact science, so it’s totally possible to get it wrong sometimes, even if you’ve got your colors analyzed by a professional. If you’re unsure, feel free to try out clothes and makeup in slightly different color seasons to see if they suit you better.
- At the end of the day, it’s about feeling comfortable and confident, and whatever colors make you feel that way are your best colors!

Section 12 of 12:

What is Seasonal Color Analysis?

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Color analysis is the practice of finding your most flattering colors. It uses things like your skin undertones, hair color, eye color, and the contrast levels between them to come up with a color palette that suits your features. You can then use this knowledge to pick out makeup, clothes, and accessories that flatter you perfectly and bring out your natural beauty.^{[39]
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Julia Dobkine
Color Analysis Expert, Certified Image Consultant, and Style Coach

Expert Interview}^{[40]
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- There are four main categories (Winter, Spring, Autumn, and Summer), and within each of these four seasons, there are 3 subtypes.^{[41]
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  Julia Dobkine
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  Expert Interview} This makes a total of 12 possible options, and they are:
  - Dark Winter, Bright Winter, True Winter, Bright Spring, True Spring, Light Spring, Light Summer, True Summer, Soft Summer, Soft Autumn, True Autumn, Dark Autumn

Join the Discussion...

What are the most common seasonal color trends?

Maja Koziara
Color Analysis Expert

Over the past five years, we can see some color trends that are really popular, because they reflect the style of each season:

Spring: bold and fresh colors such as pink, mint, and coral.

Summer: muted, cool tones like lavender, dusty rose, and light blue.

Autumn: warm, deep shades like burnt orange, mustard, and olive.

Winter: deep and rich colors like navy, burgundy, emerald, and black.

Pantone, the company that sets worldwide color standards has the major influence in selecting these color trends. Every year, Pantone selects a Color of the Year and seasonal color palettes that many designers and brands use. These colors create trends in clothing, home decor, and beauty.

The Color of the Year 2025 is Mocha Mousse. This shade is a warm and soft light brown inspired by cacao and coffee. It’s perfect for creating your balanced look and is already popular in fashion collections.