Seasonal Color Analysis: Soft Autumn- Women of Color Edition
Hi everyone, welcome back! This is Nona from thealignedlover.com, and by popular request, I’m continuing my series exploring seasonal color analysis with a special focus on women of color. Today, we’re diving into the beautiful Soft Autumn season.
Before we get into the examples, let’s briefly go over what the Soft Autumn season entails. In the 12-season color system, Soft Autumn sits between Summer and Autumn. Its main characteristic is mutedness, it leans warm, and it also carries some of the depth from the Autumn season.
If we look at the Munsell color system, which breaks down color into three qualities, Soft Autumn is more moderate in value, meaning we don’t see super light or super dark colors. In terms of chroma, it’s low because it’s very muted. And for hue, it leans warm, with most colors occupying the red to green-blue space. Think of it as subdued or muted warmth with a bit of depth, creating a feeling like a sunset.
Understanding the Soft Autumn Palette
It’s important to remember that this is a generalized Soft Autumn palette. While most of these colors will look great on you if you are a Soft Autumn, they won’t look equally great on all Soft Autumns. Your personal preferences are incredibly important.
Soft Autumn Beauties: Celebrity Examples
Let’s look at some real-world examples to see Soft Autumn in action.
Thandie Newton (Sandy Newton)
Our first example is the lovely Miss Thandie Newton. As you can see, her coloring is muted. Many Soft Autumns have subtle brows or look best with them. If your skin and hair suggest Soft Autumn but your brows are very dark, try lightening them a little. This can create a more cohesive appearance, as the goal of the seasonal color system is to harmonize all your colors as extensions of your strongest color qualities.
You’ll see Thandie shines in muted, low-contrast, pinky-peachy tones, making her skin radiant. Compare this to a high-contrast, high-chroma, sharper white and red ensemble, which can distract and make her skin look less luminous. When colors act as extensions of your skin tone, they emphasize your natural glow.
For Soft Autumns who think they can’t wear black, that’s not true! Look at Thandie in a softer black versus a contrasted black. Black can work if it has a gradual effect, like mesh or shimmer, breaking up the solidity. A very one-dimensional, flat black can be too high-contrast, especially with a sharp lip color.
You might think someone with deeper hair or skin would always suit jewel tones, but that’s not the case. Thandie looks beautiful in warm gray and natural-looking lip colors that make her features pop. Deep jewel tones can distract and just not connect with her.
Another win for sheer fabrics! They soften and lower contrast, unlike a too-bright, high-contrast yellow, grey, and white that takes focus away from her.
Nicole Richie
Next up, we have Nicole Richie, a low-contrast, soft olive-toned beauty.
She looks gorgeous in a soft, muted yellow, while a bright yellow competes with her skin tone. Just because you’re warm doesn’t mean all yellows will work for you.
Nicole in a gorgeous salmon color demonstrates how knit textures create soft shadows, lessening overall contrast and adding autumnal depth. Color and texture are inseparable; the same shade in different fabrics can speak to your season differently. Textured, knitted effects are great for muted or softer seasons, while shimmery, reflective, solid fabrics suit high-chroma seasons. A bright marigold on pleather can be overwhelming.
One of my favorite looks ever is Nicole in an olive-y green, green-bronze look—a masterpiece of color. She looks incredible. Compare this to a cooler forest green with bright silver diamond jewelry, which looks separate and creates a restrained, subdued look. When Nicole wears her colors, her skin pops, even muted skin tones have that pop.
Here’s a fun one: the difference between reds. A red that’s slightly warmer, with an orangey-brown tone, looks closer to you than a bluer red. Warmer colors register as closer because evolutionarily, we focused on bright colors like fire for survival.
Mariah Carey
Last up, we have Mariah Carey. She has relatively deeper coloring than our first two examples, but still looks great in muted, soft tones. Seasonal color analysis is about finding your best worn shades and how colors interact with you, not isolating features to deduce your season.
Let’s compare Mariah in a gorgeous olive green versus a light matcha latte green shows the power of depth. The olive green hits and makes her look beautiful, especially with a slightly darker, softly shiny bomber jacket. The spring green is too light, making her look a little gray.
Mesh returns here! It’s fantastic for lowering contrast and softening the look, looking gorgeous on her, especially with that bronzy gold shimmer. Her luminous look and perfect lip color stand out, unlike a dark, solid black with diamonds that looks flat and heavy, not acting as an extension.
Mariah really connects with bronzy gold, especially with sparkles that break it up further. A silver and diamond ensemble, however, is too cool, too bright, and doesn’t perfectly frame her. Think of yourself as a work of art: would you frame a beautiful, warm-toned impressionist painting in something organic and natural-looking, or something modern and abstract? You’d choose the former for the impressionist piece, just as you choose the best frame for yourself.
Your Personalized Color Journey
These Soft Autumn beauties, despite looking very different when isolating their hair, skin, brows, and eyes, truly shine in these colors. But again, these are generalized examples. To find your absolute best colors, I offer a highly personalized seasonal color analysis.
Let me know if you have any suggestions or requests for articles or videos in the comments. I’ll see you in the next one!
xx
Nona
