Color Breeze System: Dusty Soft Spring Vs. Sunlit Soft Summer Part 1

I’ve done a lot of work trying to compare the Toned Spring and Toned Summer palettes. I realized though I am using the old system. I have ordered The Dusty Soft Spring (a cooler spring) and the Sunlit Soft Summer (a lighter value Soft Summer) and am excited to compare my favorite colors to those fans!

Curious too about this…and how different the colors will be from the Toned Summer fan.

This Spring has blue eyes and looks cooler and a lot more like me. I am curious to see if these colors are better on me and match my personal found best colors closer. I’m very curious too because in my Soft Summer 12 blueprints draping, there was a Light Summer yellow that looked good on me and curious to know if it really was it’s relation to Dusty Soft Spring yellow that we were seeing work.

Another angle of my favorite green. It’s close but the fan sits a bit with the Toned Spring fan, I wonder if the Dusty Soft Spring will match better. I can’t wait to find out!

The palette (Toned Summer) sinks in, so it’s a better match for me then Toned Spring.

Even with that subtle orange sheen that made me think it was originally Toned Spring, the Toned Spring fan here does sit a bit and isn’t fully sinking in…

Again, another better match! Sinking in with Toned Summer fan. So curious as to how Sunlit Soft Summer will look to this favorite pink color of mine and how it will also compare to the Dusty Soft Spring.

These were my favorite draping colors from my most recent experiment. When I receive the new fans I will swatch and share right away.

I am so happy there is a cooler Soft Spring, and that there is a lighter Soft Summer. Those palettes, I am already positive will be superior for me, to these old palettes I’ve been using. I am also very curious on how they will match my personal custom color palettes…

Thanks for reading!

~Softmosaic

Toned Spring Vs. Toned Summer

Ever since I have studied color I have hoped to crack the color code. Is is naive to believe one system is correct? Yes. But one could be “more’ correct for a particular individual. As well, that I’m not convinced that everything has been accounted for. For example, environmental factors (e.g. lighting, window tints, view on “full spectrum” or “natural” lighting) and within the developed system itself. Some systems only have 12 seasons where some have many many more seasons and more options for softer seasons.

This is the Soft Summer fan in entirety. This fan has a mix of softer and slightly more saturated swatches. Overall the clothes I pick out tend to be too muted. The overall fan seems to buy me these results. Let’s look at another Soft Summer fan in another system called “Color Breeze” by Lora Alexander.

The Color Breeze Toned Summer fan, which is also known for Soft Summer Light. It’s more saturated then the fan posted above. I like this fan a lot more. Also, it does not feel as “chilly” or more cooler toned  colors to my eye and has some warmer options.

My best colors are soft or muted. I am neutral, neither all warm or all cool in coloring. Toned Spring is neutral warm with an “autumn” muted roasting of Light Spring. Toned Summer is the neutral cool lighter side of the Soft Summer palette. These are combination palettes which means they could be used together or may share some similar colors but have distinct differences.

My custom Zyla palette…

If you took and broke down my Zyla palette, you would get a split between Toned Summer and Toned Spring.

Some of these toned spring colors look pretty good with the 12 tone (12 blueprints system) Soft Summer fan. But you can see the Zyla palette is slightly more saturated and if I were to use them to purchase clothing I guarantee they would buy different results in clothing colors and even outfit combinations.

I see the Toned Spring colors in my skin. 12 blueprints system would say these are “overtones” and incorrect bad color reactions on skin that is cooler then the palette creating “yellowed skin”. Other systems would believe this “IS” the colors of your skin.

My Kathy palette is a system like this, that intact looks at the colors of your skin, eyes, and hair and gives you colors based on what is seen visibly.

 

Here are my more preferred colors on the Toned Summer fan.

Here is the whole fan. I like the depth, one that Toned Spring seems not to have for me.

I much prefer warmer pinks of Toned Spring to cool mauve of Toned Summer and the warmer grey or browns of Toned Spring to the cooler grays of Toned Summer.

I feel divine in that orange pink that much more Toned Spring then Toned Summer. Bit it is so close on the line between the two seasons. Toned Summer does not go soft orange. I find seashells all the time that have this silvery orange color that is amazing, probably my favorite color since I was a child. Where would that color fall on a season? It’s soft but more neutral.

These two seashells are orange. At the beach recently, I realized that orange I love in seashells are a soft orange. And what palette does that exist in? Not muted enough to be Soft Autumn right? It’s like that Marigold color, clearer then autumn and gentle like Toned Spring.

The one shell on the right has a shine to it, but it’s not too shiny. If it were jewelry it would be the perfect amount of shine I could handle as a Soft Season person.

 

The shells harmonize very nicely with the Toned Spring fan. Looks clownish on the Toned Summer fan (neutral cool) which does not have orange or milk chocolates.

See how the seashells are too muted for the light spring fan and too bright for the soft autumn? These are 12 tone (12 blueprint system fans) That is why they fall into Toned Spring (Light Spring Soft) which is a different system.

The soft orange sinks into the Toned Spring fan (R.), and sits on the Toned Summer fan (L.)

The other side of the soft orange seashell has orange and a cooler gray. This seashell is a perfect example of the existence of a mix of Toned Spring and Toned Summer. But when harmonized with the whole fan which color palette fits in the best?

My Zyla palette has this mixture of Toned Spring and Toned Summer…If this is a real life example then why does this or can’t this exist in people?

Here is a collage I made comparing myself to the 16 seasons, Toned Spring. My hair is very similar to these people and so is my coloring. I think the main difference is that their eyes are warmer looking as in more visible soft gold/yellow.

 

My eye is a neutral blue or you could say blue/gray/green coloring with a star pattern and wavy lines that start at the pupil outward.

With refraction my eyes have a warmer look almost seafoam and moss…

The water above and a close up shot of my eyes below.

Toned Summer fan comparison to my eye color. It has the right depth.

Toned Spring eye colors.  It has the right warmth.

Here is the common theme again, Soft Summer or Toned Summer has correct depth but Toned Spring has some colors with correct warmth.

I might have all of these colors in my eyes. Most color systems would say that okay, that’s fine, you can be neutral cool but have warmer eyes or even neutral warm and have cooler eyes or a mix of both. 12 blueprints focuses on the skin. The thing is my skin is much finicky like my eyes where it’s split I believe between palettes. The question is which one is stronger, if you had to pick one? Or why pick one, that’s what the custom palette is for…

 

So let’s honor 12 Blueprints system and look at skin reaction with drapes. No makeup, just skin reactions to the colored draped clothing.

Toned Spring Vs. Toned Summer Greens. L. Toned Spring and R. Toned Summer. The bottom green is almost split between Toned Spring and Toned Summer, tricky!

It looks like it could fit into either. Your eye tries to automatically make the similar swatches in the fan connect to the clothing articles being examined, so hide them…but it’s still so hard to tell…

 

Toned Summe dark grey Vs. Toned Spring Chocolate browns. The dark chocolate is an eyebrow color match and both browns a hair color match. The light chocolate is the natural highlight in my hair. So if my hair has these colors, I’d say that those colors should be a part of my palette, why not?

Toned Summer top and Toned Spring bottom.

This was the in-between pink which does posses some orange Toned Spring if you can make it out but also a tad cooler looking purple mauve shimmer that could be why it also seems as if it could be Toned Summer. It’s the color of my lips…That’s why it is so awesome.

In the side by side, the Toned Summer top and Toned Spring bottom. Is one washing me out a tad because it’s too warm or is one yellowing me a tad because it’s too cool for my skin?

My two favorite colors seem to encompass elements of both Toned Spring and Toned Summer right precisely almost on the boarder or paradox of the season. If we compared 12 blueprint fan then these colors are not Soft Summer because it doesn’t go this saturated but the Pretty Your World 16 season Soft Summer version Toned Summer does go this saturated…

Here the 12 blueprints fan doesn’t go as saturated or as warm as Toned Summer/Toned Spring. Therefore it cannot provide me my best colors.

Here the colors are the right saturation and warmth the yellower in the green shimmer and the orange shimmer in the pink.

Here the colors are the right saturation and just a tad warmer in the green and pink but has shimmers of color that tie it close to this fan such as a cooler green and slight purple mauve shimmer.

80% needs to be in that season and 20% can be its neighbor. So wear 80% Toned Spring with 20% Toned Summer or vise versa 80% Toned Summer with 20% Toned Spring.

L. picture majority Toned Spring w/ T. Summer charcoal, R. picture majority Toned Summer with T. Spring chocolate.

Majority Toned Spring with T. Summer green.

Left picture animal print (Toned Spring), Middle Picture Toned Spring scarf, Right picture Toned Summer scarf.

Thanks for reading!

~Softmosaic

 

 

Toned Spring Outfit Collection

Toned Spring/Zyla palette outfit inspirations:

 

Thank you for viewing!

 

~Softmosaic

 

 

 

 

 

Essence

 

Essence is the color that best lights up your skin. It can be lighter or darker in value.

It’s the color you can use for foundation. Showing foundation match to Kathy Palette strips.

It’s also a good under eye coverage color.

See how the foundation color on the face blends seamlessly with the neckline?

Lighter essence color in dress.

Darker Essence color on a-line part of the dress in left picture and shirt in the right picture.

Darker essence color in lipstick.

lightest essence in a blazer.

 

Darker Essence shirt. It should pull all the color together in your skin tone and make it even.

Toned Spring fan, color swatches are Wheat (neutral) and Warm Taupe (neutral to warm). This is the most perfect match I have found to my skin in the toned spring fan (Light Spring Soft). See how seamless it is? Two different shots on different days and lighting.

Here is Zyla essence.

Kathy Palette (Coral Gables) essence color.

Light Spring essence

Soft Summer essence

Soft Autumn essence

 

Lighter pastel essence dress.

Darker essence purse.

 

 

Look how different these two pictures are. One if a soft summer essence scarf with cooler lipstick/blush and the right is Toned Spring with warmer lipstick and shirt. In my opinion, the Soft summer looks candy, more obvious makeup look where the Toned Spring is much more natural looking. The Soft Summer look however has a “more present” clarity to it. IS that clarity just right or a little ‘frozen looking’? This is the difference between a look that is neutral cool muted and neutral warm muted. However the Toned Spring is slightly more saturated with Spring influence.

Here is also a very good representative change in the my natural hair color, see how the roots are more ash in the left picture from the winter time and more warm in the late spring time picture on the right? My skin also takes on a soft peachy glow that makes me lean towards colors that are peachy instead of the dusty pinks I’d choose with lack of sunlight.

I find this interesting since our color season is not supposed to change. Can it though or is one just clearly wrong? I have my preference. I find it hard we all perfectly fit in a color box, which was the mantra of my last blog.

My essence? It’s the one that is most authentically me. What is yours?

Soft Spring Color Palette

 

When I painted this picture, I felt I added the right amount of gray and warmth. I had been dressing in Soft Summer colors at the time and hadn’t worn my custom palettes in months.

My custom palettes tend to match my painting much better.Kathy fan left and Zyla palette on the right.

The painting on the left is a bit overpowering to the soft summer fan. The fan lacks the warmth and clarity of the lively yet toned palette.Reminiscent of Spring and Autumn with Summer influence on the left.

Here I am in Soft Summer Green, hair part natural part dyed ash. My skin is clear and rosy but I do notice circles under the eyes. Look beneath they eyes, you will see they look heavy. A kind of frozen look, that is somewhat harsh but just a tad. I’m wearing soft summer makeup and under eye concealer. I agree this 12 blueprints Soft Summer does give my face the most “lit up” glow. Also I see that ‘pine’ connection of the eyes that is a 12 blueprints quote of Soft Summer person. As well, some Soft Summers can wear warmer makeup, mine is probably more towards neutral here not even “cool” foundation, but the lipstick and blush is Soft Summer recs.

 

Not the same clarity in my skin in the warmer colors and warmer hair. However my under eyes look much improved. I feel healthier here. Here I am wearing no makeup, and no under eye concealer. Maybe my skin is brighter in Soft Summer but the under eye circles are much worse in all of the pictures I have of myself in Soft Summer colors. It’s taken me a few years to really develop the eye to see the impact of different colors on my face/skin.

Sporting my Zyla metal color in a scarf in the photo above. Zyla told me this was my “Best” metal color.

Even under eye circles in the draping pictures. Although I admit these soft summer drapes are much more vibrant then any soft summer colors I’ve come across in the stores. I also drove a long way to this draping so my eyes could have been strained from the lights… My skin looks illuminated and amazing here, just the under eyes. But yet I do notice in the corners of forehead, eyes, chin… my skin looks a bit like purpling of the skin. Is it the colors then or just the false lighting-even though its supposed to mimic natural sunlight…

Soft Summer. Periwinkle shirt, just reads as a neutral on me not a color. I notice my hair is more ash, toned here to match my roots better and get rid of the yellow that was sitting there before. It is a pretty look, just hard to maintain, my hair warms so easily in the sun. Of course, as I have read the Soft Summer can have warmer hair and/or eyes and that is okay. But something about it doesn’t sit right in the harmony that I see-and perhaps that is personal preference for me to prefer warmer colors because of this.

Soft Spring. Warmer hair by sun and the cool toner slowly fading out of my hair and revealing the warmth underneath and natural hair at the roots.

See a similarity? This is what it is like for colors to feel happy to me, this specific feeling and look. Interesting how what one might view as a happy color someone else views as a completely different color. This is what makes us unique.

A clutch I fell in love with matches my toned spring fan.

Zyla palette colors, the cards reflect a lot of unwanted light but you can get the color schemes here.

Soft Summer 12 tone fan left, Zyla palette right. Both with no makeup. Interesting how the different colors bring out different colors in my complexion.

Soft Summer versus Zyla browns. The soft summer color connects with my eyebrows, yet I don’t prefer it with my skin… I’ve always liked the soft summer whites better on me then the grey. My eyebrows have always been ashier then my hair.

Zyla Romantic Bracelet and nail polish.

I love the colors much like these earrings, not bright but still bright enough and not too warm but warm enough.

 

I love the mixture of softer and brighter, just like this Toned Spring fan. Why can’t this exist on a person? Obviously the toned person uses the bright colors as color pops…and can mix muted and brighter colors together. To me this looks dynamic, and I prefer the look.

Zyla recs, Floral Spring color Pops. Pops of tropical toned blue-greens.

 

Not only does Toned Spring, Zyla, Kathy palette agree more with color pops, it also tends to have the a-line, sweetheart/scoop neck that fits with my style recommendations. I can’t wear languid, flowy type styles which tend to be more in the Soft Summer shades.

In my soft spring colors I feel more energetic. I think Soft Summer can work in the winter season with my natural hair color when it has no sun. Strange how a palette only seems right during some of the time and I also feel that I need to ashen my hair to feel harmony in times other then winter because my hair warms so easy in the sun. As far as Soft Summer putting dark circles under my eyes in “some of the colors”, I think I’d rather have yellowed skin from a warmer palette then dark under eyes from a cooler one. It’s a toss up that is probably personal preference…The dark circles: is it just the cold that is doing that and/or the saturation too?

My boyfriend painted this, with my colors/style as an inspiration. Interesting enough my  best friend agreed, “so me”. I do think it is a little intense but i’m open to other perceptions of me and I also think the painter often has some of their own natural colors or influences that get mixed in. It feels almost like a Toned Spring hybrid of another dark season….Dark Autumn Soft (It looks the most like to me). Dark winter was way to bright compared to the painting, even though that was my initial palette guess but its warmer indeed.

My Kathy fan I requested darker colors, so it seems to harmonize closer then my other palettes to this painting.

Pic above: Dark Autumn (Lora Alexander-Pretty Your World Book) Close, maybe a little over powering of a palette?

Above: Dark Autumn Soft (Lora Alexander-Pretty Your World Book) Zing this seems to be closest palette match!

Above: Toned Spring (Lora Alexander-Pretty Your World Book), Toned spring is too fair…

Kathy and Zyla palette

Full Zyla Palette

Eye color and Palettes:

I do see how the model from Lora Alexander (pic on far right) is a definite match to to toned spring and warmer then my eye which is bottom left. I think my eye is bluer which makes it seem cooler. However I like how it goes with the soft blues from the toned spring fan below better then the soft blues from the soft summer fan. However, I can’t disagree Soft Summer blue, greens, taupes can jive with my eye color too. It’s not rare that a Soft Summer has warmer eyes and or hair.

Eye color outside in sunlight above compared with Toned Spring fan.

 

Eye color inside under “natural light” lightbulb. So different then outside true natural light! To mention, my custom palettes are all made uses natural sunlight and not from the artificial sunlights of full spectrum lighting (12 blueprints-for me Soft Summer result).

Toned spring eye comparison, Lora Alexander pretty your world picture on left, and my eye on right.

Another Toned Spring palette picture match to my eye from the clutch I loved….

 

~SoftMosaic

 

Soft: Playing with Warm and Cool

Soft: Warm and Cool plus Textures!

This is one of my favorite looks from my 12 blueprints draping. Warm and Cool. Soft Seasons, being a neutral season, have both warm and cool in their coloring. It looks amazing when gold and silver is mixed or a silvered gold is found in jewelry. Gorgeous how the pinky-reds and silvery-blues look together in clothing and accesories.

Here is some warm/cool inspiration from my favorite painter, Leonid Afremov…

Warm and Cool in Nature…

A sunset reflecting off of a silvery building making blue and pink pearly colors…

Patone’s Colors of the year:

Warm and Cool this year for Pantone….

Warm and Cool

Bracelet with silver and gold, both soft and gold florentine, looks less yellow in real life.

This pearly pink doesn’t capture the greatest on camera, but is is like that warm pink drape almost peach but not peach, on the darker shade.

This dusty pink and purple are the most beautiful color combinations I have seen.

Lots of warm in cool accessories! Warm pink and Gray necklace, warm soft red nail polish, and cooler blues and grays in the purse and tops.

 

 

Warm and cool pearl earrings strung in blue, green and burgundy-pink.

 

Warm pink pops in the necklace, blush, and pinky shimmering eye shadow makes my cooler blue eyes pop!

Intricate Textures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for Reading!

~softmosaic

Our Natural Coloring: A Complex Mosaic

Soft Mosaic is a color and style blog for those who are soft in coloring or admire soft colors. The world is full of different color combinations that create different patterns and color schemes. Let nature and the world around us inspire our eye for fashion.

Have you ever thought to wear the colors that you are in clothing, makeup, accessories? You would have to look at the skin color, eye color and hair color. If you ever bought makeup at a retail counter you might know something about warm foundation and cool foundation or you might know that you either tan or burn in the sun. This information really can only tell us so much and is minuscule in the overall complexity of actually knowing what colors are your best colors in clothing, makeup, and accessories.

Just as there are 4 seasons, people are grouped into 4 parent categories: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Spring and Autumn are warm, the difference is Spring has clearer coloring and Autumn has a heavier muted coloring. Summer and Winter are cool however Summer is muted in coloring and Winter is clearer in coloring. There is the true center of each season: True Spring (warm and clear), True Summer (cool and muted), True Autumn (warm and muted), and True Winter (cool and clear). Then there are the neutral seasons (neutral meaning on the cusps of warm and cool) however one remains dominant in temperature. There is also the darker category to each season (Bright Spring, Soft Summer, Dark Autumn, and Dark Winter) and the lighter side to each season (Light Spring, Light Summer, Soft Autumn, and Bright Winter. Soft Autumn and Soft Summer are the softest and most muted of the seasons. Color Analysis is complex. This might not make much sense if you are new to color analysis.

My Personal Coloring and Professional Color Palettes as a Case Study:

I was recently analyzed by Lora Alexander in the new Color Breeze System Color Analysis-Analyzed as Sunlit Soft Summer. It includes the extended Soft Seasons for Soft Summer and Soft Autumn. Lora explained to me that the Sunlit Soft Summer is a Summer flowing into a Spring and is a tad bit clearer and warmer then the Dusty Soft Summer (more muted) or Cool Summer. A Sunlit Summer often has some Spring like looks to her like a starburst in the eye or something warmer or brighter about her but not enough to be a Spring and not light and bright enough to be a Light Summer. If you were to look at a Sunlit Soft Summer as a child, their hair might be highly variable in ash (cool) and golden (warm) color threaded through it-a dimensional look impossible to recreate with hair dye. This is why the Sunlit Soft Summer can play up warm and coolness and even add some clearer or muted colors to their palette in intricate combinations in makeup, hair (highlights), and clothing. This also makes a lot of sense because when I was analyzed by Rachel (12 blueprints) she said that I was the lighter side of Soft Summer (depicted in picture above).

Natural colors are beautiful and we need to stick to or only slightly enhance what nature gave us. Sometimes we can stray far from our natural look with hair dyes or makeup/clothing that is not harmonious…here we loose are natural blueprint. We must go back to when we were a child, however we can cool down a bit with age. Some people have an innate eye for harmonization while we all benefit from training our eyes. I hope my blog will help you start to train your eyes for the Soft Seasons. I chose to have this blog dedicated to the Soft Seasons, mainly because I am a Soft season and I also find them to be fascinating. We have Soft Summer, Soft Spring, Soft Autumn, and Soft Winter seasons that are a part of the 16 season system. Not everyone follows the 16 seasons system and so they subscribe to just 12 seasons with Soft Autumn and Soft Summer. The point of my blog is not to argue those points but simply to just explore the beauty of being a soft season.

Color alliance uses the draping method and a computer software program to determine a clients best colors. My first analyst from Color Alliance had a difficult time deciding between Summer and Autumn because Soft Summer is the Summer-Autumn flow. Here was a palette based off of my coloring. The analyst chose Summer because it appeared to her slightly better. My colors are mostly comparable to Soft Summer. You can see the skin, hair, and eyes swatch with the gum shaped cut in them. The hair does appear warmer brown, again this trick of warm in the cool Soft Summer.

Here is the beautiful Soft Summer palette from my sci-art/12 blueprints analysis. Sci-art uses strictly the draping method of colored fabrics on a person. I had two by Heather Noakes and Rachel Nachmias. Both analysts saw something a little different in my season for me, but that was preference. Heather saw darker colors cleared my skin but Rachel saw that the lightest colors looked the most lively on me and gave me the best glow both two very true perspectives. In this type of analysis hair is pulled back from the face and is covered up. The skin is the main focus and the colors should pour out of the persons eyes when they are in the correct color.

Here is my custom Zyla palette. This analyst looks for overall harmonization and includes your hair so if hair is dyed it changes your palette. A palette like this has true potential for a person of a season that is blended because they might be able to be warmer or cooler in some colors then others or more or less saturated as well. This concept gives the freedom for such a mixture. Zyla saw me with clarity but still some softness, and warm and cooler combinations which ties into Lora Alexander’s theory of the Soft Summer light who seems to be a tad clearer and warmer in the Soft Summer season.

This is my Kathy palette, she uses a very similar technique to Zyla focusing on overall harmonization including hair.

*I do not own the Sunlit Soft Summer palette from Lora Alexander’s ColorBreeze System yet, so I will have to add that image to this post at a later time.

Sometimes the world is full of a lot of bright colors and we need to adjust our focus. Here is a Soft Summer eye, which happens to be mine. Here again you can see the play of warm and cool, and you can see my eye is not clear but muted (however has some slight clarity to it, that of a Soft Summer on the lighter side of the palette.

My hair seems brown in some light and in other light seems dark blonde. It also has many ash and neutral-warm tones mixed in. When we dye our hair we get a flat color. Natural hair like a Soft Summer’s is in my opinion impossible to recreate. If one must dye their hair I’d recommend just to highlight it but soft highlights and nothing too contrasting from the base color. Soft Summer’s are rich and dimensional and not represented by a flat or saturated hair dye job.

While painting this canvas, I toned every paint color with gray. Can you tell? If I put this painting against a bright wall it would be overpowered. Against a grayed wall, this painting glows.

Thank you for Reading! I hope this post opened your mind about our natural coloring. I look forward to sharing a generous amount of ideas with you!

~Soft Mosaic