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Okay, we’ve done soft summer and light summer: time to take a look at the best hair colors for cool summer types! 

A little bit about this series: this blog takes a not-so-strict approach to color analysis for the summer seasons. A lot of color analysis devotees will tell you your best color is your natural hair color. And that’s true, probably. But you’ve also got to be able to live your life, have fun, and express your personal style! And for some of us, that means changing your hair color. 

If you’re looking for a hair colour change and you want something that’s going to suit you as a cool summer, the options below are going to be a great choice for you. 

What makes a cool summer? 

A cool summer has the same traits as the other summer seasons: 

• she has cool undertones 
• she is best in muted colors with some grey in them
• and she has moderate contrast in her features. 

A person is identified as a cool summer when her strongest defining characteristic is coolness. More than she is muted, more than she is moderate contrast, she will have noticeably cool undertones. 

(The subtypes are more of an art than a science! And many summers get caught in an endless feedback loop between cool summer and soft summer. It just boils down, really, to ‘are you more dominantly cool, or more dominantly muted? Would people notice your coolness or your mutedness first?’) 

So, a cool summer is cool, cool, cool undertones. This has its challenges with clothing! The cool summer doesn’t need to worry nearly as much about finding muted colors as the soft summer does, but she has much less flexibility than the other summers in picking out neutrals. Her colors should be truly cool.)

So, if the primary colour aspect of your overall appearance is cool, you’re a cool summer. 

Doesn’t color analysis say you have to keep your natural hair color?

Well, some people in this space say that. And it’s honestly generally pretty good advice. 

But from my perspective, color analysis shouldn’t feel like a life sentence. If you want to go blonder for the summer months or experiment with high contrasts, you should be able to. Even if it wasn’t what your color season would prescribe for you! 

I really think color analysis is invaluable, especially for summers. In the wrong colors, the clothes wear us. But it’s important to remember that seasonal color analysis is a tool that exists to make you confident, not a strict set of rules you must follow. It should serve you rather than making you a prisoner. 

So, it’s about getting what you want in a way that’s going to look flattering. If you want a drastic change, you can have it! Use the links and suggestions below to help guide you towards the best version of the choice you want to make. You’ll want to pick hair colors with the right undertones so nothing clashes with your cool summer skin tones. 

A quick note on contrast levels

A lot of color analysis content has focused on the ‘value’ of a color rather than the contrast level. I don’t like that and don’t use it here. Talking about ‘medium value’ for cool summers works for white cool summers, but not for cool summers with deeper skin tones. So instead, we’re going to talk about contrast levels. 

Cool summers can wear the deepest colors in the summer colour palette. (So, by extension, the deepest hair colors will look very natural on them.) But they’re not limited to those colors! Black cool summers might prefer to go lighter to get the contrast they’re looking for, and as long as the color is very cool, it will work. 

How to ask your stylist for a cool summer color

I know I wrote about this in every summer season hair post so far, but I was really bent about it. For AGES every stylist I saw (including a long-term one that I loved) tried to ‘warm me up’. My coloring was cool and they wanted a warm color to, I guess, neutralize it? Neutralize me as a human? 

It doesn’t make sense to me now but I took them at their word for years! 

So, you’re looking for cool-toned colors that will feel continuous with your skin and eyes. 

If you’re new to color analysis, tell your stylist you want something with cool ash undertones, and then describe the depth of color you’re looking for.

That might sound something like, “I’m looking for a medium brown with cool ash undertones, and I want some dimensions of colour around my face,” 

Or, “I want cool ash blonde hair with babylights,“

Or “I’m looking for dark ash brown–how dark do you think will suit me?“

If your stylist pushes back on the idea of cool ash tones for you, especially if they’re older, you can try saying, “I don’t want warm undertones in my hair. What color do you suggest?”. But at the end of the day, you are the client. A stylist is giving you good advice when she says, “I can’t lift your hair eight shades in one appointment”, but the undertone of a color is not related to that and should be up to you. 

Your color season analysis does not influence what haircut or style you get — so get whatever you like! 

Best hair dye colors for cool summers 

So, most of these colors are going to be the same as the light and soft summer colours. (One significant difference — there’s no red in the cool summer palette. I’m so sorry!) Since all three types are looking for cool colors, they’re more or less the same. 

Where a cool summer might be different than her summer sisters is in her purple shampoo habits! Much more so than the other two types, you need to keep your color looking ashy. So, especially if you are planning to lighten your hair with bleach, plan on a careful purple shampoo routine. Keep your hair cool to go with your cool skin tone. 

I actually wrote a whole post about the best way to keep red tones out of hair whether it’s blond, brown, or black: How to Neutralize Red Tones in Hair: Guide for Cool Seasons

Let’s look at some options! 

Platinum 

So, look, platinum is not a natural color on nearly anybody. If you’re a cool summer, a change this drastic may change your typing, and you may need to reach for lighter colors in the summer palette. But if you’re good with that, go for it. As long as you keep cool, blue undertones, it’s going to look okay. Not everybody wants a natural look!

Platinum dye at home requires a bleach job no matter what your natural color is. So this should absolutely not be your first ever DIY coloring job! However, if you want it, you can have it. You have to commit to staying on top of your purple shampoo, like, BEYOND, because any yellowing will clash with you. 

That said, if you’re gonna do it: you’ll lift your color and then tone, tone, tone. 

Clairol has a product called Blonde it Up that will manage the undertones — ‘Radiant Opal’ is the cool summer option for this product. The others will all be too warm for a cool summer. (The ‘Radiant Opal’ box is a great example of the wrong color for skin tone — that gorgeous model is warm-toned and the hair color looks like a wig.)

Blonde hair colors for cool summer

A lot of lighter blond shades are not traditionally cool summer tones — if you had this next color, you’d end up classed as a light summer in most systems. But if you want them, go for it. Be aware that it will reduce your contrast level, and you may need to stick to lighter shades in your palette. 

If you’re looking for dye only, or you’ve already lifted your hair color, this L’Oreal light ash blond will work for hair that’s currently dark blond or lighter, adding cool tones and minimizing brassiness. That ash tone indicates that it’s going to have the coolness that you need for your colour season!

L’Oreal also has a line called Cool Supreme that includes this Ultra Ash Dark Blonde. It also includes a purple shampoo! This Cool Supreme line is worth a search if you don’t find the color that you’re looking for in this post — very cool colors will be your best colors. And then the shade is up to you. 

Red hair for cool summer

I am so sorry: I had one red color for the soft summers and two red colors for the light summers. But there’s no red hair color cool enough for a soft summer. At least not that you can get in a box. You can always go to a stylist and ask them for guidance! But it’s not a DIY job for someone as cool as a cool summer. 

(I’m going to make it up to you in the statement colors, I promise.)

Brown hair colors for cool summer

This is my personal color and the one I can vouch for myself:

Clairol’s Natural Instincts Light Cool Brown. I use this one every fall to dye my hair back to its natural color after i’m out in the sun all summer. Resetting my color to its natural cool-toned shade does so much to minimize the appearance of my rosacea! I get a consistent, flattering result and I don’t see myself changing anytime soon. Cool hair is as good for soft summers as it is for you cool winters!

If you want something a little darker, Garnier Fructis has a Medium Ash Brown  that’s going to have those same cool undertones. This is really a lovely color.

If you want black, try Dark Ash Brown. It will give you dramatically increased contrast while still keeping your undertones the same. I’ve done this a couple times with semi-permanent color and it’s generally very forgiving as long as you have those cool tone. 

True jet black, like box dye black, is not generally great for white cool summers — we need soft colors and we need cool colors, and black is neither. If your hair is naturally black, it’s right for you. But if you’re starting with the light brown/dark blonde of a white cool summer, dark brown is as dark as you should go. 

 So if you’re getting the itch to go black, consider these darker shades of cool brown first. 

Statement colors for cool summer

If you’re not looking for a “natural” hair color, the best shades of statement colors will still follow the rules of the summer season system: cool, muted, with medium contrast. 

Cool summers pull off statement colors in such a chic way as long as the undertones are right. If you’ve felt a little smothered by the different shades in the summer palette and your personal style runs more alternative, this can be a great way to make your palette yours. 

You can do our chic, sophisticated, and refined palette in a powerful, assertive way with statement dye that picks up and extends your coloring. The colors below are not natural colors, but they’ll look natural or “right” for you because they’re in your palette. 

If you need a drugstore color, this Dusty Mauve is a light and cool statement color that you’ll find in most US drugstores or on Amazon. It’s a super cool-toned pink that runs almost purplish. The pink undertones are the right shade for cool summers. 

And the currently lavender trend was made for soft summers! IGK has a Cool Lavender that’s a little more expensive than most but that is going to match your undertones perfectly. The Meta-Purple color in that same listing is also to die for and one of the most amazing cool colours. 

If you’re looking for ~options~ in your statement colors, Lunar Tides also has a smoky collection that’s all similarly muted tones. Look at this Lunar Tides Smoky Purple!! And they advertise a Smoky Teal, Smoky Navy, and Smoky Mauve that all have the same cool muted undertones. (Their smoky mauve shade is quite a bit darker than the Paris one above.) I really like the focus in these shades on cool, muted shades that are going to be gorgeous on a cool summer. That Smoky Navy dark blue is going to look unbelievable with the cool eyes that cool summers have. 

And for those who wanted a red….here it is! This purple-based red is going to pick up your cool tones. It’s not the strawberry blonde you may have been imagining, but it’s going to suit you if you decide to go for it! 

What I love about all these statement colors is the way that it can take the soft summer palette in a totally new, fresh direction. If you sometimes think our colors are dowdy, a new hair color in your perfect color can be a great way around it. 

I already bought a dye. How do I know if it’s right?

Words you want to avoid in a hair color name so you don’t accidentally buy warm colors:

• golden
• honey
• caramel
• warm 
• auburn
• toasted

These will always be warm tones.

You should also plan to avoid drugstore red, no matter how much the girl on the box looks like you. 

Final thoughts

All of this is just a guideline. If you want to do something totally different, you can. But these guidelines will help you get a result that suits you and flatters your complexion. I hope you got your dream color here!