Skin tone and undertone aren’t the same
Skin tone is how light or deep your skin is: fair, light, medium, tan, deep. It changes with a tan. Undertone is the hue underneath, and it doesn’t change with the seasons. Any skin tone can have any undertone: fair skin can be warm, and deep skin can be cool.
Some people also describe an olive undertone: a muted, slightly green-gray cast, often treated as neutral leaning warm.
Before you start
Use natural daylight, ideally near a window and out of direct sun. Take off makeup and self-tan if you can, and pull your hair back. Warm bulbs make everyone look warmer, and phone screens and shade make everyone look cooler.
Test 1: Look at your wrist veins
Turn your wrist over in daylight.
- Mostly green veins suggest a warm undertone.
- Blue or purple veins suggest a cool undertone.
- Hard to tell, or a mix suggests neutral.
It’s a rough guide. Vein color also depends on skin thickness and the light.
Test 2: White paper or cream paper
Hold a sheet of bright white paper next to your bare face, then a cream or off-white one. Look at your skin, not the paper.
- If bright white makes your skin look clearer, you’re likely cool.
- If cream looks better and white makes you look sallow or gray, you’re likely warm.
- If both look fine, you’re likely neutral.
Test 3: Gold or silver
Hold gold and silver jewelry (or foil) against your skin. Gold tends to flatter warm undertones, silver and platinum tend to flatter cool ones, and neutrals can usually wear both.
Test 4: How your skin reacts to sun
Skin that burns easily and turns pink is often cool. Skin that tans easily to a golden brown is often warm. This is the weakest of the four tests, since sun response depends mostly on how much melanin you have, so use it only as a tiebreaker. And always wear sunscreen.
The photo test: how the color booth reads undertone
The color booth finds your face, samples skin from your cheeks and forehead, and averages the color. It then measures the hue of that color in the CIELAB color space, which separates lightness from color. Skin that leans more yellow-golden reads as warm, skin that leans more pink-red reads as cool, and skin close to the middle reads as neutral.
The same lighting rules apply: daylight from a window, no filter. A warm bulb will push the result toward warm.
What your undertone means for color
| Undertone | Neutrals that work | Colors to try near your face | Metal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warm | Cream, camel, chocolate, olive | Coral, rust, golden yellow, warm turquoise | Gold, bronze |
| Cool | Pure white, charcoal, navy, gray | Royal blue, emerald, fuchsia, raspberry | Silver, platinum |
| Neutral | Soft white, taupe, navy | Teal, soft pink, medium blue, jade | Both |
Undertone is only one part of the picture. How light or deep your coloring is, and how much contrast there is between your skin, hair and eyes, matter too. That’s what color seasons combine.
Questions
Can my undertone change?
Your surface tone changes with a tan, but your undertone generally stays the same. A tan or a new hair color can change which colors look best, though.
What if every test gives a different answer?
That usually means you’re neutral. Neutrals can wear a wide range of colors, so pick shades that aren’t extremely warm or extremely cool.
Is olive skin warm or cool?
Olive skin has a muted, slightly green cast. It’s often treated as neutral leaning warm, and soft, earthy colors usually suit it.