Skin undertone: how to find yours, and the colors that suit it
Find your skin undertone with a five-question test: warm, cool, neutral or olive, what each looks like, and the colors, metals and foundation shades that suit it.
The short answer
Your undertone is the color beneath your skin's surface: warm (golden), cool (pink) or neutral (a mix). Compare gold with silver and cream with white next to your face in daylight; the vein test is only a weak clue.
- Undertone narrows your color season to one family; value and chroma decide the rest.
Your skin undertone is the color beneath the surface of your skin: warm (golden, peachy or yellow), cool (pink, red or bluish) or neutral (a mix of both). It is different from your skin tone, which is how light or deep your skin is. Two people with the same skin tone can have opposite undertones, which is why the same foundation, the same white shirt or the same gold necklace can look great on one and dull on the other. Below is a five-question undertone test, what each undertone looks like, the colors that suit it, and how undertone fits into your color season.
What is a skin undertone?
Skin color comes from a mix of pigments and blood flow near the surface. Your surface tone is the overall lightness you see, from fair to deep, and it changes with a tan, a flush or a season indoors. Your undertone is the steady cast underneath that surface, and it is what decides whether warm or cool colors harmonize with you. There are three main undertones:
- Warm: a golden, peachy or yellow cast. Gold jewelry and cream tend to look natural on you.
- Cool: a pink, rosy or slightly blue cast. Silver and crisp white tend to look natural on you.
- Neutral: no clear lean either way, or a mix. Both metals work, and so do most mid-tone colors.
Many people also describe an olive undertone: a greenish-grey cast that sits between warm and neutral. It is covered below.
Undertone test: find yours in five questions
Answer in natural daylight, with clean skin and no self-tan. Each question is a clue, not proof, so the test adds them up. It runs in your browser and saves nothing.
Answer all five to see your likely undertone. Nothing is saved or sent.
How to find your undertone: the tests explained
- The vein test. Look at the inside of your wrist in daylight. Greenish veins suggest warm, blue or purple suggest cool, and a mix suggests neutral. It is the most famous test and the least reliable: vein color also depends on how deep they sit and how light your skin is, so use it only alongside the others.
- The jewelry test. Hold a gold and a silver piece against bare skin. The one that makes your skin look clearer and more even points to your undertone. If neither wins, you are likely neutral.
- The white paper test. Hold pure white paper or fabric, then cream, under your chin. If pure white looks crisp and cream makes you look sallow, lean cool. If cream looks soft and white looks harsh, lean warm.
- The foundation test. The shades that disappear on your jawline are a strong clue: golden and yellow-based shades for warm, pink-based shades for cool, beige for neutral.
- The daylight look. Look closely at your cheek and jaw in a mirror by a window. A golden or peach cast suggests warm; pink or rosy suggests cool; greenish or grey suggests olive.
The sun test, whether you tan or burn, is often listed too, but it mostly reflects how much melanin your skin makes rather than its undertone, so we leave it out of the score.
Warm vs cool vs neutral undertones
| Warm | Cool | Neutral | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skin cast | Golden, peachy, yellow | Pink, rosy, bluish | A mix, or olive |
| Veins (a weak clue) | Greenish | Blue or purple | Both |
| Metal | Yellow gold, bronze, copper | Silver, white gold, platinum | Both, or rose gold |
| Whites | Cream, ivory, warm white | Pure bright white | Soft white |
| Neutrals | Camel, cream, chocolate, olive | Navy, charcoal, grey, black | Taupe, greige, soft navy |
| Color seasons | Spring and Autumn | Summer and Winter | Any: decided by value and chroma |
These are tendencies. Holding real fabric to your face in daylight is the deciding test.
Warm undertone colors
Warm undertones look best in colors with a yellow base: cream and ivory instead of pure white, camel and chocolate instead of grey and black, and warm brights such as coral, tomato red, rust, mustard, olive, teal and warm turquoise. Yellow gold, bronze and copper sit naturally on warm skin. Lighter, brighter warm coloring belongs to the Spring seasons, such as Light Spring and True Spring; deeper, earthier warm coloring to the Autumn seasons, such as True Autumn and Deep Autumn.
Go easy on icy pastels, cool pink and blue-based grey near your face; they can make warm skin look tired or sallow.
Cool undertone colors
Cool undertones look best in colors with a blue base: pure white, navy, charcoal and true grey, with jewel tones and cool brights such as emerald, sapphire, berry, raspberry, fuchsia, plum and icy pastels. Silver, white gold and platinum sit naturally on cool skin. Softer, lighter cool coloring belongs to the Summer seasons, such as Light Summer and Soft Summer; high-contrast cool coloring to the Winter seasons, such as True Winter and Bright Winter.
Go easy on orange, mustard, camel and golden brown near your face; they can make cool skin look red or ruddy.
What is a neutral undertone?
A neutral undertone has no clear lean toward warm or cool. Both gold and silver look fine, both cream and white work, and the vein test shows a mix. Neutral undertones can wear the widest range of colors, but they usually look best in mid-tone, slightly muted versions: soft white, taupe, dusty pink, jade, soft teal, mauve and denim blue. For a neutral, how light and how bright your coloring is matters more than undertone, which is why many neutrals fall into the soft or light seasons, such as Soft Autumn or Soft Summer.
What is an olive undertone?
Olive skin has a greenish or grey cast that can make it look warm in one light and cool in another. It is common in people with Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Latin American and South Asian heritage, though it appears in every background. Olive skin often finds pink-based foundations too pink and yellow ones too yellow; shades labeled neutral or olive usually match best. In clothes, olive undertones tend to shine in rich, slightly muted colors: olive, teal, terracotta, plum, deep green and warm white, often with gold or antique gold.
Undertone and foundation
Undertone matters most when choosing foundation and concealer. Most brands mark shades with W (warm), C (cool) and N (neutral), or with yellow, pink and beige. Swatch three shades along your jawline, step into daylight, and choose the one that vanishes into your neck. If a shade looks gray or ashy, it is too cool; if it looks orange or yellow, it is too warm.
Undertone and your color season
Undertone is one of three traits in seasonal color analysis. The other two are value (how light or deep your coloring is) and chroma (how bright or soft it is). Warm undertones belong to the Spring and Autumn families, cool undertones to Summer and Winter, and each family splits into three seasons by value and chroma. So knowing your undertone narrows twelve seasons to six; the free color analysis quiz finds the rest in about two minutes. Our guide to what colors look good on you shows how the three traits fit together.
When you know your season, tap This is my season on its page. It is saved to My SOUL in your browser, and your colors are waiting there every time you come back.
Can your undertone change?
Your surface tone changes with a tan, a winter indoors, redness or a flush, but your undertone generally stays the same through life. What does change is how easy it is to read: a tan can make cool skin look warmer, and redness from rosacea or irritation can make warm skin look pink. Test on a day when your skin is calm and untanned, and judge by colors next to your face rather than by your skin alone.
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Questions people ask about this
How do I know my skin undertone?
Look at your skin in daylight and compare gold with silver and cream with pure white next to your face. Gold and cream flattering you suggests warm; silver and white suggests cool; no clear winner suggests neutral. The vein test is a weak extra clue.
What are the three skin undertones?
Warm (golden, peachy or yellow), cool (pink, rosy or bluish) and neutral (a balance of both). Olive, a greenish or grey cast, is often counted as a fourth, between warm and neutral.
Is the vein test accurate?
Not on its own. Vein color depends on how deep the veins sit and how light your skin is, so it can mislead. Use it with the jewelry, white paper and foundation tests.
What colors look good on a neutral undertone?
Most mid-tone, slightly muted colors: soft white, taupe, dusty pink, jade, soft teal, mauve and denim blue, with gold or silver. Very bright or very icy shades are the ones to test before you buy.
Is olive skin warm or cool?
Olive sits between warm and neutral: a greenish or grey cast that can read either way. Neutral or olive-labeled foundations usually match best, and rich, slightly muted colors suit it.
What is the difference between skin tone and undertone?
Skin tone is how light or deep your skin is, from fair to deep, and it changes with a tan. Undertone is the steady color cast beneath it, warm, cool or neutral, and it stays the same.
