Olive Skin Tone, How to Tell and the Colors That Suit It

An olive skin tone is skin with a muted green, gray or gold cast on top of its undertone. It can be light, medium or deep, and it often looks neither clearly warm nor clearly cool. That is why olive skin confuses so many tests. Our free undertone test reads your skin hue from one selfie.

What olive skin really is

Most skin guides sort undertones into three groups, warm, cool and neutral. Olive does not fit neatly into any of them, because it is not really an undertone at all. It is a muted green or gray gold cast that sits on top of an undertone.

You can think of skin color as three layers.

1. Depth is how light or deep your skin looks overall, from fair to rich. Our skin tone chart shows the full range.
2. Undertone is the hue under the surface, from pink and cool to golden and warm.
3. Cast is any extra tint that changes how the surface reads. Olive is the best known cast. It makes skin look slightly green, gray or muted next to people with the same depth.

So a person can have warm olive skin, neutral olive skin or cool olive skin. They share the same muted, earthy look, but they wear colors differently.

How to tell if you have olive skin

There is no single sign, but people with olive skin often notice several of these.

• Foundations never match. Pink shades look chalky, yellow shades look too bright, and the right shade seems to sit somewhere between them.
• Your veins look blue and green at once. The classic vein test gives a muddled answer.
• You look gray in very bright colors. Neon pink, lime and bright yellow can make your skin look ashy.
• Both gold and silver work, but neither is perfect. Many olive skinned people find antique gold, bronze or rose gold look best.
• You tan easily. Olive skin often tans to a deep bronze without burning much, though this varies with depth.
• Your skin looks green in some photos. Cameras and indoor light can exaggerate the green cast.

Try this simple check. Hold a pure white sheet of paper next to your face in daylight, then a cream one. Next to white, olive skin often looks slightly green or gray. Next to cream, it often looks more even and healthy.

Why undertone tests get olive skin wrong

Most quick tests are built around a single line from pink to yellow. Olive skin sits off that line, because its green cast is not pink or yellow. A green tint mixed with a golden undertone can look neutral. A green tint mixed with a slightly pink undertone can look cool and dull at the same time.

Our undertone test measures your skin hue, the angle between red and yellow, and tells you whether you are warm, cool or neutral. Olive skin usually reads as neutral or warm, because the green cast pulls the hue toward yellow. If you suspect olive skin, use the result as your base undertone, then use the advice below for choosing colors. Our guide to the neutral undertone also covers why balanced skin can be tricky to read.

The best colors for olive skin

Olive skin usually looks best in colors that are rich and slightly muted, with some depth. These colors echo the earthy quality of the skin rather than fighting it.

Some general rules help.

• Choose depth. Medium to deep colors flatter olive skin more than very pale ones.
• Choose slightly muted over neon. A color with a little softness, such as teal rather than bright turquoise, looks richer.
• Cream over stark white. Soft white, ivory and cream look smoother next to the face.
• Jewel tones work for many. Emerald, sapphire, ruby and amethyst suit a lot of olive skinned people, especially cooler olives.

For a personal palette, try our free seasonal color analysis. Many people with olive skin land in Soft Autumn, True Autumn or Deep Autumn, and cooler olives often land in Soft Summer or Deep Winter.

Makeup for olive skin

Makeup is where olive skin causes the most frustration, because most shade ranges are built for pink or yellow undertones.

• Foundation. Look for shades labeled olive, neutral or golden neutral. Swatch three shades on your jaw in daylight and choose the one that disappears. If shades look too pink, mix in a little of a more golden shade. If they look too yellow, mix in a touch of a neutral one.
• Concealer. A peach or apricot corrector under concealer cancels the gray or blue tint some olive skin shows under the eyes.
• Blush. Warm rose, terracotta, berry and soft coral bring life to olive skin. Very cool baby pink can look chalky.
• Bronzer. Choose a bronzer that is not too orange. A soft, neutral brown works best.
• Lips. Brick red, berry, rose brown and deep plum suit most olive skin. A true red with a little warmth is a classic.
• Eyes. Bronze, gold, olive green, plum and deep brown make the most of olive skin and dark eyes.

Hair colors for olive skin

Olive skin usually looks best with hair that has some richness and depth.

• Brunette shades, such as chocolate, espresso, chestnut and mocha, are the safest choice for most olive skin.
• Warm highlights, such as caramel and honey, add brightness if your olive skin leans warm.
• Cool, deep shades, such as cool dark brown or soft black, suit cooler olives.
• Very light, ashy blondes can make olive skin look gray. If you want to go lighter, a warm bronde or golden brown is easier to wear.

Olive skin at every depth

Olive skin comes in every depth, and the best colors shift a little as skin gets deeper.

• Light olive skin looks lovely in soft, muted mid tones, such as sage, dusty teal and rose.
• Medium olive skin carries richer colors well, such as emerald, terracotta and plum.
• Deep olive skin can wear the deepest jewel and earth tones, such as forest, burgundy and deep teal, and bright accents such as cobalt.

Your undertone underneath the olive cast matters too. Our article on skin undertones explains how to find yours and what each result means.