Your skin undertone is the hue under the surface of your skin. Cool undertones lean pink or rosy, warm undertones lean golden or peachy, and neutral undertones balance the two. Olive skin adds a muted green cast on top. You can check yours with five quick tests below, or with our free undertone test from one selfie.
What a skin undertone is
Skin color comes mostly from three things. Melanin gives brown and golden tones, blood near the surface gives pink and red, and carotenoids from food add a little yellow. The balance between them sets your undertone.
- When pink and red stand out, skin reads cool.
- When golden and yellow stand out, skin reads warm.
- When neither stands out, skin reads neutral.
Undertone is separate from depth. Fair skin can be warm, and deep skin can be cool. A tan makes skin deeper, but it does not change the undertone underneath.
The four undertones
Cool undertone
Cool skin has pink, rosy or bluish hints. It may flush easily and burn before it tans. Silver, platinum and white gold usually look most natural, and pure white looks crisp rather than harsh. Blue based colors such as berry, emerald, navy and royal blue tend to flatter.
Warm undertone
Warm skin has golden, peachy or yellow hints. It often tans easily. Yellow gold, brass and copper usually look best, and cream or ivory flatters more than stark white. Golden colors such as coral, olive, rust, camel and warm red tend to flatter.
Neutral undertone
Neutral skin has a balance of pink and golden, with neither one leading. Both gold and silver usually look good, and most colors work, though very extreme colors at either end can feel a little off. Our guide to the neutral undertone covers it in depth.
Olive undertone
Olive skin has a muted green or gray gold cast. It can be warm, neutral or cool underneath, which is why it confuses so many tests. Rich, slightly muted colors such as teal, olive and plum usually look best. Read more in our guide to olive skin.
Five ways to find your undertone
Do these in daylight by a window, with clean skin and no makeup. No single test is perfect, so look for the answer most tests agree on.
1. The vein test
Look at the veins on the inside of your wrist. Blue or purple veins suggest cool, green veins suggest warm, and a mix suggests neutral.
Veins are not actually blue. Research into the optics of skin shows that veins look blue because of the way skin scatters and absorbs light, not because of the color of the blood inside them. Golden skin over a vein shifts that blue toward green, which is why the test works at all. It is harder to read on deep skin, so use the other tests too.
2. The jewelry test
Hold gold and then silver jewelry against your skin. The metal that makes your skin look clearer and brighter is your match. Gold points warm, silver points cool, and both points neutral.
3. The white paper test
Hold plain white paper under your chin and look in a mirror. Next to pure white, cool skin looks pink, warm skin looks golden, and neutral skin looks balanced. Olive skin may look slightly green or gray.
4. The sun test
Skin that burns quickly and rarely tans often leans cool. Skin that tans easily and rarely burns often leans warm. This is a weak hint, because sun reaction depends a lot on depth.
5. The photo test
Our undertone test uses a selfie. It balances the light in the photo using the whites of your eyes, then reads the hue of your cheeks and forehead and shows where you sit on the scale from cool to warm. It runs on your device, so the photo never leaves it.
Common undertone mistakes
- Testing under a lamp. Warm bulbs make everyone look warmer. Always test in daylight.
- Confusing redness with a cool undertone. A flush, a sunburn or rosacea adds pink on the surface. Look at less reactive areas such as your jaw and inner arm.
- Confusing depth with undertone. Deep skin is not automatically warm, and fair skin is not automatically cool.
- Reading one test only. The vein test alone is often misleading. Combine several.
Undertone and your color season
Your undertone is the temperature trait in seasonal color analysis. It decides which family you are most likely in.
| Undertone | Seasons it usually points to |
|---|---|
| Warm | Spring or autumn, such as Warm Spring or True Autumn |
| Cool | Summer or winter, such as True Summer or True Winter |
| Neutral | The soft seasons, or a season led by depth or brightness |
| Olive | Often autumn or soft summer, depending on the base undertone |
Undertone is only one of three traits, though. Two warm people can end up in very different seasons if one has light hair and soft contrast and the other has dark hair and bright eyes.
Undertone myths
- Fair skin is always cool. Many people with fair skin are warm, often with freckles and golden or red hair.
- Deep skin is always warm. Deep skin can be cool, neutral or warm, just like fair skin.
- Your undertone changes with a tan. A tan changes depth, not undertone.
- Pink cheeks mean a cool undertone. A natural flush is common on warm skin too. Look at the jaw, neck and inner arm instead.
- One test settles it. No single test is reliable on its own. Combine two or three, or use a balanced photo.
What your undertone means for color
Once you know your undertone, choosing colors gets easier.
| Cool | Neutral | Warm | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whites | Pure white | Soft white | Cream, ivory |
| Neutrals | Gray, navy, charcoal | Taupe, navy, soft gray | Camel, olive, chocolate |
| Reds | Blue red, berry | True red, rose | Tomato red, brick, coral |
| Blues and greens | Royal blue, emerald | Teal, jade | Turquoise, olive, moss |
| Metals | Silver, platinum | Both | Gold, brass, copper |
Undertone is only one part of the picture, though. Your eyes, hair and the contrast between them also shape your best colors. Our free seasonal color analysis brings all of these together, and our guide to what is my skin tone shows how depth and undertone combine.