Skin undertone is the colour beneath the surface tone of your skin. It does not change with a tan, and it is the main reason some colours make you look fresh while others make you look tired. Many people find it hard to judge, so here are three quick checks you can do at home, plus their limits.
1. The vein check
Look at the veins on the inside of your wrist in daylight. Mostly blue or purple suggests cool; mostly green suggests warm; hard to tell suggests neutral. It is a rough guide, since skin thickness changes how veins look.
2. The white paper test
Hold a sheet of bright white paper next to your bare face in daylight. If your skin looks pink or rosy by comparison, you may be cool. If it looks yellow, golden or peachy, you may be warm. Olive skin can read as greenish-grey.
3. The jewellery test
Which looks better against your skin: silver or gold? Silver often flatters cool undertones and gold warm ones. If both work, you may be neutral.
Common pitfalls
- Indoor lighting is usually warm and skews every test.
- Redness from irritation or rosacea is surface tone, not undertone.
- Makeup and self-tan hide what you are trying to see.
Using the result
Undertone is one input into seasonal colour analysis, alongside value (light or deep) and chroma (bright or muted). Together they point toward clothes and makeup shades that suit you.
For a guided version, try the skin tone test on StyleLookLab, then follow up with the What Season Am I quiz.
Disclosure: written by the StyleLookLab team.