How to Identify Your Skin Undertone: Simple Tests

Your skin undertone is the subtle color beneath your surface complexion, and it is usually described as cool, warm, or neutral. To get a clearer read, look at your face and neck in indirect daylight without makeup, a strong tan, or colored light changing how your skin appears.

Check the product’s listed specifications when evaluating start with your bare skin.

Hold a bright white fabric and then a cream or ivory fabric near your face, one at a time, and notice which makes your skin look more even and lively. Bright white often flatters cool undertones, while cream often flatters warm undertones; if both work well, you may have a neutral undertone.

Place a silver-tone piece and a yellow-gold-tone piece near your face in the same lighting, and compare how your skin looks rather than which piece you like more. Silver can bring out cool undertones and yellow gold can complement warm undertones, but neither is a rule—you can wear the metal you love regardless of your result.

You can also look at the veins on your inner wrist: blue or purple may suggest cool undertones, green may suggest warm undertones, and a mix may suggest neutral undertones. Vein color can be hard to judge, so compare it with your fabric and jewelry results; for more help choosing metals, explore our gold-or-silver jewelry guide and our Find the Jewelry That Makes You Glow – Jewelry Guide eBook & Checklist.