Skin undertone test
What Is My Undertone? Warm, Cool or Neutral
Your skin undertone is the color beneath the surface of your skin. Unlike skin tone — how light or deep you are — the undertone stays the same when you tan, and it is the main reason some colors make you glow while others make you look tired.
Take the five-question undertone test below. It takes about two minutes and works best by a window in daylight.
- 5 questions
- Warm · cool · neutral · olive
- No photo needed
Undertone finder
Take the undertone test
Choose the answer that fits best. If you are torn, pick "both" — that is useful information too.
This is a styling guide, not a medical or dermatological assessment. Lighting, redness, tanning and makeup all affect what you see.
Method
How to find your undertone: four at-home checks
Each check alone can mislead; together they point in one direction.
The vein test
Blue or purple veins suggest a cool undertone; green veins suggest warm (you are seeing blue veins through yellowish skin). A mix suggests neutral. The vein test is the least reliable on its own — use it with the others.
The jewelry test
Gold that melts into your skin points warm; silver that brightens it points cool. Our gold or silver jewelry test goes deeper.
The white paper test
Bare face, daylight, pure white paper under your chin and then a cream one. If white makes you look yellow or sallow by comparison, you are warm; if cream makes you look yellow, you are cool.
The sun test
Skin that tans golden easily leans warm; skin that burns pink before it tans leans cool. Tanning changes your skin tone, not your undertone.
Compare
Warm vs cool vs neutral vs olive undertones
| Undertone | Signs | Flattering colors | Metals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warm | Golden, peach or yellow cast; green veins; tans easily. |
| Yellow gold, brass, copper |
| Cool | Pink, rosy or blue cast; blue veins; burns easily. |
| Silver, platinum, white gold |
| Neutral | Mix of signs; both metals work. |
| Both; rose gold |
| Olive | Green-gray cast; foundations look too pink or too yellow. |
| Antique gold, bronze |
Photos
Can you tell your undertone from a selfie?
Partly. A photo shows the relationship between skin, hair and eye color, which is what color analysis really relies on. But cameras auto-correct white balance, and warm indoor light makes everyone look warmer.
If you use a photo, take it facing a window in daylight with no filter, no makeup and hair visible. Our free analysis uses exactly that kind of photo to estimate your season — it reads overall coloring rather than measuring your undertone.
Light error disclaimer: no at-home test or photo is perfectly accurate. Use the results as a direction to try colors in real life.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the questions people ask most about this topic.
What is the difference between skin tone and undertone?
Skin tone is how light or deep your skin is and changes with tanning. Undertone is the warm, cool, neutral or olive color beneath, and stays the same.
What does neutral skin tone mean?
A neutral undertone has no strong warm or cool cast. Both gold and silver work, and many colors look fine; depth and clarity matter more.
What is an olive undertone?
A green or gray cast on top of a warm or neutral base. Olive skin often finds that both pink and yellow foundations look slightly off.
Do green veins mean warm undertones?
Usually. Green-looking veins suggest warm undertones and blue or purple veins suggest cool, but the vein test is unreliable on its own.
Is pink a warm or cool color?
It depends on the pink. Blue-based pinks like fuchsia and rose are cool; peach and coral pinks are warm.
Can your undertone change?
Your undertone stays essentially the same. Tanning, redness, illness and makeup can change how it appears.
See which season your photo points to
Upload a clear, front-facing selfie in daylight. The free analysis estimates one of the four main seasons and shows four colors to start with.
Upload a selfieFree analysisNo account needed