Skin undertone test

Three daylight checks to determine your undertone

Your undertone is the quiet color that lives beneath the surface of your skin. It's why certain shades wake up your face while others leave it looking dull or washed out.

Daylight near a window makes every check easier. Because phone cameras and indoor lighting both change how skin looks, you'll trust what you see in a real mirror with your own eyes, not a camera.

How do you figure out your skin undertone?

You set a few ordinary things against your bare skin and watch which ones flatter you. Do the steps in order and you'll collect three small answers that point to one result.

1. Stand near a window in daylight and check the veins inside your wrist. What shade are they: blue, purple, green, or a blend?
2. Try gold jewelry against your skin, then silver. Notice whether gold or silver looks better beside your skin, or whether both look equally good.
3. Put white paper, then cream paper, under your chin while facing a window. Notice whether white or cream looks fresher beside your face, or whether both suit you.

How the undertone finder works

The free test walks you through one check per screen, with big buttons that count your progress from the first check to the last. Tap Back any time you want to redo an answer.

Once you finish the third answer, you get a one-line result: warm, cool, neutral or olive. Answers that clash can point toward neutral or olive, so it's worth checking again in daylight.

Making sense of the undertone chart

The printable chart sets the checks out in columns, letting you spot which of the four sounds most like you.

How to tell if you're warm or cool toned

If your undertone is warm, yellow gold and copper lift your skin and silver falls flat. Creamy, ivory shades bring warmth to your face, though pure white can leave it looking grey. Golden freckles or a golden brown tan are common for you.

If your undertone is cool, silver and white gold flatter you, while yellow gold stands out on you instead of settling in. Crisp white or a soft white flatters you, while cream can drain the color from your face. Tanning is hard for you; pink usually arrives first.

If you're neutral or olive

Neutral skin lets you wear both silver and gold, since neither one makes your face go grey or sallow, which means pale with a hint of yellow. Soft white and cream are kinder to you than stark white.

An olive undertone often shows as greenish blue wrist veins. Brushed gold, pewter and antique silver all suit you, cream sits smoothly against your face, stark white can leave your skin looking grey or worn out, and you tend to tan fast to a deep bronze or golden brown.