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What is my undertone? Warm, cool or neutral

Six quick questions give you a first hint about your undertone; one selfie reads it together with your depth and contrast.

Find what fits me best

Quick undertone quiz

Six short questions, scored in your browser; we don't store your answers. Answer in daylight and without makeup for the most honest result.

In daylight, what color are the veins on the inside of your wrist?
Which metal looks better next to your face?
Which fabric flatters you more under your chin?
How does your skin react to a day in the sun?
What cast does your bare skin have in a daylight mirror?
Which color makes your skin look more even?
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Take a selfie in daylight

Face a window, without makeup if you can, hair as it naturally falls. Daylight and no filter keep your real skin tone — colored lamps and beauty filters change the result.

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Your selfie is used for your reading and saved in your private Color Suite only if you go on to a try-on. Never shared, never used for training.

Your undertone is the cast beneath the surface of your skin: golden, pink or in between. Unlike your skin tone, which is how light or deep you are, it stays the same whether you are pale in February or tanned in August. Two people with the same skin tone can have opposite undertones.

Warm skin has a golden, peachy or yellow cast, cool skin a pink, rosy or bluish one, and neutral skin sits between with neither side clearly winning. Olive skin, with its muted greenish cast, usually behaves as neutral to warm, though some olive skin reads cool. The quiz above gives you a first hint; for a reading from your own face, tap "Find what fits me best".

Home undertone tests, and why each is only a hint

The vein test reads green veins as warm, blue or purple ones as cool and a mix as neutral. It picks up something real, since a golden cast in the skin can make the blue of a vein look greenish, but veins can be hard to see on deep skin, and indoor light changes them. The jewelry test, gold against silver beside your face, is skewed by habit: it is easy to prefer the metal you have always worn.

The white and cream test is trickier than it looks. Light and soft cool colorings can look washed out in pure white too, pick cream and get called warm; a soft white, between the two, is a fairer test for them. The sun test tells you least: how you tan depends on how deep your skin is as much as on its undertone, so fair warm skin can burn and deep cool skin can tan with ease.

When three or four tests agree, you have a fair guess. When they split, you are likely neutral.

Cool vs warm undertones: what each means for your colors

Warm undertones belong to the spring and autumn seasons and look best in colors with yellow in them: warm coral rather than cool rose pink, olive green rather than spruce blue-green, camel and cream rather than cool grey and pure white, yellow gold rather than silver.

Cool undertones belong to the summers and winters and look best in colors with blue in them: raspberry, slate blue, icy pink, fuchsia and royal blue, with soft white or pure white and silver near the face. Orange, mustard and rust tend to turn cool skin yellow or ruddy.

Neutral skin can borrow from both sides, as long as depth and clarity match. And undertone is never the whole season: a Light Summer in powder blue and lavender and a Cool Winter in icy blue, royal blue and black are both cool, and depth and clarity tell them apart.

From undertone to season with one selfie

An undertone is easier to judge on a whole face than on a wrist. The season reading reads it together with the depth and contrast of your hair, skin and eyes, and names your season out of twelve with the reason in one sentence. Take the selfie facing a window in daylight, with no filter, ideally no makeup and your hair as it naturally falls, because a warm lamp pushes every face toward warm. Your selfie is used for the reading and saved in your private Color Suite only if you go on to a try-on; it is never shared or used for training.

How to test your skin undertone

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    Stand where daylight falls

    Remove your makeup, turn off indoor lights and face a window.

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    Run three home tests

    Check your wrist veins, hold gold and silver near your face, and compare pure white with cream.

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    Count which way they lean

    If most tests agree, that is your likely undertone; a split often means neutral.

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    Compare a warm and a cool color

    Warm coral against cool rose pink under your chin often shows the lean more plainly than your veins do.

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    Check your undertone with a selfie

    Tap "Find what fits me best": the season you get already includes your undertone, read with your depth and contrast.

FAQ

What is the difference between skin tone and undertone?

Skin tone is how light or deep your skin is, and it changes with sun. Undertone is the warm, cool or neutral cast underneath, and it stays the same through a tan. That is why a very fair face and a very deep one can share the same undertone.

How can I tell if I have cool or warm undertones?

Compare in pairs instead of staring at your wrist. Hold warm coral against cool rose pink, cream against pure white and gold against silver, and note each time which side makes your skin look even. If the warm side keeps winning, you are probably warm; if the cool side does, cool.

Is olive skin warm or cool?

Usually neutral to warm. Olive skin has a muted greenish cast over a golden one, which can make the vein test hard to read. Some olive skin reads cool, though, especially with ash hair and cool eyes. Warm olive often lands in the autumn seasons, cool olive in Cool Winter or Deep Winter.

Can I do a skin undertone test with my phone camera?

Yes, if the photo shows your real skin: use daylight from a window, turn off filters and beauty modes, and skip heavy makeup. Tap "Find what fits me best" and take one selfie, and the season reading names your season from your undertone, depth and contrast. If the result surprises you, retake it in better light for free.

What if my veins look both blue and green?

Then the vein test points to neutral, or it simply cannot read your skin, which can happen with deep skin and under indoor light. Move on to cream against pure white, gold against silver and warm coral against cool rose pink. If those split as well, neutral is a fair guess.

Do darker skin tones have warm undertones?

Not necessarily. Deep skin can be warm, cool or neutral, just like fair skin, and every season includes people with deep skin. Because veins are harder to see on deep skin, fabric tests usually tell you more: crimson against brick red, or pure white against cream.