Undertone

Warm vs. cool undertone:
how to tell yours.

Your undertone is the constant cast beneath your skin’s surface colour. Warm undertones lean golden, peachy or yellow and glow in gold jewellery and earth tones. Cool undertones lean pink, rosy or blue and glow in silver and jewel tones. A third group, neutral, sits in between and wears both. The fastest reliable read is the metal test — gold vs. silver against bare skin in daylight — backed up by how you respond to sun and which white flatters you. Here are the five checks that actually work, and why one popular test doesn’t.

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Warm vs. cool at a glance

Trait
Warm undertone
Cool undertone
Cast
Golden, peach, yellow
Pink, rosy, blue
Best metal
Gold, bronze, copper
Silver, platinum, white gold
Best white
Cream, ivory, off-white
Pure / optic white
In the sun
Tans more easily, golden
Burns more easily, pinkens
Flattering colours
Coral, olive, camel, warm red
Fuchsia, cobalt, emerald, blue-red
Draining colours
Icy pastels, blue-reds
Orange, mustard, warm browns

The five checks (use them together)

1. Gold vs. silver. Hold each metal to your bare face in daylight — the one that makes your skin look even and awake points to your temperature. 2. White vs. cream. Cool skin looks fresh in pure white; warm skin looks healthier in cream (the wrong one adds grey or sallowness). 3. Sun response. Easy tanning skews warm; easy burning skews cool. 4. Best colours you already own. Notice which tops earn compliments — warm or cool. 5. Blush of exertion. A golden-peach flush reads warm; a rosy-pink flush reads cool. No single check is proof; the majority wins.

The test to be sceptical of

The veins test — blue veins = cool, green veins = warm — is the most repeated and the least reliable, because vein colour depends on skin thickness and depth as much as undertone. Treat it as a weak tiebreaker only. If your veins look blue-green, or the other checks disagree, you may be neutral.

What if you’re neutral?

Plenty of people sit in the middle: gold and silver both look fine, and you can wear a wide range. Neutral undertones still have a slight lean, and that lean — plus your depth and clarity — is what places you in one of the twelve seasons. Undertone is step one; see what season am I for the full picture.

Keep comparing

Soft Summer vs. Soft Autumn→Deep Autumn vs. Deep Winter→Clear Spring vs. Clear Winter→Cool Summer vs. Cool Winter→

Warm, cool, or neutral?

The quiz reads your undertone across several signals at once — the reliable way to settle it, including the neutral in-between.

Take the free quiz

Frequently asked

How do I tell if I'm warm or cool toned?+

Use several checks together in daylight: gold vs. silver against bare skin, pure white vs. cream, and how you respond to sun. Gold, cream and easy tanning point warm; silver, pure white and easy burning point cool.

Is the veins test accurate?+

Not on its own. Vein colour depends on skin thickness and depth as much as undertone, so use it only as a weak tiebreaker alongside the metal and white/cream checks.

Can your undertone be neutral?+

Yes. Neutral undertones wear both gold and silver reasonably well and suit a wide range of colours. They usually still have a slight lean, which — with depth and clarity — decides the exact season.

Does undertone change with a tan?+

No. A tan changes your surface colour and depth, but your underlying undertone stays the same. Judge it on the least sun-exposed skin, like your inner wrist or jaw.