How To Know Your Skin Tone and Skin Undertones

Each and every one of us can benefit from knowing our skin tone, which can be hard to figure out. And that’s why we’re going to get into a step-by-step process for how to know your skin tone.

It should go without saying that one skin tone isn’t better or more beautiful than another. But it is key to learn what your skin tone is, because this is a great way to determine which colors look good on you. And this applies to picking your hair color, selecting metal jewelry, shopping clothes, and how you choose makeup.

For example, if someone has a fair skin tone, they’re going to look better with ashy blonde hair, in silver jewelry, and with icy blue or rosy pink makeup. On the other hand, someone with a medium or deep skin tone will glow with caramel hair, gold or rose gold jewelry, and yellow or orange makeup. 

If this all sounds overwhelming, take a deep breath. Read on to learn what determines skin tone, the difference between skin tone and undertone, and how to know your skin tone.   

How To Know Your Skin Tone

In this informative blog post, you’ll learn how to easily determine whether your skin tone is fair, medium, or deep. How? With practical tips and straight-forward answers, of course!

What Is Skin Tone?

A person’s skin tone is the color (a.k.a. tone) that your skin appears to be on the surface. For some reason, I think Disney princesses are a great example for this, so let’s use them. Snow White has fair skin, which you can tell because she’s really pale. Pocahontas, however, has medium skin that skews tan. And Princess Tiana is depicted with a dark skin tone (when she’s a human, anyway).

An important note: “skin tones” and “skin undertones” are not the same thing. The former refers to what you can easily see, and your skin tone might change depending on how tan you get. The latter is more, as the term implies, under the surface. Your skin’s undertones–like warm, cool, and neutral–don’t change no matter how much sun you get. Additionally, we don’t have a way of knowing what the Disney princess’ undertones are, because they’re two-dimensional. (Read: they don’t have any undertones.)

Also, just because your skin tone is deep doesn’t mean that you have warm undertones. There really is a wide array of combinations when it comes to skin tone and undertones. Like, you could have a deep skin tone and cool undertones. Or you could have fair skin and warm undertones.

All of that said, you can determine your undertone as you figure out your skin tone.

What Determines Skin Tone?

Myriad factors can determine a person’s skin tone, but genetics are the biggest indicator of what your tone is. That’s because genetics influence how much melanin you get, or don’t. Typically, but notably not nearly always, people with more melanin will have deeper skin tones, and those with less melanin will have fair skin tones. In addition to melanin, how much hemoglobin (an iron-rich, oxygen-carrying protein that provides warmer tones) and collagen you have is also responsible for your skin tone.

What Are The Different Types Of Skin Tones?

Fair

A fair skin tone has the least amount of melanin, meaning that it’s considered the “lightest” skin tone. Usually, people with fair skin are from countries in Europe, Eastern and Western Asia, and North Africa. But, obviously, there are people of all skin tones everywhere in the world. 

From a non-geographical perspective, you’ll know your skin tone is fair if you don’t tan well. Instead, they tend to burn when they spend too much time in the sun—even if they apply copious amounts of sunscreen. (In case you’re a red-headed pal who needs to cover a bad sunscreen, check out our guide of the best makeup for gingers.)

Medium

People with a medium skin tone have, well, a medium amount of melanin. People in this camp usually have golden or olive skin. Medium skin tones are usually found in Latin America, South and South East Asia, as well as the Middle East, but can be from anywhere else, too.

If you tan easily, that’s a pretty good sign that you have a medium skin tone. Even if you spend too much time in the sun and don’t put on enough SPF, you’re likely to end up more golden or olive than you started. (Instead of burning like people with fairer skin.)

Deep

Folks who have deep skin tones have the most amount of melanin. Celebrities like Lupita Nyong’o, Naomi Campbell, and Angela Bassett all have deep skin tones. People with African heritage—including in Latin American and Europe—are highly likely to have deep skin tones, as are people from Oceania.

When it comes to tanning, people with deep skin tones have little to no issues. They will get an increase in melanin, which results in higher sun protection and a skin tone with richer golden-brown hue. However, this doesn’t mean that they don’t need sun protection. Regardless of your skin tone, that’s non-negotiable. 

How To Figure Out Your Skin Tone and Undertones

Step 1: Assess your skin under natural lighting.

Have you ever tried to take a photo of yourself in fluorescent lighting? Chances are you didn’t love the way you looked because the lighting drowned you out. That’s why it’s crucial to see what your skin looks like in natural lighting. The balanced spectrum of natural lighting helps bring out your skin’s hues.

Step 2: Take a look at your accessories.

This essentially just means to do the jewelry test, which determines whether gold or silver jewelry looks best on your skin. Let’s say gold looks better on your skin. You’ve probably got a medium or deep skin tone. Conversely, if your preferred jewelry is silver or white gold, chances are you have fair skin.

Step 3: Take a skin tone test on the internet.

I grew up in a time when internet tests were all the rage. There was a Harry Potter Sorting Hat Quiz, a zodiac compatibility quiz, and a Buzzfeed quiz for just about anything. While those days are long gone, you can take a quiz on the internet to know your skin tone.

Bonus step: Do the vein test to identify your skin undertone.

As previously mentioned, your skin’s undertones are different from your skin tone. And that’s why we decided to explain how to find your undertones via the vein test. When you look at your veins, what color do they appear? 

If your answer is blue or purple, you have cool undertones. To complement this undertone, you’ll want to wear silver accessories, blonde hair, and cool-toned colors. And if you have green veins, that means your skin undertones are warm. Warm-toned skin is best complemented by gold or rose gold accessories, and brown, orange, yellow, or golden hues. 

However, if your veins are somewhere between the two, like blue-green, you have neutral undertones. This is probably the easiest skin tone to shop for, as pretty much any color complements it. If you’re unsure, consider taking L’Oreal’s Undertone Finder Quiz to get a definitive answer.

Well, there you have it: a complete guide for how to find your skin tone. And we even added a section on finding your undertones so you can look as beautiful on the outside as you do on the inside.