What Colors Go With My Skin Tone & How to Wear Them Well
Dante Kim
May 21st, 2024
Get your color analysis done
in 60 seconds with WhatColors!
Get your color analysis done in
60 seconds with WhatColors!
Get your color analysis done in 60 seconds with WhatColors!
Choosing the right skin tone colors can make a significant difference in the way you look and feel. By selecting the right shades that complement your complexion, you can enhance your features and project a more confident and put-together image. A harmonious color palette that matches your skin tone can help you stand out for all the right reasons, ensuring that your clothes make you look and feel beautiful.
Table of Contents
What are the Different Types of Skin Tones and How Can I Identify Mine?
Skin tone is the overall surface color you see at a glance, and it is determined by the amount of melanin present in the skin. It varies from the palest hues to the darkest browns, resulting from our genetic makeup and sun exposure.
Types of Skin Tones
Fair Skin Tones
Tend to burn easily in the sun, may have reddish undertones
Light Skin Tones
Have a more golden or yellow undertone
Medium Skin Tones
Olive or honey undertones
Tan Skin Tones
Brown with golden or reddish undertones
Deep Skin Tones
Very brown or deep undertones
Determining one’s tone is essential in finding the right skincare and face makeup and understanding how to protect the skin from sun damage. Some of the ways to determine skin tone are as follows:
Color Analysis
Compare your skin to a color swatch or a standardized chart of skin tones, such as the Fitzpatrick scale, to help you identify whether your tone is fair, light, medium, or dark.
Natural Light Test
Examine your skin in natural light, such as sunlight or soft daylight, to see the actual color of your skin without any artificial lighting or makeup.
Sun Exposure Test
Observe how your skin reacts to sun exposure. You have a fair skin tone if your skin burns easily and doesn’t tan. You have a light tone if your skin burns as well as tans a little. You have a medium tone if your skin tans easily but rarely burns. You have a dark skin tone if your skin never burns but tans during prolonged exposure.
Understanding Skin Undertones
There is another aspect to consider regarding our skin—its undertone. Skin undertones are the colors that lie beneath our skin's visible surface and give it its unique character and depth. Unlike surface color, which can change with a tan or certain brightening or tan removal cream, this subtle, muted color beneath the skin’s surface typically remains unchanged.
Types Of Skin Undertones
Cool
Characterized by pink, red, or blue hues.
Warm
Characterized by yellow, peach, or gold hues.
Neutral
A balance of cool and warm undertones.
Determining your undertone requires a little more work than your skin tone, but several accurate methods are available to help you find the correct one. Our recommendation? Try 2-3 and use the average of your results to confirm your undertone.
The Vein Test
Look at the veins on the inside of your wrist. If they appear blue or purple, your undertone is cool. If they appear green, your undertone is warm. If they appear blue-green, your undertone is neutral.
The Jewelry Test
Silver and platinum jewelry looks better on cool undertones, while gold jewelry looks better on warm undertones. If you can effortlessly wear both, you are a true neutral.
White Paper Test
Hold a bright white paper against your bare face. If your skin looks yellowish against the sheet, you’re warm-toned. Are you looking pink? Then you are cool-toned. If you look more green or grey, you could be neutral-toned.
The Sun Exposure Test
Spending time in the sun is a good way of revealing one’s undertone. You have a warm tone if you tend to tan easily and rarely burn. If you burn very easily and tan minimally, you are cool-toned. If you both tan and burn, you have a neutral tone.
Related Reading
Are There Any Tools That Can Help Me Determine My Skin Tone Accurately? 8 Best Online Skin Tone Color Analysis Tools
1. WhatColors
WhatColors is a fantastic tool for determining what colors complement your skin tone. It provides personalized color recommendations based on your unique skin tone. The app also helps identify your season by analyzing your skin, eye, and hair color. With WhatColors' AI Personal Color Analysis app, which is available for free download on the App Store and Google Play Store, you can unlock your color choices and revamp your style.
2. Glowup AI
Glowup AI assists in identifying the best ways to make you look pretty and helps unveil your archetype. The app analyzes your facial features based on the photos you upload, and you can learn about your most attractive traits and get personalized tips to enhance your beauty.
3. C Color App
The C Color App uses the C Color Quiz to determine your C Color Spectrum, which classifies colors based on temperature, saturation, and the predominant base color of blue, yellow, or red. You can purchase C Color Coordinates, ensemble palettes of colors, from the app's online store.
4. My Best Colors App
The My Best Colors App follows the seasonal color analysis theory. This self-color analysis application uses the Smart Color Picker to analyze the colors of garments and objects to provide you with the best color choices.
5. My Color Palette App
My Color Palette App is a fashion color stylist using seasonal color analysis. By answering a questionnaire about your hair, eye color contrast, and skin temperature, you can get personalized color recommendations to enhance your style.
6. Dressika
Dressika utilizes the seasonal color analysis approach as a personal fashion assistant and virtual fitting room. It selects over a hundred colors from the seasonal color palette to create a LookBook and allows you to physically assess apparel from online stores before purchasing.
7. YouCam Makeup
YouCam Makeup is a virtual makeup, hair color, and clothing color app that allows you to experiment with different looks in real time. You can try on different colors and styles to find the perfect match for your skin tone.
8. ColorLover
ColorLover provides personal color analysis information and personalized styling services to help you find the best colors that complement your skin tone.
Related Reading
• Cool Skin Tone Colors To Wear
• Best Clothing Colors For Asian Skin Tone
• Brown Skin Warm Skin Tone Colors
• Best Colors For Neutral Skin Tone
• Getting Your Colors Done
• Colors For Olive Skin Tone
• Colors For Winter Skin Tone
• Warm Skin Tone Colors To Wear
• House Of Color Cost
• Olive Skin Tone Colors To Wear
• Colors For Autumn Skin Tone
• Hair Colors For Your Skin Tone
• Neutral Skin Tone Colors To Wear
• How To Do Your Own Color Analysis
• Cool Hair Colors for Your Skin Tone Chart
• What Colors Are Best for My Skin Tone
• What Colors Suit My Skin Tone
What Colors Go With My Skin Tone & How to Wear Them
Understanding your undertones is crucial when it comes to dressing for your skin tone. Warm-toned individuals look best in earthy colors such as amber and beige, while cool-toned individuals shine in jewel tones like emerald and ruby. Neutral skin tones can experiment with both neutral and bright colors. Choosing the right hues can help you enhance your natural complexion and create a harmonious look.
Strategic Makeup Choices to Complement Your Skin Tone
Makeup can be a powerful tool to enhance your natural skin tone. Warm undertones can be complemented with earthy colors like olive and amber. Cool undertones pair well with jewel tones such as navy and emerald. Pastel shades like lavender and peach work for both warm and cool skin tones. By choosing makeup shades that harmonize with your skin undertone, you can create a cohesive and polished look.
Tips on Lip Colors that Complement Your Skin Tone
Selecting the right lip color can enhance your natural skin tone and complete your overall look.
Warm undertones can rock shades like coral and warm reds. Cool undertones can opt for berry tones or cool reds. Neutral skin tones can experiment with a wide range of lip colors, from nude to bold shades.
By choosing lip colors that complement your skin tone, you can elevate your makeup look and feel confident.
Pairing Clothing and Accessories to Harmonize with Your Undertone
Pairing clothing and accessories harmonizing with your undertone is key to creating a polished and cohesive look. Warm undertones can incorporate earthy tones like amber and olive into their wardrobe. Cool undertones can opt for jewel tones like emerald and sapphire. Neutral skin tones have the flexibility to experiment with both warm and cool colors. You can create a stylish and harmonious look by strategically pairing clothing and accessories that complement your undertone.
Try AI Personal Color Analysis For Free Today
WhatColors is a revolutionary app designed to help you discover the perfect colors to wear based on your skin tone. Thanks to our advanced color match technology, you can now easily determine your season based on your skin, eye, and hair color. This will allow you to confidently select the ideal colors that complement your natural features and avoid those that clash with them.
Our WhatColors Nail Color Generator will help you find the perfect nail colors to complete your stylish look. Unlock your colors and transform your style for free today with WhatColors’ AI Personal Color Analysis app.
Download our app for free today on the App Store or Google Play store.
Related Reading
Colors For Spring Skin Tone
Best Clothing Colors For Cool Skin Tone
At Home Color Analysis
Best Clothing Colors For South Asian Skin Tone
How To Choose Clothing Colors For Your Skin Tone
Clothing Colors For Yellow Skin Tone
Colors For Summer Skin Tone
Get your color analysis done
in 60 seconds with WhatColors!
Choosing the right skin tone colors can make a significant difference in the way you look and feel. By selecting the right shades that complement your complexion, you can enhance your features and project a more confident and put-together image. A harmonious color palette that matches your skin tone can help you stand out for all the right reasons, ensuring that your clothes make you look and feel beautiful.
Table of Contents
What are the Different Types of Skin Tones and How Can I Identify Mine?
Skin tone is the overall surface color you see at a glance, and it is determined by the amount of melanin present in the skin. It varies from the palest hues to the darkest browns, resulting from our genetic makeup and sun exposure.
Types of Skin Tones
Fair Skin Tones
Tend to burn easily in the sun, may have reddish undertones
Light Skin Tones
Have a more golden or yellow undertone
Medium Skin Tones
Olive or honey undertones
Tan Skin Tones
Brown with golden or reddish undertones
Deep Skin Tones
Very brown or deep undertones
Determining one’s tone is essential in finding the right skincare and face makeup and understanding how to protect the skin from sun damage. Some of the ways to determine skin tone are as follows:
Color Analysis
Compare your skin to a color swatch or a standardized chart of skin tones, such as the Fitzpatrick scale, to help you identify whether your tone is fair, light, medium, or dark.
Natural Light Test
Examine your skin in natural light, such as sunlight or soft daylight, to see the actual color of your skin without any artificial lighting or makeup.
Sun Exposure Test
Observe how your skin reacts to sun exposure. You have a fair skin tone if your skin burns easily and doesn’t tan. You have a light tone if your skin burns as well as tans a little. You have a medium tone if your skin tans easily but rarely burns. You have a dark skin tone if your skin never burns but tans during prolonged exposure.
Understanding Skin Undertones
There is another aspect to consider regarding our skin—its undertone. Skin undertones are the colors that lie beneath our skin's visible surface and give it its unique character and depth. Unlike surface color, which can change with a tan or certain brightening or tan removal cream, this subtle, muted color beneath the skin’s surface typically remains unchanged.
Types Of Skin Undertones
Cool
Characterized by pink, red, or blue hues.
Warm
Characterized by yellow, peach, or gold hues.
Neutral
A balance of cool and warm undertones.
Determining your undertone requires a little more work than your skin tone, but several accurate methods are available to help you find the correct one. Our recommendation? Try 2-3 and use the average of your results to confirm your undertone.
The Vein Test
Look at the veins on the inside of your wrist. If they appear blue or purple, your undertone is cool. If they appear green, your undertone is warm. If they appear blue-green, your undertone is neutral.
The Jewelry Test
Silver and platinum jewelry looks better on cool undertones, while gold jewelry looks better on warm undertones. If you can effortlessly wear both, you are a true neutral.
White Paper Test
Hold a bright white paper against your bare face. If your skin looks yellowish against the sheet, you’re warm-toned. Are you looking pink? Then you are cool-toned. If you look more green or grey, you could be neutral-toned.
The Sun Exposure Test
Spending time in the sun is a good way of revealing one’s undertone. You have a warm tone if you tend to tan easily and rarely burn. If you burn very easily and tan minimally, you are cool-toned. If you both tan and burn, you have a neutral tone.
Related Reading
Are There Any Tools That Can Help Me Determine My Skin Tone Accurately? 8 Best Online Skin Tone Color Analysis Tools
1. WhatColors
WhatColors is a fantastic tool for determining what colors complement your skin tone. It provides personalized color recommendations based on your unique skin tone. The app also helps identify your season by analyzing your skin, eye, and hair color. With WhatColors' AI Personal Color Analysis app, which is available for free download on the App Store and Google Play Store, you can unlock your color choices and revamp your style.
2. Glowup AI
Glowup AI assists in identifying the best ways to make you look pretty and helps unveil your archetype. The app analyzes your facial features based on the photos you upload, and you can learn about your most attractive traits and get personalized tips to enhance your beauty.
3. C Color App
The C Color App uses the C Color Quiz to determine your C Color Spectrum, which classifies colors based on temperature, saturation, and the predominant base color of blue, yellow, or red. You can purchase C Color Coordinates, ensemble palettes of colors, from the app's online store.
4. My Best Colors App
The My Best Colors App follows the seasonal color analysis theory. This self-color analysis application uses the Smart Color Picker to analyze the colors of garments and objects to provide you with the best color choices.
5. My Color Palette App
My Color Palette App is a fashion color stylist using seasonal color analysis. By answering a questionnaire about your hair, eye color contrast, and skin temperature, you can get personalized color recommendations to enhance your style.
6. Dressika
Dressika utilizes the seasonal color analysis approach as a personal fashion assistant and virtual fitting room. It selects over a hundred colors from the seasonal color palette to create a LookBook and allows you to physically assess apparel from online stores before purchasing.
7. YouCam Makeup
YouCam Makeup is a virtual makeup, hair color, and clothing color app that allows you to experiment with different looks in real time. You can try on different colors and styles to find the perfect match for your skin tone.
8. ColorLover
ColorLover provides personal color analysis information and personalized styling services to help you find the best colors that complement your skin tone.
Related Reading
• Cool Skin Tone Colors To Wear
• Best Clothing Colors For Asian Skin Tone
• Brown Skin Warm Skin Tone Colors
• Best Colors For Neutral Skin Tone
• Getting Your Colors Done
• Colors For Olive Skin Tone
• Colors For Winter Skin Tone
• Warm Skin Tone Colors To Wear
• House Of Color Cost
• Olive Skin Tone Colors To Wear
• Colors For Autumn Skin Tone
• Hair Colors For Your Skin Tone
• Neutral Skin Tone Colors To Wear
• How To Do Your Own Color Analysis
• Cool Hair Colors for Your Skin Tone Chart
• What Colors Are Best for My Skin Tone
• What Colors Suit My Skin Tone
What Colors Go With My Skin Tone & How to Wear Them
Understanding your undertones is crucial when it comes to dressing for your skin tone. Warm-toned individuals look best in earthy colors such as amber and beige, while cool-toned individuals shine in jewel tones like emerald and ruby. Neutral skin tones can experiment with both neutral and bright colors. Choosing the right hues can help you enhance your natural complexion and create a harmonious look.
Strategic Makeup Choices to Complement Your Skin Tone
Makeup can be a powerful tool to enhance your natural skin tone. Warm undertones can be complemented with earthy colors like olive and amber. Cool undertones pair well with jewel tones such as navy and emerald. Pastel shades like lavender and peach work for both warm and cool skin tones. By choosing makeup shades that harmonize with your skin undertone, you can create a cohesive and polished look.
Tips on Lip Colors that Complement Your Skin Tone
Selecting the right lip color can enhance your natural skin tone and complete your overall look.
Warm undertones can rock shades like coral and warm reds. Cool undertones can opt for berry tones or cool reds. Neutral skin tones can experiment with a wide range of lip colors, from nude to bold shades.
By choosing lip colors that complement your skin tone, you can elevate your makeup look and feel confident.
Pairing Clothing and Accessories to Harmonize with Your Undertone
Pairing clothing and accessories harmonizing with your undertone is key to creating a polished and cohesive look. Warm undertones can incorporate earthy tones like amber and olive into their wardrobe. Cool undertones can opt for jewel tones like emerald and sapphire. Neutral skin tones have the flexibility to experiment with both warm and cool colors. You can create a stylish and harmonious look by strategically pairing clothing and accessories that complement your undertone.
Try AI Personal Color Analysis For Free Today
WhatColors is a revolutionary app designed to help you discover the perfect colors to wear based on your skin tone. Thanks to our advanced color match technology, you can now easily determine your season based on your skin, eye, and hair color. This will allow you to confidently select the ideal colors that complement your natural features and avoid those that clash with them.
Our WhatColors Nail Color Generator will help you find the perfect nail colors to complete your stylish look. Unlock your colors and transform your style for free today with WhatColors’ AI Personal Color Analysis app.
Download our app for free today on the App Store or Google Play store.
Related Reading
Colors For Spring Skin Tone
Best Clothing Colors For Cool Skin Tone
At Home Color Analysis
Best Clothing Colors For South Asian Skin Tone
How To Choose Clothing Colors For Your Skin Tone
Clothing Colors For Yellow Skin Tone
Colors For Summer Skin Tone