Upload one photo and we measure the hue of your skin to tell you if your undertone is cool, neutral or warm, plus the closest foundation shades from 106 brands.
One photo · about 6 seconds
Undertone is a direction of colour, not an amount. Skin always sits somewhere between red and yellow, and the question is which one leads. So the test measures the angle of your skin colour between those two, the hue, and ignores how light or deep you are.
Below 47 degrees red leads and the reading is cool. Between 47 and 58 degrees the two are close to balanced and the reading is neutral. Above 58 degrees yellow leads and the reading is warm. We tested the same face under a warm bulb, in open shade and in daylight. Without the light correction the hue spread over 71 degrees. With it, the spread was about 22 degrees, which keeps a reading inside one band.
What a photo cannot read well is depth, how light or deep your skin is. One step of camera exposure moves it a lot. That is why the result page treats depth as an estimate and undertone as the solid half of the reading.
The same four depths at each undertone, so you can see the difference rather than read about it.
Red sits ahead of yellow. Skin reads pink, rosy or slightly blue at the jaw, and a shade that is too warm looks orange on it within an hour.
Red and yellow are close to balanced. The widest set of shades will work, which also makes it the easiest undertone to mismatch by eye.
Yellow sits ahead of red. Skin reads golden, olive or peachy, and a shade that is too cool leaves a grey cast across the cheeks.
Olive is not a fourth hue. It describes a green or grey note on top of a yellow base, and most olive skin measures as neutral or warm. Shades that are too pink look grey on it.
What our tool measured in 32,172 readings from 18 July 2026 to 12 October 2026. These are the people who used the tool, not a census.
| Where | Cool | Neutral | Warm | Readings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All countries | 37.1% | 38.6% | 24.3% | 32,172 |
| United States | 46.8% | 36.6% | 16.6% | 7,766 |
| United Kingdom | 48.9% | 35.9% | 15.2% | 2,229 |
| India | 24.8% | 39.5% | 35.7% | 8,366 |
Warm was the least common result, at 24.3% of all readings. That hides a big difference between countries: warm was 16.6% of readings in the United States and 35.7% in India, where neutral led.
| Depth | Cool | Neutral | Warm | Readings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | 31.8% | 41.7% | 26.6% | 13,170 |
| Light | 37.4% | 36.8% | 25.8% | 11,946 |
| Medium | 43.2% | 38.5% | 18.3% | 5,942 |
| Deep | 64.0% | 21.0% | 15.0% | 1,114 |
The deeper the shade, the more often the reading came back cool. Fair readings were the most likely to be neutral. Full method and charts are in the shade data.
Do them in daylight near a window, with no makeup on.
If the tests disagree with each other, that is normal, and it often means neutral. A measured reading or a swatch on your jaw settles it.
Many brands print the undertone in the shade code. C means cool, N means neutral and W means warm, so 2N and 2W share a depth but not a hue. MAC uses NC for warm and NW for cool, which trips up a lot of people. A shade with the wrong undertone looks orange on cool skin and grey or ashy on warm skin, even when the depth is right.
Once you know your undertone, match the depth on your jaw in daylight. Our step by step guide on how to find your foundation shade covers the swatch and the ten minute wait. If you already own a shade that works, the shade converter finds the closest colour in every other brand.
Skin tone is how light or deep your skin is, and it changes with the sun. Undertone is the hue under the surface, pink, golden or balanced, and it stays put when you tan.
Yes, within limits. Our tool corrects most of the colour cast of the light before it measures, so the same face photographed under a warm bulb, in shade and in daylight lands within about 22 degrees of hue, inside one undertone band. Depth is much harder to read from a photo than undertone.
In our 32,172 readings, warm was the least common result overall at about 24%, against about 37% cool and 39% neutral. It depends a lot on where people are: warm was 17% of readings in the United States and 36% in India.
Only as a hint. Veins look different under different light and on different screens, and many people see blue-green and cannot decide. Use it together with a swatch or a measured reading, not on its own.
Olive describes a green or grey note on top of a yellow base. Most olive skin measures as neutral or warm in hue, and foundation shades that are too pink look grey on it.
Usually not. A tan or a winter fade moves your depth by a step or so, while the undertone underneath stays where it was. Redness, a flush or self tan can make a reading drift for a while.
Look for the letter in the shade code. C or a pink name for cool, N for neutral, W or a golden name for warm. Then match the depth on your jaw in daylight.
One photo gives you your undertone, your depth and the closest shades from 106 brands.
