Glossary · Undertone
Color science

Undertone

The cool, warm or neutral cast that sits underneath your skin's surface colour. Undertone doesn't change with a tan or with the seasons.

What it means

Undertone is the underlying temperature of your skin. Warm undertones lean golden, peach or yellow. Cool undertones lean pink, rosy or blue. Neutral undertones sit in between. The skin's surface tone — how tan or pale you currently are — can shift, but the undertone underneath stays put. Undertone is the single most important factor in matching colours to a face: get it wrong and even a 'pretty' colour will dull the skin.

How it shows up in your Better in Style analysis

We read undertone from your portrait by comparing how warm and cool reference swatches behave against your skin in the photo. That reading is then cross-checked against your eye colour and hair colour before being used to place you on the warm-cool axis of the 12-season system.

See this play out on your own face

Better in Style applies these ideas to your photo and tells you which season you actually are.

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