How to determine your skin's undertone and use it alongside face shape to choose the most flattering frame color.
Determining Your Undertone
Check the veins on the inside of your wrist in natural light: if they appear more blue or purple, you likely have a cool undertone; if they appear more green, a warm undertone; if you genuinely can't tell, you may have a neutral undertone. A second check: silver jewelry generally flatters cool undertones more, gold flatters warm undertones more, and neutral undertones tend to wear both comfortably.
Cool Undertone Frame Colors
Cool undertones are generally well-served by frame colors including black, silver, grey, navy, and cool-toned tortoiseshell with grey or black base tones rather than warm brown.
Warm Undertone Frame Colors
Warm undertones tend to pair well with gold, warm brown, amber, olive, and warm tortoiseshell frames with orange or yellow-brown base tones.
Combining With Face Shape
Frame color and frame shape address different things — shape corrects proportion (see our individual frame-shape guides), while color harmonizes with your existing coloring. Choose shape first based on your face-shape guide, then narrow the color options within that shape category using your undertone.