Two bottles of foundation can look almost identical on the shelf. Swipe them along your jaw, though, and one leaves a peach stripe while the other blends into your skin. A skin tone chart helps explain the difference. Each shade has a depth, which tells you how light or deep it is, and an undertone, which describes its subtle hue.
Try this as you read. Stand near a window with a mirror and look at the spot where your lower cheek meets your neck. If you own a foundation that has never looked quite right, bring it along. Can you see a pale edge where the makeup ends? Or is the depth close, but the color looks too pink or yellow? Those clues point to different fixes.
Start with the six swatches below and pick the two closest to your skin. Then use the second picture to compare undertones. You can use the same method at a beauty counter or at home with samples before buying a full bottle.
Skin Tone Chart With Pictures, From Fair to Very Deep
Each swatch shows one example of a shade depth. Your skin may fall between two neighboring colors.
Read this skin tone chart from left to right. For the first pass, ask just one question: Which swatch looks about as light or deep as the skin along my jaw? If the medium swatch looks close in depth but a little too peachy, keep medium on your list. You’ll check that peach tint when you compare undertones.
| Shade depth | Where to start when comparing foundation |
| Fair | Start at the lightest end of the range. Compare fair and light if the palest shade leaves a white cast. |
| Light | Compare light with fair or light-medium. Look for the point where the blended edge fades. |
| Medium | Start in the middle of the range. Try light-medium or medium-tan if you fall between swatches. |
| Tan | Compare medium-tan and tan at a similar undertone. The word “tan” describes depth here. |
| Deep | Look for several deep shades side by side so you can see smaller shifts in both depth and hue. |
| Very deep | Start at the deepest end of the range and compare neighboring shades. Look at the hue as well as the depth. |
These are broad makeup labels. One brand may call your shade “tan,” while another puts it in its medium-deep range. A shade name is most useful when you know the brand and formula it belongs to.
What Does Your Skin Undertone Look Like?
Your skin undertone is the subtle hue that makes one foundation blend more naturally than another at the same depth. You might see it most clearly when a shade is wrong. For example, if two foundations are equally light but only one leaves a pink stripe, the difference you’re seeing is undertone.
This skin tone chart keeps the depth roughly similar so you can focus on the shift from rosy to golden, balanced or olive.
| Undertone | Words you may see on a shade label | What to try |
| Cool | Rosy, pink, cool red | Compare a rosy shade with a neutral one if golden shades leave a yellow stripe. |
| Warm | Golden, yellow, peach | Compare golden and peach. Peach has more red in it, so the two can look quite different on your face. |
| Neutral | Neutral, balanced | Try a neutral shade if one swatch at your depth looks pink and the next looks yellow. |
| Olive | Olive, golden olive, neutral olive | Compare olive with neutral if peach and pink shades both stand out against your skin. Look for a subtle, muted green or golden-green cast. |
Olive can appear at many depths, including fair and deep. It can also overlap with other shade descriptions. For example, Armani Beauty uses “Neutral Olive” in its foundation range. When a brand offers a written description beside its shade number, read both.
How to Use a Skin Tone Chart to Match Foundation
1. Choose two nearby depths in daylight
Face a window or step into open shade with a mirror. Look at bare skin along your lower cheek, jaw and neck. If your cheeks are flushed, check a second area closer to your ear. Pick the two nearest depths on the skin tone chart. An in-between answer such as “light to medium” gives you a useful starting point.
2. Change one thing at a time
Start with two shades from the same foundation line that have a similar undertone but differ in depth. Apply a narrow stripe of each from your lower cheek across your jaw. Leave a little bare skin between them so you can see each edge clearly.
Once you choose the closer depth, compare two undertones at that depth. For example, test medium neutral beside medium golden. Changing one thing at a time makes it easier to tell what helped. Both Ulta Beauty and Armani Beauty recommend checking jawline swatches in natural light.
3. Look for the edge after the makeup sets
Let each stripe dry according to the product directions. Gently blend one edge, step back from the mirror and turn your head. Which stripe is hardest to find where your jaw meets your neck? That’s the one to try over a larger area.
Suppose you test medium golden, medium neutral and tan neutral. The tan shade leaves a dark edge. The medium golden shade is light enough but looks yellow. If the edge of the medium neutral stripe fades into your skin, you have a reason to choose it. You can also use that result the next time you shop.
Why Does My Foundation Still Look Wrong?
A close match on a skin tone chart can look different once you wear it. Use the part that looks wrong to decide what to change next.
- It looks pale or chalky: Try one step deeper with the same undertone. If that shade leaves a dark line, return to the first depth and compare a different undertone.
- It looks orange after it dries: Let both samples set fully, then compare your original shade with a less peachy shade at the same depth. Check them near a window.
- It matches your cheeks but leaves a line at your neck: Test a shade between the colors of those two areas. Wear your usual neckline so you can see your face, neck and upper chest together.
- It looks yellow only in a selfie: Look at the bare skin beside the foundation in the same photo. If everything has a yellow cast, check it in daylight before changing shades.
- Every shade looks either pink or peach: If the depth seems right, try a muted neutral or olive shade beside your closest match. Compare the blended edges.
How to Choose a Foundation Shade Online
A retailer’s skin tone chart is easier to use when it shows several shades on the same person in the same light. Find a model close to your depth and look at the neighboring swatches. Turn off your screen’s warm night setting while you compare pictures.
Keep a note of one foundation that already suits you. “Medium neutral, shade 6, in this formula” gives you more to work with than “beige.” Save the brand and product name too. If you switch formulas, you can use the old shade as a reference even when the new range uses different numbers.
If you’re choosing between two shades online, look for a sample size. A photo can narrow your choices, but a sample lets you see how that particular product dries on your skin and how it looks beside your neck.
Conclusion
Use the skin tone chart to pick two nearby depths, then let your jawline swatches guide the final choice. If a foundation is light enough but looks too peachy, keep the depth and change the undertone. If the hue looks right but leaves a dark edge, try one step lighter.
Once you find a shade whose blended edge disappears in daylight, write down the brand, formula, shade number and undertone. That one line gives you something more useful than a color name on a bottle: a record of what works on your own skin.
Skin Tone Chart FAQs
1. Can a skin tone chart tell me my exact foundation number?
A skin tone chart can narrow your search to a depth and a likely undertone. The exact shade number belongs to a particular product range. Check the swatches for the formula you plan to wear, even if you already use another foundation from the same brand.
2. Can I tell my undertone from my veins or jewelry?
Vein color and jewelry preference can give you a starting guess. A side-by-side makeup test answers the question more directly. Try a rosy shade and a golden shade at the same depth. If both stand out, add a neutral swatch and compare all three in daylight.
3. Which skin tone chart should I use for Indian or brown skin?
Choose a chart with several shades around your own depth. If the closest swatch is medium brown, look for a range that shows medium brown in golden, neutral, cool and olive tones. Having more than one option at the right depth helps you spot an undertone mismatch. Your nationality alone won’t tell you which foundation to buy.
4. Should I change my foundation shade with the seasons?
Try your existing foundation along your jaw first. If your skin now looks deeper or lighter than the dried stripe, test the next depth in the same undertone. If the edge still blends into your skin, you can keep using the shade you own.
5. Is the Fitzpatrick scale the same as a makeup skin tone chart?
They answer different questions. The Fitzpatrick scale groups skin by how it responds to sunlight, including how easily it burns or tans. A makeup chart compares visible shades to help you match a cosmetic product. You can’t determine your sun response by picking a foundation swatch.
