SpecFitBest glasses colours for a cool skin tone
A cool undertone is a pink, red, or blue base under the skin, rather than a golden one. It appears at any skin depth, from fair to deep. Once you know you are cool, one family of frame colours looks natural on you, and one needs more care.
How to tell your skin is cool
Any skin depth can be cool, from very fair to deep. Four checks confirm it.
- Wrist veins. In daylight, the veins on the inside of your wrist look blue or purple.
- Jewellery. Silver flatters your skin more than gold does.
- Sun. Your skin burns before it tans.
- White paper. Held next to your face, white paper makes your skin look pink or rosy rather than golden.
If most of these point the same way, you are cool. For the full test and the neutral case, read what colour glasses suit me. This page goes deeper on the cool result only.
Colours that flatter cool skin
Silver, gunmetal, black, grey, and navy are the reliable core. Cool blue, purple, plum, berry, cherry red, and jewel green sit well too, because they carry the same pink-to-blue base as the skin. Clear or grey crystal reads clean rather than washed out. Black-and-grey tortoise gives you the pattern of tortoiseshell without the honey base that fights a cool face. Rose gold is a borderline metal. It carries more pink than yellow, so it works on many cool faces, though it is worth checking against your own skin before you commit.
Colours to be careful with
Yellow gold, orange, honey tortoise, olive, warm brown, and cream are not forbidden. On cool skin they can push the same effect: the skin reads pinker or more flushed than it does in a cool frame, because the frame's yellow base fights the skin's blue base instead of matching it. If you want a metal and are drawn to gold, try silver or gunmetal first. If you want tortoise, look for a grey or black base rather than honey.
Every classic colour has a cool version
You do not have to give up a colour family because you are cool-toned. You have to pick its cool version.
| Colour family | Cool version to pick | Warm version to skip |
|---|---|---|
| Tortoise | Black-and-grey or blue tortoise | Honey tortoise |
| Metal | Silver, gunmetal, rose gold | Yellow gold |
| Clear | Clear or grey crystal | Champagne |
| Red | Cherry or berry | Brick |
| Green | Emerald or jewel green | Olive |
Contrast decides how bold to go
Undertone tells you which family to shop. Contrast, the gap between your skin and your hair and brows, tells you how bold within that family.
- High contrast (dark hair, fair cool skin) carries black, navy, and bold jewel tones like plum or cherry red without looking heavy.
- Low contrast (ash blonde or grey hair, fair skin) suits softer frames: grey, clear, light blue, or thin silver.
Grey hair itself is cool. A cool-skinned person going grey often finds that silver, grey, and navy sit better than the tortoise they wore before, because the hair has moved to a cooler, lower-contrast base too.
The two-frame test
Hold a cool frame, silver or black, against your face in daylight. Then hold a warm frame, honey tortoise, against the same spot. The one that makes your skin look even and clear is the right one. The other makes the skin look flushed or ruddy. This takes seconds and settles most doubts faster than reading about it does.
SpecFit reads your undertone from the scan. The face scan uses your iPhone's depth camera to measure your PD, face width, and bridge width in real millimetres, accurate to about 1 mm. It also tags frames warm or cool based on your undertone. The fit check is free: paste a link to any glasses and the app reads the size stamp and scores the fit against your face. Rendering a frame on your face costs one credit.
Questions
How do I know if my skin has a cool undertone?
Look at the veins on the inside of your wrist in daylight. Blue or purple points to cool. Silver jewellery usually flatters a cool undertone more than gold does. Cool skin also tends to burn before it tans, and it can look pink or rosy next to white paper rather than golden.
Is gold completely off limits for cool skin?
No colour is forbidden. Yellow gold, orange, honey tortoise, olive, warm brown, and cream can make cool skin look pink or flushed, so they are worth trying before you buy. If you want a metal, silver or gunmetal is the safer starting point. If you want tortoise, look for a grey or black base.
What colour glasses suit pink or rosy skin?
Pink or rosy skin next to white paper usually signals a cool undertone. Silver, gunmetal, black, grey, navy, and jewel tones like plum or emerald tend to sit well. Warm golds and honey tortoise can add to the pinkness rather than balancing it.
Should I choose silver or gold glasses for cool skin?
Silver, for most cool skin. Gunmetal is a good alternative if you want something darker than bright silver. Rose gold is a borderline case that works on many cool faces, because it carries more pink than yellow.