Colours That Suit Indian Skin Tones: A Practical Guide

The colours that suit you depend on three things: your undertone (warm, cool or neutral), the depth of your skin, and the contrast between your skin, hair and eyes. Many Indian skin tones have warm or neutral undertones, which often suit jewel tones, warm earth tones and rich neutrals. The quickest way to know is to test colours near your face in daylight.

Indian skin covers a huge range, from very fair to very deep, so there's no single list that works for everyone. Here's a practical way to find your own.

Undertone: warm, cool or neutral

Undertone is the colour beneath the surface of your skin, and it doesn't change when you tan.

Simple tests at home, in natural daylight:

• Gold or silver: hold gold and silver jewellery against your skin. If gold makes your skin look brighter, you're likely warm. If silver does, you're likely cool. If both look fine, neutral.
• White or cream: hold a pure white cloth and a cream or off-white cloth near your face. Cream flatters warm undertones; pure white flatters cool ones.
• Veins: greenish veins often suggest warm; bluish or purple suggest cool; hard to tell suggests neutral. This test is less reliable on deeper skin.

Many Indian skin tones are warm or neutral, with golden or olive hints, but cool undertones are common too.

Depth: light, medium or deep

Depth is how light or deep your skin is. It affects how strong a colour can be before it overwhelms you, or how pale before it washes you out.

• Lighter skin: soft and medium colours often work; very dark colours can look stark unless your hair is dark too.
• Medium or wheatish skin: most medium and rich colours work; very pale pastels can look washed out on some people. See our guide to the best colours for wheatish skin.
• Deep or dusky skin: saturated, bright and rich colours often look striking, as does crisp white.

Contrast

Contrast is the difference between your skin, hair and eyes. Most Indian women have dark hair and dark eyes, so contrast is often medium to high, especially with lighter skin. High contrast usually suits bold colour combinations, such as black and white, or emerald with gold. Lower contrast suits tonal outfits in similar shades.

Colour ideas by undertone

Warm undertones often suit:

• Mustard, turmeric yellow, marigold
• Rust, terracotta, burnt orange, coral
• Olive, bottle green, khaki
• Maroon, brick red, chocolate brown
• Cream, ivory and camel instead of stark white
• Gold jewellery and zari

Cool undertones often suit:

• Emerald, teal and sapphire blue
• Fuchsia, rani pink, magenta
• Plum, wine and berry
• Navy, charcoal, pure white and black
• Lavender, icy pastels, mint
• Silver jewellery and oxidised pieces

Neutral undertones can wear shades from both lists. Medium-depth versions of each colour, such as teal rather than bright turquoise, are usually safest.

Classic Indian colours, and who they suit

• Red: almost universal. Warm undertones suit tomato and brick red; cool undertones suit blue-reds such as ruby and cherry.
• Yellow: mustard and turmeric suit warm undertones; lemon suits cool ones. Very pale yellow can wash out medium skin.
• Green: emerald and bottle green suit most people. Parrot green is bright and works especially well on medium and deep skin.
• Pink: rani pink and fuchsia are flattering on many Indian skin tones, including deep skin.
• White: crisp white often looks striking on deeper skin; cream and ivory are gentler on warm undertones.

Testing colours properly

1. Use daylight. Shop and store lighting changes how colours look.
2. Hold the colour under your face, not against your arm.
3. Compare two shades at once, such as mustard and lemon. One will usually make your skin look more even.
4. Look at your whole face, not just the colour. The right shade makes dark circles and redness less noticeable.
5. Check photos. Phone photos in daylight show what others see.

What to avoid

• Rules based on skin "fairness". Every skin depth can wear bright colours.
• Judging colours under shop lighting.
• Throwing out colours you love. Wear them away from your face, in bottoms, footwear, or prints.
• Over-matching. Your outfit doesn't need to match your skin; it should make it look healthy.

Building colour into your wardrobe

Once you know your best shades, pick two or three base neutrals that suit you, such as navy, cream and olive, and three or four accent colours. Everything mixes more easily. Our guide to building a capsule wardrobe with Indian wear shows how.

How Mirra helps

Mirra lets you add your skin shade to your profile. It's optional, and it's used only to recommend colours and clothes. When you ask Wardrobe chat for an outfit, Mirra takes it into account when choosing from the clothes you've added, and Shop mode searches women's clothing and footwear from Indian and international brands when you want a new piece in a shade that suits you. You can leave the field blank if you prefer.