The best colors for neutral undertones

You likely have a neutral undertone if your veins look blue-green, gold and silver both suit you, and neither cream nor stark white looks clearly better. Mixed results can also come from poor light, so repeat the checks in daylight without makeup. Comparing a warm coral and a cool pink under your chin can confirm it.

The best neutral undertone colors are balanced ones: jade, teal, dusty rose, true red, eggplant, denim blue and sage, with taupe, greige, charcoal and soft white as neutrals. If your coloring leans slightly warm, add camel and terracotta. If it leans slightly cool, add mauve, slate blue and raspberry.

Yes. Most people with neutral undertones can wear both, and mixed-metal jewelry often looks best of all. If one metal does look slightly better, it hints at which way you lean: gold suggests warm-neutral, silver suggests cool-neutral. Rose gold sits right in the middle and is a reliable choice.

Often, yes. Olive skin pairs a green or gray-gold surface tone with a base that is usually neutral and sometimes warm, so both metals tend to work. It’s better treated as its own overtone, though. Olive skin usually looks best in slightly deeper, muted colors, such as teal, plum and terracotta, rather than in the full neutral palette.

Colors at the extremes: neon orange, highlighter yellow, bubblegum pink, brassy gold and icy pastels. They push neutral skin toward yellow or gray. Very saturated or very pale shades can also overpower balanced coloring, unless you have strong contrast between your hair, skin and eyes.