Best colours for wheatish skin: a guide for men in India

Find your undertone at home in five minutes

Undertone is the quiet colour under your skin. It is not the same as how light or dark you are. Wheatish skin sits in the middle of the range, from golden beige to light brown, and it carries warm, cool and neutral undertones in equal measure. Do the three tests below in daylight, near a window, with no filter and no coloured light. Then trust the answer that shows up twice.

• Vein test. Look at the inside of your wrist. Mostly green veins point to a warm undertone. Mostly blue or purple veins point to a cool one. A mix of both usually means neutral. On deeper skin the veins are harder to see, so skip this test if you cannot tell and lean on the other two.
• White versus cream test. Hold a plain white shirt under your chin, then a cream or ivory one. If cream makes your face look healthier and stark white looks harsh, you lean warm. If crisp white looks clean and cream looks a little yellow or flat, you lean cool. If both look fine, you are likely neutral.
• Jewellery test. Try a gold chain and a silver chain against your neck. If gold makes your skin glow, you lean warm. If silver does the same, you lean cool. If both work, you are neutral, and you get to wear both.

What wheatish skin usually pairs with

Here is the honest version. Wheatish skin spans warm and cool. One man with wheatish skin has a golden, olive-warm base and glows in rust and mustard. Another has a pink or neutral base and looks better in navy and cobalt. So no single list is true for everyone with wheatish skin. What is true for most is this: wheatish skin has medium depth, so it carries mid-to-rich colours with ease. It handles both mid-tone and deep colours, and it holds contrast well.

• Warm-leaning: rust, olive, terracotta, mustard, camel, warm teal. Pair these with gold-toned watches.
• Cool-leaning: navy, cobalt, burgundy, steel blue, cool grey, emerald. Pair these with silver or steel watches.
• Neutral: teal, wine, forest green and charcoal sit well on both sides, so start there if you are unsure.

Colours to buy, and the ones to retire

Buy colours that are clearly darker or clearly brighter than your skin. That gap is what makes your face look awake. Start with one deep colour and one fresh colour, then fill in with your neutrals. Retire colours that sit very close to your skin tone, because they flatten your face instead of framing it.

• Buy: deep teal, burgundy, olive, cobalt, terracotta and a clean off-white.
• Upgrade, do not just stop: tan and beige tees close to your skin tone work better as a layer under a deeper overshirt.
• Retire: washed khaki shirts, pale mushroom and icy grey near the face. They blur your features.
• One test before you buy: hold the shirt under your chin in a mirror in daylight. If your face looks clearer, buy it. If it looks tired, put it back.

Three outfit combinations that work

Three outfits you can put together this week. Every price is a rough range in rupees, and every brand ships across India.

• Keep one anchor colour per outfit and let the other two pieces stay quiet.
• Match your metals: gold-toned watch if you lean warm, silver if you lean cool.

Questions

Related guides