Gold or Silver Jewelry for My Skin Tone? How to Tell for Sure

It comes down to your undertone, not how light or dark your skin is. Warm undertones (golden, peachy, olive-yellow) usually glow in yellow gold. Cool undertones (pink, red or blue-ish) usually look brighter in silver, white gold and platinum. Neutral undertones can wear either, and many people are neutral without knowing it.

The problem is that the popular tests are unreliable on their own. Here's how to combine a few of them so you get an answer you can trust, plus how to read the result when you hold both metals up to your face.

Undertone versus skin tone

Skin tone is the surface color: fair, light, medium, tan, deep. Undertone is the hue underneath, and it stays the same when you tan. A very fair person can be warm, and a very deep skin tone can be cool. That's why advice like gold for dark skin, silver for pale skin doesn't hold up.

Undertone is also what decides your best hair colors, which is why the same reasoning shows up in how to choose hair color for your skin tone.

Tests that actually help (and how to read them)

Do these in natural daylight near a window, with no makeup or self-tanner on. One test can mislead you. Three that agree are a reliable answer.

• The vein test: look at the inside of your wrist. Mostly green veins suggest warm, blue or purple suggest cool, a mix suggests neutral. It's the weakest test, since vein color also depends on how thin your skin is.
• The white paper test: hold a sheet of plain white paper next to your bare face. Next to bright white, warm skin looks more yellow or golden, cool skin looks more pink or rosy, neutral looks neither.
• The sun test: if you tan easily and rarely burn, you're likely warm or olive. If you burn first and then turn pink, you're likely cool.
• The white versus cream test: pure white tops make cool skin look fresh; warm skin often looks better in ivory or cream, while pure white can make it look a little sallow.
• The metal test: hold a gold piece and a silver piece against your jaw and neck, one at a time. The one that makes your skin look even and bright is your metal. The wrong one tends to make skin look gray, sallow or more red.

Which metals suit warm, cool and neutral undertones

Warm: yellow gold, rose gold, brass and copper tones. Warm stones like amber, citrine, coral and ruby look rich on you. Cream and golden pearls are often more flattering than bright white ones.

Cool: sterling silver, white gold and platinum. Icy stones look great: diamond, sapphire, amethyst, and emerald. Bright white or pink-overtone pearls suit you well.

Neutral: you can wear all of them. Rose gold is often especially good on neutral skin because it sits between warm and cool. You also get away with mixed metal pieces more easily than anyone.

Olive skin is a special case. It has a green or gray cast with a warm or neutral base, and it often suits both yellow gold and silver. Very bright, brassy gold can occasionally look a little loud on olive skin, so a softer 14k tone is often better than a deep 22k yellow.

Your hair and eye color count too

Jewelry sits next to your hair as much as your skin. Gray, silver or platinum-blonde hair pairs naturally with silver and platinum even if your skin leans warm, because the metal picks up the hair color. Copper, auburn and golden-brown hair loves yellow and rose gold. Dark brown or black hair is flexible and works with either.

Eyes play a smaller part, but they help break a tie. Warm hazel, amber and golden-brown eyes pick up yellow gold. Icy blue and gray eyes look sharper next to silver. If you've recently changed hair color and your favorite jewelry suddenly looks off, this is usually why, so re-check your metal after any big color change.

Can you mix gold and silver?

Yes, and it's been normal for years. The trick is to make it look intentional. Repeat each metal at least twice (for example, a gold chain and gold hoops with a silver ring and silver watch), or use one piece that already combines both, like a two-tone chain, to link them.

Mixing is also the easiest solution if your tests came back neutral or contradictory. You don't have to choose. You just need the metal closest to your face to be the one that flatters you most, since earrings and necklaces affect your complexion far more than rings or bracelets do.

Your clothes shift the balance too. A gold necklace with a cream sweater, camel coat or olive dress looks warm and rich, while the same necklace with icy gray or bright white can look a little brassy. Silver does the opposite. If your wardrobe leans strongly warm or cool, that's a practical reason to favor the matching metal even if your undertone is neutral.

See both metals on your own face

Holding a single gold ring against your wrist doesn't show what a gold necklace does to your face. A photo comparison does. In Lody's jewelry try-on you can apply the same piece in Gold, Silver, Rose Gold and Platinum to one photo and flip between them in the before/after view. If you're torn on the pink-toned option specifically, read who looks good in rose gold.

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