Oh, the dilemma. 

Silver or gold? Sometimes (ok.. most times), I end up buying both when I really can’t decide. But I’ve grown wiser now, and more selective over my choices. A little knowledge always makes decisions easier. 

As jewellery is worn close to one’s skin, the contrast of jewellery against skin tone is what makes a piece of accessory look stunning on someone and mediocre on another. Knowing your skin tone is a game changer. Not only does it help in determining the types of jewellery that will make you glow, you’ll also be able to know what shades of makeup or clothes flatter you. 

Certain skin tones are more compatible with certain metals and gemstones. Here are various ways to help you discover your skin tone and make that choice between silver or gold accessories. You might not be able to gauge clearly with just one test, so try a few of the methods below and note your results down on a piece of paper marked ‘Warm’, ‘Cool’, ‘Neutral’. The column with the most ticks will be your likely skin tone. Have fun!

How To Determine Your Skin Tone

1. The Veins Test

Take a look at the veins on your wrist under natural daylight. If they look blue or purple, it means you belong to a cool skin tone. If you are seeing green veins, you have a warm skin tone. When you see both blue-green, then your skin tone is probably neutral. Now, the veins test won’t work on those with very dark skin as the vein colours may not show up. Don’t fret! Try the other methods below.

2. The Tan Test

Think about how your skin reacts to the sun. Do you tan easily? If so, then you are warm-toned. If your skin hardly tans but burns quite easily, then you have a cool skin tone. For those with neutral skin tones, some parts of your skin burns more than it tans.  

3. The Jewellery Test

Put on gold and silver jewellery and decide which one makes you look good. This may be both an easy and hard test for some of us jewellery lovers! My tip is: Go for the one that makes you FEEL good in. Trust your gut, because sometimes our eyes play tricks on us. If you look or feel like you’re glowing in gold, you’re warm-toned. Leaning towards silver? Then you’re cool-toned.

4. The Clothes Test

Before doing this test, choose a spot where there is bright, natural light and remove all your makeup. Hold a piece of white clothing or a piece of white paper up to your face. The white colour of the item will reflect the true tone of your skin. If your face looks more yellow against the white, you have warm skin tone. If it appears rosy-pink or bluish, then your skin tone is cool. If you feel you look less washed out in off-white or cream shades, that shows you may be warm toned. You are likely to have a neutral skin tone if you feel confident wearing both stark white or cream/off-white colours, without appearing pale or washed out. 

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Lastly, I just want to say that if you’re Asian, please don’t let anyone tell you that you must most certainly be warm-toned. Most Asians have a surface yellowness in our skin, and even though yellow is associated with the colour of the sun, that doesn’t make all Asians warm-toned! Above all, you know how you FEEL about looking best when making choices for yourself. As I always say, trust your guts. (Refer to my tip in Point 3)

Still confused?

Maybe you don’t have an entire column that shows the most ticks, or you really are undecided which column to put a tick on. It’s okay! It just shows you probably have a neutral skin tone. Which means… you can wear both silver or gold jewellery! YAY!