The Best Glasses Colors For You Based On Your Skin Undertone

Whether you're in the market for sunglasses or reading glasses, there's a lot to consider when shopping for a new pair of specs. Ensuring the glasses fulfill their purpose is the biggest aspect, but you'll also want to steer clear of styles that clash with your look. Along with taking into account the best glasses frame for your face shape, you should consider your skin undertone when choosing the color of your new glasses, according to Justine Glaser of Colors by Midnight.

"When it comes to picking the right glasses colors for different skin tones, it's a bit more nuanced than just looking at surface tones like olive or darker skin," Glaser reveals in an exclusive chat with Glam. "These are called overtones, which are the outermost layers of skin color. What really matters for choosing flattering glasses colors is the undertone — the subtle hue that lies underneath the skin." As a rule of thumb, matching glasses to skin undertone is similar to matching hair shades, wardrobe tones, and any other color to this element of the skin. Warm undertones pair the best with warm colors, including brown and gold, while cool undertones are best suited to cooler hues like silver and blue. 

So, before you start finding the best color matches, it's crucial to determine your skin undertone once and for all. "Once you know your color season," Glaser assures us, "you can easily choose glasses in the shades that work best for your complexion."

You'll never regret finding out whether your skin is warm, cool, or somewhere in between. Knowing your skin undertone is essential when choosing a copper hair color, finding jewelry that flatters you, and, yes, picking the right pair of glasses. There are a few methods for this, one of the most well-known being the metallic test that may help you determine your skin's undertone. This process involves comparing how gold and silver jewelry flatter your skin — if gold looks better, you might have a warm undertone, while silver would indicate a cool undertone — but Justin Glaser recommends turning to the experts. "... the best way to find your perfect glasses colors is through a professional color analysis," she tells Glam exclusively, adding that "color analysis is something that works for everyone" no matter what your style goals are. "This helps determine your undertone and whether warm or cool colors are the most flattering for you," she explains.

Once you've established whether your undertone is cool, warm, or medium, you can then take into account the overtone, too. Those with deep skin and a warm undertone are best suited to brown, green, gold, and tortoiseshell glasses, while deep skin and cool undertones suit frames that are purple, black, and blue. Similarly, lighter skin tones should look for gold, brown, and purple glasses if they have a warm undertone or opt for blue, gray, and silver if they have a cool undertone, though pink looks great on both. Finally, people with medium-toned skin should choose from brown, green, tortoiseshell, and gold if they're warm, and black, red, blue, and purple if they're cool.

When we talk about glasses colors, we're mainly talking about the frames, but Justine Glaser notes that this color theory applies equally to the lenses. And don't forget that the frame and lens colors should work together. "The colors you wear around your face can really affect how your complexion looks, so it's important that they work well together," Glaser shares exclusively with Glam. "When I do color analysis, I always focus on the face because that's where the impact is most noticeable. I look for colors that brighten and lift the face, while avoiding ones that can create shadows or make things feel off balance. When everything is in harmony, it creates a much more flattering and cohesive look."

Between skin undertones and overtones, frames and lenses, and how they all work together, there's a lot to think about when picking a new pair of glasses. But it doesn't stop there — you should also take into account both eye and hair color, as these tones also contribute to the overall palette of your face and will definitely affect the way your glasses color works. A person with warm-medium skin and brown eyes would look great in tortoiseshell glasses, for example, while purple glasses would suit someone with cool-deep skin and green eyes. These combos are just somewhere to start, of course, and since so many elements come into play, finding your perfect glasses match will likely come down to trial and error.