Beige skin tone — how it looks like (with pictures)

Updated: 2/24/23

Beige skin tone or beige skin color is a light to medium shade that is usually described as “light beige”, “buff”, “nude” and “rose beige”.

These shade names are not a precise way to determine one’s foundation/concealer shade, so at Redmond Mom we use the MAC foundation shade system to classify skin shades.

But before we get into the MAC foundation shade system, let’s go over some skin tone basics.

1.    Know your skin tone depth

When we describe someone as “light-skinned” or “dark-skinned”, we are really describing their skin tone depth.

Someone with “beige skin tone” would fall between light to medium skin tone depth.

2.    Find your skin undertone

Determining your skin undertone is crucial because the worst foundation mismatches tend to be shades that make one appear unusually orange or pink or grey.

Broadly speaking, skin undertones fall into 4 categories:

Warm skin tones look more yellow.

Cool skin tones look more pink.

Neutral skin tones are somewhere between yellow and pink.

Olive skin tones have green and grey hues.

3. MAC foundation shade system explained

Here at Redmond Mom, we use the MAC foundation shade system to classify brands and shade matches/equivalents because it’s more precise.

NC: has yellow, neutral and olive undertones

NW: has pink and neutral undertones

C: has yellow and olive undertones

For example, someone who is MAC NW20 will have light to medium skin with pink and/or neutral undertones.

What is rose beige skin tone?

Rose beige skin tone is a light to medium shade with cool (pink or neutral) undertones. Some examples of rose beige skin shades are MAC NW15, NW25 and NW30.

What is warm beige skin tone?

Warm beige skin tone is a light to medium shade with warm undertones (yellow, olive or neutral). Some examples of warm beige skin shades are NC15, NC20, NC25 and NC30.

Once you’ve determined your skin tone depth and undertone, you can find the right foundation/concealer shade by using the table below.

Light to Medium Warm shades	Light to Medium Cool shades
NC25 Foundation Matches/Equivalents	NW25 Foundation Matches/Equivalents
NC30 Foundation Matches/Equivalents	NW25 to NW30 Foundation Matches/Equivalents
NC35 Foundation Matches/Equivalents

Top foundations for light to medium skin (warm or neutral undertones)

Top foundations for light to medium skin (cool or neutral undertones)

How to find your foundation shade that matches your skin tone

Once you’ve figured out your skin tone depth and undertone, check out our extensive Foundation Matcher to find foundation brands and shades that match your skin tone.

If you want to know your shade for a specific foundation or concealer, use our Shade Finders to find the right match:

Popular foundations & concealers reviews

_{Image credits: https://www.maccosmetics.com, www.amazon.com}