What Color Glasses Should I Get?

Getting new glasses is a golden opportunity to express yourself. To find the pair that suits you best, you’ll probably explore several factors, including your face shape, the style and shape of the frames, and most importantly, the fit. 

And you’ll want to consider the frame color. So how do you figure out what color glasses would be right for you? No need to wave the white flag. We’re here to help. In this guide to choosing a glasses color (or sunglasses color), we’ll give you a bunch of considerations and tips. Then, you can more easily pick the best frames for you—the ones that let you show your true colors to the world.

How To Choose a Glasses Color

To pick what color frames you should get, you’ll probably want to consider your skin tone, eyes, and hair. And you might also want to explore how specific colors mix with your usual clothing and your personal style. But we can’t say this enough: Any color glasses can work on anyone. The glasses you love—whatever the color—are the right pair for you. 

Let’s discuss the factors that go into choosing a frame color.

What Is Your Skin Undertone?

Learning your skin undertone is a great starting point for picking out a glasses color. It’s different from skin tone, which is your skin’s surface color. Skin tone is commonly expressed as fair, light, medium, dark, or one of the numerous variants in between and is easy to see. 

Skin undertone is more subtle—it’s expressed more like a temperature. The three main skin undertones are warm, cool, and neutral. You can have one of these undertones no matter what your skin tone.

If you need help determining your skin undertone, follow these steps. Note that indoor light bulbs can cast unnatural hues onto your face. So, it’s best to do this in a bright area with a natural light source, like outdoors or near a window. 

1. Wash and dry your face. 
2. Wait a few minutes so your skin isn’t rosier than usual from scrubbing.
3. Look in a mirror and hold a piece of white paper up to your face. 
4. How does your skin look against the white? Compare what you see with the three skin tones below.

Warm skin undertone: Warm undertones can appear yellow, golden, or bronze. 

Choosing a glasses color that mirrors your skin’s warm undertones will complement your face’s gleaming hue. Look for frames in gold metal, brown tortoise, shades of tan, orangey reds, and vivid greens. 

If what you really love is eyewear that takes center stage, you can pick a pair of frames that contrast with your warm skin. How? Choose a frame that complements a cooler skin tone (below).

Cool skin undertone: Cool undertones can have a pink or bluish hue. 

To enhance a cool undertone, choose glasses in a greyish metal like silver, pastel-hued or cool grey tortoise, sherbet colors such as pink or light blue, jewel tones like sapphire, deep purple and emerald green, or blue-greens like teal.

To contrast with a cool undertone, try a glasses color that blends with warm undertones (above).

Neutral undertone: Neutral undertones are neither warm nor cool. Or, they’re a mix of warm and cool. Olive skin tends to have a neutral undertone, as does skin with a greyish cast.

If you have a neutral undertone, the rainbow is yours. Just about any frame color has the potential to complement your face. That being said, you may find classic neutrals like chocolate brown, charcoal grey, black, and white to be the most flattering color glasses for you. A standout choice for neutral undertones is true red.

Your Eye Color

When choosing the color of your glasses frames, you may wish to take a hint from your eyes. Whatever color eyes you have, or the colored contacts you wear, certain frame hues can make them pop behind your lenses.

Let’s explore a range of eye colors and glasses colors that can complement them.

Brown eyes: Brown eyes cover a wide spectrum of shades, from light caramel brown to coffee to eyes that appear black. 

Tortoise frames, which often come in a splatter of cocoa and sandy hues, can spotlight the beauty of brown eyes by picking up one or more of those tones. Other earthy tints, medium to dark blue and purple, and forest green can also make brown eyes shine.

Blue eyes: Some blue eyes seem almost translucent with the faintest wash of pale blue, while others have the azure intensity of a Caribbean ocean. Amp up blue eyes with frames that mimic blue’s cool tones, including silver metal, royal or navy blue, grey, and blue-green.

Green eyes: Green eyes, from light sea green to olive and jade, are among the rarest eye colors. You can make your green gaze pop with frames in any shade of purple or plum. Brown frames also tend to complement green eyes. Or put your green peepers squarely in the limelight by wearing deep emerald frames.

Grey eyes: Grey eyes range from pure cloud grey to bluish grey and even greenish grey. Silver metal frames can illuminate grey eyes, while frames in a lighter blue or green can pick up the more subtle tones in grey eyes without being overpowering.

Hazel eyes: Hazel eyes exist in many beautiful combinations, from light brown rimmed in blue to a green-and-sepia bullseye pattern flecked with gold. Experiment with frames that pick up one or several of the colors in your irises. You may find that green or brown frames highlight your eyes’ main hue, that a warm metal like bronze amplifies golden bits, or that a violet tint brings out more elusive grassy shades. Tortoise frames, depending on the colorway, can mimic the array of colors in hazel eyes.

Amber eyes: Amber is another rare and striking eye color. They’re a bit like a lightish brown but with a copper or brassy tint. Because amber eyes can look ever-so-slightly metallic, gold and other warm metals do a great job spotlighting them. And the coppery color of amber contrasts beautifully with green and blue.

Your Hair Color

Whether it’s natural or enhanced, your hair color is one of your most noticeable features. When picking out glasses, you could take cues from your hair style. But if you’re looking to highlight, complement or counterbalance the color of your hair, we’ve got some tips on how to pick frames to do that. (If you keep your hair covered, you have an opportunity to consider your hijab or other headwear when selecting glasses.)

Dark brown or black hair: Lucky for you, a darker frame won’t overpower dark brunette or raven locks. Darker tortoise blends, brown, or navy blue offer a certain equilibrium to dark hair. On the other hand, for a dramatic counterbalance to those deep tresses, choose standout glasses in colors like deep royal blue, emerald green, bright yellow, or bold red.

Medium or light brown hair: Brunettes of all shades can usually find tortoise glasses that perfectly highlight a light or medium brown hue. Warm colors like toasty brown and autumn reds can echo the tones of medium and light brown ’dos. Gold and bronze metal can similarly bring out the shine in lighter brunette hair.

Blonde hair: Blonde hair comes in shades from platinum to a honey hue. But most blonde has a golden overtone. You can play that up with gold metal frames. On the other hand, silver can look fabulous with blonde hair, too. Because blonde is light, pastel frames, lighter browns, or greys can harmonize well with a flaxen coif.

Red hair: Redheads are striking no matter what they do. Play up those red strands with green glasses or metallic gold. To make a red-hot statement, go for frames in a fiery shade of crimson or even orange.

Grey hair: The best color glasses for grey hair, like any hair color, is really up to you. Silver frames can lend a cohesive look to silvery grey hair. But because grey is itself neutral, someone with grey hair can truly pick any color frame. Beware, though, that yellowish or brown tones might not work as well with grey hair that has a blue cast.

Unusual hair colors: The more adventurous among us have hair ranging from purple to green to a mixture of colors. Go with your gut here. If you think your hair is arresting enough as it is, you can go with a frame color that won’t compete with it, like a metallic. Or you can add more drama with an eye-catching frame color like orange, neon blue, or bright pink, or even a patterned frame containing several colors.

Your Clothes

Use your clothes as inspiration for the color glasses you pick. If you think you look great wearing red, chances are, red frames will be smashing on you, too. Or if you are a fan of neutrals, stick with classic black, brown, or tortoise.

Your Style

If you consider yourself a nonconformist who makes their own rules, why not extend that sense of fearlessness to your glasses? Seek out an unusual color like acid green, turquoise, or periwinkle. Or go for a mixture of colors in a bold stripe or other patterned frame. And if you prefer a more bookish look, go for classic black or metal frames or a subdued tortoise.

What About Black or White Frames?

Classic black eyeglass frames are a default go-to for lots of people. But the fact that a large swath of the population wears them doesn’t mean you should steer clear of them. Au contraire! 

Black frames are popular for a reason: They go with everything and can be worn by anyone. Note that thick black frames can be particularly striking on people with lighter or medium skin. 

Similarly, white frames, though they’re more unusual than the ubiquitous black, can look good on anyone. And white frames can make a distinctly strong, artistic statement on people with darker skin.

What Color Frames Should You Get? The Ones You Love

The frames that resonate with you, no matter what their color, are the perfect ones. For example, the “best” color glasses for blond hair and blue eyes could also be the “best” frames for someone with brown hair and hazel eyes. Try them on and see what you like! And if you can’t decide on one pair of glasses? There’s no law against getting two ;-).