Question one: warm or cool skin
Undertone is the colour under the surface of the skin, and it does not change with a tan. Warm undertones look golden, olive or peachy, and the veins at the wrist read green; cool undertones look pink, red or blue-ish, and the veins read blue. Neutral sits between and takes either family.
Warm skin takes warm frames: tortoise in honey, amber or brown, gold and bronze metal, olive, warm crystal and brown. Cool skin takes cool frames: black, grey, gunmetal and silver metal, navy, plum, grey crystal and a blue-toned tortoise. Neutral skin takes both and should decide on the next question.
Question two: hair
Hair is the colour that sits closest to the frame, so the two have to agree. Dark brown and black hair carry black, dark tortoise and gunmetal with ease, and read well against a strong contrast; the black frame glasses guide covers how much black a face can take. Mid and light brown hair take tortoise and brown best, in a shade a step darker than the hair; the tortoise shell glasses guide walks the shades. Blonde hair takes gold metal, honey tortoise and crystal, and is swamped by thick black. Red hair takes olive, bronze, dark tortoise and brown, and fights with most reds. Grey, silver and white hair take warm gold, rose gold and tortoise, which read clearly against silver, and a crystal in a tint rather than fully clear; the glasses for women over 50 guide has the full section on grey hair.
Question three: eyes
Eyes decide the frame colour least, but they decide which colour gets noticed. Brown eyes are warmed by tortoise and gold and sharpened by black. Blue eyes are brightened by a cool frame, grey, silver, navy, and by a contrasting warm tortoise. Green and hazel eyes are brought out by olive, bronze, brown and warm tortoise. Grey eyes take almost anything and look clearest behind a grey or crystal frame.
Question four: wardrobe
A frame is worn with clothes more than with anything else, and the colour that is right for the face can still be wrong for the cupboard. If most of your clothes are black, navy and grey, a black, gunmetal or grey crystal frame sits inside the wardrobe and a tortoise frame is the one warm thing. If most of them are camel, cream, brown and green, tortoise and gold sit inside it and black is the contrast. Metal follows the jewellery and the watch: silver with silver, gold with gold, which the silver sunglasses guide covers from the sun side.
What each colour does on the face
- Black draws the strongest line and reads as serious; in a thin rim it suits almost anyone, in a thick rim it suits dark hair and strong features. The thick frame glasses guide and thin frame glasses guide cover the two.
- Tortoise is the warm neutral, softer than black and more forgiving; the shade is chosen from the hair, dark for dark hair, honey for light.
- Crystal and grey crystal read modern and quiet and let the face lead; a tint suits pale skin and light hair better than fully clear. The clear frame glasses guide covers it.
- Gold and bronze warm the face and suit warm skin and most hair colours except ash; silver and gunmetal cool it and suit cool skin and grey, black or ash hair. The metal frame glasses guide covers the metals.
- Colour, navy, plum, olive, wine, is an accent, chosen from the eyes or the wardrobe, and worn one at a time.
The two safe choices
If the four questions give mixed answers, two colours work on nearly everyone: dark tortoise, which has enough warm and enough dark in it to sit on any skin, and a thin black or gunmetal rim, which draws the line without the weight. The glasses trends for 2026 guide adds grey crystal as the current third.
The mistakes
Matching the frame to the eyes alone, which gives a colour that disappears. Choosing thick black because it is safe, when the hair is light; black is safe in a thin rim, not a slab. Choosing a frame colour from a photograph of someone else's face. And forgetting that the frame has to sit right before colour matters at all; a frame of the perfect colour that slides down the nose is still the wrong frame, which the how should glasses fit guide covers.
MUJOSH colourways by answer
Five frames from the eyeglasses collection, with the colourways checked against the product photos, matched to the four questions. Lens options are on each product page. Prices as listed on 27 October.
- Cool skin, dark hair, dark wardrobe: Beta Pitot in BGT, $135, a black acetate front with gold titanium temples, which gives the black line with a warm metal to lift it; or Ultem in BB, $99, the black geometric in a thin, light rim.
- Warm skin, brown hair: Halo in DTD, $119, an amber tortoise round with adjustable nose pads; or Beta Pitot in HTT, $135, the dark tortoise square-round with titanium temples.
- Light hair, pale skin, or a quiet look: Ultem in TT, $99, a clear front with a faint warm tint, or in GT, the grey crystal; or Halo in GBD, $119, the grey round.
- Warm skin, a brown wardrobe: Alio XZ in BT, $99, a solid brown crown panto in an ultra-light material.
- A black frame with a feminine line: Trendy Diamond in GBT, $99, a black diamond-cut cat eye in acetate.
The other colourways on each product page are not described here because they were not checked against the photos. The acetate frames and metal frames collections sort the range by material, and the glasses for men guide applies the same colour rules to men's frames.
The bottom line
What colour glasses you should get comes from four questions: skin undertone first, hair second, eyes third, wardrobe fourth. Warm skin takes tortoise, gold and brown; cool skin takes black, grey, silver and cool crystal; the hair sets the shade and the jewellery sets the metal. Dark tortoise and a thin black or gunmetal rim work on nearly everyone, with grey crystal the current third. In the MUJOSH range, Beta Pitot BGT and Ultem BB answer cool and dark, Halo DTD and Beta Pitot HTT answer warm and brown, Ultem TT and GT and Halo GBD answer light and quiet, Alio XZ BT answers a brown wardrobe, and Trendy Diamond GBT is the black cat eye.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know what colour glasses suit me?
Check four things in order: skin undertone (warm takes tortoise, gold and brown; cool takes black, grey and silver), hair (the frame should sit a shade darker than the hair, or contrast it cleanly), eyes (the colour you want noticed) and wardrobe (the frame should sit inside it, with metal matching the jewellery).
What colour glasses suit everyone?
Dark tortoise, which has enough warm and enough dark in it for any skin, and a thin black or gunmetal rim. Grey crystal is the current third.
Should glasses match your hair colour?
They should agree with it, not match it: a shade darker than the hair reads as deliberate, the same shade disappears, and a clean contrast (black on blonde, gold on grey) works when the rim is thin.
Which MUJOSH glasses colours suit cool and warm skin?
Cool: Beta Pitot BGT (black with gold temples), Ultem BB (black), Ultem GT (grey crystal), Halo GBD (grey). Warm: Halo DTD (amber tortoise), Beta Pitot HTT (dark tortoise), Alio XZ BT (brown), Ultem TT (clear with a warm tint).
