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Describing Skin Tones

When prompting for people, the way you describe skin tone can have a big impact on how your image turns out. The list below offers a range of terms that go beyond basic color names, helping you get closer to the exact tone you're aiming for.

Ethnicities, Regions and Skin Tone Terms​

African / Afro-Caribbean / Afro-Latin / Aboriginal​

Chestnut, walnut, cacao, chocolate, roasted coffee, espresso, brown sugar, obsidian, coal, velvet mahogany, dark molasses, sable, burnt umber, nightwood, onyx

Central / Western / Southern European​

Sand, beige, oat, cream, butter, wheat, linen, light gold, limestone, champagne

East Asian / Southeast Asian​

Rice beige, bamboo, light peach, soy, pale gold, warm tan, ginger, milk tea, sesame

Latino / Latin American / Mixed Ethnicity​

Dulce de leche, mocha, sugar cane, café au lait, burnt sugar, golden cinnamon, pan dulce

Mediterranean / Levantine / North African / West Asian​

Olive, honey, golden, caramel, sunlit bronze, amber, toffee, toasted almond, turmeric

Middle Eastern / Persian / Central Asian​

Date, pistachio brown, rose gold, saffron beige, honey-bronze, cardamom, khaki gold

Native American / Indigenous American / Andean​

Russet, clay, terra cotta, saddle brown, adobe, copper, cedarwood, cinnamon earth

Northern European / Nordic / Celtic​

Alabaster, porcelain, pearl, ivory, milk, snow, eggshell, frosted glass

Oceanic / Polynesian / Melanesian​

Island bronze, coconut husk, dark honey, sun-baked clay, palm bark, molasses, smoked amber

South Asian / Indian Subcontinent​

Almond, cashew, warm bronze, cinnamon, nutmeg, chai, clove, maple syrup, wheat brown

Modifiers & Tone Enhancers​

To help PODgram.ai better understand depth, richness, and undertones, here are some modifiers that can be used:

  • Dark / Deep / Rich
  • Medium / Toasted / Radiant / Golden
  • Fair / Pale / Light / Soft
  • Cool / Neutral / Warm
  • Sun-kissed / Earthy / Luminous / Smooth / Matte / Glowing

Examples​

You can pair regional or ethnic references with expressive skin tone descriptors to get the best results:

  • A Middle Eastern woman with a warm olive glow
  • A Northern European fireman with fair ivory tone
  • Several Central African children with deep ebony skin
  • An Afro-Caribbean teenager with a warm cocoa complexion
  • Two old Mediterranean sailors with golden-tan olive skin
  • A Latin American girl with soft caramel skin
  • A Southeast Asian movie star with honey-golden skin
  • A Pacific Islander with bronze-tinted skin