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 Ideogram 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

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