# 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*