Skin tone isn't quite the same as skin colour; within the broader range of skin colours - from pinkish white to almost black - tones are more subtle and can be hard to distinguish. A pale skinned person, for example, could have a skin tone with more pinkish blue, reddish or yellowish elements in it. One way to determine your natural skin tone is to look closely at a piece of skin that is rarely exposed to the sun, such as your underarm.

Like colour, skin tone is largely genetic, derived from the amount of melanin in it - the above tip shows this, as people will have different skin tones from each other even if their skin never really comes into contact with the environment. However, there are major environmental factors as well. Skin that sees a lot of sun will always end up darker, whatever the original colour.

You can learn more about environmental effects on skin tone here.