: Re: How to describe skin colour, if "white" is not the point of reference? A character looks at another character, skin colour creates certain associations. A character looks at himself, and associations

@Murray831

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The term I see most authors use for in-between tones these days is "olive complexion"

From behind the WP link, for those who care about definitions:

Olive skin is a human skin color spectrum. It is often associated with
pigmentation in the Type III to Type IV and Type V ranges of the
Fitzpatrick scale. It generally refers to light or moderate
brown, brownish, or tannish skin, and it is often described as having
yellowish, greenish, or golden undertones

... and here's a part relevant to your Middle-East mileu:

Type V pigmentation is frequent among populations from the Middle
East, parts of the Mediterranean, parts of Africa, Latin
America, and the Indian subcontinent. It ranges from olive
to tan, Middle Eastern skin tones. This skin type very rarely
burns and tans quite easily.

The types in question refer to the Fitzpatrick scale, which as near as I can tell is just a linear scale describing how sensitive the skin in question is to ultraviolet light (iow: how easily this person sunburns).

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