What is my skin type? The Fitzpatrick scale explained

Your skin type — or phototype — is the classification of your skin according to how it reacts to the sun: whether it burns, whether it tans, and how easily. The Fitzpatrick scale, created in 1975, divides the population into six types, I to VI. To find yours, answer three questions: what colour is your skin in areas never exposed to the sun, what happens if you spend half an hour in the sun unprotected, and whether or not you tan. If you always burn and never tan, you are type I or II. If you never burn and always tan, you are V or VI.

How do I find out my skin type?

Answer the three questions and add up the points.

1. What colour is your skin where the sun never reaches it? (the inner arm, for instance)

• Milky white, often with freckles — 0 points

• White — 2 points

• White to beige — 4 points

• Light beige — 8 points

• Brown — 12 points

• Dark brown to black — 16 points

2. What happens if you spend half an hour in the midday sun, unprotected, after a winter without exposure?

• Always burns painfully and peels — 0 points

• Almost always burns and peels a little — 2 points

• Burns moderately — 4 points

• Rarely burns — 8 points

• Very rarely burns — 12 points

• Never burns — 16 points

3. And what about tanning?

• Never tans — 0 points

• Tans very little — 2 points

• Tans lightly — 4 points

• Tans easily — 8 points

• Tans deeply and quickly — 12 points

• Skin is naturally dark — 16 points

Result: 0–6 points, type I · 7–12, type II · 13–20, type III · 21–30, type IV · 31–40, type V · above 40, type VI.

This questionnaire is a guide, not a substitute for assessment by a dermatologist, who also considers eye and hair colour, freckling, and how the skin behaves over time.

The six Fitzpatrick skin types

Type 1 (I)

Very fair skin, often freckled. Red or very fair hair, blue or green eyes.

In the sun: always burns painfully and peels. Never tans.

This type carries the highest risk of skin cancer. It calls for rigorous year-round sun protection, clothing and a hat, and regular mole checks.

Type 2 (II)

Fair skin. Blond or light brown hair, light eyes.

In the sun: burns easily. Tans very little, and the tan fades quickly.

High risk of skin cancer. Daily sunscreen, reapplied every two hours in direct exposure.

Type 3 (III)

White to beige skin. Hair and eyes of variable colour, usually brown.

In the sun: burns moderately on first exposure. Tans gradually and evenly.

The most common type in Portugal. The moderate tolerance is deceptive: cumulative risk remains, along with a tendency to pigmentation.

Type 4 (IV)

Beige to light brown skin. Dark hair and eyes.

In the sun: rarely burns. Tans easily and holds the tan.

Lower risk of burning, but greater tendency to post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation: any inflammation, spot or scratch can leave a lasting dark mark.

Type 5 (V)

Brown skin. Dark hair and eyes.

In the sun: very rarely burns. Tans deeply.

Skin cancer risk is low but not absent — and diagnosis tends to come later, which worsens the outlook. Deserves particular attention to palms, soles and nails, where lesions are more common in these types.

Type 6 (VI)

Dark brown to black skin. Dark hair and eyes.

In the sun: never burns. Pigments intensely.

Melanin provides natural protection equivalent to a low SPF, which does not remove the need for sunscreen. The main dermatological concerns are hyperpigmentation, melasma and keloid scarring.

How many skin types are there?

Six on the Fitzpatrick scale, numbered I to VI. It was developed in 1975 by Thomas Fitzpatrick, a dermatologist at Harvard University, initially to calculate phototherapy doses accurately.

Other classifications exist, but Fitzpatrick's remains the international reference in dermatology, in both clinical practice and research.

Does my skin type change when I tan?

No. And this is where almost everyone gets it wrong.

There are two kinds of pigmentation. Constitutive pigmentation is the colour you were born with, genetically determined, visible where the sun never reaches — the inner arm is the best place to see it. Facultative pigmentation is what you gain from sun exposure, and it is reversible.

Skin type is based on constitutive pigmentation. A well-tanned type II is still a type II, and will burn just as easily once the tan fades. Your skin type does not change over your lifetime.

Does skin type affect laser hair removal?

It does, decisively.

Hair removal lasers target the melanin in the hair. The more melanin there is in the surrounding skin, the greater the risk that the energy is absorbed by the skin rather than the follicle — which can cause burns, hypopigmentation or hyperpigmentation.

In types I to III, the contrast between dark hair and fair skin makes the procedure more straightforward. From type IV upwards, the choice of device and settings becomes decisive: the Nd:YAG laser is generally the safest option in more pigmented skin.

The same reasoning applies to chemical peels, intense pulsed light and fractional lasers. This is why skin type is always assessed before any procedure.

Does skin type determine skin cancer risk?

It is one of the most relevant factors, but not the only one.

Types I and II carry the highest risk of basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. Also relevant are the number of sunburns over a lifetime — particularly in childhood — the number of moles, family history, and cumulative exposure.

Higher types carry lower risk, but not none. In these cases melanoma appears more often in areas with little sun exposure — palms, soles and nails — and is frequently diagnosed late.

Which sunscreen should I use for my skin type?

Types I and II: SPF 50+ daily, all year round, reapplied every two hours in direct exposure. Clothing, hat and sunglasses. Avoid the sun between 11am and 4pm.

Types III and IV: SPF 30 to 50 daily, reapplied during prolonged exposure. The tendency to pigmentation justifies protection even on cloudy days.

Types V and VI: SPF 30 daily. Protection remains necessary, above all to prevent hyperpigmentation and melasma, the most common complaints in these types.

In every skin type, quantity matters more than the number on the bottle. The reference dose is two milligrams per square centimetre, which for the face and neck corresponds to roughly two finger-lengths of product.

Sources

• Fitzpatrick TB. The validity and practicality of sun-reactive skin types I through VI. Archives of Dermatology, 1988

• American Academy of Dermatology — sun protection recommendations

• European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology

• Portuguese Society of Dermatology and Venereology (SPDV)

Written and reviewed by Dr Ellene Papazis, dermatologist accredited in Portugal and Brazil. Consultations in Porto, Portugal.

Updated 25 July 2026.