How to Choose Your Jaiyah Shade: A Guide to Our Six Skin-Tone Ballet Shoes
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Meet Cacao, Kola, Chai, Dune, Shea, and Pearl. The story behind the names, the order, and how to find the one that's yours.
Jaiyah ballet shoes come in six skin-tone shades. Until recently, we called them Shade #1 through Shade #6. When we finally sat down to name them, we thought about the usual shade names for skin-tone products: chocolate, nude, mocha, caramel. Those words have been used so many times across so many makeup and dancewear brands that they've lost their meaning. We wanted names that meant something specific.
This post introduces the six shades by name, tells the story of why we chose the names we did, why we order them from deepest to lightest, and walks through how to find the one that matches your skin. Whether you're buying your first pair or your fifteenth, this is the guide.
In this post:
- Meet the six shades
- Why we named them
- Why we order them deepest to lightest
- Four things to know before picking your shade
- How to identify your undertone
- The six shades, one by one
- What if I'm between shades?
- A note from Jaya
Meet the six shades
Cacao. Kola. Chai. Dune. Shea. Pearl.
Deepest to lightest. Warm, cool, and everything in between. Every shade is made in every size, from kids Little Kid 5 through adult Women's 13 and Men's 11.5.
Why we named them
We named the shades after things from the earth. Cacao pods. Kola nuts. Chai spice. Sand dunes. Shea butter. Pearls.
Ballet is grounded work. It looks like flying. Every step, every turn, every jump comes from the connection between the dancer's foot and the ground. The shoes are the point of contact. It felt right for the shades to be named after things that come from the earth too. Rooted. Natural. Real.
When a customer opens the box and pulls out their new pair of Jaiyah shoes, we want them to feel like they've chosen something specific and considered. Not a number. A shade with a name and a story.
Why we order them deepest to lightest
Most brands, in dancewear and in beauty, list their shade ranges from lightest to deepest. It became tradition and nobody really questioned it.
We ordered ours the other way. Cacao is Shade #1. Pearl is Shade #6.
Why? Honestly, why not?
No big statement. Just a different way to see the range.
Four things to know before picking your shade
Before you order, four things to keep in mind:
Undertones matter. Your skin's undertone (whether it leans warm, cool, or neutral) is often more important than the depth of your skin color when it comes to matching. Two people with the same depth of skin can need different Jaiyah shades if one has warm undertones and one has cool.
Match to your leg, not your arm. Ballet shoes sit at the foot, and the visual line runs up your leg. Legs are often a slightly different tone than arms or faces because they see less direct sun. Match the shoe to the leg.
Match under natural light. Stage lighting and indoor lighting can shift how a color looks by a full shade or more. Look at your leg in natural daylight when you're comparing colors so you're judging the actual match, not the light.
If between shades, go slightly deeper. A shade that's a touch darker than your skin reads as "clean line" more often than one that's a touch lighter. Lighter shades tend to look pale or washed out against the leg, while slightly deeper shades disappear into the natural shadow of the foot and read as continuous with the leg.
How to identify your undertone
If you already know whether you're warm, cool, or neutral, skip to the next section. If you're not sure, here's the most reliable at-home test.
The vein test: Look at the veins on the inside of your wrist in natural daylight.
- If they look green or greenish, you have warm undertones.
- If they look blue or purple, you have cool undertones.
- If you can't tell or they look somewhere in between, you have neutral undertones.
The jewelry test (backup): Think about which metal typically looks better on your skin.
- Gold jewelry complements warm undertones.
- Silver jewelry complements cool undertones.
- Both look equally good on neutral undertones.
Neither test is perfect, but between the two you should get a strong signal. Undertones don't change with tan or seasonal skin shifts, so once you know yours, you know it.
The six shades, one by one
Here they are in order, from deepest to lightest, with a note on who each shade typically suits best. Skin tone is a spectrum, not a category, so if two shades sound possible for you, read the next section on being between shades.
Cacao
The deepest of the range. Named for raw cacao pods.
Who it suits: Dancers with deep brown skin and cool undertones. If your skin runs deep and cool, Cacao is likely your shade.
The feel: Rich, grounded, deep. Cool-toned without ever being ashy.
Kola
Deep brown with warmth. Named for the kola nut, which has a warm reddish-brown depth to it.
Who it suits: Dancers with deep skin and warm or golden undertones. If Cacao looks a touch too cool against your skin, Kola is likely where you belong.
The feel: Sun-warmed, spice-warm. Depth with glow.
Chai
Medium with cool undertones. Named for the spice blend, which brings both depth and softness.
Who it suits: Dancers with medium brown skin and cool undertones. Not as deep as Kola or Cacao, and cooler than Dune or Shea.
The feel: Layered, softly muted. Cool-toned without being flat.
Dune
Medium with warm undertones. Named for the golden warmth of sand dunes.
Who it suits: Dancers with medium warm skin, tan to caramel range. If your skin has that sun-touched golden warmth, Dune is likely your shade.
The feel: Golden, quiet, warm.
Shea
Light and warm. Named for shea butter, which is a warm rich cream color.
Who it suits: Dancers with light-to-medium skin and warm undertones. Cream, butter, golden.
The feel: Buttery, natural, warm without being orange. Soft warm cream.
Pearl
The lightest of the range, cool-toned. Named for its luminous, soft quality.
Who it suits: Dancers with fair skin and cool or neutral undertones. Pearl is what traditional ballet pink was trying to be. Where pink is a specific pale synthetic tone, Pearl is a realistic skin-tone match for dancers who actually have fair, cool-toned skin.
The feel: Luminous, soft, quietly present. Not pink, not beige, but real.
What if I'm between shades?
If two shades feel possible for you, go slightly deeper. Here's why:
A shade that's a touch darker than your skin reads as continuous with your leg. It disappears into the natural shadow that falls across the foot.
A shade that's a touch lighter than your skin reads as pale against the leg. Instead of extending the line of your leg to the floor, it interrupts it. The eye stops at the shoe.
So if you're between Chai and Dune, Chai is often the better call. Between Dune and Shea, choose Dune. Between Shea and Pearl, choose Shea.
If you order and the shade isn't right, reach out. Shade-matching is something we care about getting right for you. See our exchange policy for details.
A note from Jaya
The hardest part of designing this range was deciding how many shades. Too few and I'd be repeating the same mistake the industry has always made. Too many and it would be impossible to keep every shade stocked in every size.
Six felt right. Six shades cover the actual dancer population when you name them thoughtfully and space them across the range. And six meant every single shade could stay available in every single size, from kids Little Kid 5 through adult Men's 11.5. No dancer in Jaiyah's world is an afterthought or a limited edition.
If you look at the range and see yourself in more than one shade, that's normal. Skin is complicated. The goal isn't that you find the one "correct" match. The goal is that you finally have real options.
And if you order and it isn't right, tell us. We'd rather send you the shade that actually works than have you settle.
Ready to find your shade?
Cacao, Kola, Chai, Dune, Shea, and Pearl. Every shade in every size, from kids through adult women and men. Every dancer, matched.
If you haven't already, our guide to how a ballet shoe should fit is a good next stop, and our post on why skin-tone matters covers the deeper story behind the range.