Fitzpatrick Skin Type Quiz: Find Your Type and Burn Time
The Fitzpatrick skin type scale is the standard dermatologists use to classify how skin reacts to UV exposure — from Type I (very fair, always burns) to Type VI (very dark, almost never burns). Knowing your type is the first step to a meaningful UV forecast, because the same UV index translates into very different burn times for different skin. This self-assessment uses the standard skin phototype questionnaire so you can find your type in a few minutes.
By Sunwise · Published · Updated
How to take the quiz
Answer all nine questions below. Each answer is worth 0–4 points. Add up your total at the end and look it up in the scoring table to find your Fitzpatrick skin type. The first four questions cover your genetic disposition, the next three cover how your skin reacts to sun exposure, and the last two cover your recent tanning habits.
This is a self-assessment, not a medical diagnosis. If you have specific concerns about your skin or sun sensitivity, consult a dermatologist.
Part 1 — Genetic disposition
Q1.What color are your eyes?
- Light blue, light gray, or light green0 pts
- Blue, gray, or green1 pts
- Blue2 pts
- Dark brown3 pts
- Brownish black4 pts
Q2.What is your natural hair color?
- Red or light blonde0 pts
- Blonde1 pts
- Dark blonde or light brown2 pts
- Dark brown3 pts
- Black4 pts
Q3.What is your skin color on areas not exposed to the sun (e.g. inner upper arm)?
- Ivory, reddish white0 pts
- Very pale, with a pink tint1 pts
- Pale with a beige tint2 pts
- Light brown3 pts
- Dark brown to black4 pts
Q4.How many freckles do you have on unexposed skin?
- Many0 pts
- Several1 pts
- A few2 pts
- Very few3 pts
- None4 pts
Part 2 — Reaction to sun exposure
Q5.What happens to your skin after extended sun exposure (with no sunscreen)?
- Painful redness, blistering, and peeling0 pts
- Blistering followed by peeling1 pts
- Burns sometimes, followed by peeling2 pts
- Rare burns3 pts
- Never had burns4 pts
Q6.How well does your skin tan?
- Hardly at all, or not at all0 pts
- Light tan1 pts
- Reasonable tan2 pts
- Tans very easily3 pts
- Turns dark brown quickly4 pts
Q7.How does your face react to about three hours of sun in early summer?
- Very painful redness or blistering0 pts
- Moderate redness or some blistering1 pts
- Slight pink2 pts
- No redness3 pts
- No reaction at all4 pts
Part 3 — Tanning habits
Q8.When was your last sun exposure or use of a tanning bed?
- More than 3 months ago0 pts
- 2 to 3 months ago1 pts
- 1 to 2 months ago2 pts
- Less than a month ago3 pts
- Less than 2 weeks ago4 pts
Q9.Was the area you're scoring exposed to the sun in the past?
- Never0 pts
- Hardly ever1 pts
- Sometimes2 pts
- Often3 pts
- Always4 pts
Score yourself
Add the points from all nine questions and find your range below. Your range is your Fitzpatrick skin type. Each row also shows the approximate burn time you can expect at a UV index of 10 — useful context for what the UV forecast actually means for your skin.
| Score | Type | Description | Burn time guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 – 6 | Type I | Very fair, always burns | Burns in roughly 10 minutes at UV 10. Even at moderate UV (3–5), unprotected exposure of 30–45 minutes can cause redness. |
| 7 – 13 | Type II | Fair, burns easily, tans minimally | Burns in about 15 minutes at UV 10. Tans only slightly even with prolonged exposure. |
| 14 – 20 | Type III | Medium, sometimes burns, tans gradually | Burns in about 20 minutes at UV 10. Develops a gradual tan with consistent exposure. |
| 21 – 27 | Type IV | Olive, rarely burns, tans easily | Burns in about 30 minutes at UV 10. Tans easily and tolerates moderate UV well. |
| 28 – 34 | Type V | Brown, very rarely burns, tans darkly | Burns in about 45 minutes at UV 10. Tans deeply and rarely shows redness even at high UV. |
| 35 + | Type VI | Very dark, almost never burns | Burns in about 60 minutes at UV 10. Highest natural protection — but UV damage and skin cancer are still possible. |
The Fitzpatrick skin type chart
Once you have your type, this is the reference chart it maps onto — the features typical of each type, how that skin behaves under UV, the burn threshold dermatologists measure it by, and the unprotected burn time it corresponds to at three common UV levels.
| Type | Typical features | Sun reaction | Burn threshold | UV 3 | UV 6 | UV 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Ivory skin, often with many freckles. Light blue, grey, or green eyes; red or light blonde hair. | Always burns, never tans | ~2 SED | ~35 min | ~17 min | ~10 min |
| II | Very pale with a pink undertone, some freckling. Blue, grey, or green eyes; blonde to light brown hair. | Burns easily, tans minimally | ~2.5 SED | ~50 min | ~25 min | ~15 min |
| III | Pale with a beige undertone, few freckles. Hazel or light brown eyes; dark blonde to mid-brown hair. | Burns sometimes, tans gradually | ~3 SED | ~65 min | ~35 min | ~20 min |
| IV | Light brown or olive skin, rarely freckles. Dark brown eyes; dark brown hair. | Burns rarely, tans easily | ~4.5 SED | ~100 min | ~50 min | ~30 min |
| V | Brown skin, no freckling. Dark brown eyes; dark brown to black hair. | Burns very rarely, tans darkly | ~6 SED | ~150 min | ~75 min | ~45 min |
| VI | Deeply pigmented dark brown to black skin. Brownish-black eyes; black hair. | Almost never burns, always tans darkly | ~10 SED | ~200 min | ~100 min | ~60 min |
Two things are worth reading carefully here. The features column is a typical pattern, not a requirement — the scale classifies how skin reacts, so your answers to the burn-and-tan questions outrank your hair and eye colour if the two disagree. And the burn times are for bare skin in open sun: they scale inversely with the UV index, which is why the same skin has roughly three times longer at UV 3 than at UV 10, and why the hourly curve matters as much as the daily peak.
What a skin type UV app does with your result
A chart is a starting point, but it only covers three UV levels on a clear day with bare skin. The actual UV where you're standing moves hour by hour with the sun's angle, cloud cover, and altitude — so the useful version of this table is one that recalculates continuously. That's the whole job of a skin type UV app: take the live UV index for your location, take the burn threshold implied by your Fitzpatrick type, and divide one into the other to produce a number of minutes.
Most UV apps skip this step. They report the forecast accurately and then hand you a label — “High” — that reads identically to a Type I and a Type VI user standing side by side, despite a six-fold difference in how long each of them can safely stay put. The forecast isn't wrong; it just stops one step short of the decision.
If you're weighing up which app to use, the comparison of the best UV index apps for iPhone covers fifteen options and flags which ones personalize by skin type at all — and for the dose arithmetic underneath the burn time, the sun exposure tracker guide explains the SED unit the burn-threshold column is measured in.
Why your Fitzpatrick type matters for UV forecasts
The UV index is a single number for everyone in your area — but the same UV reading translates into wildly different safe exposure times depending on skin type. At UV 7 (a typical summer afternoon), Type I skin can start to burn in under 15 minutes, while Type V skin may be safe for over 45 minutes. A UV forecast that ignores this is missing the most actionable part of the answer.
That's the gap a personalized UV forecast app fills. Sunwise asks for your Fitzpatrick type once and uses it to convert every UV index reading into a personal burn time in minutes — on your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Lock Screen widget. For more on what each UV level means, see the UV index guide.
Which UV apps actually use your Fitzpatrick skin type?
Knowing your type only changes anything if something acts on it. Most UV apps never ask — they show one number to everyone within a few miles of you. The ones that do ask differ enormously in how finely they slice it, and a three-bucket selector and the full six-type scale are not the same product feature wearing different names.
| App | Skin-type granularity | What it gives you back |
|---|---|---|
| Sunwise | Full Fitzpatrick I–VI | Burn time in minutes, recalculated as the UV index changes |
| UV Index Widget & Burn Time | Full skin-type model | Burn time in a widget, but UV is modelled from solar position rather than live weather, so cloud cover isn't reflected |
| Sola: UV Index & Sun Exposure | Skin-type tuning | Burn time plus a vitamin D dose estimate |
| Sunbeam: UV Index Tracker | Unspecified | “Personalized exposure insights” alongside Time in Daylight and vitamin D; the listing doesn't say which skin-type model drives them |
| UVLens | Three-way fair / medium / dark | Burn time, but three buckets across six phototypes means Type I and Type II share an answer |
| SunSmart Global UV | Skin-type-adjusted advice | Protection times rather than a per-user countdown |
| UVdial: UV Index Forecast | Unspecified | Estimated burn time for your skin plus sunscreen reminders; the listing doesn't say how many skin types it distinguishes |
| Sol AI: UV Index & Tanning | Skin-tone input | Personal tanning routines and timers built from your skin tone — a tan plan rather than a burn-time countdown |
| Sun Tracker: UV Index & Tan | None for the UV number | Tan-session guidance personalised around a UV reading that is identical for everyone in your area |
| Apple Weather · EPA SunWise · UV Index Widget — Worldwide | None | The UV index only — interpreting it for your skin is left to you |
Granularity matters more than it sounds. A fair / medium / dark selector collapses Types I and II into one answer even though their burn thresholds differ by roughly 25%, and collapses Types IV, V, and VI even though the gap between them is wider still. Worth saying plainly that Sunwise is in this table and has a commercial interest in it: skin-type personalisation used to be close to unique and is not any more, so the honest remaining distinctions are how many types an app resolves and whether the UV number behind it accounts for live cloud cover. The full fifteen-app breakdown — data sources, forecast range, Apple Watch and widget support — is in the best UV index apps for iPhone roundup.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Fitzpatrick scale still considered accurate?
Yes. The Fitzpatrick scale was developed in 1975 and remains the standard tool dermatologists use to classify skin response to UV exposure, including for laser treatments and phototherapy dosing. It's a self-reported measure of how your skin reacts — not a measure of pigmentation alone — so it stays useful regardless of background ethnicity.
Can my Fitzpatrick type change over time?
Your underlying type doesn't change, but how your skin reacts day-to-day can. Recent sun exposure, certain medications, and pregnancy can all temporarily make skin more or less sensitive. For everyday UV planning, score the area you're asking about (face, arms, etc.) and re-take the quiz if your circumstances change significantly.
Does a higher Fitzpatrick type mean I don't need sunscreen?
No. Higher Fitzpatrick types (V and VI) burn far more slowly, but UV still causes long-term skin damage and increases skin cancer risk for everyone. The point of knowing your type is to plan exposure accurately — not to skip protection.
What Fitzpatrick type should I use for my child or baby?
For UV planning purposes, treat children under puberty as Fitzpatrick Type I or II regardless of the parent's type — a child's skin is thinner, has less mature melanin, and reddens faster. The UV index for kids and babies guide explains the age-by-age exposure limits and when to move toward the child's eventual adult type.
Is Fitzpatrick skin type the same as skin tone?
No, and the difference matters for UV planning. Skin tone describes the colour you can see. Fitzpatrick type describes how your skin behaves under UV — whether it burns, whether it tans, and how fast. They usually correlate, but not always: someone with a deep tan has a darker tone than they did in March while their underlying type hasn't moved, and two people who look similarly fair can sit a full type apart because one freckles and never tans while the other tans gradually. That's why the questionnaire asks about your reaction to sun rather than asking you to match a colour swatch.
What is a minimal erythemal dose (MED)?
The minimal erythemal dose is the amount of UV your skin can absorb before it starts to redden — the burn threshold your Fitzpatrick type is really describing, and the “burn threshold” column in the chart above. It's measured in standard erythemal doses (SED), where 1 SED is 100 joules per square metre of erythemally-weighted UV. Type I skin reddens at roughly 2 SED and Type VI at around 10 SED — a five-fold spread. Because UV accumulates as intensity multiplied by time, dividing your MED by the current UV intensity gives a burn time in minutes. The sun exposure tracker guide works through that arithmetic in full.
What is a skin type UV app?
A skin type UV app is a UV forecast app that asks for your Fitzpatrick type and uses it to convert the UV index into a personal burn time, instead of showing everyone the same number and a shared label like “High”. Most UV apps don't do this — they report the forecast and leave the interpretation to you, which is a problem because a UV index of 7 is roughly 15 minutes of unprotected exposure for Type I skin and over 45 minutes for Type V. Sunwise is built around the full Fitzpatrick I–VI scale and surfaces the resulting burn time on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch complications, and Lock Screen widgets.
Which UV apps let me set my Fitzpatrick skin type?
Fewer than you would expect, and they differ in how finely they slice it. Sunwise and UV Index Widget & Burn Time run a full skin-type model to produce a burn time in minutes; Sola adds skin-type tuning to its burn time and vitamin D figures; Sunbeam: UV Index Tracker advertises personalized exposure insights without stating the model behind them; and two newer apps, UVdial and Sol AI, now lead the App Store results for this search — UVdial estimates a burn time for your skin, while Sol AI uses your skin tone to plan tanning routines rather than a burn countdown. UVLens uses a three-way fair / medium / dark selector, which collapses Types I and II into a single answer despite burn thresholds that differ by roughly a quarter. SunSmart Global UV adjusts its protection times by skin type but stops short of a per-user countdown. Apple Weather, EPA's SunWise, UV Index Widget — Worldwide, and Sun Tracker: UV Index & Tan all show the same UV number to everyone in your area.
How does Sunwise use my Fitzpatrick skin type?
Sunwise pairs your Fitzpatrick type with the real-time UV index at your GPS location to compute a personal burn time in minutes. The result appears on your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch complication, and Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets — so the UV reading always answers a useful question: how long can I safely stay outside right now? See how to check the UV index on iPhone or read the comparison of the best UV index apps for iPhone to see how Sunwise stacks up against alternatives — or, to turn your Fitzpatrick result into an action plan, read the sunburn prevention guide.
Get a UV forecast tailored to your skin type
Sunwise is a personalized UV forecast app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Set your Fitzpatrick skin type once and every UV reading turns into a specific burn time you can plan around — with hourly and 7-day forecasts, native Apple Watch complications, and Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets.
