The ability of observers to differentiate between fluorescent lamp types using their own skin as a reference was compared with their discriminating ability using either a set of four colored samples, red, green, blue, and yellow, or by using a gray sample. The results indicated that skin color, in this case fair skin, proved a more sensitive indicator than the colored samples. Multidimensional analysis of the results produced two factors that can be used to represent the lamps; a warm-cool dimension and a more complicated, and vaguely defined, dimension which the authors feel relates to the way colored objects are seen under the lamp. Finally, the observers were asked to rate preferences for the rendering of their skin under the lamps. These results were inconclusive and need further investigation.