We all wanna wear makeup and clothes that makes us look our best. But how do you do that? The first step is to figure out what your skin’s undertone is. Once you know that, you can easily choose the shades that enhance your coloring and avoid those that make you look sick and washed out.
How to determine your skin’s undertone
There are several tests you can do to determine your skin’s undertone. For more precise results, you should do them in natural light and with a clean, bare face. Lets’ get started:
Veins test
Look at the veins on your inner wrist. If they appear mostly blue, you are cool toned, while if they look mostly green you are warm toned.
Jewellery Test
Get a piece of gold and a piece of silver jewellery (if you don’t have them, you can use gold and silver eyeliner instead). Wear them one at the time. If gold suits you more and makes you look glowy, you are warm toned. Silver looks better on you? Then you are cool toned.
White fabric test
Wrap a piece of white fabric around your bare neck (in alternative you can place a white piece of paper near your face or under your hand) and make sure you don’t wear any makeup on your face. The fabric will reflect the tone of your skin. If your skin looks more yellow, you have warm undertones, while if it looks more blueish you have cool undertones.
Tan or burn test
Do you tan easily? Then chances are you have warm undertones. If you burn easily or are unable to tan at all, you probably have cool undertones.
Genetics
The way you look can also be an indicator of your undertone. People who are warm toned usually have yellow undertones in their skin; brown, green and hazel eyes; and brown, red and black hair (sadly none of these are always applicable to Asian people, many of whom erroneously think to have warm undertones, when they are actually neutral or even cool toned). People who are cool toned instead, usually have pink undertones and a rosy look; blue or grey eyes; and blonde, brown or black hair.
Still confused? You may be neutral-toned
Some people complete all the tests above only to find out that they don’t seem to fit properly in either camp. For instance, I look good both in silver and gold jewelry and my veins are both green and blue. I tend to burn easily and that’s a cool trait, but then that could be because my skin is very fair? And you can have fair skin that’s warm toned and dark skin that’s cool toned.. Are you still with me? It’s quite confusing, isn’t it? Well, no skintone is either cool or warm, but a blend of both. It’s just that in some people, the warm tones are more obvious and in others, the cool ones prevail. If neither prevails, then you are neutral-toned.
What colors should you use?
Now that you know what your skin’s undertone is, it’ll be easier for you to choose shades that work best for you. Here are the colors that work best for warm, cool and neutral toned ladies:
Cool undertones
For the lips, cool toned ladies should choose reds with blue undertones, cool pinks, mauve and burgundy. On the eyes, use silver, grey, white, pink and jewel tones (such as sapphire and emerald). On the cheeks, cool pink and rosy blushes. What about foundation? Choose one that’s either neutral or pink-based.
Warm undertones
If you have warm undertones, choose eyeshadows in earthy tones such as brown, olive, orange, yellow, bronze and copper. Gold is a great option too. For the lips, use orange-based reds and apricot, peachy shades. On the cheeks, use coral or peachy blushes. Finally, your foundation should be either yellow-based or peach-based.
Neutral undertones
If you have neutral undertones, you are lucky cos you can wear everything!
Now break the rules!
Now that you know the rules, break them! If, for instance, you are cool toned but want to wear gold eyeshadow, go for it. There are lots of gold shades around, some lighter, some darker, some warmer, others cooler, so you’ll find one that looks good on you. Sure, that same shade may be more flattering on those with warm undertones, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t pull it off as well. At the end of the day, you’ll never know what suits you until you try it. Just remember to stick to the rules when it comes to buying foundation!
Are you cool, warm or neutral toned?
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks! I’m half Asian and I tan rapidly. However, both Musicalhouses and the SKII skin undertone scanner/analyzer say I’m neutral toned! I think that’s right, because very yellow-toned foundations don’t work for me – and I wear neutral toned foundations in Shu Uemura!
Jamilla´s last [type] ..Day Out – Visit to Mitsukoshi Department Store, Shinjuku Marui Department Store and Marui ONE Gyaru Boutique
Jamilla, I think these simple tests can give a good indication of your undertone, but they are not 100% effective which can be quite confusing at times. But usually professional color analysis are pretty spot on.
I was confused for a long time, but I’m pretty sure I’m neutral – my veins are sort of greenish blue, I look good in cool and warm red lipsticks, I prefer silver jewelery and cooler colors, but get compliments when I wear warm colors too. Then, I had one MAC artist mix NW and NC for my face, so I was like – hmmm, must be neutral!
Emi at Project Swatch´s last [type] ..Eyebrow Update
Emi, I was confused for a long time too. Now I think that’s a good indication that you’re neutral toned lol. Most people actually have a neutral undertone.
I THINK I’m neutral, but could be any one of them! No problem – I just wear whatever I want! Must admit, the bronze colours that ‘should’ work because of my red hair/freckles actually really don’t – I do suit grey/pink colours to match my grey eyes.
Viv, I think knowing your undertones helps choose the colors that best suit you, but at the end of the day, you should just wear whatever you like and feel comfortable in.
I think I’m neutral, too, because I couldn’t decide if I was cold or warm:) Usually I don’t wear jewellery and makeup, so it’s not so important for me to know it exactly.
Julie´s last [type] ..dental surgery
Julie, I think that’s a good indication that you’re neutral-toned too.
What a great post! I really liked the break the rules, that’s my motto!
Phlox
EyeGraffiti´s last [type] ..Some sort of Sunset
Eyegraffiti, I’m glad you enjoyed the post. I like breaking the rules too.
hahahah I love that last tip! I didn’t know about the white paper/fabric test, but I am fairly certain that I’m neutral toned. It’s sometimes hard to be certain because I am so pale hahah, but warm foundations are usually TOO warm for me, and cool foundations also seem too cool. So I will assume I’m neutral!
Makeup Morsels´s last [type] ..Stash Shopping: Dior 2009 Holiday Collection Makeup Palette
Makeup Morsels, if you’re getting mixed results are a confused, then I agree you’re very probably neutral. Most people are.
I think I am a neutral, leaning slightly warm.
I like the last paragraph, break the rules!
I wear whatever color I like!!!
Vonvon´s last [type] ..Quick Updates; Work Life; Makeup Haul & Keeping Up With My New Year Resolution
Vonvon, me too. It’s good to know what colors make us look our best, but that doesn’t mean that we all have to wear those. Wearing whatever we like is more fun!
Thanks. I was confused too and perhaps I’m neutral too. I’ve got blue-green veins; brown hair (with a little red hair reflect), dark eyes but pale skin that burn.
I don’t know if ti works woth, but for job I had an hour about colors and the 4 seasons relooking. They asked me if I had red hair’s persons in my family (and if my skin burned). I told them that there wasn’t but when I was baby I had blonde hair with red reflect (and as my father, it was like that, and quite red hair at 3, and brown hair after that become darker with the time (and at 60 he as black hair lol). Then they told me after wondering between spring and autumn that I am a “spring” person. I don’t know if it helps. They said that yellow suits me, and green, orange, coral, fair colors but also bright purple) and for make up to use coral, peach, etc…
But I’ve got ivory teeth… I care them of course, but I never couls be with the “hollywood smile” and I can’t whiten them. So I wonder if it will be well to have orangey lipstick (if it suits me only if I never open the mouth lol) (and on the other hand, dark pink lipstick (berry) don’t make my teeth looks more yellow, but it’s a little Morticia Adams’ look…)
What do you think about that?
Marie, I think you are neutral toned too, maybe leaning a bit more to warm. There are neutral toned people who can wear any shades but find it harder to pull off those at the opposite end of the spectrum (ie too warm and too cool).
And to make teeth look whiter, you need to use blue-based shades. Try one that’s not too cool nor too deep as that would not suit your pale skin. Hope this helps.
Thanks!
Marie, you’re welcome.