What Is Your Undertone? And why does it matter when choosing makeup?

While the color of your skin may change, the color of your undertones will not.  Finding your undertones is the first step in figuring out what shade of foundation and shades of makeup you should be wearing.  It will also help you to determine if you are choosing the correct colors of clothing.

When trying to get a foundation color match, knowing your undertones is one of the most helpful things to know. There are three types of undertones: warm, cool, and neutral. If you have warm undertones, your skin will tend to be golden, peachy, or yellow. If you have cool undertones, your skin will usually be pink, red, or even blue, neutral undertones are just that, neutral a mix of warm and cool.

If you don’t know your undertones, here are a few ways to can help you to determine what your skin’s undertones are…

Look at the inside of your wrist. What is the main color of your veins? Generally, they will look either blue/purple if you are cool toned or green/olive if you are warm toned.  If you are neutral, the veins will be both blue/purple and green. (That’s me, both purple and green veins)

How do you look when you wear yellow or orange?
One of my sisters looks great in peachy corals and yellows.  My other sister looks sickly when she wears them.

What type of jewelry do you prefer on your skin? Gold (warm) or Silver (cool)?  For me, although I love the look of silver, and although I am neutral, I generally tend to look a bit better in gold jewelry.

What happens to your skin when you are out in the sun without sunscreen?
Do you burn fast or turn pink? Then you are cool toned
You can get a tan but burn if I stay out too long?  Neutral
Do you tan? That means warm
(PSA: Always wear sunscreen!)

What color flecks are in your eyes?
Golden or hazel (warm) Blue or gray (cool) A little bit of both (neutral)
If you have deep dark brown almost black eyes like me, you probably have no color flecks in your eyes 🙂

So what did you come up with?

Cool
Jewel tones are your friend! Makeup and clothing that are blue, purple, blue-green, green, magenta, and some red shades are for you. You want to choose a foundation with a blue or pink undertone.