Just to be absolutely clear – skin undertone is the colour that lies just underneath your skin. While your skin tone may change due to the sun, your undertone will remain the same. Very importantly, this means that you should always use your undertone as the basis for choosing your makeup.
A Cool undertone – more pink, red and bluish tint to the skin
A Warm undertone – more yellow, peachy or golden tints to the skin
A Neutral undertone – more olive or a mix of the above
There are many ways to find your undertone, but the best approach is to try each method to figure out your undertone. The most frequently used answer is your undertone.
1) Check your veins
Stand in bright sunlight and check the underside of your wrists for the colour of your veins. Bluish or purplish veins mean you have cool undertones, and greenish means you are warm toned. If the colour lies in between these two, you probably have neutral undertones.
2) Do you tan or burn?
When you are in the sun for a long period of time, do you tan or do you burn? If your skin goes a shade darker and you look like a bronze goddess, chances are that you have warm undertones. If, on the other hand, your skin goes red, you have cool undertones.
3) What colours look good on you?
Blue, purple and emerald green look good with cool undertones and warm undertones look vibrant in Earthy colours like peach, red, yellow, orange and olive-green. If you look good and both these colour palettes look good on you, you probably have neutral undertones.
4) Try the white test
Wash off all your makeup. Get a plain piece of white paper and another piece in an off-white colour and hold them against your skin. If your skin colour pops against the white paper, you are warm toned. If it pops and looks radiant against the off-white paper, you have cool undertones.
5) Do you like gold or silver jewellery?
Cool undertones look good in silver jewellery and warm undertones look good in gold jewellery. You can check this by holding a gold coloured chain against your skin and a silver coloured chain against your skin.
IF YOU HAVE A WARM SKIN TONE
Your wrist veins will look green
You tan easily
You are likely to have brown eyes & black hair
You choose yellow metals like rose gold & copper
IF YOU HAVE A COOL SKIN TONE
Your wrist veins will look purple/blue
You burn easily in the sun
You are likely to have blue eyes & blonde hair
You choose light or white metals like silver or platinum
Once you know your undertone it helps with choosing a cool or warm foundation to flatter your skin. Most Brands these days offer both tones so you can really hone in on choosing the best base for you and your skin.