Buzz
Before purchasing new clothes, party outfits, or attire for other special occasions, it's crucial to know how to select colors that complement your skin tone. Picking the wrong shades can make your skin and hair appear dull, while the right colors can make you stand out. This article will guide you in identifying your skin tone and choosing clothing, jewelry, makeup, and hair colors that make you look vibrant and radiant.
Steps
Determine Your Skin Undertone
Understand skin undertones. While each of us has a unique skin tone, there are essentially two basic undertones: warm and cool. Warm undertones have a yellow hue, while cool undertones have a pinkish hue. Although your skin may lighten or darken depending on tanning (whether intentional or seasonal sun exposure), your undertone remains unchanged.
Check your veins. The skin on your wrists, elbows, and temples is thin and has many blood vessels close to the surface. If your skin is fair, you can see the veins beneath the skin in these three areas.
- If your veins appear green or olive-green, your skin has a warm undertone.
- If your veins appear blue, your skin has a cool undertone.
- If it's hard to tell or you see a mix of both, your skin has a neutral undertone.
Yuka Arora
Makeup Artist
Makeup Artist
Not sure where to look? Makeup artist Yuka Arora explains: "The easiest places to spot veins are the back of your hand or the inside of your wrist, just below the palm. If your veins appear blue, your skin has a cool undertone, and if they appear green, your skin has a warm undertone. If you can't tell, your skin likely has a neutral undertone. However, your undertone might also have a peachy or olive hue, so keep this in mind when shopping for makeup."
Try the white paper test. Facial redness might make you think you have a cool undertone, but this redness could be hormonal (for women) or due to sun exposure. Instead, check the skin between your neck and chest.
- Hold a clean white sheet of paper between your neck and chest.
- Observe how your skin looks next to the white paper.
- If your skin appears bluish or pinkish, you have a cool undertone.
- If your skin appears greenish or yellowish, you have a warm undertone.
- If your skin tone changes depending on the season or sun exposure, you likely have a neutral undertone.
Test with jewelry. Avoid using your face for this comparison, so skip earrings. Instead, use necklaces or bracelets to analyze your undertone. You'll need gold and silver jewelry. Perform this test in natural light and observe how your skin looks against each metal.
- Which metal makes your skin appear brighter and healthier?
- If gold suits you better, your skin has a warm undertone.
- If silver suits you better, your skin has a cool undertone.
Consider how your skin reacts to sunlight. Those with cool undertones tend to burn more easily, while warm undertones often tan instead of burning.
- However, don’t intentionally sunbathe for too long just to test whether you burn or tan!
- Instead, rely on past experiences. If you’ve suffered from painful sunburns, your skin likely has a cool undertone. If you rarely burn, you probably have a warm undertone.
- If you neither burn nor tan, or if sunburns quickly fade into a tan, your skin likely has a neutral undertone.
Determine your seasonal undertone. While earlier steps helped identify whether your skin has a cool or warm undertone, each category is further divided into two subcategories. Summer and winter fall under cool undertones, while spring and autumn belong to warm undertones.
- Summer: Your skin has blue, red, or pink hues when tested with white paper; your hair and eyes have a softer contrast with your skin compared to winter types.
- Winter: Your skin has blue, red, or pink hues when tested with white paper; your skin has a stark contrast with your hair and eye color (e.g., fair skin with dark hair).
- Spring: Your skin has yellow, cream, or peachy tones when tested with white paper. Spring types often have strawberry blonde or red hair, freckles, rosy cheeks, and blue or green eyes.
- Autumn: Your skin has golden, warm, or yellow tones when tested with white paper.
Choose Colors That Complement Your Skin Tone
Select universally flattering colors. Some shades enhance most skin tones, such as vibrant red, soft pink, deep purple, and teal. These colors work well for everyone, regardless of undertone.
Pick clothing colors that suit your skin tone. You don’t need to stick exclusively to colors that perfectly match your undertone, as this might limit your wardrobe. Instead, aim for subtle variations that complement your skin while incorporating other shades to add variety and prevent monotony.
- Summer: Opt for light purple, soft blue, pastels, and neutral tones with pink undertones. Gentle hues work better than bright ones.
- Winter: Choose clothing with blue or pink undertones, or bold colors like white, black, and navy blue.
- Spring: Go for yellow and orange tones like peach, brown, and coral.
- Autumn: Embrace warm, rich shades like coffee, caramel, beige, tomato red, and green.
Select jewelry that complements your skin tone. Remember the jewelry test to determine if your skin has a cool or warm undertone? Now you know which metals make your skin look radiant and healthy, so you can add them to your collection.
- Cool undertones: Summer types should opt for silver and white gold; winter types should choose silver and platinum.
- Warm undertones: Spring types look great in gold, while autumn types shine in gold, bronze, or copper.
Choose makeup products that match your skin tone. Always use foundation and concealer that match your natural skin tone. For under-eye concealer, go one shade lighter to brighten dark circles. Remember, your skin tone may shift between winter and summer due to sun exposure, so adjust your makeup accordingly.
- For very fair skin: If your skin is porcelain or alabaster, opt for light pink, beige, and peach tones, but avoid orange-reds. Nude and peach lip colors are perfect for everyday wear, while bold red makes a striking statement. Avoid gray-toned makeup like ashy eyeshadows, as they can dull your natural glow.
- For medium fair skin: Choose makeup with golden, shimmering, or metallic finishes.
- For medium tan skin: Your skin can pull off a wide range of colors, from bright and vibrant to soft and muted. Experiment to find what suits your style.
- For deep skin tones: Go for rich, metallic shades like copper and bronze to enhance your natural beauty. Bright pink blushes and lipsticks also look stunning. Avoid chalky or ashy tones.
Change your hair color to enhance your skin tone. This is a long-term commitment, unlike switching clothes, jewelry, or makeup, so think carefully before dyeing your hair. That said, a new hair color can dramatically brighten and refresh your complexion.
- Warm undertones with yellow/golden hues: Opt for deep browns like chestnut or ebony; copper reds also work well for highlights.
- Cool undertones with blue/red hues: Your skin benefits from contrast, so try bold shades like brown, red, or golden blonde.
- Rosy skin: Beige, honey, and golden tones help balance redness in your complexion.
