Knowing Your Skin’s Undertone

I’ve been wanting to write this post for awhile now. Skin Undertone – it can make or break your makeup experience! it can make people feel like they are “not good” at makeup, or at the very least it can be a bit confusing and discouraging – say if you go to pick out makeup, choose the color you love on your friend, bring it home and try to wear it, and it looks terrible and suddenly you think “I just don’t look good in makeup” or “I’m no good at picking colors“, or “why bother trying“.

These sound a bit extreme, but if you’ve ever spent money on makeup that you bring home and does not look like how you pictured, then you can relate to what I’m saying.

In an effort to not totally overwhelm and keep things simple – I will likely do a few posts related to this topic. We’ll start with the simple differences between “skin tone” and “undertone” and move onto which foundations may look best depending on your undertone!

Hence the name “foundation” – the correct matching foundation will totally make or break your makeup. Although this may be common knowledge to some of you….or maybe you have an undertone that can easily adapt to different shades, for those of you that have struggled with this….it can be very frustrating.

First off, this is one of the reasons I REALLY like being able to shop at Ulta – they have testers….DO NOT test foundation simply on the back of your hand – this does not match your face – you need to go in there with no makeup on if you are going to try and figure out what foundation to get…..and take the cotton swabs and test along your chin line  – you also could do on the inside of your arm…but along your chin line or on your cheek I feel like is more accurate! Also….if you get makeup home to try and it doesn’t work for you, you can return or exchange it (even if it’s opened) which is amazing!

Even if you are not going to purchase a product from there – say you want to buy L’oreal True Tinted Foundation, which is one of my absolute favorites (available at Amazon, Walmart, Walgreens, etc.), then you can still go into Ulta and test their foundations and learn a lot about if you look better in cooler or warmer tones and approx. what shade you are. From there it is a bit of a guess, but in my experience this helps you to get close!

Which leads me to another point before we dive into the nitty gritty….I share on here often my favorite products – please keep in mind....what I like and feel like looks good on me, very well may not look good on you in the same shade! Or since I’m dry, I prefer more cream bronzers and blushes….if you are more oily skinned, you may prefer powder blushes and bronzers. There is benefit to both – skincare and makeup has so much to do with personal preferences, but a good place to start is knowing your undertone, what colors look best on you, and then buying products within those parameters! I’ve found this is when I have the most success!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a blush or lipstick/gloss that is a very pretty pink and I think to myself – “I love that color, surely I can make that work!” But I try that color….and it DOES NOT work on me! My skin pulls red…so anything that is red or pink does not have this soft hew of color, it looks like it clashes with my skin and is pulling out the worst pigments – and so a beautiful pink on one person, may look like bubblegum on another.

As an example – the bronzer I use looks like cocoa powder – it’s Fenty Beauty Cream Bronzer in Macchiato – in the container it looks totally brown. I never would have picked it, except I was able to try it in the store and from years of experience, I know that browns look better on me than oranges and reds. On me this product pulls a warm color and has a golden/orange hew. Just like I want my bronzer – a little color, but not dramatic. On someone else with a warm undertone (I have a cooler undertone), it would probably look more like mud on their face if they were medium skin toned as I am.

So I’m saying….if you have struggled with makeup, and picking colors, today we are going to discuss your undertone, and hopefully help you be one step closer to finding the right colors for YOU!

• Skin tone (not the same as undertone) is what you see when you look in the mirror. You may be naturally dark, olive, medium, fair, light, etc…..most people likely have a fairly good grasp on what their day to day skin tone is.
• Over tone – this changes depending on season. If you are in the sun more and get a tan, you may have a darker “over tone”. Or if you are fair and only burn when you are in the sun, then your over tone changes with that and you are redder for a few days. Maybe if you have olive skin, you get more and more golden when in the sun. You get the idea! We have our base skin tone – and then that can differ as the seasons and exposure to elements changes.
• Undertone does not change. It’s referred to as the permanent, underlying color that your skin tone casts – warm, cool, or neutral. People with a warm undertone have yellow, peach, or golden underlying colors. Cool undertones cast hints of pink or blue tones. And neutral can be a mix of both – often leaning more toward cool or warm.

Undertone is so important, because if you can determine your skin’s undertone, then you will have much more success in determining, and likely liking, what shades of foundation and makeup you pick out!

So how do you figure out your undertone?? There are a few quick DIY methods, also there are “quizzes” you can take just by doing a quick internet search. Here are a few tried and true methods many people use:

1. Turn over your arm and look at your veins – are they more green or blue/purple? If they are more green, then you may have a “warm” undertone. If they are more blue/purple, then you may have a more “cool” undertone.
2. Are your nail beds more pink or peach? If pink….then you are likely more “cool” undertoned. If more peach….then you are likely more “warm” undertoned.
3. Do you look better in silver or gold jewelry? If gold….then “warm” undertone. If silver….then “cool” undertone. If both….then you may be more neutral.
4. Last one….when you wear white does your skin turn more rosy? If so, then “cool” undertone. Or if when you wear white your skin turns more yellow, then you may be more “warm” undertoned.

Now that you have an idea of your undertone….let’s see how that relates to foundation. In general, if you are “cooler” under toned, you will pick out foundations that have more pinks/blues in them, if you are “warmer” toned for your undertone…you will likely pick out foundations that have more yellows, peaches, and golden tones. Or you can be a mixture of both, and a bit of the exception (as I am!) and fall into one category, but predominantly pull a specific color.

I have learned that any makeup I pick, if it even has the look of having red or pinks to it at all….it is just not going to look good on me. Even though “technically” I should be able to wear things with redder tones….I just feel like it clashes with my skin – I’ve learned my skin “pulls red” so I tend toward shades that have less red and more yellow and it’s worked fairly well. If you go to the store and compare bottles, you will be able to see the clear difference if you line the bottles up with each other. And often, makeup companies even label their foundation as to whether it is for “cool” or “warm” undertones which is super helpful!

I realize this can sound confusing….but to keep things simple, it goes back to knowing your basic undertone, then beyond that, it’s a bit of trial and error, and realizing there can be exceptions!

• So to wrap this up….we all have our God given “skin tone” that does not really change – yes the “overtone” of it can change as we are exposed to more light, etc….but you are either fair, or dark, or olive, or medium, or light – some variation of these. If you are desiring to wear some makeup to maybe smooth out some of your skin’s uneven tones, help disguise blemishes, then knowing your skin’s “under tone” is super important!
• The “undertone” does not change – even with sun exposure….it remains the same! The above little “tests” can help you figure out your skin’s undertone. Once you have that knowledge, then picking products that complement that tone and work “with” your skin, will greatly help you in achieving a very natural look!

There are so many options of shades, that picking one that is right for you really is possible! If you have been down this road before and feel like you have failed, I hope the above info can be of help –  feel free to reach out – I will try to help you if I can!

Going into a beauty store can be intimidating….and it’s hard to know what to pick…. my advice – don’t be afraid to ask questions or look silly.…everyone has been there and it’s how we learn. Walk through and look at the testers and don’t be afraid to try them! Next post we will dive into blushes/eye shadows in relation to undertone…..see you then!