When it comes to hair coloring products, makeup products, and all of the clothing and accessories we wear, the first step is to determine skin tone. Once you know if your skin’s undertones are warm or cool, the corresponding shades of almost any color can be found, and wearing corresponding colors will maximize your natural glow.
Skin tones that fall under the “warm” spectrum will have bases that are reddish, orangey, yellowish, golden, or olive. Those that fall into the “cool” category will have a base of more rosy pink, cooler browns and beiges, and blue based hues.
One easy way to tell is to find a paper or cloth sample in both true white (stark, paper white) and cream (yellowish off-white) and hold them up to your face in the mirror. If the creamy tone seems to fit best against your skin, then you likely have warm undertones, and if the pure white sample is more flattering then your undertones are likely cool.
Now that you have your skin tone down, here are some of the colors that will look best with both warm and cool undertones:
Those of us with warm skin will look great in gold tone jewelry, as well as rose gold, copper, and more neutral shades of silver.
As for other colors, peachy pinks, corals, Chinese red, safflower, yellow-based greens, reddish browns, and slightly warm lighter blues will all be great choices.
For those with cooler skin tones, steel or silver tone jewelry will be best, along with rhodium and titanium finishes with a gently bluish undertone.
In colorful items, rosy pinks and purples, deep blue-based reds, teal and seafoam greens, and blues of varying depths will work nicely.
Although both black and white will work on every skin tone, even here you can maximize your natural coloring by choosing blue-blacks, and true white for cooler tones and rich blacks and creamy whites for warmer ones.
A small percentage of persons have truly neutral skin undertones, and if you’re one of those lucky few, a wide variety of shades from both ends of the spectrum will work. Just remember in a pinch that neutral browns, purples, grays and flesh tones will always do the trick.
So now that we’ve gotten the hard part over with, time to go shopping!
