White Cloth Test: Put a white cloth next to your bare face and observe what cast your skin takes on. Skin with warm undertones will appear yellowish, while skin with cool undertones will seem blueish or pinkish.
Grab your wrists and check the veins under them. Those with warm undertones have green colored veins, while blue veins are a sign of a cool undertone. If your veins look bluish-green, you may have a neutral undertone.
Finding your undertone: The colour of your veins
Take a look at the veins on the inside of your wrist. Do they appear more blue or green? If your veins appear more blue, you're cool-toned but if you see more green, you're warm-toned. If you see a fair amount of both both green and blue, you have a neutral undertone.
In a place with bright, natural light, hold up a piece of printer paper and look at how your skin reacts to it. If your skin looks pinkish against the paper, you probably have cooler undertones; if your skin looks yellow against the paper, you're probably a warm tone.
If you've picked the wrong undertone:
If you are COOL and pick a WARM or NEUTRAL foundation, it will look yellow on you. If you are WARM and pick a COOL foundation, it will make your skin look pale and icy. If you pick a NEUTRAL foundation, it will look grey.
“Those with warm-undertone skin tend to favor hues of orange, yellow, green, off-white, and warm red, while those with cool-undertone skin will look best in shades of purple, fuchsia, pink, white, and blue,” says Newman. “Neutrals and olives are lucky and can wear just about any shade.”
White Cloth Test: Put a white cloth next to your bare face and observe what cast your skin takes on. Skin with warm undertones will appear yellowish, while skin with cool undertones will seem blueish or pinkish.
Blue or purple wrist veins typically indicate that you have cool undertones, while green or olive equates to warm, and blue-green veins suggest that neutral undertones are in effect. Cool = Veins on the underside of your wrist appear blue/purple. Warm = Veins on the underside of your wrist appear green.
Women Prefer Men With Yellow, Red Faces. A man with a yellow skin tone (above, right, in a composite photo) is more attractive to women than a man without a yellow skin tone (left, in a composite photo), a new study says.
For cool undertones, choose a foundation with a pink, red, or blue base. You can also consider shades like cocoa, rose, sable, and porcelain. For warm undertones, pick a foundation with a gold or yellow base and consider shades like caramel, beige, and tan.
For yellow undertones, choose the shades that start with either 'Golden' and 'Warm'. Avoid the 'Cool' and 'Neutral' shades. For that second-skin feel, we recommend Bobbi Brown Skin Weightless Long-Wear Foundation SPF15. This makeup offers a seamless, full-coverage finish while remaining weightless on the skin.
The general rule of thumb is that skin with cool undertones look best with greys, browns, blues, greens and purples. Skin with warm undertones look best with either bright or light colors. And skin with neutral undertones looks great in bold, bright colors.
A warm undertone is more peachy, golden, or yellow therefore warmer undertones look better in warmer shades such as orange-based reds, corals, and golds.
Neutral skin tones fall somewhere in the middle of the skin tone shade charts. It's rare for extremely fair-skinned or dark-skinned individuals to be true neutrals. Usually, your skin tone is closer to beige, buff, or “medium.”
Hair Colours for Cool Skin Tone
Icy blondes and ash-based browns tend to complement cooler skin undertones, but if you are very fair then you might find that a platinum blonde hair or a very dark smoky brunette hair will wash you out.
Rich, warm colors, like deep browns, reds, and even golden and honey blondes, will work best to complement your skin tone, while cooler shades, like an icy platinum blonde, may clash with your natural color palette and wash you out.
The skin undertone is invisible. It is the subtle hue underneath the surface tone or the overtone. On the other hand, the overtone is your skin color – the color that you see when you look at your face in the mirror. The skin overtone may change (due to tanning or during winters), but the undertone never changes.
If you're a novice, try a powder foundation that's right for your skin type. "It's the easiest to apply, and it disappears into the skin more easily than liquid formulas," says New York City makeup artist Mally Roncal. Next easiest is a cream foundation in a compact (which is great for dry complexions).
What is the colour of your veins? The easiest way to determine your undertone is by opting for a closer inspection of the insides of your wrists. If they appear green, your undertone is warm while blue veins signify cooler undertones. If you can see a mix of both, you likely have neutral undertones.
'Beige' and 'Sand' foundation shades have warm tones.
If you have a cool or neutral undertone, using a foundation with a warm tone can cause your makeup to look orange.