How to Determine Your Skin Tone (Read This Before Buying Foundation!) (2024)

Oh, you want that new foundation? Great! What’s your skin tone?

Um, I don’t know. Maybe medium?

We come up against this question all the time—more often these days than ever before.

Determining your skin tone will significantly help you avoid having cakey makeup. The moment you apply the wrong foundation, concealer, blush, or bronzer, you’re sure to end up either looking like a porcelain doll or an orange clown. Such a mistake can interfere with the look you’re trying to achieve.

Here we will give you a detailed guide on how to master your skin tone and avoid dreadful foundation and general makeup results.

Difference Between Skin Tone And Skin Undertone

Determining the difference between skin tone and skin undertone can make or break your makeup look. The two might sound similar but recognizing that they aren’t the same will make finding your perfect shade so much easier.

The skin tone is the skin’s surface, which sometimes changes when exposed to too much sun or suffers hyperpigmentation. On the other hand, skin undertone is a subtle hue found under the skin.

The undertone doesn’t change no matter how pale you turn in the winter or how tan you become in the summer. Skin tones range from intense to very pale shades, focussing on general color. A skin undertone is a shade within skin tone. The three traditional undertones are warm, cool, and neutral.

What Is My Skin Tone?

Skin tone is what you see first when you look in the mirror. You probably already have an idea if your skin is light, medium, or dark, for instance. Skin tone is all about how much pigmentation you have in your skin.

• For fair skin color – You’re very fair, and burn easily. You most likely have light or red hair.
• For light skin color – You have generally light-colored skin, but you have more yellow or beige undertones than fair skin. You’re most likely to tan in the summer.
• For medium skin color – Your skin is a more medium color, with potential olive undertones. Mostly referred to as “olive.”
• For dark (deep) skin color – You have dark skin and/or a deep complexion.

The surface color can change depending on a lot of things. For instance, if you tan in the summer, for instance, it will get darker, and then lighten again in the winter. It can also be affected by redness, rosacea, hyperpigmentation, dryness, and dullness. These are things you try to keep constant by taking good care of your skin, and things that you work to hide or smooth out with makeup.

You try to keep constant by taking good care of your skin and things that you work to hide or smooth out with makeup.

The more the skin is affected by Ultraviolet rays, it adapts by producing more melanin to protect against the sun’s rays. That is why skin tones vary depending on your genetic makeup based on where your ancestors lived. The varying skin hues are due to the climates and sunny regions the skin had to adapt towards. The darkest skin tones are from Africa, India, and the Middle East, where the sun is harshest.

Does Skin Tone Change With Age?

As we age, the outer layer of the skin starts to thin. This layer is called the epidermis, and even as it matures, the number of cell layers stays the same. Pigment-containing cells called melanocytes, on the other hand, slowly decrease over time, prompting a change in shade. As melanocytes diminish, the remaining cells grow larger. This process causes the skin to appear thinner, paler, and clearer.

How To Determine Your Skin Surface Color

You may have had trouble with this because your skin changes often. Try these tests:

Look At Your Jawline Color

This area is usually less affected by skin color changes than the rest of your face. When you examine the skin here, try to determine if it is fair, light, medium, or dark.

How Do People Describe You?

If they say you’re very “fair,” that’s probably your skin tone. If they’re always commenting on how tan you look, you may be medium. If you look pale in the winter, but tan in the summer, you may be light.

If both methods don’t seem satisfactory enough for you, you could visit a local beauty shop that offers skin tone or foundation matching tests to know yours. This test will take at most 10 minutes.

What Is An Undertone In Skin?

“Undertone” is the term used for that subtle, more muted color that lies underneath the skin. You can think of it as a “shadow” that is always there. While the surface color may change, the undertone stays the same, regardless.

In general, we have three undertone categories:

• Warm undertone skin color – think yellow, peachy, and golden.
• Cool undertone skin color – think red, pink, and bluish.
• Neutral undertone skin color – think olive or a mix of those above.

There are several ways you can figure this out. Your best approach is to try each one and average your answers. Usually, the tone that pops up most often is your tone, but you can always confirm by trying some colors in that tone to see if they look “right.”

Do Undertones Matter?

Yes, undertones matter and probably more than you think. Understanding your undertone will help you customize the perfect makeup shades for your unique skin. Keeping all of your products in the same undertone will help you look fresh and skin-like.

No more worrying about foundation lines or an unblended neck. When the seasons change and your skin tone changes with them, being aware of your undertones will make finding a new foundation that much easier.

How To Determine Your Skin’s Undertone

1. Check Your Veins.

You’ve probably heard of this one before. Look at the underside of your wrist. What color are your veins?

• Bluish-purple means you’re on the cool side.
• Greenish means warm.
• If you’re not sure and your veins look bluish-green, you may be neutral.

2. Your Skin’s Reaction To The Sun

The way your skin reacts to the sun can be a massive indicator of your skin undertones. Do you burn easily or turn into a bronze goddess after an hour on the beach?

• Having a naturally tan complexion means you are warm-toned.
• Those who get red instead of bronzed are cool-toned.
• Cool-toned complexions can still tan but need gradual sun exposure.
• African-American skin is typically warm-toned, but not always.

3. Do You Blush Easily?

If so, you’re on the cool side.

4. What Colors Look Good On You?

Cool tones look good in deep, vibrant colors, such as blue, purple, and emerald green. Warm tones glow in earth tones like red, orange, yellow, and olive green. If you can wear both shades, you have neutral undertones.

Another test: Picture yourself in a yellow or orange shirt.

• If it gives you a great glow, you’re warm.
• If it makes you look a little sickly, you’re cool.
• You may be neutral if you look good but not great (like warm).

5. Try The White Test.

Get a plain piece of white paper and put it up by your face, sans makeup. Does your complexion look dull or good? (You can also use a bright white towel.)

• If you answered “dull,” you’re warm.
• If you answered “good,” you’re cool.
• If you can’t tell much difference, you’re neutral.

Some more clues:

• If your skin appears sallow or yellowish, you’re warm.
• Pink or rosy: cool.
• Grayish? You may have a neutral undertone.

6. Do You Like Gold or Silver Jewelry?

Cools look best in silver, while warms shine in gold. If you like two-toned, can you guess? You can test this by laying a gold and silver chain next to each other on your hand or arm. Which looks best?

7. What Color Are Your Eyes?

Usually, those with golden brown, green, hazel with gold flecks, and blue eyes are warm-toned.

Those with black or deep brown, steel blue, hazel with grey or blue flecks, and grey are cool toned.

8. Look Behind Your Ears.

Ask a friend to look at the skin just behind your ear. Ensure the area isn’t covered in conditions like rosacea or acne that could mask your natural tone.

• Yellowish means warm
• Pink or rosy means cool
• If they can’t tell, you may be neutral.

9. Think Basic

Test your skin against basic colors like black and white and brown and tan. Cool shades will look better in stark black and white, while warm will prefer off-whites. Cools will like deep browns, while warms will prefer softer tans.

10. Who Do You Identify With?

Think celebrities. Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway, Lucy Liu, Demi Moore, Courtney Cox, Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Hudson, and Amanda Seyfried have cool undertones. Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson, Diane Sawyer, and Kim Kardashian have warm undertones.

Some Generalizations About Undertones Skin Color

If you’re still not entirely sure that you’ve got your skin colors down pat, consider these general categories:

Fair Skin Color Types

Often have freckles and may suffer some redness. They burn easily, have sensitive skin, and have cool or warm undertones.

Light Skin Color Types

May burn in the sun, but that burn often turns to a tan. They may suffer some spotty redness, such as on the cheeks only, and their skin may be somewhat sensitive. Both cool and warm undertones are possible.

Medium Skin Color Types

You don’t usually have to worry about burning much and often have warm undertones. Those who look like they have a tan year-round even without sun exposure may have “olive” skin with a warm or neutral undertone.

Dark Skin Color Types

Rarely burn and usually have warm undertones. Often describes African Americans and women of Indian descent.

Very Dark Types

It may be described as “ebony” or “deep” and have warm or cool undertones.

Best Color Palette for Your Undertone

• Warm shades are often labeled beige, golden, tan, caramel, and chestnut.
• Cool shades are often labeled porcelain, rose, sable, cocoa.
• Neutral shades are often labeled ivory, buff, nude, and praline.

Don’t worry if you don’t get your shade just right the first time. Our Multi-Purpose Foundation Kit will let you try all 8 shades. Try as much as you like until you find your match. Also check out our sample skin care kits, we are sure you will find one that works on your skin.

Have you had trouble determining your skin tone? Do you have tests that help? Please share with our readers.

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