Know Your Skin's Undertones
COOL & Warm Color Tests
CUSTOM ARTWORK HERE
WHAT ARE UNDERTONES?
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Knowing your unique skin’s undertone is the first step in finding the right color-match for your makeup. Have you ever seen someone look “orange?” I have many times. You can bet they did not know their undertone and selected the wrong shade for their skin. This happens all the time. Your foundation should blend flawlessly with your skin, as if you didn’t have any on. The way to do this is to match your makeup to your undertone.
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Your skin’s surface has a color that is visible. People usually say I have a light, medium, tan or a dark complexion. But your skin’s undertone is the color beneath the surface. It is possible to have the same skin color as someone else, but a different undertone. Often times skin undertones get camouflaged with a tan or makeup.
There are three distinct skin undertone categories for most people:
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Cool
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Warm
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Neutral
(* Olive is also considered neutral because it is a mix of cool and warm)
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HOW TO FIND YOUR SKIN’S UNDERTONES
This is the fun part! There really is no best way for every one to determine their undertone but we have four great tests that
seem to work consistently well.
1) VEIN TEST
This is an easy and usually very accurate way to discern your undertone.
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HOW TO DO IT?
Hold out your arm and look at the inside of your wrist or opposite your elbow where the veins are visible. If your veins look more “blue” (ish) then you have “cool” undertones. If your veins look “green” (ish) then you have “warm” undertones. If it is hard to tell - you just might be a “neutral.”
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2) JEWELRY TEST
Silver and gold metals can help us see if a person is warm, cool or neutral.
HOW TO DO IT?
Here is what you need:
a) Mirror
b) Bright silver jewelry piece and a bright gold jewelry piece
c) Natural lighting
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It is best to do this with natural light and no makeup. Get a piece of gold and silver jewelry and wear them one at a time. Silver is considered cool and compliments ladies with dominant cool undertones- and gold is considered warm and looks best with ladies who are have predominantly warm undertones.
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4) SILVER AND GOLD LAME TEST
Silver and gold lame fabric can help you determine if you are cool, warm or neutral.
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HOW TO DO IT?
Wrap a piece of lame around your face one at a time (gold & silver).
Observe yourself in the mirror (or ask friend’s opinion) which color looks best on you.
If the gold fabric makes you glow and you feel fresher and look more alive, then you definitely have warm undertones. If the silver fabric lights up your face, making your coloring look more luminous and healthy then you are definitely have a cool undertone. However if you can’t decide because both fabrics look equally well on your face it might be that you have neutral undertones!
Some things to observe:
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Which color makes you look healthier? Notice skin and eyes.
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Which color metal makes your face just “pop?”
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Which color accentuates the dark eye circles?
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Do you see unflattering shadows with either color?
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Does one color it makes your teeth look more yellow?
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5) TAN OR BURN TEST
Do you tan easily? Then chances are you have warm undertones. If you burn easily or are unable to tan at all, you probably have cool undertones.
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BAFFLED? No worries…You may have neutral undertones.
Some people complete all the tests above only to find out that they don’t seem to fit properly in either camp. For instance, my friend looks good both in silver and gold jewelry and her veins are both green and blue. She tends to burn easily and that’s a cool trait, but then that could be because her skin is very fair. And you can have fair skin that is warm toned and dark skin that is cool toned.. Are you still with me? It’s quite confusing, isn’t it? Well, no skin tone is purely either cool or warm, but a blend of both. Its just one is normally predominate. Most people tend toward either warm or cool. If neither prevails, then you are neutral-toned.
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WHAT TRUTH ® COLORS SHOULD YOU USE?
Now that you know what your skin’s undertone is, it’ll be easier for you to choose shades that work best for you. Here are the Truth colors that work best for warm, cool and neutral toned ladies:
Cool undertones: For the lips, cool toned ladies should choose reds with blue undertones, cool pinks, mauve and burgundy. On the eyes, use silver, grey, white, pink and jewel tones (such as sapphire and emerald). On the cheeks, cool pink and rosy blushes. What about foundation? Choose one that’s either neutral or pink-based. See options below:
Great foundations for cool: Martha, Ruth, Tabitha, Bathsheba. Deborah, Queen of Sheba, Martha, Ruth, Naomi, Miriam, Eve, Hannah & Elizabeth (Cool-Neutral)
Warm undertones: If you have warm undertones, choose eye shadows in earthy tones such as brown, olive, orange, yellow, apricot, bronze and copper. Gold is a great option too. For the lips, use orange. The following are some options in foundations:
Great foundations for warm: Tamar, Lydia, Phoebe, Anna, Esther, Abigail, Sarah, Rebekah, Mary
Neutral undertones: If you have neutral undertones, you are lucky because you can wear everything! Yeah!
Great foundations for neutral: Tabitha, Elizabeth, Rebekah, Hannah