How to Determine Your Skin Tone
A quick and easy way to determine your skin tone!
Do you know what color skin tone you have? It may be easy to tell if you’re a pale, medium or olive skin tone, but, do you know what undertones make up your skin color. It’s a pretty easy guess to say . . . you don’t know. It’s not the kind of thing your eye is trained to see. But, the undertones of your skin determine what colors work best on you. Seeing that your hair is a frame on your face, the color has an immediate effect on how you look.
“It’s worth your effort”
A good hair color can make you look more vibrant, complimenting your skin tone, or, it can make you look sickly and washed out. It’s worth your effort to try to determine where you fall in the spectrum of warm or cool and what colors work best for you.
Here is a new tip to help decipher your skin tone and it’s a simple one to see.
If the veins on your inside wrists are blue . . . you’re most likely a “cool” skin tone. If the veins on your inside wrists are green . . . you’re most likely a “warm” skin tone.
What do cool skin tones look like?
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True olive complexions, like most Asians. Some Latinos and Afro Americans Brown with pink undertones
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Medium with no color in the cheeks
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Medium with faint pink cheeks
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Medium with golden undertones
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Pale with no color in cheeks
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Pale with pink undertones
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Brown or bronze when tanned Golden brown when tanned
What color should naturally cool people avoid?
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Avoid gold, yellow, red and bronze tones, which can make you sallow and drawn.
What colors will complement a cool skin tone?
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The best shades, depending on the depth of the colors in your skin tone are;
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Cool reds, as in burgundy or bordeaux
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Intense browns with a warm base, like red or blonde to the brown.
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Highlight with cool shades like, wheat, honey or taupe or a cool ash brown.
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What do warm skin tones look like?
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Some Latinos and Afro Americans Brown with golden undertones
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Pale with peach or gold undertones
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Golden brown when tanned
What color should naturally warm skin toned people avoid?
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Naturally warm people should avoid blue, violet, white and jet-black hair. These colors next to your skin can make you look washed out.
What colors will most complement warm skin tones?
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The best shades for you, depending on the depth of the colors in your undertones are;
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Deep rich browns like, chocolate, chestnut or auburns as a base. Highlight with warm golds and reds or copper.
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Got a question, war story or comment about this topic? Click on the "Leave Your Comments" link at the very bottom of this article. Some of my best ideas for future articles come from reading reader comments. I'd love to hear from you!
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I seem to be a warm tone person, but I have rosacea, so how do I waer the right hair color in my skin tone w/o enhancing the ruddiness in my face?? Thanks Tam
Comment by tammy — October 8, 2007 @ 3:12 am
I’m confused.My wrist veins are blue. But, everyone says I look good in red, emerald green, black, white, light yellow, and light orange.
When I wesr hot pink lipstick my family hates it, and outsiders admire it. It brightens my face, but has a clownish look. What am I,haha?
Comment by marilyn genuardi — October 9, 2007 @ 9:02 am
what about indian skin tones? i can’t figure out if i have cool or warm tones.
Comment by maria — November 3, 2007 @ 10:03 pm
Tam, Marilyn and Maria,
All of you had good questions, so I wrot a post answering all your questions, go here: www.hairstyle-blog.com
Thanks for the good questions!
Barb
Comment by Barb — November 13, 2007 @ 3:02 pm
[…] Here were three recent excellent questions women asked on my article, How to Determine Your Skin Tone. If you aren’t sure if you are in the warm or cool category, check out the article. […]
Pingback by » How to Match Skin Tones and Hair Colors — November 14, 2007 @ 8:48 pm
I have very pale olive skin (It’s almost as pale as ivory but with a slight “green” tint to it) and I have very rosy cheeks. I have dark eyes brows & My natural hair color is medim somewhat ashy brown and my eyes are dark brown with little green flecks. I look best in brown and purple, blue (all shades). I can really wear any colors but red or green.
Am I a warm or a cool? Each of my characterstics seems to contract the last one.
Comment by Linni — September 12, 2008 @ 4:01 pm
Hi Linni,
Try this;
Check out the color of your veins in your wrists.
Blue veins indicates cool undertones.
Greenish beins indicates warmer undertones.
Comment by Barb Quinn — October 10, 2008 @ 1:53 pm
Hi!
My veins are greenish, I am a light african woman from kenya and really want to know if i am warm or cool. I am planning on chinging my wardrobe as i feel like i have been using wrong color scheme. Could i send you a picture of myself to help me out on what tone you think i am? please
Comment by Wambui — February 24, 2009 @ 8:01 am
Wambui,
Sure you can send a picture, but try to be sure the lighting gives the truest sense of your skin tone, that the picture reflects what you think is most accurate. Also tell me what colors you have been wearing that you feel have been wrong.
Comment by Barb Quinn — February 25, 2009 @ 8:06 pm
[…] A big key to figuring out if you are cool or warm is figuring out your skin’s natural undertones. Take a look at the veins on your wrist. If they are blue, you are probably “cool,” and if they are green you are probably “warm.” Check out some detailed ways to find out your tone here, but I’ll give you a quick summary: […]
Pingback by Makeup 101: Find Your “Tone” : College Candy — August 13, 2009 @ 10:01 am
I am definitely cool toned since the my veins are blue on the inside wrist. A long time ago, I tried to wear red lipstick (that had a warm base to it) and it was terrible. The makeup lady told me that I should try a deep red with blue undertones or deep red.
Comment by jessica — September 17, 2009 @ 11:25 am
edit: meant to say *true red* on the last part lol
Comment by jessica — September 17, 2009 @ 11:26 am
I would like to ask about veins
I was wondering what my skin tone might be if they look more aqua what skin tone am I more likely to bei am very light skinned but pull it off fair enough people would say medium but I know better please help me determine I have green hazel eys and it just looks like I have no color jusr white but I have dark features
Comment by Kristine — November 8, 2009 @ 2:11 am