FOUNDATION & SKINTONES: Part 1 (Warm, Cool, Neutral undertones)

Are you a Warm, Cool or Neutral?

Did you know that you could look even more beautiful just by finding out whether you are a warm, a cool, or a neutral?

The warm, cool or neutral spectrum of beauty is the color group that your skin tone falls into naturally. Colors are divided into pigments: yellow/orange tones for warm, blue/red for cool, or both warm and cool shades or shades in between for neutral.

How do you know your color group? For starters, it isn't hard to figure out whether your natural skin tone is more a warm, or a cool. Use these guidelines, grouped together according to your natural hair color, eye color, and complexion without foundation on:

Warm Color Group

• Look underneath your wrist/forearm in natural light by a window, your veins look greenish
• You look better in gold jewelry rather than silver
• Your hair is naturally black or brown (brown with reddish or copper flecks). Your eyes are brown, and your complexion is olive or golden and tans easily
• Your natural hair ranges from light, golden to dark blonde, your eyes are dark brown and your skin is golden or olive and tans easily
• Your hair is naturally red or light auburn with dark blonde flecks. Your eyes are either green or brown, and your skin tone is beige, tanning easily
• Your hair is naturally a reddish to golden brown, your eye color is blue and your complexion is light beige, tanning easily

Warm toned individuals tend to look alive and healthy while wearing earthy colors, such as oranges, bronzes, golds, peaches, brick reds, earthy greens, mocha browns and ivory. They look best in yellow based colors.

Cool Color Group

• Look underneath your wrist/forearm in natural light by a window, your veins look blue
• You look better in silver jewelry rather than gold.
• Your natural hair color is light to medium brown, you have either greenish, hazel, or blue eyes and you burn easily (but have naturally rosy cheeks)
• Your hair is naturally a darkened ash blonde, your eyes are either hazel or blue and your complexion is very fair to pale
• Your hair color is dark brown, your eyes are blue and you have a pink tone to your fair or pale skin
• You're a naturally light to medium brunette, your eyes are a blue-gray to light-green color, your face is fair to pale with a hint of rose in your cheeks
• Your hair is naturally red or dark brunette, your eyes are a very dark brown, and your skin is pale to fair with very rosy cheeks

Cool toned people look best in jewel tones such as vibrant emerald green, royal or icy blues, rosy pinks, silvers, plums, and pure white. Blue based colors look best. 

Once you know if you're a warm or a cool, have some fun trying on clothes of specific colors to test your color palette. If you're sure that you're a cool - choose a chic, hot pink shirt and see how it complements your skin tone.

If you're a warm color type, look out for a fashionable bronze-toned orange shirt and see how much glow it gives to your skin. The best way of figuring out if you're a neutral is to try on both the hot pink and the bronze-orange…if you look equally great in both of these different colors then you may very well be a neutral! Be Wonderfully Warm, Confidently Cool - Or Nicely Neutral.

The true beauty of discovering your own natural color palette is that you can really discover the true beauty within you. Whether you're a cool or a warm, or a nice neutral in between, you'll be able to pick out clothes and accessories, makeup products and hair coloring kits with more ease and certainty - and no more costly mistakes. Have you ever wondered why you look blah in black, but happier and healthier, and even younger in your favorite ruby-red sweater? Wearing clothes and cosmetics that match your color palette will actually smooth out and brighten your natural skin tone and even make dark circles, expression lines and wrinkles much less noticeable on your face.

Makeup Colors for Warm, Cool or Neutral

• If you're a warm, look for matte eyeshadows in colors like copper, golden brown, dark gray, pale yellows or greens and an ivory tone to highlight your brows. Your best foundation is either light or dark tan depending upon your natural skin tone, and you'll look awesome in a burgundy blush and copper lipstick.
• If you're a cool, choose pearl shades of icy pink, sky or navy blue, or frosted shades of lilac, pink or smoky lavender. Test a foundation on your wrist to see how it complements your fair skin tone. You'll look great in a rose or mauve blush, and a light plum lipstick.
• If you're a neutral, look for varying shades under the 'warm' spectrum, concentrating more on bronze or autumn tones in your eyeshadows (you can wear either a pearl or a matte finish). Also go for autumn tones in your lipstick and blush - you'll look fantastic!

Still unsure of what your undertones are ?  Check out this quiz called Are Your Undertones Warm or Cool? @ http://www.bellasugar.com/Warm-Cool-Quiz-1843402

Warm  You look best in foundation that has a yellow or golden undertone. If you fall under this category, you generally should stick to earthier shades such as yellow, orange, brown, orangey-reds, and yellow-green. You'd probably wear ivory shirts over white ones, and a deep brick-red lipstick would be fabulous for a night on the town.

Cool  You look best in foundation that has a bluish or pink undertone. If you fall under this category, you generally should stick to jewel tones such as blue, purple, blue-green, green, magenta, and bluish-red. You'd probably wear white shirts over ivory ones, and black mascara makes your eyes pop.