With so many shades of foundations available for each skin tone and undertone, there’s a shade for everyone! The only catch is that it makes it even more difficult to find your shade—it helps to know that your perfect shade exists though.

And while there is no dearth of foundation shades available for you skin tone, have you really figured out your skin tone? Here are a few simple ways to determine your skin tone and undertones.
 

Three skin undertones to work with

Three skin undertones to work with

Cool skin undertones (pinkish, redish or bluish skin undertones)

Warm skin undertones (yellowish, golden undertones)

Neutral skin undertone (a mix of warm and cool undertones)

The surface colour of your skin or your complexion is different from your skin undertones. You could either have light, dark or medium complexion but every complexion can have warm, neutral or cool skin tones. So, it’s not about how light or dark your skin colour is. People of all skin colours, from very fair to deep, can have cool, warm, or neutral undertones.    You skin undertone is basically the colours that come through from beneath the surface colour of your skin. You can have the same skin colour as someone, but have a different skin undertone.

Here’s how you can determine your undertone.

Vein check
Those veins you see at the underside of your wrist? Well, they can help you locate your skin tone. Bluish-purple veins suggest that your skin tone is on the cooler side. Greenish veins mean your skin tone tilts towards the warm side. If your veins look greenish-blue then chances are you are a neutral skin tone.

 

Blush flush

Blush flush

This one is pretty simple! If you blush easily i.e. your skin flushes at the drop of a hat, then your skin tone is on the cooler side.

Do you get tan or you get burnt?

If your skin turns into a beautiful bronze in the sun, it means your skin is warm-toned. But, if you are someone who gets red and sun burnt easily, then your skin tone is on the cool side. Blisters, skin starting to peel off are all signs of a sun burn.

But having a cooler skin tone doesn’t mean that lighter skin tones can’t tan, so make sure you keep a check!

 

What colours work for you?

What colours work for you?

Yet another way to determine your skin undertone is by checking which colour works for you.
Cooler skin tones look good in deep, vibrant colours like blues, purples and greens. Warm skin tones on the other hand glow in tones like red, orange and yellow. If you are someone who looks good in both colour palettes, then you probably have neutral undertones. The one colour that can really help determine your skin tone is yellow—it makes the cooler skin tones look pale, makes the warmer skin tones glow and does nothing special for those with neutral/ medium skin tones.

 

White vs off-white

White vs off-white

Take off your makeup, pull your hair back into a ponytail and grab two shades of white for this skin undertone test. Take a pure white piece of cloth and an off-white cloth and hold them against your face one at a time. If you look better in pure white, your undertones are warm. If you look washed out in pure white and look better in off-white, your skin undertones are on the cooler side.