How to Determine Your Skin's Undertone

While there are so many different and beautiful skin colors that exist, skin UNDERTONES generally fall in to three different categories.

• Cool (pink, red or bluish undertones)
• Warm (yellow, peachy, golden undertones)
• Neutral (a mix of warm and cool undertones)

The reason knowing which of these categories is so important is because it's like being able to read your palm—if you know your undertone, GURL, you know your whole makeup future. You can figure out what shades complement your skin tone, which shades to avoid, and how to make sure your foundation doesn't make you look like an Oompa Loompa.

Finding out your skin tone seems fairly simple, but knowing your undertone is a little more complex. Almost like knowing exactly what color you are in a Crayola box (think cornflower blue versus cerulean). But with these simple tests Witch Weekly hopes to demystify the process of figuring out your undertone once and for all!

The Jewelry Test

Do you wear jewelry? If you do, think about the most common jewelry that you wear. What metal is it made of? Is it more gold tones or silver tones? If you favor gold tones, you probably have warm undertones. If you favor silver, it's possible that you have cool undertones. If both look really good on you, it's possible you have neutral undertones.

The Clothing Test

Think about the clothes that look best on you. Like, your FAVORITE article of clothing (we know you have one). Do you have that one red dress that you just RAVISH in? Maybe a blue sweater that you wear 24/7 because you look so good in it? If you find that certain colors just unexplainably look better on you, it's likely because those colors complement your skin tone. If you look better in warm tones, it's probably because you have warm undertones. The same goes for cool undertones. If you don't favor either, it's possible that you have neutral undertones.

The Burn vs. Tan Test

One of the easiest (and possibly most enjoyable) ways to figure out your undertone is to think about the last time you went to the beach. After you wistfully remember how nice last summer was, think about the effect the sun had on your skin. Did you burn like a ripe tomato? Bronze like the golden deity you are? Perhaps burn first that turned into a tan?

What your skin does in the sun can actually tell you a lot about you undertone. If you bear very easily, it's likely that you have cool tones. Bronzed to the gods? You are most likely a warm undertone. Do you need the pre-tan burn in order to get good color? It's likely you have a neutral undertone.

The Vein Test

Don't worry, you don't have to go to your doctor for this test. Take a look at the veins on your wrist. What color are they? Before you say, "they must be crazy—of course my veins are blue," seriously, take a look. If your veins actually look greenish, this may be because you have warm tones (a warm tone + blue veins = green). If they show up as blue, it's likely that you are cool toned. If you're sort of undecided (perhaps you have mermaid-esque blue-green veins) you are most likely a neutral undertone.

YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THERE WOULD BE A TEST.

Well, hopefully, you passed. Just kidding! There is no failing! Because all of these "tests" are pretty subjective, you can always go into a cosmetic store like Ulta or Sephora and they can "color match" you to determine your skin tones for you.

Now go forth and match those undertones!