Have you ever tried on a lipstick at Sephora that was totally your color and made you look alive with your eyes popping and skin looking flawless? And then did you ever buy another lipstick in a shade that was extremely similar to the previous one but somehow it made you look unbelievably dead inside and kind of tacky? You probably got your surface and undertones correct on the first one, but the second one just had the wrong undertone. You definitely don’t want that for the upcoming summer months! Here are some tips on how to pick the best summer wardrobe for yourself!
What’s the difference between surface tone and undertone? You don’t know?
Same, girl. Same. You kind of get the concept but you don’t at the same time because the pressure of looking good as a woman in society is just way too much to handle. We get it. And we got you.
First step in understanding the entire concept? Your surface tone is what you look for in make-up stores when you describe yourself as ivory, fair, medium, tan, golden, bronze, dark, etc. Undertone is the color you hold beneath your skin. You can wonder why you have the same skin tone as the next person but makeup and clothing articles just don’t have the same “oomph” and it’s probably because the difference of undertone! Here’s how to break that down:
- Warm: Reds, pinks, bluish undertones.
- Cool: Yellow, peaches, golden undertones.
- Neutral: A mix of warm and cool undertones!
Second step: Check your veins around your wrist! Are they blue or green? If they’re more blue, you’ve got cool undertones! And if they’re more green, the golden combo of your skin with the anatomical color of blue veins means you’ve landed within the warm undertones spectrum.
Third: Jewelry! Cool toned women normally look best in silver as it complements the cooler colors. And naturally, warmer-toned women look best in golds as their skin may have colors in the warmer spectrum that complement that.
Fourth: Are you neutral? If you look good in only bright whites and black hues, you’re cool toned. If you look good in those and ivories, off-whites, and brown/tanned shades, you’re warm toned. If it’s a mix, you’re definitely neutral and look good in almost everything.
Fifth: Hair color and eyes. Typically, if you have blue, gray, or green eyes with ash brown, bluish black, or platinum blonde hair indicates cool tones. Warm toned women normally have brown, amber, or hazel eyes with strawberry blonde, auburn red, coffee brown, and brown-black hair with gold, red, or orange tones.
Sixth: And finally, the sun’s affects on your skin! If you burn easily before you even tan, you’re cool toned. If you tan very easily, you’re warm toned.
Use these tips to figure out which color schemes would work best for you in the summer! Cool tones should aim for blues, greens, pinks, purples, blue-greens, magentas, and true-to-blue based reds. Warm tones should aim for yellows, oranges, browns, yellow-greens, and ivories. Good luck!
With delight,
Vassana M.