To determine your skin color, you need to understand two things: your skin tone and your skin undertone.
Skin tone refers to the overall lightness or darkness of your skin. You can typically categorize it as fair, light, medium, tan, brown, or deep. Skin undertone, on the other hand, refers to the underlying color of your skin, which can be cool (pink, red, or blue), warm (yellow, peach, or gold), or neutral (a mix of both).
Here are some ways to check your skin color:
1. Observe your skin in natural light: This is the most reliable way to determine your skin tone and undertone.
-
Skin tone: Fair skin tends to burn easily in the sun, while light skin may tan slightly. Medium skin usually tans well, olive skin has a neutral, slightly greenish undertone, tan and brown skin tones tan deeply, and deep skin rarely burns and is rich in melanin.
-
Skin undertone:
- Cool undertones: Look for pink, red, or blue hues in your skin.
- Warm undertones: Look for yellow, peach, or gold hues in your skin.
- Neutral undertones: Your skin will appear to have a balance of cool and warm hues.
2. Vein test: Look at the veins on the inside of your wrist in natural light.
- Green veins: Indicate warm undertones.
- Blue veins: Indicate cool undertones.
- Both blue and green veins: Indicate neutral undertones.
3. Jewelry test: Try on silver and gold jewelry.
- Silver flatters you: You likely have cool undertones.
- Gold flatters you: You likely have warm undertones.
- Both flatter you equally: You likely have neutral undertones.
4. White towel test: Place a white towel against your skin in natural light.
- Pink or blue undertones reflected: Cool undertones.
- Yellow or peach undertones reflected: Warm undertones.
- No noticeable undertones: Neutral undertones.
5. Foundation matching: Test foundation shades in natural light to see which one best matches your skin tone.
6. Online tools and apps: Several online tools and apps are available to help you determine your skin tone and undertone. They usually involve answering questions about your skin and analyzing photos of your face.
Remember that your skin tone and undertone can change over time due to factors such as sun exposure, aging, and lifestyle choices.
