Good mid-morning everyone! I wanted to share this with you, because it's got a ton of great information here about how to find your skin undertones and find makeup that will flatter your skin instead of giving you a funny shade. Ever pick a shade of foundation too light and the final look is like you're a painted mask? Or too dark, and your face is darker than your neck?! We've all had these Oops! moments- so do not fear! We've all mostly been through this by trial and error... And spending money to summarily give the product away, or throw it in the trash thoroughly disgusted that the color isn't right.... Proceeding to next raid the freezer for that pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream for comfort. Ok, well, maybe you don't like that flavor, but I do! But it's the general gist of things, right? Right!First off, I have to say I did not write this article/information below. I found this post made by pbsadhaka over at Essential Daily Spa. While I'd have loved to take the time, write and create an explanation as good as this, I didn't. Just wanted to make it available for you to reference and hopefully have more success with finding products which will look good on you, instead of buying products only to get them home and find out they don't work. Ugh .That's the worst! So read on my friends! And everything below is 100% credited to pbsadhaka for coming up with such a comprehensive, but easy way to do this!
x0x0x0 ~*Snarky P
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OK girls, here is a non-fail formula to find your true skin tone, and to match up what color of makeup and also hair color best compliments your skin tone. Save this, b/c it is always true, and failsafe!
Skin tones can be broken down into 4 categories: olive, red/pink, golden, & neutral. The easiest way to find your true skin tone is to hold a piece of white paper up to the skin where your neck meets your collarbone.
Olive skintones have an underlying tone of green, gray, or yellow. Olive people look best in either cool or neutral colors. Warm colors should usually be avoided unless it is of a darker value.
Makeup shades for cool/neutral skintones include: blueish reds (not orange/reds), plums, violets, silvery greens (evergreens), grays, and deep mauves. Haircolors that compliment olive skin are: blueish blacks, auburns, chestnut brown, dark golden brown. If you go lighter, you should never go lighter than a level 4 with a golden tonality.
Red/Pink skintones have an underlying hue of reddish brown, red, or blue-red. This skintone also looks best in cool or neutral colors. Warm colors are not recommended for this skin type. Complimentary hair colors for this type are any ashy or sandy blonde, burgundy browns, light cool blondes, avoid reds - it will make your skin look ruddy. If you want a red tone, go with a very light auburn or strawberry blonde.
Golden skintones have an underlying tone of golden-brown, gold, or peach. This skin tone looks best in warm colors. Makeup colors should include: grays, tan, browns, bronze, gold, grassy & mossy greens, warmer orange-reds, and corals. Complimentary hair colors should include ash and golden blondes, aubruns, neutral browns, and warm dark browns/blacks.
Neutral skintones have a balance of pink and gold undertones. You will have a hard time finding a dominant undertone in this type. Tis skin tone is usually described as ivory, beige, or brown skin. Neutral skintones can wear either cool or warm.
Taking your eye color into account can also help you decide your skintone:
Warm Eye Colors:
-Brown with red, orange, yellow or gold flecks.
-Blue with yellow or gold flecks.
-Green with reddish-brown, orange, yellow, or gold flecks.
Cool Eye Colors:
-Brown with black, gray-brown, gray-green, or gray flecks.
-Blue with white, blue, gray, or violet flecks.
-Green with blue or gray flecks.
When choosing makeup, there are other factors that you must take into consideration too. Women often choose a foundation that is too light for their skin. This gives you a pasty, pale "canvas" of a face. Then any makeup that you put on looks overly done - painted on. The other danger is going too dark with your foundation and ending up with an orange "mask". NEVER go more than 1 shade lighter or darker than your natural skintone. Also, don't rely on the names that the companies give to their foundations - look at the actual color of the product. What Revlon calls "golden", L'Oreal might call "beige". But whatever foundation you choose make sure that you BLEND and feather it from under your chin down onto the neck and behind the ears. But if you are choosing the correct level & tone, you should not see a line where your foundation stops anyway.
Eyeshadows can really compliment your eyes. Choosing a deeper/darker shade of a color will make the iris of your eyes appear lighter & brighter. A lighter eyeshadow will usually make your eye color deepen.
