I know it can be quite the struggle trying to find a foundation that matches your skin tone perfectly, especially in the drugstore, and if you're anything like me, you often have to buy multiple shades and hope for the best or mix them together. Knowing your skin tone and your undertone is very important when it comes to finding that perfect foundation shade, and "just guessing" only gets you so far. In order to understand which foundation color you will go for, you have to be familiar with your undertones, (which many people disregard or simply don't think it matters). Understanding your undertone, and why it matters, will make your life much easier when it comes to picking a foundation, choosing what eyeshadow and lipstick to use, and even the jewelry/clothing that will suit you best. Getting your undertone right is the backbone of your entire makeup look, and will be an important factor in every aspect of your makeup.

Most brands label their foundation shades with a letter and number. The letter is the undertone, and the number is the shade of that undertone. There are many variations of undertones and shades, in order to match your color correctly, both are important.

There are many, many shades and skin tones in the world, and no matter what shade your skin is, most people will change shades even the slightest bit throughout the year. Whether you get much darker in the summer, or not at all, you usually have an overall shade range you should be able to stick with when it comes to foundation. You may be able to stick with the same foundation shade all year long, and maybe adjust it a bit if you get darker or lighter, or maybe you have to completely change shades for the winter and the summer (If you’re like me), but you will always have the same undertone.    

You could be cool, warm, neutral, or even have a bit of a combination. You could also have olive tones, with either a cool, warm, or neutral undertone. Olive toned skin is usually found with a medium or darker skin tone, if you have lighter skin you may still have olive tones, but they are usually less prominent. Most olive skin fits into a more neutral undertone, but you could still have olive tones and be either on the cooler or warmer side. For example, I am very light in the winter and very dark in the summer, and I have olive-toned skin with neutral undertones. So that means I can usually get away with foundations that are either on the cool side or the warm side, but usually, I go for a shade right in the middle. Don’t think too much about whether you have olive skin or not, as you should be able to find your correct undertone by using the undertone guide.   

The first step in determining your undertone is to use these simple tricks, and example images provided.

Look at your veins, what colors do you see? 

Neutral undertones usually have blue, light blue, and teal colored veins or a combination of blue and teal/blue-green. 

Warm undertones usually have blue-green veins, usually on the more green side rather than dark blue. If you still see a bit of blue, rather than all green tones, you could be warm neutral which means you aren’t truly warm, and you're not completely neutral. 

Cool undertones will have blue or purple veins, you shouldn’t see much green. If you do see a bit of green but mostly blue or purple, you could be cool neutral and not true cool. If you are cool neutral that just means you don’t have true cool undertones. 

If you are warm-neutral or cool-neutral that means true warm or true cool foundation shades might look too warm/cool against your skin so you can use either a more neutral foundation or mix a cool/warm foundation with a neutral one to balance it out. 

Do you tan or burn easily?

Cool undertones tend to burn easily regardless of your skin tone. Cool undertones can still tan, but it takes more time and is harder to achieve. Warm undertones can still burn but less frequently, and usually tan instead of burn every time they are in the sun.

Do you look better in silver or gold jewelry?

Gold usually looks better on warmer undertones because gold is a warm color. Gold will compliment warm skin because it brings out the warm undertones in your skin. Silver usually looks better on cool undertones because silver is a cool color and can bring out the cool tones in your skin. If you like gold and silver and think they both look good with your skin, that means you have neutral undertones and have a combination of cool and warm tones. 

Take a look at the images I have provided to help you discover your undertone!

Once you've determined your undertone, write it down, and don't forget!