How To Recognize Skin Undertones For Perfect Makeup Results

Illustration (Miniseries/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Have you ever felt that whatever complexion you use doesn't match and doesn't blend with your skin? That's because the make-up shade you choose doesn't match your skin tone and undertone.

Skin tone and undertone is one of the most important things in determining whether or not the makeup results are good. Recognizing and understanding your natural skin tone is the key to creating the perfect make-up look.

Skin tone is the color of the upper or outer surface of the skin that can be seen with the naked eye. While undertone is a subtle hue that lies beneath the surface of the skin and is influenced by genes or heredity.

You certainly often hear the terms "cool", "warm", or "neutral" when buying foundation and the like. These terms are used as a guideline to determine what shade is best suited to the skin.

There are 3 types of undertones, namely “cool undertones”, “warm undertones”, and “neutral undertones”. People with cool undertones tend to have bluish skin, people with warm undertones tend to be yellow, pale, peachy, or golden. Then people with neutral undertones tend not to have a clear pink or pale skin tone. This hue of the underside of the skin usually reveals blue or green veins. But the natural color of this skin remains clear, neither warm nor cold.

So that you don't use make-up wrong and make your face look gray or whiter, here are some ways you can find out your undertone.

Pulse Color Test

You can see the color of the veins in the wrist area. Blue or purplish veins usually indicate cool undertones. Conversely, veins that appear greenish tend to have warm undertones. Meanwhile, if the veins look bluish green, then your undertone is neutral.

Using White Paper

You just need to hold a blank white sheet of paper and hold it next to your face. If your skin looks yellower, you may have warm undertones. On the other hand, if it looks pink, you probably have a cool undertone.

If you already know the type of undertone you have, it's certainly easier to determine what shade is right for your skin. Skin types that have warm undertones usually have shade names such as beige, tan, honey, caramel. Or you can also choose a shade that has the word warm in front of it, such as warm honey, warm caramel, etc.

Then for cool undertones, they usually have the name shade fair, ivory, or pink, or those that have the word “cool” in front of them. Whereas those of you who have neutral undertones tend to have neutral colors and can use any shade, the range of foundation colors to choose from is quite wide.