How To Determine Your Skin Tone

The easiest way to determine true skin tone is to: wash your face, pull the hair back from the face and drape a white cloth (pure white not ivory) around the neckline so white is the only color next to the face. The white cloth reflects the true undertone color of the skin. Colors from clothing cast shadows on the face that sometimes make it hard to determine skin tone. From here you will be able to look at the face and determine the underlying color. Once you have determined your skin tone then you can pick your foundation color.

In general, you will have a cool skin tone if your hair is naturally bluish-black, dark brown, medium ash or golden blonde. Your skin will be pale, with pink or no undertones; medium, with pink, golden or no cheek color; very dark brown (some Latinas or African Americans); or true olive (Asian).

You will mostly likely have a warm skin tone if your natural hair color is red, reddish or golden brown, deep brown, strawberry blonde or natural golden blonde. Your skin will be pale, with peach or gold undertones; brown, with pink, butterscotch, copper, caramel or golden undertones (some Latinas or African Americans); or freckled.

Cool tones are blue/pink. Usually (but not always) this applies to people with green or blue eyes and those with fairer skin and/or red or naturally blonde hair. If you have freckles, chances are you are cool. Caucasian people comprise the largest segment of cool-tones, especially those of Northern European descent. Terms to describe cool skin can be ruddy, pink, flushed-looking, and ivory. If you generally burn in the sun, or cannot tan, you are cool. Think Nicole Kidman, Laura Flynn Boyle, Naomi Watts, Courtney Cox and Lindsay Lohan.