What’s your undertone?

There are so many beauty terms that it can make your head spin. Confused as to what it all means? Our Glam Glossary will help you sort it all out. Follow Allison each week in her quest to decode popular beauty terms, from Alpha Hydroxy Acids to Zinc Oxide.

Undertone

What it is: The natural color tone that comes through from underneath your skin.

What it isn’t: Any discoloration on top of your skin, including rosacea, scarring, acne, sunburn, or redness caused by the environment. These contribute to your overtone.

What you use it for: Embracing the true identity of your skin’s undertone can help you make important decisions about purchasing products with the inherent knowledge of particular colors and shades of cosmetics – and clothing – that bring out the best tones in your skin. Uncovering your undertone will not only aid in the age-old dilemma of which foundation color to purchase, but can help you choose lip, eye, cheek and hair shades too. The ideal function of a foundation, according to Paula Begoun, the lovely Cosmetics Cop, is to neutralize your overtones and match your skin’s natural undertone.

The three categories: It’s generally accepted that everyone falls into one of these three skin undertone categories.

• Cool – A rose, pink, peach, red, or blue
• Warm – A Golden, yellow, or olive
• Neutral – A blend of both yellow and red

How you get acquainted with it: There is no official play-by-play rule book of how one goes about identifying one’s undertone. Makeup professionals are often trained to “diagnose” your skin tone, but there are also ways to determine it yourself. Methodology ranges from realistic to ridiculous – you want me to do what with a silver ring and a gold ring? (Oh, put them on two fingers) – but since we’re all on a need-to-know basis here, there are two methods that would win the popularity contest.

• The Vein Trick – That’s right, I said it. In bright lighting, turn over your wrist (either wrist) so that your veins are facing up and are clearly visible. Examine closely. If you see a majority of green veins, you’re a warm tone. If you see a majority of blue tones, you’re a cool tone. If you see a majority of purple, you’re a neutral.

• The White Paper Trick – The idea here is that a plain white sheet of paper, when held up directly against one side of your face, will make the colors of your undertone pop out. A mirror is necessary to get this one accomplished, and an honest, color-theory-savvy BFF wouldn’t hurt either.

Photo: Billy Alexander via Stock Xchng