As a Professional Makeup Artist of 18+ years I was trained by International Makeup Artist Robert Jones, and one of the best tips he taught me was to ask these questions.
- Do you tan easy?
- Do you burn than tan?
- Do you only burn and never tan?
If you answer yes to number 1 that means you are an olive, warm or more yellow undertone. I know that might make things more confusing but wait for me to explain and hopefully it will make sense.
If you answered yes to number 2 (this is most of you) 70% of women in the world are neutral or yellow undertone.
If you answered yes to number 3 than you are a pink or red undertone. If you are two colors white or red than this is you. This also could be called pink or cool undertone.
Now for some of you, you might have seen the color option I told you, and your immediate response would be to argue back that NO! I have always been______ or I can tan really easily but also burn. Or for some reason you don't like thinking of yourself as yellow or pink, etc. Build a bridge and get over it. LOL Take a deep breath and remember it is ok this is just a tool to help you find a match that will look natural and flawless on your skin.
I wish makeup brands would decide on one way to mark all foundation and concealers so we new exactly what we are getting, but one of the things I have found is they are SALES people so sometimes they learn what sells the most and they will tweak wording knowing that more people prefer ordering a certain color or undertone than sometimes they will label a color a certain undertone when it actually isn't. Yes, I know that is super ANNOYING, but we need to educate ourselves so hopefully they will start being more consistent so we don't get confused.
When you are an olive undertone you need to look for warm, olive in the color name. When you are yellow or neutral undertone you will look for those names in the color name. And if you are pink or red undertone they usually call it cool or pink. Always remember your undertone is your undertone whether you get darker or lighter, BUT sometimes if you are warm in the summer you can get a way with a neutral shade in the winter or vice versa but usually you should stay in the same undertone when getting any new shade. It will help make your choices easier if you stay within the correct undertone.
Have I heard back in the day people saying check your wrist and see if your veins are blue, green, purple, etc that can tell what your undertone is. Maybe that is true with some people but it isn't always true because the shade of your skin on the underside of your wrist is one of the areas that gets the least amount of sun. So it might not show it as well as you think. Also the amount of skin or opacity to see through your skin to your veins can be more obvious or less obvious for different reasons. So in general that is not the best way to check it is a way to see, but this is a more sure way to check.
