what's your skin 'under'tone?

Ever encountered a situation when a foundation or lipstick made your friend/sister look prettier but when you, despite being of same skin tone, applied it, looked ashy or dull? 'Undertones' are to blame for this.

Your skin’s surface tone is the color that you can see on the surface of your skin, often described as light, medium, tan, deep, and so on. However, your skin’s undertone is the color underneath the surface. You can have the same skin color as someone, but a different undertone.

They are usually categorized as Warm, Cool and Neutral.

How to determine undertone:

• The easiest way is check the colour of your veins inside your wrist. If your veins look blue, you have a cool undertone. If they look greenish, you have warm undertones and if you can't tell then you fall under neutral. Although this method doesn't work for everyone.

• Another way is using a White fabric. Pull your hair back away from your face (or cover it with a white towel) and drape a white towel or cloth around your neck and shoulders. Your face should be freshly cleansed. The white (make sure it's ivory white) will reflect the true color. If your face looks more yellow, you’re warm. If your skin has a blue tone you’re cool. The result also depends on lighting since fluorescent lights can give skin a greenish tint. Test for undertones in natural or incandescent light.

• Using Silver and Gold may also help. If you look good in silver, you probably have a cool undertone. If you look better in gold, then you're warm. If you look good in both, you’re probably neutral.

Always do these tests in good lighting and when your skin is cleansed and moisturized.