Let’s talk skin tone.

First, what is skin tone?

Skin tone is the surface skin color, whereas skin undertone is the subtle hue underneath    the surface. Skin tone is determined by the amount of melanin (skin pigment) present in        the uppermost layer of your skin.

  The 4 Main Types Of Skin Tones Are:

• • Light
  • Fair
  • Medium
  • Deep (Dark)

   The 3 Main Types Of Skin Undertones Are:

• • Warm
  • Cool
  • Neutral
  • If you are not sure which color is most evident in your veins, you are likely to have a neutral undertone.

How To Determine Your Skin Tone?

While each skin tone can have different complexions and can be broken down into ‘very light’, ‘very deep’, etc., you can determine the broader type of your skin tone through the following ways:

A. Examine Your Jawline

This area is usually less affected by skin color changes than the rest of your face. Check your freshly-washed skin in this area under natural sunlight. Try to determine if it is light, medium or deep.

B. Listen To What Your Friends Say

If your friends say you’re very “fair,” your skin tone is mostly light. If they’re always pointing out how tan you look, you may be medium. If you look pale in the winter, but tan in the summer, you may be deep. 

3. Best Ways To Determine Your Skin Undertone

You can try the following tests to know your skin undertone:

Test 1 – Vein Test

Examine the color of your veins on the underside of your wrists.

• • If your veins are blue or purple in color, you most probably have a cool undertone.
  • If you have greenish veins, you have a warm undertone.

Test 2 – Jewelry Test

• • If silver jewelry looks flattering on your skin, you have a cool undertone.
  • If gold jewelry looks flattering on your skin, you have a warm undertone.
  • If both look flattering on you, you have a neutral undertone.

Test 3 – Ask a friend to look at the skin behind your ear. If you have acne, rosacea, or another condition that might mask your skin tone, you can have a friend look at the skin directly behind the shell of your ear, as this area is less likely to be affected.

• • Have them examine the skin right in the little crease behind your ear.
  • If your skin is yellowish, then your skin tone is warm.
  • If your skin is pink or rosy, then your skin tone is cool
  • If they have difficulty, they can try holding a white piece of paper near the skin. That should help them see if it appears yellow or pink. [1]

Test 4 – Look at your eye color. Your eye color can be a key to your undertones. Lighter eyes like blue and pale brown usually mean you have cool undertones, while gold flecks usually indicate warm undertones. [2]

• • For example, ice blue eyes usually mean you have cool skin, while honey brown eyes usually mean you have warm skin.