Knowing your skin's undertone is really important when buying and applying makeup. I think its something that we tend to overlook, and to be honest, figuring out whether you're warm or cool toned can be a bit intimidating. But I'm hoping this makes it a little bit easier for you. 

Keep in mind that skin tone and undertones are not the same. Your skin tone is the color on the surface. It changes all the time. It gets tan or pink when you're in the sun too long, it turns rosy when you're cold. But your undertone is the color under your skin. and it can either be cool-toned or warm-toned.

I'm warning you now, this is going to be pretty long with a lot of information jammed into one post. But keep reading to find out how to figure out if you're warm/cool toned & what that means for you when it comes to picking out makeup, clothes, and even your hair color. 

There are a few ways to test. I actually did all 3 just to be sure. 

(I'm cool toned, by the way)

Test 1: Vein Test

Look at the veins on the underside of your arm/wrist. 

If they are blue, you are cool toned.

If they are greenish, you are warm toned.

(yellow + blue makes green. veins are blue, but when viewed through skin with a yellow 

(warm) undertone, you get green! pretty cool, huh?)

Test 2: Paper Test

When your face is completely clean and at a normal temperature (you aren't overly hot or cold) hold a plain white piece of paper up to your face. 

Take note of your skin's tone in contrast to the white. If it looks yellow or golden, then you have a warm skin color. If it looks pinkish, you have a cool tone.

Test 3: Ear Test

Have someone else pull your ear forward and look behind your ear in natural light. The skin behind your ear is pure in tone and a yellowish or pinkish hue should be readily identifiable. If they see a yellow hue, then you have a warm skin tone. A pinkish tint signifies a cool tone.

So.. are you cool or warm toned? 

Were you one of the weirdos (kidding.. kind of) who had mixed results with those tests? You may be neutral which means you look good in cool and warm tones. Lucky you! 

Now that you know your undertone, here are some things to keep in mind. 

*when buying foundation always buy a shade that corresponds with your undertone. a lot of drugstore foundations now have 'cool' or 'warm' on the bottle so it makes it a lot easier. when buying high-end foundation, you may want to find an expert in the store and tell them your undertone and allow them to help you find the right shade. 

when it comes to choosing the right cosmetics for your undertone, it can be a little tricky. 

in general just remember that if you are..

warm toned: look for peachy pink, orange, coral based colors

cool toned: rosy pink, purple, blue/violet based colors

I have to admit, figuring out if a color was 'cool' or 'warm' was always a hard concept for me to grasp, and there are still times I look at a blush or foundation and have no idea what undertone it would look best with. But it does get easier and the more you do it, the more obvious it starts to become. 

I hope this was at least somewhat helpful! Have a good day everyone. :-)

-K