Skin Undertones are the colors that lie beneath the skin. Undertones are the colors that are cast like a shadow beneath your skin color. The shadow has a distinct color which never changes. While the tone of your skin color can change very easily your undertone never changes. If you read last weeks article we explored the differences between skin tones and undertones. This week we are discussing undertones and how knowing them can help us achieve our unique beauty.
If you are familiar with your color palette you already know the spectrum of color is divide by temperature among cool, warm and natural. This stands true for ethnic and multi-ethnic women. Our skin undertones can be placed into the same spectrum of warm, cool or natural colors.
Let me explain. We all fall into a group and the group consist of cool, warm or natural undertones. You may ask, “How do you find out whether your undertones are cool, warm, or natural?”
Cool undertones for darker ethnic women are usually bluish to violet in color. Natural undertones usually consist of olive (green/yellowish) or yellow colors but is very hard to distinguish. Warm undertones on average is the most recognized among ethnic women. Warm undertones include the color spectrum of yellow, orange, red and olive with each one growing in intensity and depth of their color spectrum.
Here’s a little trick to help you find your skin’s undertone color if you do not know. Turn your wrist under side up and look at the color of your veins. What color are they? Can the color of your veins be seen?
If so they will appear either bluish or greenish in color. This will give you a strong indication of your undertone color. With natural undertones the vein color is less obvious in color and can not be distinctly recognized.
To explain more, if your veins appear to be bluish in color then you fall into the cool category. This also means your undertone is on the blue or pink side of the color spectrum. Now If your veins appear green then you fall into the warm category. This usually means your undertone is on the yellow/peach or olive side of the color spectrum. Most ethnic women and multi ethnic women as well as biracial will fall some where between red, orange, yellow and olive undertone colors with blue to violet undertones being more prominent in darker women.
Many times your skin tone can out weigh your undertone colors. So it is important to understand the difference between skin tones and undertones in the spectrum of color for multi-ethnic and ethnic women.
This may seem like a lot of work just to be beautiful but that's what we are here for. We want to look our best and bring out the best by enhancing our beauty in any way we can. You may have to experiment with different colors to find just the right blend but it is well worth it all. You may have many trial and error situations. But nothing says “I love me” like finding your own natural and unique beauty .
Once you know your skin’s undertone color compared with your skin tone color you are now armed with the knowledge needed to personalize, customize and take control of your own look with colors that are just right for you.
Be sure to write down your specific undertone colors. Remember though, your skin tone will change while your undertone will remain the same. This way when shopping for cosmetics, clothes or even hair color, you will know what to look. You can now choose the color, style and taste exclusively for you. This is where we begin to have fun with color and beauty.
Next week we will explore the color palettes for cool, warm and natural undertones.
