Check our your Veins

Look at the veins in your wrist.

If your veins appear blue or purple, you have a cool skin tone.

If your veins look green or a greenish blue, you have a warm skin tone.

If you can't tell whether or not your veins are green or blue, you probably have a neutral skin tone.

The Paper Method

Wash your face and wait 30 mins (washing your face right before may make the colour of your face change slightly).

Hold a white piece of paper up to your face.

Looking in a mirror, see how your skin looks in contrast to the white paper. It may appear to have a yellow cast, a blue-red or rosy cast, or it may not appear to be either, but a gray color instead. What color does you skin appear at the side of the paper.

• Yellowish or sallow beside the white paper: you have a warm skin tone.
• Pink, rosy, or blueish-red: you have a cool skin tone.
• Grey, your skin may have an olive complexion with a neutral undertone. The green from your complexion and the yellowish undertone combines to create this effect. You can experiment with neutral and warm tones, since you fall somewhere in between.
• If you can't determine any cast of yellow, olive, or pink, you have a neutral skin tone. Neutral tones can look good in foundations and colors on both ends of the cool/warm spectrum.

the freckle test

Do you tan easily? Do you burn or get freckles? The amount of melanin in your skin determines how it reacts to sun exposure and can help you determine your skin tone.

If you tan easily and rarely burn, you have more melanin in your skin and you most likely have a warm or neutral skin tone.

If your skin burns and doesn't tan, you have less melanin and so you probably have a cooler skin tone.

Some people with very dark, ebony skin may not burn easily but still have a cool skin tone.

ear test

We know it sounds weird, but ask a friend to look at the skin behind your ear. 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.

While it can be a bit confusing, identifying your skin tone will help you learn what colours look best on you. If you're still not sure, email us at info@darkheartslondon and we can help.