Do you know what undertone is? You’ve definitely encountered it before.

For example, have you ever tried on a piece of clothing, and although you liked the color, it just didn’t look right?

This is what I mean.

It goes hand in hand with your overall skintone, creating your own unique shade, and there are some color that notably look better than others.

It consists of three categories: warm, neutral, and cool. From knowing our undertone, we have the ability to find the colors that best suit us, whether it be makeup, clothing, or nail polish. That leaves only one thing left to discuss: how do we determine our undertone?

Wrists

Take a peek at the underside of your arm at your veins.

Cool: Blue or Purple

Warm: Green

Neutral: Can’t tell for sure

Jewelry

What jewelry do you gravitate most towards?

Cool: Silver and Platinum

Warm: Gold and Rose gold

Neutral: Most/all metals are suitable

Sun Exposure

Think about how your skin usually reacts to sun exposure.

Cool: You burn easily

Warm: You tan easily

Neutral: You burn, but it turns into a tan.

White Paper

Hold a sheet of plain white printer paper next to the underside of your forearm. Focus on the paper for 10 seconds.

Then shift your eyes directly to your forearm, and take note of the colors that jump out.

Cool: Pink and Red

Warm: Green and Yellow

Neutral: Unsure*

*Can you wear Yellow or Pink clothing and not feel washed out?

Not a Hard-Fast Rule

While it isn’t necessary to wear only colors that suit our skin tone (we’re a blog, not the fashion police), we like to think knowing what colors enhance our beauty is pretty neat. Whether a color suits you based on undertone, color theory, or if it suits you because YOU say it does, that’s up to you to decide.