First, hold a piece of white paper next to your unmade-up face and look into the mirror. How does your skin compare? If it looks pink, rosy, or blue you have a cool skin tone. If it appears more yellow, green or light brown then you are probably warm. If your skin looks grey or ashen then you are most likely neutral.
When it comes to colours, you’ll be unsurprised to learn that cools look good in cool shades, warm in warm ones and that neutrals have more latitude. So if you are cool, seek out hues that make you think of winter and/or the sea: blues, blue-greens, purples, magentas and blue-based reds. When it comes to neutrals, favour black, bright white, navy and cool greys. Warm tones should pick yellows, oranges, browns, yellow-greens, orange-based reds and softer neutrals such as creams, taupes and gentle greys. There are also a handful of hues that work well for almost everyone. Pure white, for example, goes with all skin tones.
Distressed to learn that a colour you love doesn’t suit you? There may be a version of it that will be, one that’s tweaked to skew warm or cool. And if there isn’t? Wear it as an accent, especially if it is not next to the skin, perhaps in the form of a belt or handbag.
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