Saying yes to a natural lifestyle has a plethora of benefits for your overall health and the natural environment. When choosing to go natural with your skincare routine, you can avoid toxic chemicals and harmful additives that damage your skin’s protective barrier as well as our precious earth.
An essential part of using natural products as part of your makeup routine is getting to know what type of skin you have and your skin tone to find the ideal natural companion to your makeup box. So, how do you find out where you are on the skin tone chart?
We take a look at what skin tone is, how to determine your specific tone, and how to apply this to your natural makeup regime.
Skin Tone Chart Explained
Many people don’t know how to describe their own skin tones and when it comes to makeup applications like foundation and concealer, it is vital to know what works for your skin tone. Most of us know the frustrating moment when you purchase a new natural foundation, and you’re so excited to try it out. You are getting ready for work or a night out, so you open your new foundation and apply it. You realize it’s not the right shade for your natural skin tone as you apply the foundation. You know, the moment you realize it’s not right is when your face looks a shade darker or paler than the rest of your face.
This is why it’s imperative to get to know your skin tone so that you can purchase new natural makeup that will seamlessly blend in with your natural skin color without the frustration of spending money on something that doesn’t work. Plus, getting to know your natural skin tone will also help you choose the colors of lipstick, eyeshadow, clothes, and accessories that will compliment your natural shade.
Skin Tone: Undertones and Overtones
Thank your beautiful genes for your skin tone. Your natural skin tone is the amount of melanin present in your epidermis – the outermost layer of your skin – which is genetically determined. Your skin tone will depend on the amount of melanin in your skin. The less melanin you have, the lighter your skin tone, and the more melanin you have, the darker your skin tone.
The melanin visible on your skin is referred to as your overtone. There are various subtle changes in the shades of overtones, but everyone falls into mainly four categories: fair, light, medium, and dark.
Now moving onto the skin undertones. The undertone of your skin isn’t as obvious as your overtone. Your undertone is the color beneath the surface of your skin which is determined by the color of your veins. (Seems a bit strange, right?) Well, not at all. Everyone’s veins have a slightly different shade which contributes to your overall skin tone.
Unlike your overtone, which can change according to how much sun your skin sees, your undertone never changes. There are three main categories of skin’s undertones: cool, neutral, and warm. A cool undertone is determined by a bluish color when the veins are blue or purple. Neutral undertones are neither cool nor warm; greenish veins give an olive tint to the skin. A warm undertone adds a peach to red or golden shades to the skin.
What is Your Skin Tone
Your natural skin tone is determined by identifying both your overtone and undertone. Once you know this combination, you will select the correct natural foundation shades and clothes that compliment your skin tone. For overtones, there are online skin tone charts with overtones that you can download and print to match the right shade to your natural skin tone.
When it comes to undertones, you can look at the color of your veins to see whether your undertone is warm, neutral, or cool. You can also use your jewelry to determine your undertone; silver compliments cool undertones, and gold compliments warm undertones. Neutral or olive undertones will work with both silver and gold.
Now that you have determined your natural skin tone, you can choose the perfect natural foundations and concealers for your skin! You can also choose clothing that compliments your skin tone. If you have a cooler undertone, purples, lavender, and blues work wonderfully. For warmer undertones, green, warm reds, mustard yellows, and browns complement the warm look of your skin. If you have a neutral undertone, blush pink, mauve, and mint colors work well with your skin tone.
Choosing The Right Foundation For Your Skin Tone
Patch testing is the best way to determine your surface shade or overtone. Once you have found a natural makeup brand that you like, try out a little bit of each shade available on your arm to see which one blends in the best. Sometimes, your skin may fall in the middle of two shades. Fortunately, there are natural makeup brands that make a variety of shades for those skin tones that fall somewhere in between.
Embrace Your Skin Tone
In conclusion, your melanin determines your overtone, and the color of your veins determines your undertone. Together, the combination of your overtone and undertone is where you fall on the skin tone chart. Once you have identified your natural skin tone, you can choose the correct shades of natural makeup that blend in perfectly with the rest of your skin.
Flawless makeup looks have never been this easy with the skin tone chart! Let us know in the comments below how you check to see what foundations and concealers match your skin tone.
