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Saturday, June 9, 2007
This is for you if you are:
-Latina
-Brazilian
-Middle Eastern
-Multiethnic, bi-ethnic (biracial, multiracial)
-Northern African (Morrocan, Algerian, Tunisian, Egyptian, etc)
As Multiethnic women, we are always wrongly labeled. And not only as far as ethnicity, culture and nationality but also when it is time to buy foundation, powder, concealer and makeup colors. We come in thousands of different shades so it's very difficult for the makeup industry to keep up as opposed to white, asian or black women who usually have easier to recognize tones/shades.
I've researched this one for quiet a long time...and am proud to present the most complete accurate skin tone/shade chart you'll ever find.
Be aware that every single makeup company uses their own invented names to define skin shade so to determine yours, we won't BASE ourselves on shades used by Maybelline, MAC, Iman or any other company.
We'll use WARM, NEUTRAL, COOL skin tone followed by intensity and then LOOK AT THE CHART below to find out the best foundation for you.
Example: My skin tone is neutral-warm and my intensity is tan so I could use blend the 'true tan' and 'early tan' foundations by Revlon or could use a bit of the 'honey' and
Most of us will fit with the broad category of "tan" or "exotic" skin shade however there's more to skin shade than "tan" and the word "exotic" is pretty insulting.
I've made sure to include what foundations to use next to each skin shade, in what color, texture and brand. You'll have a variety of choice but many times blending several shades will be necessary or you can choose 'custom makeup' although it's a little more expensive.
I personally am a neutral on the warm side which means I can wear any colors and it will always suit me, that's the beauty of being multiethnic :)
Enjoy !
STEP 1: Are you high or low contrast?
STEP 2: What is your skin tone: cool, warm, or neutral ?
Not only white women have cool tones. Multiethnics can too although most fall within the warm or neutral tones. If you google this and use a description used for caucasion women mainly, they will have people like Lindsay Lohan be under the 'warm' section and say that people with warm skin tones have 'pink' undertone. However the rules ARE NOT the same when it comes to multiethnic women. WE ARE YELLOW undertones under the 'warm' section, or a combination of pink, green and yellow and not only pink.
Also, don't believe the CRAP that you read nowadays that everyone is 'yellow' based even caucasian women. That is just a marketing stratgey and is simply not true.
Of course, you can be neutral but lean more on either the cool or warm side. Determining whether you're warm, neutral or cool will help you choose not only foundation but the best eyeshadow, lipstick, and clothes colors to match your skin tone.
test your skin:
I've researched all the different methods to test your skin as to give you as much choice as possible:
test 1 Wash your face, pull the hair back from the face and drape a white cloth (pure white not ivory) around the neckline so white is the only color next to the face. The white cloth reflects the true undertone color of the skin. Colors from clothing cast shadows on the face that sometimes make it hard to determine skin tone. From here you will be able to look at the face and determine the underlying color. Once you have determined your skin tone then you can pick your foundation color.
test 2 Take your forearm and examine it under natural sunlight, If your veins look more green than blue you are a "COOL" undertone, or vise versa, if they lean towards the blue side you are a "WARM" undertone.
test 3 Another way that works is wash off any make up and let your skin sit for thirty minutes. Again try to find some natural light,for ex a bathroom with a big window and a good mirror and if your natural skin looks more pink than yello you're COOL or more yellow than pink, WARM. If you simply cant tell, I would go with or Neutral.
Cool: Usually (but not always) this applies to people with green or blue eyes and those with fairer skin and/or red or naturally blonde hair. Haircolor typically blonde, brown or black. Skin has definite blue and pinkish undertones.Caucasian people comprise the largest segment of cool-tones, especially those of Northern European descent. Terms to describe cool skin can be ruddy, pink, flushed-looking, and ivory. If you generally burn in the sun, or cannot tan, you are cool. Think Nicole Kidman, Misha Barton, Naomi Watts, Courtney Cox and Lindsey Lohan.
Cool-toned people look best in colors such as blue, red, pink and purple, or "gem-tones". Usually look best in silver jewelry. In natural light, the color of the veins on the underside of your wrist are bluish. You can wear a white shirt and it is flattering on you.(some Latinas or African Americans or Asians can have cool tones).
NOW WHAT ARE YOU ?
Neutral: Eyes may be any color. Hair may be any color. Skin has unspecifiable undertones, such as pink, olive or yellow. Those with neutral coloring can wear just about any color clothing and look good. Can wear gold or silver jewelry (no preference as to which looks better).
However, it could be that you'll lean more on either warm or cool tones so you'll be a neutral-cool type or a neutral-warm type.
Warm: Eyes are typically brown, black, green or hazel. Haircolor typically brown, black, red, auburn, blonde or strawberry blonde. Skin has yellow/orange or olive undertones. Warm-toned people look best in earthy-toned clothing, such as browns, yellows, oranges, yellowish green and ecru. Look best in gold jewelry. In natural light, the color of the veins on the underside of your wrist are greenish. You are most flattered by an off-white, cream or ecru shirt (i.e. pure white makes you look washed out). Most Mutiethnics, Latinas and Middle Easterns will fall into this category. However, it is possible to be fair and to be warm-toned, this usually applies to Asians, light Hispanics, light Northern Africans and light multiethnics etc.
People who are warm can tend to look sallow or "jaundiced." You tan very well and rarely burn. Blacks and Middle-Easterners are almost always warm tones. Think Jessica Alba, Lucy Liu, Vanessa Williams, and Jennifer Aniston.
STEP 3: Understand why it's important to know whether you're cool, neutral or warm
With the correct colors (in cosmetics and clothing) :
Your skin tone will appear radiant and glowing
Your eyes will appear brighter and clearer
Your hair will reflect highlights
You will hear compliments - such as "You look great”!
With the wrong colors (in cosmetics and clothing) :
Your skin tone will appear tired and drained
Your eyes may appear shadowed, dark circles
Even your teeth can appear with a slight yellow hue
You will hear comments - such as "You look tired” "Do you feel OK?"
If you aren't sure if you have Cool or Warm Skin Tones, these comparisons should
Neutral skin tones can wear anything and it will look just perfect although some shades may look subtly better than other
Example of a before/after of two women who used to wear clothes and makeup appropriate for 'cool' tones but were in fact 'warm':
Before:
After:
STEP 4: What is (are) your undertone(s)?
There are several different undertones within the cool, neutral or warm skin tone.
For COOL: You have pink or rosy or beige or red/brown or true olive undertones (asians are true olive)
For NEUTRAL: You are a combination of pink, yellow, gold, and olive (or green) undertones or at least any two combination of these
For WARM: You have yellow or golden or orange or brown or darker olive (green) undertones
STEP 5: Pick your season (just follow chart)
Combine your contrast, skin tone and hair color.
Example: I am "winter" since I have low contrast, neutral-warm skin tone and dark brown hair
(there is no 'neutral' shade so I picked what I am closest to which is most definitely warm)
SCROLL DOWN
MORE
MORE
* Exceptions to skintone
Strawberry Blonds with pink or light olive skin tones can be a Low Contrast Autumn; they do not have to have a Cool skin tone as indicated in the chart above. Similiarly, Silver gray hair with a dark or olive skintone can be High Contrast Winter.
Reference: Color with Style by Donna Fujii, March 2000
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND VISITING THIS SITE TO FIND YOUR EXACT SKIN PROFILE AND PHOTOTYPE (how to care for your skin tone under the sun):
http://www.vmvhypoallergenics.com/profileskin2.php
>
Multiethnic skin mostly falls within MEDIUM or DEEP skin tones. (other skin tones are soft and deep).Within those skin tones are a variety of shades which have all sorts of names like OLIVE, TAN, MEDITERRANEAN, LIGHT BROWN, GOLDEN, HONEY, TOFFEE etc
MEDIUM SKIN TONES:
LIGHT OLIVE OR TRUE OLIVE
(Mediterranen beauties like Southern Italians, Spanish, Greques, Cyprus, Eurasians, Hawaiian, light mix of african, european or asian, fair skinned Latinas Northern Africa -Morroc, Algeria etc-
Jessica Alba, French, Italian, Mexican
MEDIUM OLIVE SKIN
DARK OLIVE SKIN
TOFFE SKIN
Halle Berry, African American and Caucasian
-Latina
-Brazilian
-Middle Eastern
-Multiethnic, bi-ethnic (biracial, multiracial)
-Northern African (Morrocan, Algerian, Tunisian, Egyptian, etc)
As Multiethnic women, we are always wrongly labeled. And not only as far as ethnicity, culture and nationality but also when it is time to buy foundation, powder, concealer and makeup colors. We come in thousands of different shades so it's very difficult for the makeup industry to keep up as opposed to white, asian or black women who usually have easier to recognize tones/shades.
I've researched this one for quiet a long time...and am proud to present the most complete accurate skin tone/shade chart you'll ever find.
Be aware that every single makeup company uses their own invented names to define skin shade so to determine yours, we won't BASE ourselves on shades used by Maybelline, MAC, Iman or any other company.
We'll use WARM, NEUTRAL, COOL skin tone followed by intensity and then LOOK AT THE CHART below to find out the best foundation for you.
Example: My skin tone is neutral-warm and my intensity is tan so I could use blend the 'true tan' and 'early tan' foundations by Revlon or could use a bit of the 'honey' and
Most of us will fit with the broad category of "tan" or "exotic" skin shade however there's more to skin shade than "tan" and the word "exotic" is pretty insulting.
I've made sure to include what foundations to use next to each skin shade, in what color, texture and brand. You'll have a variety of choice but many times blending several shades will be necessary or you can choose 'custom makeup' although it's a little more expensive.
I personally am a neutral on the warm side which means I can wear any colors and it will always suit me, that's the beauty of being multiethnic :)
Enjoy !
STEP 1: Are you high or low contrast?
Low Contrast: Your hair color and your skin and eyes are similar shades (i.e. dark brown hair, olive skin and brown eyes or blond hair, fair skin and blue/gray/green eyes)
High Contrast: Hair and skin and eyes are very different shades (i.e. black hair, fair skin and blue eyes or brown hair, brown skin and green eyes
STEP 2: What is your skin tone: cool, warm, or neutral ?
Not only white women have cool tones. Multiethnics can too although most fall within the warm or neutral tones. If you google this and use a description used for caucasion women mainly, they will have people like Lindsay Lohan be under the 'warm' section and say that people with warm skin tones have 'pink' undertone. However the rules ARE NOT the same when it comes to multiethnic women. WE ARE YELLOW undertones under the 'warm' section, or a combination of pink, green and yellow and not only pink.
Also, don't believe the CRAP that you read nowadays that everyone is 'yellow' based even caucasian women. That is just a marketing stratgey and is simply not true.
Of course, you can be neutral but lean more on either the cool or warm side. Determining whether you're warm, neutral or cool will help you choose not only foundation but the best eyeshadow, lipstick, and clothes colors to match your skin tone.
test your skin:
I've researched all the different methods to test your skin as to give you as much choice as possible:
test 1 Wash your face, pull the hair back from the face and drape a white cloth (pure white not ivory) around the neckline so white is the only color next to the face. The white cloth reflects the true undertone color of the skin. Colors from clothing cast shadows on the face that sometimes make it hard to determine skin tone. From here you will be able to look at the face and determine the underlying color. Once you have determined your skin tone then you can pick your foundation color.
test 2 Take your forearm and examine it under natural sunlight, If your veins look more green than blue you are a "COOL" undertone, or vise versa, if they lean towards the blue side you are a "WARM" undertone.
test 3 Another way that works is wash off any make up and let your skin sit for thirty minutes. Again try to find some natural light,for ex a bathroom with a big window and a good mirror and if your natural skin looks more pink than yello you're COOL or more yellow than pink, WARM. If you simply cant tell, I would go with or Neutral.
Cool: Usually (but not always) this applies to people with green or blue eyes and those with fairer skin and/or red or naturally blonde hair. Haircolor typically blonde, brown or black. Skin has definite blue and pinkish undertones.Caucasian people comprise the largest segment of cool-tones, especially those of Northern European descent. Terms to describe cool skin can be ruddy, pink, flushed-looking, and ivory. If you generally burn in the sun, or cannot tan, you are cool. Think Nicole Kidman, Misha Barton, Naomi Watts, Courtney Cox and Lindsey Lohan.
Cool-toned people look best in colors such as blue, red, pink and purple, or "gem-tones". Usually look best in silver jewelry. In natural light, the color of the veins on the underside of your wrist are bluish. You can wear a white shirt and it is flattering on you.(some Latinas or African Americans or Asians can have cool tones).
NOW WHAT ARE YOU ?
Neutral: Eyes may be any color. Hair may be any color. Skin has unspecifiable undertones, such as pink, olive or yellow. Those with neutral coloring can wear just about any color clothing and look good. Can wear gold or silver jewelry (no preference as to which looks better).
However, it could be that you'll lean more on either warm or cool tones so you'll be a neutral-cool type or a neutral-warm type.
Warm: Eyes are typically brown, black, green or hazel. Haircolor typically brown, black, red, auburn, blonde or strawberry blonde. Skin has yellow/orange or olive undertones. Warm-toned people look best in earthy-toned clothing, such as browns, yellows, oranges, yellowish green and ecru. Look best in gold jewelry. In natural light, the color of the veins on the underside of your wrist are greenish. You are most flattered by an off-white, cream or ecru shirt (i.e. pure white makes you look washed out). Most Mutiethnics, Latinas and Middle Easterns will fall into this category. However, it is possible to be fair and to be warm-toned, this usually applies to Asians, light Hispanics, light Northern Africans and light multiethnics etc.
People who are warm can tend to look sallow or "jaundiced." You tan very well and rarely burn. Blacks and Middle-Easterners are almost always warm tones. Think Jessica Alba, Lucy Liu, Vanessa Williams, and Jennifer Aniston.
STEP 3: Understand why it's important to know whether you're cool, neutral or warm
With the correct colors (in cosmetics and clothing) :
Your skin tone will appear radiant and glowing
Your eyes will appear brighter and clearer
Your hair will reflect highlights
You will hear compliments - such as "You look great”!
With the wrong colors (in cosmetics and clothing) :
Your skin tone will appear tired and drained
Your eyes may appear shadowed, dark circles
Even your teeth can appear with a slight yellow hue
You will hear comments - such as "You look tired” "Do you feel OK?"
If you aren't sure if you have Cool or Warm Skin Tones, these comparisons should
Neutral skin tones can wear anything and it will look just perfect although some shades may look subtly better than other
Example of a before/after of two women who used to wear clothes and makeup appropriate for 'cool' tones but were in fact 'warm':
Before:
After:
STEP 4: What is (are) your undertone(s)?
There are several different undertones within the cool, neutral or warm skin tone.
For COOL: You have pink or rosy or beige or red/brown or true olive undertones (asians are true olive)
For NEUTRAL: You are a combination of pink, yellow, gold, and olive (or green) undertones or at least any two combination of these
For WARM: You have yellow or golden or orange or brown or darker olive (green) undertones
STEP 5: Pick your season (just follow chart)
Combine your contrast, skin tone and hair color.
Example: I am "winter" since I have low contrast, neutral-warm skin tone and dark brown hair
(there is no 'neutral' shade so I picked what I am closest to which is most definitely warm)
SCROLL DOWN
MORE
MORE
| Spring | Spring | Summer | Summer | Autumn | Autumn | Winter | Winter |
| Low Contrast | High Contrast | Low Contrast | High Contrast | Low Contrast | High Contrast | Low Contrast | High Contrast |
| Warm skin tone | Warm | Cool skin tone | Cool skin tone | Warm skin tone | Any skin tone | Warm skin tone | Cool skin tone |
| Hair | Hair | Hair | Hair | Hair | Hair | Hair | Hair |
| Golden blond | Silver gray | Light brown | Medium brown | Gold ash blonde | Red auburn | Dark brown | Dark brown |
| Platinum white blonde | Light or Medium Brown | Silver gray | Dark brown with lighter eyes | Golden, Honey and Strawberry blondes with golden, golden bronze and olive skin tone | Medium to dark brown and warm brown skin tone | Black | Black |
| Blond with Brown | Golden, honey or ash blond | Black with white/gray | Black- brown | Black- brown | |||
| Medium brown to Black | *Strawberry blonde with cool skin tone | *Silver gray (only if also darker skintone or olive skintone) |
* Exceptions to skintone
Strawberry Blonds with pink or light olive skin tones can be a Low Contrast Autumn; they do not have to have a Cool skin tone as indicated in the chart above. Similiarly, Silver gray hair with a dark or olive skintone can be High Contrast Winter.
Reference: Color with Style by Donna Fujii, March 2000
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND VISITING THIS SITE TO FIND YOUR EXACT SKIN PROFILE AND PHOTOTYPE (how to care for your skin tone under the sun):
http://www.vmvhypoallergenics.com/profileskin2.php
COOL | Examples |
 |       |
WARM | Examples |
 |      |
NEUTRAL | Examples |
| ANY COLOR WILL SUIT |           |
Multiethnic skin mostly falls within MEDIUM or DEEP skin tones. (other skin tones are soft and deep).Within those skin tones are a variety of shades which have all sorts of names like OLIVE, TAN, MEDITERRANEAN, LIGHT BROWN, GOLDEN, HONEY, TOFFEE etc
MEDIUM SKIN TONES:
LIGHT OLIVE OR TRUE OLIVE
(Mediterranen beauties like Southern Italians, Spanish, Greques, Cyprus, Eurasians, Hawaiian, light mix of african, european or asian, fair skinned Latinas Northern Africa -Morroc, Algeria etc-
Jessica Alba, French, Italian, Mexican
MEDIUM OLIVE SKIN
DARK OLIVE SKIN
TOFFE SKIN
Halle Berry, African American and Caucasian
Labels: What's my skin tone/shade ?
