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Undertones 101 – How to Find Yours

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Davidson chapter.

Have you ever bought a foundation or concealer that looks fine in the bottle, but once you apply it makes you look way too orangey, or way too ashy? Have you ever felt like you’re definitely more of a “Fall” instead of a “Spring”, but don’t know why? It all has to do with undertone. Knowing your undertone can be very helpful in several areas, but a lot of people don’t know where to start when finding theirs. A Google search on this will bring up thousands of charts and graphs that can be a little hard to navigate, but basically, finding your undertone boils down to three things:

1. Your Veins 

This is one of the oldest tricks in the book, for good reason. Just pull up your sleeve and check your arm! Can’t tell for some reason, or you have both colors? You’re neutral, babe. 

2 Your Eye/Hair Color 

This gets into a little more murky territory, but bear with me! If there are redder tones in your hair, you’re likely a warm tone. In contrast, if there are more brown or black tones, then you’re cool tone. Same goes for eye color. Sometimes your hair and eyes can be conflicting, which simply means that you’re neutral! 

3. What Jewelry Looks Good on You 

When you’re shopping for necklaces and bracelets, do you gravitate more towards silver, or gold/copper? If your answer is silver, you’re most likely cool-toned. Gold or copper? You’re warm-toned. For us neutrals, the recent explosion of rose-gold suits us perfectly! 

 

Want to always have your perfect shade of foundation? Check out Meow Cosmetics – they specialize in 100% natural mineral formulas in 86 SHADES. I repeat: 86 SHADES of foundation/matching concealers! You’ll never have to worry about matching your undertone again! 

If you are interested in writing an article for Her Campus Davidson, contact us at davidson@hercampus.com or come to our weekly meeting Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the Morcott Room.

Claire Biggerstaff is a senior at Davidson College where she's pursuing a major in English. Since her sophomore year, she's been heavily involved with Her Campus and has written for her school's chapter, interned with Her Campus Media, and eventually became the Editor in Chief of her home chapter. Her work as also appeared on publications like Babe.net and The Odyssey. When she's not researching news stories or holding editing workshops with her writers, you can find her enjoying an episode of The X-Files and thinking about how much she loves autumn.