What is cool?

For starters, the undertones of your skin determine whether you have a cool or warm complexion. If your undertones have a pink, rosy or bluish color, your skin tone is likely cool.

How to tell you’re cool

Try these tests to determine your skin’s undertone.

• Vein color: When in natural lightening, observe the color of the veins on the tops of your feet or inner wrists. Do your veins appear blue or green? If they look blue, then you’ve got a cool complexion. Green means warm tones.
• Gold or silver: If silver jewelry looks beautiful against your skin tone, then your complexion is cool.
• Clothing colors: Do white shirts look great on you? If so, it’s likely you have a cool tone. Cream-based tops typically look best on warmer complexions.

Custom colors for cool tones

Cool skin tones look stunning in blue-based colors and jewel tones, including sapphire, magenta, plum and royal blue.

Foundation: For a fresh, natural look, choose colors that have blue- or pink-based undertones to match your cool complexion.

• Colorescience Retractable Foundation Brush Refill SPF 20 - Second Skin boasts a cool rosy color. These loose minerals are simple to apply, provide substantial coverage and feel like you aren’t wearing foundation at all.
• Also, try Colorescience Retractable Foundation Brush SPF 20 - My Fair Lady, a pale foundation with light pink undertones.

Eye shadow: To enhance your eyes, select shades in deep, icy blues, silver, gray and emerald green. But pass on colors in the warm brown family, including apricot, coral, cream and bronze.

• DuWop Eye Palette in Blue contains everything you need for stunning eyes, including the base color, both a lighter and darker version of the base color, a shimmery shadow and coordinating cream along with an application brush. Plus, it comes with an easy-to-follow instructional guide.
• Other gorgeous DuWop palettes include gray and green. For a breathtaking look, try the Stila Smoky Eye Palette, which includes the perfect shades for cool tones, including icy champagne, silvery gray, dark gray and ebony.

Cheeks: For a radiant complexion, consider pinks and plums. Avoid auburn and almond shades, which are best for warm skin tones.

• Colorescience Retractable Blusher Brush - Cheek A Boo gives cheeks a beautiful, natural-looking radiance with its blue-based baby pink color.
• For a shimmery, frosty pink, try DuWop Blushbooster Apple.

Lips: In keeping with your blue-based palette, also choose lip colors with the same undertone. Warm colors like browns and corals may wash out cool skin tones and even make your teeth look yellow.

How can you tell if a lip color is blue-based? Hold the lipstick up to a sheet of white paper, which should reveal the tone. Common colors that complement cool tones include cherry red, raspberry, burgundy, plum, pink and shades of purple.

• Customize your color with the DuWop Liplingo Pink Palette, which includes rose, a faint gold frost, pale pink shimmer gloss, rich sherbet and a pinkish clear lip balm.
• Stila has a stunning collection of lip glazes perfect for cool tones. Try any of these colors: Black Cherry, Sugar Plum, Berry, Papaya, Fig.

See also:

Personalize Your Palette: Makeup for Warm Skin Tones

3 Top Tips for Applying Makeup

Using Foundation the Right Way