We all want to express ourselves with our beauty and fashion choices. However, the main question is, do certain nail colors truly complement your skin tone? Also, how can you strike a balance between trying a nail trend and not looking washed out?

Knowing your undertone answers these questions. A bona fide beauty lover knows the importance of knowing one's undertone when choosing the right shade of makeup products for their skin. The same thing goes for nail colors. 

To make your nail design truly shine, choose colors that enhance your skin's natural glow. Understanding skin undertones is the key to selecting shades that will complement both your own look and your client's. 

 

 

What is an undertone?

All types of skin tones are beautiful and have rich undertones. Warm, cool, and neutral are the classic undertones. Under these undertones are subcategories like light, medium, and dark.

 

 

There are five ways to determine your skin's undertone: 

 

 

1. Vein Check 

Determine your undertone by taking a look at the veins on your wrist. If they appear green or bluish, you likely have a neutral undertone. Blue or purple veins indicate a cool undertone, while green or olive veins suggest a warm undertone. 

2. White clothing or paper test

Wear any white clothing, or get a piece of white paper and hold it next to your face in bright, natural light. Cool-toned individuals will look rosy or pinkish, while warm-toned leans more yellow. You may have a neutral undertone if you look great in both hues.

3. Look at your facial features

Darker skin tones and darker eye colors may have warmer to neutral undertones. On the other hand, paler skin and lighter eye colors tend to have cool to neutral undertones. We recommend you check out our color analysis article based on the four seasons. 

4. See how your skin reacts to the sun

Who doesn't like basking in the sun? Did you know that spending a lot of time under the sun may reveal your skin's undertone? For example, if your skin is burning quickly, it could indicate that you have a cool undertone.

5. Try wearing a jewelry

To find your undertone, compare your skin to the hue of gold or silver jewelry. Gold jewelry is more flattering if your skin tone is warmer; silver jewelry is more suitable if your undertone is cooler.

If you're having a hard time distinguishing whether gold or silver looks better, chances are you're a neutral-undertoned individual. But don't forget that you're allowed to wear any shade of jewelry; it still boils down to preferences. 

 

 

Four types of undertones:

 

 

1. Warm

 

You're a golden goddess if you have a warm undertone. 

• Vein Color: Green
• Undertone: Gold, Yellow, Orange, Peachy.

Here are the iGel beauty products that will suit your undertone:

• Pale Nude: Sirena, Cosmic Latte, Diamond 005 
• Pale Nude Peach:  Angel Face, I'm Soy Into You 
• Fair-Medium Nude: Sun Silk, Pale Shadow, Ruffle Trim, Radiance
• Medium: Glistening, Beauty Mark, Crushed Clove, Teddy Bear
• Medium-Deep: Harmonic Tan, Honey Bunches (very warm), Sugary (very warm)
• Deep: Secret Whispers, Old Terra Cotta, Brown Sugar 

 

 

2. Cool

 

Cool undertone beauties suit pastel shades and blue-toned colors well since they have a rosy glow and high contrast. 

• Vein Color: Blue, Purple
• Undertone: Pink, Red, Blue. 

 

Here are the iGel beauty products that will suit your undertone:

• Pale Nude: Ballerina Gown, Ciao Bella 
• Pale Nude Pink: Nude Bar, Vintage Lace, I'm Blushing, Diamond 006, Diamond 007 
• Medium: Natural Choice
• Medium-Deep: Satin Ribbon  
• Deep: Sand Storm 

 

 

3. Neutral

 

Having a neutral undertone means your skin complements almost anything. However, colors that are too strong may drain your complexion. 

• Vein Color: Blue and Green
• Undertone: Balance between warm and cool 

 

Here are the iGel beauty products that will suit your undertone:

• Pale: Diamond 003, Diamond 004 
• Fair - Medium: Cozy Cashmere (cool-neutral), Diamond 026, Diamond 027 (warm-neutral)
• Medium: Natural Choice, Piglet (may be used for both warm and cool), Diamond 029, Diamond 031
• Deep: Diamond 030

 

4. Olive

 

If you're having a hard time determining if your tone is warm or neutral and you see hints of green, you may be olive! Olive can be somewhat challenging. Individuals with olive skin can be categorized as either cool olive or warm olive.

• Vein Color: Blue and Green, sometimes presenting as Teal
• Undertone: Green, Yellow, Blue

Here are the iGel beauty products that will suit your undertone:

• Medium: Jester (the green may be slightly stronger than your tone, but it will blend), We Bee-long together 
• Medium-Deep, Warm Olive: Creme Royale, Diamond 049
• Deep: Diamond 102 

 

 

 

Things to remember about knowing your undertone:

 

Before learning about undertones, remember that color perception is a highly personal experience. You can experiment with different hair and cosmetics colors, as well as different nail polish shades, and then combine them. There's nothing wrong with being experimental since you'll learn to know your preference, but knowing your undertone will help you elevate your look. 

Just because you have a specific undertone doesn't imply your color choices are limited. Your choice of color expresses who you are as a person. If your personality lends itself to bold and brilliant colors, go for it; if not, go with muted, subtle hues for a more refined appearance. You may also experiment by combining the two.

Be aware that your undertone isn't the same as the hue of your skin without foundation or any other cosmetics. Even people with fair complexion can have warm undertones, and those with darker skin might have cool undertones, depending on their genes. 

 

 

Isn't it interesting to know what your undertone is? You can learn more about your features and how beauty goes skin deep, and it's exciting! Feel free to join our iGel Beauty Facebook community page and learn from firsthand nail tech experiences and stories. If you want to know more nail-related tips and tricks, you can read our iGel Beauty blogs.