Makeup Colors For Your Undertone: A Gorgeous Secret

Hello friends, and welcome! I’m so glad you’ve joined me today, although I do have to confess that I’ve been dreading doing this video. But I also know what a difference this makeup information can make, so I feel it’s really important to share this information with you today. I’ll let you know why I’ve been dreading doing this video in just a moment, but first, let me welcome any of you who are new today.

This channel is devoted to helping all of us who are over 50 look and feel our confident best, because after all, we absolutely deserve it. As a makeup artist who’s well over 50 myself, I love sharing the tips, techniques, and types of makeup products that will definitely help us look like the very best version of ourselves. Today’s video is about one of the most important things we can do to ensure that we let our best selves shine, so if the mission of this channel resonates with you, I do hope you’ll subscribe before you leave today.

Why I’ve Been Dreading This Video

All right, on to today’s topic, and you could probably tell immediately that something was up because of my eyebrows. Well, I’ve been dreading this video because the products I’ll be using and applying today, including for my eyebrows, go totally counter to my knowledge as a makeup artist, and because of this, it’s going to be uncomfortable and painful for me to do. I’m going to use makeup colors that will make me look sallow and just off.

Now, granted, trying to choose the perfect makeup colors can feel overwhelming, especially if we’re shopping online, since, as we all know, colors can look very different in online pictures. But absolutely the most important secret to looking our absolute best is to choose makeup colors that make our skin come alive and glow rather than colors that make our skin look sallow, ashy, green, or even orange. And the secret to picking our best makeup colors is to choose the colors that enhance the undertone of our skin.

What Your Skin’s Undertone Actually Determines

Although the outer surface of our skin can change with the seasons or over time, the undertone, which is the shade of our skin just underneath the surface, never changes, no matter where our skin falls on the spectrum of fair to dark. When we shop for foundation, concealer, lip, and cheek colors, the key is to match the colors we choose with our skin’s undertone, which is either warm, neutral, or cool. If we don’t, our makeup will never look quite right, because a mismatched undertone will work against our skin’s natural complexion instead of complementing it.

For instance, if you have a warm undertone and you use a cool-tone foundation, your face will look ashy. And if you have a cool undertone and you wear a warm shade of foundation, the warm foundation shade will enhance the redness of your skin, so you’ll look sallow and unhealthy. Another reason your makeup won’t look good if you’re wearing a foundation that’s not the right shade is that you’ll also always see a line of demarcation, not something we want in a makeup look.

We either have a warm, neutral, or cool undertone, but if you’re not sure of the undertone of your skin, be sure to check out the video where I go through the nine questions you can ask yourself to determine your undertone, where I also demonstrate how to make these determinations. For a second opinion on the science behind it, Healthline’s guide to finding your skin’s undertone is a solid primer too. But today I want to visually demonstrate why it’s so important to choose our best makeup colors for our undertone, and to do this I’ll apply the makeup colors that don’t enhance the undertone of my skin, which I’ve already done with my eyebrows.

I have a cool undertone, so the colors that work best for me are cool-tone colors such as pink, berry, plum, mauve, burgundy, and blue-based reds. The colors that are best for me to avoid wearing are warm colors such as yellow, peach, coral, orange, and copper. But if you have a warm undertone, peach, yellow, coral, orange, and copper can look absolutely fabulous on you.

If you have a neutral undertone, you have an equal amount of cool and warm color in your skin’s undertone, and you can wear either cool or warm colors. However, you probably want to avoid the most extreme versions of these colors in either the cool or warm family, such as bright or deep orange or bright fuchsia, because these will most likely be too strong for you.

Eyebrows and Eyes: Where I Broke My Own Rules First

Well, we’ll get this demonstration started with my eyebrows. I’ve already applied warm eyebrow shades, a warm brown rather than an ashy brown, which does not look right on me. In fact, it looks very wrong. Since I don’t have any warm brown eyebrow products in my collection, I went ahead and used brown eyeshadow with a reddish tint from the Makeup By Mario Master Mattes Eyeshadow Palette: The Original, which is primarily warm-toned neutral colors. He’s recently also come out with the Master Mattes Eyeshadow Palette: The Neutrals, which leans more truly neutral rather than warm-toned. Let me show it to you.

For my eyes, I’ll combine all warm colors from two eyeshadow palettes, ColourPop’s In The Springs palette and BH Cosmetics’ Summer in St. Tropez palette, but I also want to show you this beautiful golden palette from Juvia’s Place called The Nubian.

Choosing Makeup Colors for Your Undertone Gets Trickier with Eyeshadow

Now, I have to say that choosing eyeshadow colors is a little different than choosing colors for our foundation, concealer, blush, and lipstick, because in general, although it does look good to choose eyeshadow colors that work with the undertone of our skin, the difference with eyeshadow is that we can combine colors, which gives us many more options and choices. So for this eyeshadow look I’m creating, if I applied a warm eyeshadow color along with a cooler color like blue, it would look far better on me.

Combining warm and cool eyeshadows can look gorgeous and give some added pop to our eyes as well. But using only warm-tone colors all over our eyes when we have a cool undertone, which is what I’m going to be doing today, or only cool-tone colors when we have a warm skin undertone, may not be our best look.

I’m going to start off with these two gorgeous colors in my crease, and I actually do love putting a little bit of orange in with my neutral brown colors. But as you’ll see, using all warm colors probably is not going to be my best look. However, I must say I do love these colors. I just usually have to combine them, and I usually combine them with blue, which is a complementary color that can really make my eyes pop, and I love doing that. I’m going to have to force myself to resist dipping into the blues in this palette because they’re gorgeous.

Now I’m going to combine these two deeper shades for the outer corner of the crease and the eyelid. I’m really tempted to combine this with brown, which again would soften the look, but I’m going to stick with the orange for the time being. And these are the three blues that I’m so tempted to dip into, but I’ll control my impulse. Across my lid, I’m going to go with this lightest color, and this is going to work best if I apply it with my fingers.

I do actually use this palette a lot in the summer, but I combine it with the blues, as I mentioned earlier, because it really is a beautiful palette, and I love the formula too. I’m going with this deeper metallic color on the outer part of my lid, and now I’m just going to take a little bit more of that lighter color, just to make the transition a little smoother.

And I think I’m going to use a little of this yellow on the inner corner. This is definitely a challenge to use this color. It’s almost painful. In a house we owned for a short period of time, the kitchen and the living room were all in yellow. We couldn’t wait to paint over it. There are some yellows that are cool and comforting. This was not one of those.

Okay, now if you would like more information on ways to combine eyeshadow colors that create gorgeous eye looks, I’ve put a link to a video I’ve done on this topic in the description box below that I think you’d find helpful. Now I’m going to go ahead and apply my eyeliner and mascara off camera, and I’ll be right back.

I used a shade called Chino from the In The Springs palette for my eyeliner, which is a warm brown.

Foundation and Contour: The Hardest Part to Watch

For my foundation, I’ll be using this newer foundation from Make Up For Ever, their HD Skin Hydra Glow Foundation, in the shade Warm Vanilla, which is shade 1Y06. This foundation is 86 percent skincare-based, with a medium coverage and naturally luminous finish. The description says that it hydrates, smooths, plumps, and brightens skin, not only instantly but also over time, and is ideal for dry, mature, and sensitive skin.

Wow, that description really sounds good to me, and I wish I could try it with a shade that would really work with the undertone of my skin. But I’m going to apply a warm shade instead. Man, this is really going to be scary. I’m just sort of sucking in my breath when I see this color. Okay, I’m going to dab it on. Woo, definitely a warm tone.

This definitely feels good even when I’m just dotting it on, so the formula really is nice. I may have to get this in the right color. Luckily, I didn’t have to buy this foundation in the wrong color. My daughter fortunately already had it and let me borrow it.

Oh, boy. Well, as I said, it feels really good to apply. It’d be interesting to see how it would wear over time, but I am not going to have the luxury of finding that out today, because after this video we’re going over to a neighborhood gathering, and I’m going to immediately take off all these wrong colors before I go over there. Wow, this makes me look kind of dead. Can you tell?

By the way, I love this brush that I’m using. It’s become my new favorite for application of blush, contour, and also foundation. It’s from Makeup By Mario, and it says F4. I’ll link it in the description box along with everything else I’m using, and you may be interested in some of these products if you have a warm undertone to your skin, or even neutral.

The only warm contour shade I have is also from Make Up For Ever, and it’s in this cream palette, on the bottom left of the right panel. I think you can see how much warmer it is than the other tones. It’s a very deep shade, but it does have a warm undertone. Now, this shade may be too dark, but we’ll just have to go with it. Oh my goodness, look at that against my skin tone.

This just keeps getting harder. And then I’m going to apply some on my jawline. Deep breaths. At least, deep breaths. All I can think of is how pretty this would look if I had a different undertone. It’s a great product; it’s just the colors that are the problem. So let me blend this all in.

Blush and Highlighter: When Makeup Just Sits on Your Skin

I always love those bronze goddess, gorgeous summery shades, Golden Goddess, you know, and I always wished I could wear them, but I knew it just wouldn’t work with a cool undertone and would probably end up being a total disaster. But boy, it’s sure a gorgeous look on someone with a warmer or neutral undertone. And that’s one reason why I will not be purchasing the latest Natasha Denona palette, which is all gold, because I just wouldn’t wear it that much. I might use a few colors here and there, but overall it just wouldn’t be a good value for me.

Now I have three different warm-tone blushes from which I can choose today. One is a new blush from Haus Labs in the shade Glassy Tangelo, and here’s a swatch of it. We’re talking pretty bright orange here. And here’s a swatch from the newer liquid blush line from Giorgio Armani, their Luminous Silk Cheek Tint in the shade 31, which is a vivid coral. This is sheer and much lighter, so I think that’s what I’m going to go with, and I’m just going to dot this on.

I have never used a color like this, and I’m going to take a stippling brush and just pat it on. Oh my goodness, because this is so sheer, I can get away with applying it this way. I need a little bit more here just to match the other side. This is getting harder and harder. And let’s just pop a little bit of this on over it, just for the fun of it. This doesn’t blend quite as easily. If you have the right undertone, this would be really pretty. I think I’m looking a little ghostly, honestly, that’s the only way I can describe it.

I have two warm-tone powder blushes from Kosas: the shade Blissed, which is a warm peachy pink, and the shade Thrill, which is a vibrant blood orange. Let’s take a look at the swatches. Blissed is on top, and it definitely has a lot of pink in it, so I think I’m going to go with Thrill. I often use a powder blush over a cream or liquid blush to make it more long-lasting, so I’ll apply just a small amount of the vibrant blood orange shade Thrill over the cream blush I’m wearing.

And it definitely adds some color, a lot of color. I’m sort of a light-blush girl, but I know some people really love a little stronger blush. As a person with a cool skin undertone, I normally wear a pearl or a pink-tone highlighter, but to keep going with the warm-tone look I’m creating today, I’m going to apply a shimmering medium gold highlight, and this is from the Make Up For Ever palette. This is the shade I’ll be using, Very Gold, which again could look gorgeous with the right skin undertone.

I must say that I’m feeling like these Kosas powder blushes are kind of drying on my skin, so if you do have very dry skin, you may not want to use this. Sometimes I can get away with using powder blush if I apply it over a liquid or a cream, but boy, this is feeling dry. You know what’s really interesting about wearing the wrong color for your undertone? It looks like it’s just sitting on your skin rather than melting into your skin, and I think that really is a good way to describe it, especially with the look I’m creating today.

Well, another gold-tone highlighting option might be this Merit highlighter in the color Citrine, which is a soft gold. The Make Up For Ever medium gold is at the top, and the Citrine is underneath it, and as you can see, it’s a much lighter shade. Let me just show you the reflection it has.

Lips: The Boldest Test of All

There are some interesting warm-tone lipsticks from both MAC and Makeup By Mario, which especially make me nervous and uncomfortable to try, but I’m going to take a deep breath and go for it. Here’s the MAC option in the appropriately named color Lady Danger, and then the three Makeup By Mario choices are the color Soho, which is a soft coral, Chelsea, which is a red-orange, and Uptown Girl, which is a rusty orange-red. I’ll swatch all these for you: MAC’s Lady Danger is on top, and then we have Soho, Chelsea, and Uptown Girl underneath it, and those are all Makeup By Mario shades. First let’s try Soho, and then I’ll try Chelsea.

This is Soho, and I’m going to put a little bit of Chelsea over it to deepen it a bit. I actually went ahead and used Uptown Girl over Soho. Now, these shades could be absolutely gorgeous on you if you have a warm undertone, but on me, well, I kind of feel like I should be in a scary movie at this point.

The best warm-tone gloss in my collection is from a palette called Favorite Lip Glosses from Three Custom Color Specialists, and this is the gloss I’ll be using. Now I’m going to go ahead and change into a warm-tone top to make this warm look complete. Well, I just went upstairs to change my top and my earrings, and my daughter looked at me and said, “Mom, you look clownish.” I think that pretty well describes it.

The Big Reveal: What I Learned From Wearing the Wrong Undertone

Well, we’re now done, and to be honest, I cannot wait to get into the bathroom to take off this warm-tone makeup. But I do hope you found it helpful to see what a dramatic difference it makes when we wear colors that don’t work with the undertone of our skin. I know I’ve always wanted to wear a golden bronze, Golden Goddess makeup look, which I mentioned earlier, which seems to pop up every spring and which looks stunning, but I guess I will never be destined to wear it. On the other hand, I do love my cool-tone raspberry and pink colors and would never want to give up my blue eyeshadow.

If you want more everyday color guidance once you’ve nailed down your undertone, take a look at my article, Foolproof Makeup For Mature Skin: A Gorgeous Guide.

Until we see each other again, I wish you good health and happiness, and I hope you have a fabulous rest of your day. Take care.

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