Are You Cool or Warm?

How to choose the right makeup colors for your skin tone

Deciding whether I am cool or warm, I instinctively put the back of my hand against my cheek.

Ah, definitely cool.

Except, in the makeup world, that's not what we mean. The color of your skin tone can either be described as cool or warm, and that helps to determine which makeup colors look best on you. You could ask a makeup artist to help you determine if you're cool- or warm-toned—or take a look at the foundation you use on a daily basis. If it has a pinkish shade and blends well with your face, you have cool skin tones. If the foundation is more on the peachy or yellowish side, you have a warm skin tone.

Still not sure? Put on a white shirt and stand under natural (not fluorescent) light. More yellow or red tone to your skin means you're warm. More of a blue or pink tone to your skin means you're cool. Keep in mind that what you're detecting isn't your actual skin color; the white shirt is bringing out the color that lies underneath.

So, now that you've determined if you're warm or cool, you can better pick makeup colors that will enhance your natural beauty and help your skin have that healthy, radiating glow.

When it comes to eyeshadows, warm skin tones go best with greens, pinks, golds or browns; cool skin tones go best with silver, gray, blue and lavender.

Two of the best all-around palettes that work for both warm and cool skin tones are Urban Decay's Naked Palette and Naked2 Palette. Both include a range of eyeshadow colors from nude to dramatic, matte to sparkly. Wende Zomnir, Urban Decay's Chief Creative Officer, says the Naked2 Palette was designed to compliment the original.

"Unlike our bronze-based original Naked Palette, the Naked2 Palette is more taupe-centric," Zomnir says. "Slightly cooler in tone, the Naked2 Palette is the ultimate arsenal of nude hues."

She emphasizes that both palettes were created for all women, warm and cool tones alike. And her favorite way to use the eyeshadows? "I love pairing pops of color with nudes. I often wear a deep purple—our Flash Eyeshadow is my fave standby pop of color—on my lower lid and then use a shade like Bootycall to highlight my brow bone. It's also fun to do a nude eye using your pop of color in the crease and using that same color as your eyeliner."