Picking colors that compliment your skin tone can seem a bit complicated. In the winter we naturally get paler and in the sun, most of us are working on our tan either naturally or with a little help from the cosmetics industry.

The colors that look best on you are going to be the ones that you pick when you are palest. According to ivillage.com,”Observe the color of your nail bed or pinch the skin under your arm (or any place the sun never shines). Does the tone tend to appear more reddish-orange, reddish-blue, pinkish-blue, peachy or yellowish? Once that’s determined, you’ll have a benchmark for your natural tone. The colors that will look most organic against your skin are the colors you find in your skin. Conversely, the colors that will create vibrancy are those that contrast.”

Or you can try this tip by essortment.com, ” Holding a piece of white paper up to your face and identifying the main color you see will help you decide into which category you fall. Still, it is easy to get confused by these terms, so to simplify the process try this simple test. Try on a white shirt and then a cream or off-white top. If you look better in the white blouse, you most likely have cool skin. If the cream top is more flattering, your skin is probably warm. Another good indicator of skin tone is which jewelry looks best on you. Silver tends to work well for cool skin while gold makes warm skin glow. Either of these methods will help you to easily identify your coloring, at which point you can begin selecting make-up colors that will look excellent on you.”

Skin tones usually fall into two categories - cool and warm. Mediterranean skin tones would be in the warm category. Individuals with Scandinavian backgrounds, for example, would fall into the cooler skin tones.

Play with these colors. You may have to go a shade darker when you tan and a shade lighter during your palest moments. As for the colors that you should use for your eye makeup, look to your eye color and apply makeup that really brings attention to your eyes.

Also make use of your eye liner, as we discussed in our last blog.