Balancing Uneven Skin Tone
Dreaming of travelling back in time to a day, when your skin was pre-wrinkled and post-teenage spots? Oftentimes, obtaining a perfect, even skin tone seems like natural perfection reserved for only a handful of lucky individuals; however, everyone can achieve an even skin tone with proper skin care practices. Dark spots, dry spots, and blemishes can make maintaining even skin tone a balancing act for people on all ends of the spectrum, but by identifying your skin tone and problem areas, even the skin tone does not require a time machine!
The first step in achieving an even skin tone is not only understanding its definition but also identifying your skin tone. When asking yourself, “What skin tone am I?” Keep in mind that skin tone is made up of both your surface tone and your undertone. The tone surface is what one normally thinks of when they think of the colour of their skin. The standard of colours you see when browsing the cosmetics aisle: ivory, fair, light, medium, dark brown, etc… is what your surface tone can be labelled as. The surface tone is delicate because it can vary depending on the elements that are surrounded. Think of your surface skin tone after a great summer time spent out on the beach versus a cold winter spent bundled up under cosy blankets. Your surface tone can vary greatly and is affected by the elements and products you deal with.
Even though your skin tone may vary day-to-day, depending on the conditions you’re in, your skin’s undertone remains the same despite the impact of external elements. Skin undertones are classified into three classifications: cool, neutral and warm. For those with cool undertones, you can find pink, red, and blue hues, while those with warm skin tones will find yellow, peach, and gold hues. Individuals with neutral undertones keep a mix of both warm and cool colours, allowing for versatility in what looks great with your skin tone!
It’s easy to jump to the conclusion that if you have fair skin you also have cool undertones, and if you have tan skin you have warm undertones; However, this is not always the case. For example, Nicole Kidman and Rachel Bilson both have fair skin and warm undertones. There are some simple tests to determine what your background is. The first test is to take a look at the veins on the inside of your wrist. If they appear green, they have warm undertones. On the other hand, if they appear blue, you have cool undertones.
If you’re not getting clear vein test results, then think about your favourite pieces of jewellery. Do you tend to gravitate towards gold or silver pieces? If you are a golden type of girl, chances are you have warm undertones. If your jewellery box is full of silver and platinum pieces, you probably have cool hues. Search at all? You are neutral!
