4 min read
Cool colouring usually shows up as pink, red or blue notes in the skin, hair with a cooler or ashy cast, and eyes that lean grey, blue or cool brown. It is an observation, not a fixed label.
If that sounds like you, the colours with a cool base tend to sit well near the face, and warm tones can still work lower down.
How to read your undertone
In daylight, look at the inside of your wrist. If your veins look blue or purple, your undertone is usually cool. If they look green, it is usually warm. If it is hard to tell, you are likely neutral.
Other clues: your skin reads pink rather than golden in daylight, silver jewellery sits easily against your skin, and your natural hair has an ash or blue-black cast rather than a golden one. One sign is only a hint, so look for a few.
If you would rather not decide, the Comport app can read your undertone and contrast from a photo and save it to your profile.
Colours that tend to sit well
True white and a cool cream are easier near a cool face than a warm ivory. Grey, in any shade from pale to charcoal, is the most dependable neutral.
For colour, look at navy, cobalt, blue, plum, berry, rose and a cool pink. Emerald and a true forest green also work, because they share cool depth rather than warmth.
A crisp contrast often suits cool colouring, so navy with white, or charcoal with a cool pink, reads clear and deliberate.
Colours to use with care
Strong warm tones such as mustard, orange and tomato can pull against cool colouring. They still work, often lower in the outfit, in a small accent, or balanced with plenty of grey or navy.
A very warm beige or caramel can read flat near a cool face. If you like those tones, choose a cooler version, closer to greige or taupe.
The takeaway · If your undertone reads cool, lean into navy, grey, blue, plum and rose, and keep strong warm tones low in the outfit.