Choosing the right red

Choosing the right shade of red nail polish can be a tricky one but here’s a tip for you.

It’s all down to the undertone of your skin. There are three different catagories you could fall in too. Cool, Warm or Neutral.

Here’s what you need to know in three simple steps:

1. Look at your wrists. What colour are your veins?

   Green - Warm undertone

   Blue - Cool undertone

   If your seeing Teal your most likely Neutral, lucky you!

   (Green Veins you say? Don’t worry your not weird your veins arnt actually green, they just appear green through the yellow/warm tones in your skin, cool huh?)

2. Gold or Silver jewellery?

   Try not to think about which one you like better but which one compliments your skin tone.

   Does Silver make your skin look radient and gold sallow? Cool Undertone.

   Does Gold make your skin glow but silver dull? Warm undertone.

   Try to put your personal preferences aside with this one. Pop a gold bracelet on one arm, a silver on the other, which one looks better?

3. Burn or Tan?

   Generally if your a cool undertone you tend to burn very easily. Where as warmer skin tones bronze up in the sun fairly easily.

It’s easy to assume that all fair skin is cool toned and dark skin is warm. It is possible for a dark skin to have a cool undertone and a fair skin to be warm.

I love a red nail polish but choosing the wrong one makes me want to take it off immediately. I tested out 2 different red nail varnishes, one cool toned and one warm toned. See if you can see the difference.

Left Pillar Box Red. Warm orangy toned red.

Right Real Red. Cool blue red.

About me: I am fair skin, burn easily, brunette hair and green eyes. My veins are blue. I am most definitely a cool undertone and I much prefer the right photo - Real Red.

Now this would apply to a Lipstick too. A blue toned red lip would flatter me much more than an orange red.

So next time your choosing a red varnish or lip, check your veins first.

Han x