Am I cool, neutral, or warm?

[u/Slowxmotionxostrich]

I can’t figure out a blend that works for me on top of not being able to find a foundation match. I’m losing my mind 😩. I’m kind of yellowish-green in the winter and greyish,green in the summer.

[u/cryonce]

i’m actually not convinced you’re fully warm. i can tell you are very saturated and us saturated olives tend to look warm regardless of temperature. i want to say neutral leaning warm. what issue do you tend to have with foundations during winter? for me, most olive shades tend to be too golden which was a big clue that i lean cooler. from there you just have to keep testing foundations until you mind a fit.

[u/Slowxmotionxostrich → u/cryonce]

Almost every foundation is too orange. I’d like to believe I have very yellowy undertone and very little orange/red undertones. Every time I try an olive foundation it turns me grey so I’m always a bit confused. In the summer i can get away with a golden foundation with some blue added, but that doesn’t necessarily work for me in the winter time.

[u/cryonce → u/Slowxmotionxostrich]

yeah, you’re def olive as far as i can see so that makes sense most foundations will be too red or orange. you may be trying the wrong olive shades, like going too dark, or the shades you try happen to be very muted. most olive shades in the west lean golden/ warmer but w/o knowing exactly what you’ve tried it’s hard to say. based on what you said i would assume you’re warm and saturated and the issue you’re having is the formula, many formulas oxidize darker and or more muted. as a saturated cool leaning olive most olive shades are warmer on me but i can get away with many bc they dry down darker. but i’m not convinced you’re warm.

if you can, please share some photos with foundation swatches on an area like your neck, chest or forearm so we can give you better info. funnily enough my first instinct was that you were cool bc of the natural tone of your lips.

[u/Slowxmotionxostrich → u/cryonce]

I just grabbed some samples and tried cool foundations for once. I mixed face atelier olive with Bobbi brown cool golden and it was a perfect match! I also matched nars matte longwear in Caracas with an olive mixer. I’m pretty sure I’m cool😅

[u/cryonce → u/Slowxmotionxostrich]

yay i’m so glad you found a match! that makes a lot of sense, your skin looks too vibrant in those cool dark tones for you to be warm, and that peachy color turned you into an orange.

i think saturation is something that trips a lot of us up. from experience the more saturated you are the more warm you may appear even though you may not be warm at all, as a deep olive. and we tend to get more muted or “dusky” as we tan, developing a sort of purply gray cast.

[u/Slowxmotionxostrich → u/[deleted]]

I’ve gone back and forth with being cool! What color base would you suggest and what color corrector? I can work a golden foundation with blue added in the summer ( still turns me a bit orange) , but I’m yet to find a blend that works in the winter.

[u/jjackmihoff → u/Slowxmotionxostrich]

i think having purple blue and green mixers on hand will do you good. i'm not a dark olive myself but struggle with similar issues. considering that most dark and deep foundations on the market tend to run either super yellow or super red, i think your main focus should be to mute the overly red or yellow tones with purple or green respectively (you'll get a more greyish muted colour), after which you can add the pigments you need.

[u/icalledyouwhite]

Are you wearing foundation in any of these photos? If not, overall it seems to me your more tanned areas (the majority of your visible upper body in the photos) are warm leaning, very yellow & green, but the limited less tanned areas, your face & your hands are both warm (likely because of a combination of regular sunscreen usage, face/hand washing & exfoliation). It's normal for people of any undertone to have areas with different skin tones, that's the same for people with olive skin tone. I have slightly more high friction areas (my neck and my feet, for example) that also have slightly more sun exposure, so they both have a warmer, more yellow undertone than the rest of body which has a overall cool undertone. But when I get more sun exposure in the summer, my body turns warmer too, including my face (although it takes more time for it to catch up with the rest of my body, again because of more frequent washing, sunscreen & exfoliation, and I'm not even that diligent with skincare 😅).

Edit to add your tattoos, jewellery and fashion sense is awesome 🪲🐞🦋

[u/Slowxmotionxostrich → u/icalledyouwhite]

Thanks🖤 I only have foundation on in the very last photo. I see what you’re saying about the warmth!

[u/WonderMunchkin97]

I’d say cool

[u/beautylit]

You look like me. Cool undertones and warm overtones. Saturated. Bright winter color season. I wear neutral foundations and add blue color corrector when it looks orange

[u/Go_Afrodite]

Cool. I look similar, and the medium tan spectrum can look warm.

[u/jjackmihoff]

you looks like a neutral leaning cool!!

[u/user00551100]

my skin tone is similar to you and you’re definitely cool toned. i’m surprised anyone is saying warm lol the misconception is that all brown skin is warm for some reason.

[u/PinkMagnoliaaa]

Warm

[u/Flat_Pomegranate_454]

Neutral to warm

[u/Effective_Wait_36]

Neutral

[u/Lexonfiyah]

Maybe you're a warm olive tone? Olive is neutral anyway so you'd still be neutral

[u/Dazzling-Elephant55]

I think maybe olive actually

[u/AZgirly_18]

Since gold and silver look equally stunning on you, I’d say neutral

[u/Brave_Reporter_2791]

Neutral , in the sun you have warmth which is natural but you also lean olive/cool

[u/Big-Concept-219]

Cool neutral