Do you know the colours that look best on you? Whether warm or cool, here are the shades to give you a helping hand in the beauty stakes.

Wearing the correct colours can make or break your makeup. The right ones will flatter and energise your appearance; the wrong ones can make you look more sallow than sexy.

There’s no magic or professional consultancy needed to make the right choices – all you need to know is what skin tone you have and then how to present it in the most flattering light.

When it comes to choosing new makeup, matching shades to suit your skin tone can be tricky business. Broadly speaking, cool-toned people have pink, red or bluish undertones and warm-toned people have yellow, peachy or golden undertones. If you’re unsure which one you are, there are some steps you can take to find out…

Warm or cool? Take the test!

1. Check your veins! The veins on the inside of your wrist are typically the giveaway to what skin tone you are. If they look blue or purple, you’re more likely to have cool undertones. If the veins look green, you have warm-toned skin. Neutral tones will be somewhere in the middle.

2. Silver or gold? Which jewellery looks best on you. Silver tends to work well for cool skin while gold makes warm skin glow. Neutral tones can rock either (lucky things!).

3. Sun habits Cool tones tend to burn more easily in the sun. Either they will only burn, or burn and then eventually go tan. Warm-tones, however, bronze up without burning.

4. White out Hold a white piece of paper to your face in front of a mirror. If your skin looks yellowish, greenish or light brown, then you likely have a warm skin tone. If your skin looks pink, rosy or blue, then you have a cool skin tone. If your skin looks grey or ashen, you are a neutral skin tone.

Cool beauty

The hair, eye and skin tone combinations typical of those with cool colouring: Black, dark brown, medium brunette, ash blonde, silver grey, salt and pepper or white; your eye colour is dark brown, dark green, dark hazel or dark blue; your skin is pale, rosy and can be prone to burning or you have a dark complexion.

Hot heads

Those with warm colouring often share certain traits of hair, eye colour and skin tone combinations. Coppery-brown, chestnut, charcoal brown, dark golden blonde, red, light or dark auburn hair; brown, hazel, light green or light blue (perhaps with yellow flecks) eyes; a yellow-beige, golden-brown, peach or ivory complexion, perhaps with freckles and a tan.

Choosing makeup to match your skin tone

If you have warm undertones, opt for hues with a yellow undertone, including brown, tan, green, teal, gold, burnt-orange and warm red. If you suit cooler colours, stock up on pinks, purples, lilacs, grey, burgundy, blacks and blues. When it comes to metallics, warm-coloured folk generally suit golds and cooler tones suit silver.

A good combination for warm skins is foundation with a yellow base and cheeks/lips in bronze, coral or peach. Cool skin benefits from a pink-based foundation and cheeks/lips look best in pinks, plums and cool reds.

FOUNDATION

Cool tone: You look best with foundations that have a hint of pink. Cool foundation shades are often labelled porcelain, rose and sable.

Warm tone: Yellow-based (subtle, of course) foundations work best as they blend into the undertones of your skin, making the final result look flawless. Warm foundation shades are often labelled beige, golden and tan.

Neutral tone: Choose neutral-toned foundation but if you have an olive complexion you may want to look for bases with a hint of gold to warm up their skin and counter any greenish undertone. Neutral foundation shades are often labelled ivory, buff, nude and linen.

LIPS

Cool tone: Lipsticks with blue undertones generally suit you better. Light pinks, red lipstick with a blue base and classic beiges should be your go-to colour. A bonus of wearing blue-based reds is that they make teeth appear instantly whiter.

Warm tone: Warmer shades of lipstick with yellow and orange undertones are better suited for warm skin tones. Caramel, cappuccino, orange-based reds and browns with hints of gold and bronze will flatter your complexion.

Neutral tone: Feel free to wear a lip of any colour depending on your mood, clothing or time of year – all colours will look good on you.

EYES

Blue eyes: Earthy colours like golden brown, bronze, gold and apricot really enhance blue eyes.

Green eyes: Purple, mauve, plum and pink all tend to make green eyes pop. Just be careful not to overdo it.

Brown eyes: Deep shades generally highlight darker eyes. Opt for navy blue, brown, deep plum and dark greys.

Hazel eyes: You lucky ones get to choose almost any colour you like. All shades help to bring out various colour flecks in your pupils. Experiment and see which colours you like best.

Seasonal delights

When you’re thinking about which tones work, picture the seasons. Warm colours are those with a yellow undertone. Think of all the brilliant earthy hues of autumn leaves – from gold to khaki and burnt reds or oranges. Think yellow and golden.

Cool colours are those that have a blue undertone similar to the crisp and stark winter’s day with pure white, crimson sky, icy grey, blue, pink, fuchsia, purple, burgundy, slate-grey and black. Think reds and blues.

Neutral colours are a mix of the above. Think olive complexions.