Confession: I have a diploma in makeup artistry and an almost decade-old beauty channel on YouTube, and I only just found out whether my skin undertone is warm or cool. At 24 years of age.
Funnily enough, I’m able to colour match other people quickly and well. It’s just my own skintone I’ve always had a problem identifying.
There are a bunch of tricks for finding out your undertone, that I think we’ve all come across at some point in our lives. In my case, these tricks always raise more questions than they provide answers:
- If the veins on the inside of your wrist are green, you’re wam toned. If they’re purple or blue, you’re cool toned. Mine can be either or both at the same time, depending on the light and time of day.
- Hold up a gold item and a silver item to your skin. If the gold item looks better on you, you’re warm toned. If the silver looks better on you, you’re cool toned. Neither really looks good on me, to be honest. Rose gold is the only metal I feel I can really pull off.
I have brown hair and hazel eyes, which are generally marks of a warm colouring. As is the fact that I tan easily in the sun. But I do look absolutely horrible in orange, gold makeup is the worst possible thing I can do to myself and warm toned foundation often comes out clearly yellow on me.
However, if I pick up cool foundation, my face instantly turns a very distinct pink that stands out from the rest of my skin. Neutral foundation is hard enough to find as it is, but it’s not right on me either. It often leaves an almost grey cast.
But, my dear friends, I’ve finally found the answer
My undertone shows up most clearly when I compare my skin colour to that of my equally pale, but distinctly different-looking Dutch friends. When I hold my arm up next to theirs I can nearly always see a very clear… Greenness. Yes, my skin is most definitely green.
I’ve always associated “olive skin” with the rich colours of Latin, Arabic or Indian skin tones. My own skin is pale enough that I often have trouble finding a light enough foundation at the drugstore. If I’m lucky, I can just get away with the lightest shade.
But lo and behold, it turns out “olive” is not simply a word used for medium skin tones, but a fourth type of undertone. One that isn’t talked about much, but definitely exists and comes in all different shades from light to dark.
Apparently pale olive skin is common in Eastern Europe where I have roots, which would explain a thing or two about why my brother is the only other person I’ve met with that skin tone over here, haha!
Now, what better place to turn to to illustrate anything looks-related than Hollywood? May I present gorgeous pale olive-skinned Mila Kunis.
The green comes out the most when we’re not tanned, so you can see it better when she’s lighter, but take a look at this:
See that green?
I’ve got that green.
In this photo it’s most noticeable around my mouth, the sides of my neck and my arm. And under my eyes, but you can’t expect me to not be wearing concealer there ;)
Having pale olive skin comes with a whole set of struggles. Warm shades don’t work, but not all cool ones do either. I can’t rock silver or blue-toned purples (see how that bit of blue scarf makes my neck look that much greener?). I’ve found the colours with the most guaranteed success for me are dusty rose shades, black, cooler creams, and darker, slightly muted jewel tones. Vivid bright colours are usually not the best idea, as are warm pastel tones.
The struggle continues as I learn to work with pale olive skin that’s kind of warm looking but actually more on the cool side. Any fellow pale olive ladies out there who would like to share some tips?
UPDATE 2020
My oh my, this post has gone places! An overwhelming amount of incredible comments has come in over the years, and they contain some very valuable advise. Thank you!!!
I’ve bundled some of the readers’ makeup recommendations (and my own) below, so you can shop products approved by fellow pale olive skinned ladies from right here. Keep the tips coming, it’s so good to have all of you here sharing your experiences!
Face Makeup
Coloured Makeup
Hi, my comment disappeared so reposting. This article and comments have been so helpful so I thought I’d add what works for me.
I’m Slavic on both sides, very fair, neutral olive, very dark hair & eyes.
Haus Labs foundation in 50 Fair Cool is my perfect match but doesn’t last too well in my oily skin.
Lisa Eldridge has a pale foundation with olive undertones (2.5) – too green for me so I mix it with her no 4 which has peach undertones.
MAC Studio Fix is the closest match in a powder foundation but isn’t quite green enough.
I use the Hourglass ambient powders to colour adjust (the diffused light is a pale cool yellow, the dim light can be used as a subtle bronzer on v fair skin)
Hope that helps. Thank you again ❤️
I’ve found my people! I’m also of Eastern European descent. I was really compelled to look it up because of all the struggles I’ve had. Some of my maternal grandmothers family have dark/deep warm and medium warm olive skin. My grandmother is medium warm olive. I however am a pale olive who tans extremely well in the summer. Almost daily through the summer and fall I have to mix different colors together. I have found that a few makeup lines work for me. Bare minerals, and doll 10 for light coverage , nyx (if you want more coverage). I think warm and neutral colors look good on me for eyeshadow but not a cool unless I’m doing a muted crease color. All those are muted earthy tones though. Nothing bright. I get complimented on my lipstick with a brownish red-Orange lipstick. And I use the same for my blush. If I’m super tanned bright yellow looks great on me. If I’m not i look very ill. It’s been a struggle because my mom is pale neutral but tans very well but very warm. My dad is very warm and dark complected, both dark headed. My sister however is pink toned and blonde, just like my paternal grandmother. All my too pink makeup went to her growing up lol. I struggle with the “sick” look so I use bronzer to warm my face up a little. I have medium/dark brown hair and very dark brown eyes. Gold looks very good on me and any other color is horrible. I also find that brown-black mascara looks good on me and the blue black can be too harsh. I hope this helps! Also I completely quit using powder I CAN NOT find a powder that matches me even translucent gives me a grey cast. I’m 26 and it’s took me YEARS to get this done. I went to beauty school and they struggled to understand my skin tone because I wasn’t a true olive but I wasn’t warm, or cool. I don’t know if this is possible but I feel like I’m a slightly warm pale olive in the winter and a very warm olive in the summer. I have been asked my ethnicity several times and I’m white. In the summer I’ve been asked if I’m Indian I get so dark just by going to the beach. And I’m the winter people think I’m middle eastern and I have the facial feature to go with that. I would love to see a post on what colors you find looks the best on you!
holy sh*t! I am exactly like u!! Pale skin, brown hair, hazel eyes. And people used to tell me i am warm but i look terrible with warm color clothes and makeup!
And since i am brazilian i have very mixed roots. Olive undertone makes so much sense!
Ps what’s your season pallet? I’m trying to find my and i think we are probably the same
Check the deep winter palette. I have light skin, hazel eyes, black hair. I am olive-complected and lean slightly cool. Deep winter works best for me, but I can also take some colors from deep autumn. And true winter, depending on how much sun my skin has seen in recent months.
Omg thank you for this post I was getting a headache from all the warm cool stuff 😆 funny enough I also figured it out when comparing my green skin to my pink Dutch partner haha. Also have black hair and green eyes
Hello my people! I am so happy I stumbled upon this article and thread. Finally at age 36, just weeks ago, I went to Sephora to get my color match and she she must have placed it on a freckle bc it came back all wrong. Thankfully she did it a few times and confirmed what I thought very fair neutral, olive undertones.
I always wondered why I looked so off in the winter and sickly.. this explains it. Now, I will use more blush and bronzer to brighten things up.
I also, went down another rabbit hole and wanted to know the color season. Hint, it will most likely be soft summer and soft autumn that we flex between given the time of year. Less warmth in our skin – soft summer colors will look best (winter) and more warmth – soft autumn (summer) ironic no?
My ancestry is a bit more bland and less Eastern European so I am kinda lost there. Maybe I just need to do 23andme to get official results but literally one parent is from England/ Ireland and the other is German. So I am not sure where the olive comes from, my sister has olive with darker skin, hair and eyes and pulls it off. It’s the light crap (with a ton of freckles) that get confused for warm and lost. I burn pretty much every time I get in the sun but it kinda turns into a tan so I would say I am a Type 2 depending on the time of year. Toward the end of summer my husband and I laugh bc I start to look sickly, almost like my skin can’t absorb any more and I look jaundice. (It was worse when I was a lifeguard) anyone else?
Gold and silver actually look ok on me. I am preferring gold more now bc it’s what looks the best in the winter to brighten me up. I can’t find a rose gold that looks right.
I second the ask about mail polishes? Neutrals are impossible and I have such a graveyard collection of polishes that I thought would work but just don’t. Any ideas for a light? Medium or dark neutral?
I am very similar to you. I am a light olive but can get tan in summer if I try. I usually burn first if I stay out too long. I need to find the right foundation Suggestions would be appreciated
Hi,
Can u share the shade of foundation and lipstick shades that work for you?
I never in my life thought I had olive undertones until I contacted Lisa Eldridge and was recommended an olive shade (9 i think it was). They were very helpful. Giorgio Armani is great too. I’m still not totally sure I’m olive but probably because every MUA says I’m warm or neutral and Charlotte Tilbury looked at me like I was crazy when I suggested an olive foundation. I’m brunette, hazel eyes, freckles, tan after much effort, blue veins, very yellow gold looks hideous on me. I see alot of pink in my skin but with yellow in some lights but if I compare myself to anyone warm or cool that’s where I see that green come through. I am still bamboozled to be honest. I found out through dna recently that I have mainly Scottish and Irish heritage and apparently olive skin is quite common in Irish so perhaps I am fair olive. I look nothing like Mila Kunis or Audrey Tatou in terms of complexion though, I’m more pale and freckle, perhaps that’s the Scottish in me?
I am exactly like you. Now I have silver gray hair with dark brown, low lights to complicate the matter. One difference…
I look better in gold jewelry in the summer when I am tanner, and I look better in silver jewelry in the winter when I am lighter.
I too am pale and olive. Blue eyes, brown hair and rosacea. Which makes me look more cool because people assume a ruddy appearance on some one light as me as cool undertones. I do find that mauve is amazing on me. Always has been but it’s always been such an “old lady” color that I’ve never embraced it
Until now. I look good in warm muddled colors I guess. I found a foundation that is really good. Ilia skin tint in color ST6. Light with warm undertone. The girl at Sephora was shocked because she kept trying the light cool shades and neutral 😆.
Apparently Ireland has a mix of different kinds of skin tones, including olive. Something I just pulled up:
“There’s evidence of Spanish from prehistory. With intermarriage with sailors, there is a lot of latent French / Spanish / Portuguese ancestry on the West Coast, so I think that there are Irish who tan olive!”
I actually have a blend of Scottish and French, which would make sense where my oliveness comes from. Thought I’d share to clear up about your DNA! But it doesn’t hurt to do a 23andMe just to see what’s in it!
i didn’t realize this was a european thing too! i’m a cool toned asian and i honestly thought that was what made me struggle with foundation matches for so long but i TOTALLY get the whole “this is too pink AND too yellow AND too gray????” thing all the time and it took me probably longer than it should to realize i’m olive too on top of all that. i’ve seen a couple comments mentioning this BUT a bunch of asian (k and c beauty as far as I’ve tried! i haven’t gotten around to j beauty yet) do account for olive and cool tones for pale skin beautifully! like, they purposefully market a good portion of products towards specifically pale skin.
of course of lot of that is rooted in colorism and other concerning cultural issues but in the meantime the makeup companies still do it and they do it pretty damn well! the trick is to not get the ones that are aimed at cool tones or at brightening, because even “warm” on most asian foundations have enough pink to even things out to pale olive! my perfect bbcream match is innisfree’s eco natural green tea bb cream and even though it swatches a little warm, on my face it’s an absolute dream!!! so to anyone out there that likes lighter coverage or to my east asian girlies, k and cbeauty’s got your back. if you’re looking to get into it, the asian beauty subreddit is thriving and the tried and true marketplace for asian beauty is yesstyle!
(p.s. the pale olive tone thing has made it such a struggle to pick out nude nail polishes too. anyone have any advice??? everything comes out too pink and gray on me so far)
Kylie, for nude polish matches, look at your skin on your arm/hands, try to match some area of your skin color (which can appear darker/lighter for various reasons in different places. Then it will look truly nude.
Ha. Funny I’ve been searching more asian beauty and makeup videos for awhile now because these women are the closest to me. I am Greek light skin with olive undertone
I find that anything with an opaque white base doesn’t work on my pale olive skin. Sheer neutrals are the solution. Don’t let the nail tech put on too many coats. OPI Put It In Neutral works for me.
I’m also a pale olive (only because I’m a sunscreen addict!). I have light ash brown hair and hazel/green eyes. I’ve always known I have olive skin but i don’t bother with foundation, I’m lucky in that I don’t need it. Just a spot of cool toned blusher, brown eyeliner and a bright pop of lippy and I’m good to go. Anything else looks garish so less is definitely more for me. Have learned that bright cool colours are best on me clothes-wise and gold is not my friend. Oddly I’m the only one in my family with olive skin.
Jane Iredale pressed powder in “ivory” has been my lifeboat for nearly 10 years!!!
*i’m very fair irish with all the checkmarks of a “cool” — but something’s wrong!*
never thought OLIVE!! life changing article – THANKS!
I fell down the rabbit hole of personal color analysis back in 2018, so I had been trying to figure out my undertone for quite some time. In my findings I learning that olive isn’t actually an undertone, but a natural pigment found in some skin tones. Even olive skin, will either be warm or cool, though there is much debate that olive skin can only be cool (Olive MUA on reddit has also been helpful!). With that said, I recently found out that I have light pale olive skin (I also have dark brown hair and hazel eyes!). I had my colors done last month with House of Colour and learned that I am a Deep Blue Autumn or Dark Autumn in other systems (blue just refers to the fact I look best in the deeper “cooler” end of the Autumn spectrum that abutts Deep Winter but I still need the warmth of Autumn.
Yes! I am Eastern European and have pale olive skin with hazel eyes and light brown hair. I found these mixing pigments a few years ago: https://www.ulta.com/p/pro-matte-mixing-pigment-pimprod2003317?sku=2540122&cmpid=PS_Non!google!Product_Listing_Ads&cagpspn=pla&CATCI=pla-294680686006&CAAGID=28397269470&CAWELAID=330000200001687033&CATARGETID=330000200001394369&CADevice=m&gbraid=0AAAAAD9rLH6JoP4pvxBSRpZi0RdbqlSiD&gclid=CjwKCAiAprGRBhBgEiwANJEY7OF-Thw-bvJgjpGtxaEHScyY-FH3RBtxBffW_ae-XLjpOioA8mw06hoC2pIQAvD_BwE
I only use a drop or so of the yellow and it makes my foundation a perfect match.
After trying a new foundation, it sent me down a rabbit hole where I discovered (after 37 years!) I was not some kind of weird warm which didn’t seem to follow any of the rules for warm skin; I’m a light olive. Ilia True Skin Medium Coverage Foundation in Cozumel SF1.75 – described as “very light with golden olive undertones” – blended into my skin seamlessly but a swatch of it was SO different from all of my other foundations. I was totally confused until I started finding info online about olive undertones, and then all of my fashion/makeup/hair color preferences made so much sense.
Me too! Just found out today. I have European blood. Never have been happy with foundations and always struggling with make up. I have light brown hair and blue eyes with pale skin and dusty rose lips. Agree with colors you recommended. Question: does anyone have trouble wearing greens because it makes you look really green and sickly?
Gabrielle,
What you describe fits me to a T! I have light brown hair, blue eyes and the same lips, along with very fair skin. Only in the last year have I been designated as an olive. I am 53 years old. I feel like I have been living a lie for the last forty years, having been told I had cool undertones. lol!
So glad to find this thread! There is hope!
Ahh… same here. So many girlfriends, “you’re warm undertone” “no, you’re cool undertone” … Took me yrs to to work out I was tight olive, my younger sister even more olive. Even now at store beauty counters I’m viewed as insane if I decline a “light rose” foundation, I usually concede just to watch their looks of horror upon application to my very light, olive undertoned skin… it’s the European blood.
Thank you so much for this! I’m 31 and just found out what skin tone I am 😅 my dad is half greek & Italian, mom is half Hungarian. The rest is English, German, Irish and maltese. Mom mom and brother and pink toned with yellow blonde hair and sky blue eyes.
I have light olive skin, cool toned dark blue eyes and ash blonde hair that shines silver. It’s been a struggle, especially because I have genetic dark circles so covering them is a nightmare.
Thank you for this. I have only recently figured out that I am a pale olive skin tone, after having struggled with nothing matching quite right for my whole 35 years. I can relate to this article so much. I had been blending my foundation with green colour corrector and I thought that worked because I must have a lot of red in my skin, not because my undertones were actually greenish! I am ghostly white in winter, but tan pretty easily and don’t burn easily, which I’m always old is odd for someone pale as me. I have very cool blue eyes, but medium brown hair that looks auburn under some types of lighting (and direct sunlight), and ashy in other lighting.
I am Polish and French-Canadian on one side of my family, and mixed Romanichal on the other side. My relatives and ancestors have a mix of pale skin and medium olive skin tones, so it would make sense that I would be a pale olive.
With this knowledge it’s going to be so much easier to know how to pick colours and why some don’t work on me, and at least now I understand why I could never fit into the cool/neutral/warm skin tone spectrum!
I have a green corrector from Swedish brand IsaDora which I mix with my concealer/foundation, that has made all of my products actually look like my skin and I can highly recommend this. Now I can use almost any foundation I want and I don’t have to desperately look for fair olive foundations anymore (they’re practically nonexistent anyway). I have found many green correctors lean turquoise, and I suggest to go for a more chrome oxide green one if you can find it.
I *might* be light olive. I’m looking for someone with my coloring : black brown eyes, blonde hair, light skin to commiserate with. (I’m older now and my eyes are still black, but have faded just enough that I can see that that they are like a deep grey black, not much brown, naturally blonde hair that was really light and a little golden when I was young and is now somewhat ashy. I think it’s level 7 but a hairdresser said it’s 8. Fair/light in the winter. I’m not the palest. Tan easily but not a deep tan). My aunt used to do the “color me beautiful” thing when I was a kid and I don’t fit any category. She tried a few times. My other aunt thinks she’s olive. She’s a golden blonde with light brown eyes and gets really tan. I was skeptical but maaaybe. Don’t know my heritage-family (both sides) in Ohio since the 1700s. The color tests don’t work on me (veins are a mix, etc.) I may be neutral, but Nars neutrals can look really orange on me and their cool looks really pink. Anyway, I love makeup but I’m having a terrible time with all of the overly warm eyeshadows, while the cools are sometimes too ashy. And most nude lipsticks are orange or very pink, clear red doesn’t look great. Brownish red, (not brick), or sometimes wine or a berry color can look better. Anyway, I scanned the comments and I didn’t find anyone with this coloring. If you’re out there I’d love to hear what works for you-makeup or clothing colors.
Hello! I do honestly believe you are in the “Pale Olive Club” welcome!
It’s magical and sometimes miserable!
I have been struggling my entire life w/this & I’m in my 50s! Although I don’t have you’re exact hair or eye color-everything you said resonates. ALIMA PURE Mineral power makeup will send you a sample for a VERY small fee- and they have OLIVE powders from Olive zero and beyond! I am an Olive 2 and 2.5 in summer. You can get the little jars & TEST them! (No I don’t work for Alima Pure 😂.) I use that little sample against any other foundation I might want to buy.
Laura Geller Baked Balance & Brighten Color Correcting Foundation in LIGHT is PERFECT. I first tried the Medium but it was too muddy looking even for summer.
I use that for a pop of color on bare legs collarbones, etc. These are BAKED powders that melt in creamy – they aren’t cakey or dry – but you press them into the skin with a brush instead of swirling them on like other powers- these are powder-to cream. But NOT greasy. The LIGHT truly adjusts to my unique Olive undertone! (No I don’t work for Laura Geller 😂)
My DERMATOLOGIST is who helped me figure this out- it’s called the FITZPATRICK SCALE (Google it) 🤗 … I am a Type III…(3).
She slso happened to be a light Olive!
I tan but not nearly as dark as I’d like unless I go in a tanning bed which I stopped doing years ago- but I don’t look brown-brown like an Italian. It’s more of a
well, greenish-golden-medium!
I am of French, English (as in British), German (Bavarian, to be exact) Romanian, Scottish, Irish and equally 1% Norwegian & 1% Native American or Indigenous (not sure which is used now – don’t want to offend)
-I know this from doing DNA tests. How’s that for a bag of Skittles?! I love it!
My coloring is a lot like Mika Kunis who is from Ukraine. So definitely a lot of European going on inside me!
I had deep brown hair but I’ve lightened to a medium brown as I’ve gotten older. I have hazel eyes that can look blackish brown, deep olive green, light olive green Or turquoise- deepening on my mood & what I’m wearing & the lighting I’m in (yeah , that’s scientific)
I can wear silver, gold & rose gold jewelry but gold looks best.
In my family there are blue-eyed blondes, green-eyed reddish-brown hair and a few who burn even thinking about the sun- others who get deep brown… me I’m just blah tan in the summer 😂 but I rarely burn & if I do it just tans lightly- it does take more effort for me to get a tan than say, my Italian friends.
Here’s what I’ve found that works as far as lipstick, blush & eyeshadow: Taupe eyeshadow looks amazing on me…. Like a shimmering but not glittery. So does a deep purple put on lightly. Deep brown or black liner & black mascara.
Lipsticks are a struggle but I’ve found warm pinks but not peach. Nudes if they are pink leaning not peachy. Blush I mush have it I look flat & blah & this is where I’ve had a tough time. Never mauve!! Never pinky- pink or peachy-peach! A soft warm rose can work, a pink that is more warm can work. I just got Laura Geller’s Baked Blush & Brighten Marbleized Blush in PINK BUTTERCREAM. It’s a warm pink (not a baby girly pink) swirled with light shades of bronzes. When I first put it on I was like 🤔… but after blending it in? YES! Also by Nars is “Orgasm” color it is a perfect blend of peach and pink & works on me if I don’t put on too much. Oh- Copper also looks good on eyes. Rule of thumb is for me: find a celebrity who is Olive -Skinned … (Google, again) 😂 And no matter how dark they are as long as they are OLIVE … just take their color matches & take them down a notch or several notches if needs be. Remember it’s the same undertone, we Light Olives just need to lighten up. Jewel color clothing is awesome… I can wear both bright white & a champagne taupe blouse but avoid both when it’s in the dead of winter. And never wear olive green or you’ll look like a walking olive. 😂
Steer clear of anything pastel especially lavender! It makes me look dead. Hope this helps! Embrace who God made you to be- don’t compare! You’re uniquely YOU!
That advice is coming from an old grandma who’s bought a ton of makeup over the years!
Love & hugs!
Cat
I’m also a light olive! Urban Decay makes a shade in their Stay Naked foundation line that matches me perfectly in the summer (CG30). In the winter when I get even less sun than usual, it can be a smidge too dark. Just thought I’d put that one out there :)
Thanks for sharing this article! I think this closely matches the description I would give for my skin tone as well :) my dad side hails from Greece with possible German heritage as well. Though his family lived in Greece for at least 2-3 centuries we were In Spain before that and there is evidence to suggest that we originated in Syria or somewhere around there. My moms heritage can’t be traced that far back but we know her family comes from England and Scotland. She’s got very, very pale, cool skin that is prone to redness, blue eyes and very light, cool brown hair.
My dad on the other hand, is very tan, med. dark eyes – amost like a dark honey in the sun but a deep solid brown in the shade and has, or had – dark neutral brown/black hair.
I Am a strange mix of both. I look more like my dads side – with them having the more dominate traits. It’s very hard for people to connect me to my mom in photos together. But yet I share more facial features with her then with my dad. I am pale, though not her kind of pale. I am not prone to redness and I am much more yellow then her- but I wouldn’t say I have a yellow undertone. I have my dark eyebrows but her shape- my hair on my head is brown- but is almost auburn in the sun- a trait neither parent has. My eyes are the same as my dad. I have been told on quite a few occasions I look “like the girl from that seventy show” aka Mila Kunis. I’m flattered, but don’t personally see it. I see the resemblance in skin though a bit- but I would say I’m
A few shades paler then she.
Impressive! Thanks for sharing this.
I have pale olive skin AND rats!! Best wishes to you you and your mischief!
Penny, USA
I see the Milani concealer / foundation has already been suggested as it is in your recommended – the only foundation I’ve found so far that doesn’t turn me pink or yellow!
I have the exact same issue. Brown in the sun, pale in winter, both metals are okayish, veins chose their own colour as they like. And many people tell me I look nice in lots of coloured clothes and I can pull off so many hair colours BUT if anything navy is near my face I look like a dead or unwell. Suddenly pale, red, blotchy, when usually I look medium to slightly warm. I wonder if I am green undertoned? (One side Swiss French German, one side very Irish). Many of my mums side (Irish) freckle, where as I tan.
I hate not knowing my under tone.
I can’t see where, could you repeat please what Milano and what shade?
Yes I am have fair skin with an olive undertone but have been told so my whole life by my family. Maybe because they’re seen me when tanned (which is quite an achievement – I have to tan carefully and slowly), they recognize it. The green-yellow green undertones do get more pronounced then. But strangers think I’m peachy or golden when I’m pale. Makeup artists always have me looking too peach or orange.
I’d say I’m a neutral warm olive – I had a hairdresser once remark that I have no pink in my skin. I have reddish brown hair and light brown eyes, and would say my coloring is overall a warm-neutral look. Those season color theories never worked for me either.
I do best with neutral foundations and then just add some green pigment into it (love LA Girl foundation adjusters for that). And of course there are the some legit fair olive foundations out there – kevyn aucoin etherealist in light 03 is my best fit, but sometimes I get too pale for it. As others said, getting a tan makes life easier… but Ilia just released a fair olive foundation serum and it’s awesome. So I’m seeing more options for fair olive now.
However I feel I wear most colors well. I look great in jewel tones and orange too. My enemies are pastels and cool neutrals. As for metals, I also wear them all well, albeit silver is probably the least flattering.
I’m an American mutt, but my family background is Spanish, Ukrainian and German. I definitely get my coloring from the Spanish side. They’re all fair, burn easily, only tan with trouble but typically have olive or golden undertones. Meanwhile my German family have almost ruddy, medium skin colors and get bronze easily…. I’ve heard people call them olive but they’re the exact opposite – red/orange undertones.
It seems every olive has different colors that will or won’t work, with many pointing out orange. I am like you, it’s the pastels, beige and Greys that make me look unwell.
I’m a little darker than you and enjoy tanning in the sun, so I am light in the long Alaskan winter, and close to medium in the summer.
Green corrector added to a neutral base is the best match for me. I have a blue mixer too, but find less use for it.
Polish on my mom’s side, Irish on my dad’s side. I always return to this site! I found it years ago and was so helpful, very eye-opening! Now if only more cosmetic companies would acknowledge our existence and stop conflating “olive” with “tan.” (Have they ever seen olive oil?!)
When I click on the image it takes me to a product page but not one specific to the shade and I don’t see the shades mentioned anywhere am I missing that?
Me too! My mom is of Polish/Ukraine decent (her side of the family is all blonde hair blue eyes – after she got pregnant with me her hair turned more of a brunette. My dad is of Irish decent. Had jet black hair, nice green eyes and tans SO easily. As do I. I have pale skin, I’m bleach white in the winter but do a complete 180 in the summer, hardly ever burn. My hair is more of an auburn brown with golden tones to it as well as olive green/hazel eyes.
What have you found works for clothing colours for you?! Please help 🥹
I also have fair olive skin, and it took me until I was almost 40 to figure this out. I have very dark brown-almost black hair and light brown eyes. I have always thought that I look grey-ish green compared to others. I don’t tan easily, but I also am not prone to burning easily. I haven’t been able to find any makeup that matches my skin tone and I think I actually switch from a cool olive to a warm olive when I have a little bit of a tan. For me, wearing lipstick, blush, or eye shadow just looks off. I wish there were more products out there that look good on those of us with this coloring.
I guess I am blessed because I do not wear foundation at all, nor eyeshadow (most of the time.) I do, however use a pink blush with gold flecks. I’ve had many compliments. Oh, and I have green eyes and dark red hair. Go figure! I do like a light plum lipstick, but find I prefer a matte brown/grey lipstick. Also, I love a great shimmery copper lipstick. Only my Dad and I have this skin tone. However he has been in the sun all his life and is not as light as I. We both tan quite easily, though. Oh, did I mention yellow clothing looks absolutely horrible on me? I think orange would too, but I never wear orange.
In case it ends up being helpful for anyone:
I think a few other people have said this, but my skin tone is kind of golden? Like, in pure light, I look kinda gold (but the greener kind). Not at all warm! Burn easily and can’t really tan. Freckles … sometimes. I’m a super pale, cool olive I guess. Grey-green eyes. Medium blonde hair that’s kinda red? And ashy? But also golden? I think maybe I’m just real bad at colours??
Colours that look terrible on me:
Gold
basically all yellows
orange (WORST)
pure white
light grey
“muddy” colours
Colours that seem to work?:
Rose gold is my best metal, but silver is ok (so are bronze and brass)
Black makes me look tan for some reason?
“winter white”/ivory looks great
Fuchsia is AMAZING
Sage, emerald, hunter, forest greens are my go-to’s
Navy is … fine? Must like it subconsciously because it’s one of my wardrobe staples
Muted teal, muted blues, muted purples…there’s a theme here, but deep teal and other true jewel tones are still doable
I’m on the fence about deeper grey
There’s one camel colour that looks great, but I can’t put my finger on why because *most* don’t work
The occasional blush/dusty rose is also amazing but I seem to fluke into the right ones because most are too cool or too warm or too pale or something??
SOMETIMES peach, but again, the stars have to align. Can’t be too light. Can’t be too warm.
Mauves. Berry/Wine. True red/cherry red– all good.
I feel like deep army green works well, but my mother insists it looks terrible on me, but she also just hates the colour and maybe she’s biased? No idea.
Just described me. “ Burn easily and can’t really tan. Freckles … sometimes. I’m a super pale, cool olive I guess. ” my eyes look brown but make up artists say there’s green in them 🤷🏻♀️ Every company discontinued my shade. Estée Lauder Pale Almond was perfect. Most similar look ashy gray or oxidize orange yellow. Can’t find right shade in Nars Radiant foundation. Help…
Makeup artist told me today I have light skin with olive undertones googled it found your site.
Tried the backstage olive undertones? I use that and was my first ever perfect match. I would recommend to try the dior neutral and then in the other part of your face the olive; cause “olives” tent to be to warm for some reason though I know for sure after long 36 years of fighting I’m a light olive but cool not warm. My eyes are brown cool patron (you can find the explanation in youtube; isn’t as simple as “blue is cool and green is warm” there are both warm browns and cool browns), my hair is somehow dark, ashy brown, I can pull silver and gold jewelry but I look my best in rose gold. I burn so so easily that before tan I actually peel my skin off. I look great in powder pink but strong cool colors don’t suit me best, they are overpowering to me. I need muted colors. So I use 2.5N on Dior backstage cause I’m a light olive cool tone but low saturation. So if you are like me just N will suit you best maybe than WO. So I would recommend that and I really hope you find it helpfull.
Try Revlon in buff – the best match for me so far and very economical. I would say it’s on the very neutral side, no pinks or yellows, and works very well for my greenish skin.
Urban decay and Fenty make great matches and Sephora will let you try samples
Find so so many points of matching with me, so I would recommend Merriam Style channel on youtube and her videos about warm olive or cold olive. Not all olives are warm. Her videos can be pretty boring but are amazingly enlightening. I think you are, like me a cold olive; I look hideous in red or carrot hair (again tanned but like bad tanned), but blond beiges also do nothing for my skin. It took me 15 years to decide to try an ash blond and my world changed. My skin got clearer, my eyes brighter and my overall look softened. I looked my best even when steticist told me not they were surprised how good I looked. It was then when I understood I’m somehow cold based. But cold foundations don’t suit me, so I gravitated to neutrals and was like a miracle to me. Finally my neck matched and melted, for first time it wasn’t too pink neither too yellow. So my best jewelry is rose gold and I also tend to think silver looks better than gold (gold makes me look “tanner” but like a bad tan I’m sure you know exactly what I mean), my signature color is powder rose, but MUTED! I can’t go around wearing any pink, it doesn’t work like that. Navy is also not a color I find especially compliment me but my wardrobe certainly have tons of it, that’s why I think that color is pretty much “our neutral”, with whites (as long they are not optic whites) and ivorys. I find camels are also great as long they are not too deep neither too warm (as far as possible form browns and as close as possible to ivory/nude or grey). Basically EVERYTHING in our wardrobe needs to be thinking of. Needs to be muted, needs to be cold. Modernity makes possible to exist warm grays or warm blues when in principle they are cold colors, but is what we have so we need to really think that through to nail it. I would think army green is good for you, cause it looks good on me too, I just don’t use it cause I don’t like greens in general except teal which looks pretty good on me tbh, but I know cause when I was a child my favorite dress (looked like a period children dress from about 1900 with sailor neck and was made of velvet!) was this green and looked amazing on me.
Thank you, that really helped me understand why I find colour such a challenge. We must be pretty similar. ☺️
Check out Merriam Style on YT. She compares Mila Kunis (warm fair olive) tot Audrey Tatou (cool fair olive). It was really helpful for me.
I realised I have an olive undertone yesterday (literally), mainly because “olive skin” is commonly used as a synonym for “medium-dark skin” while I’m pretty pale. Now it all makes sense!
I think I am on the warm side of olive, e.g. my ash brown hair looks good with red henna (while golden blonde screams FAKE), but then again I heard others say olive can only be cool… in doubt, I will keep on wearing whatever I like, but it would be nice to know more :) I hate it when make-up or clothes make me look greyish :(
It’s clear that we haven’t met, because I am a Dutch girl and I have the exact same skin tone that you have! I have noooooo idea why my hair is so deliciously dark brown, my eyes are blue and my skin tone is as fair as it is. Something must’ve happened in the gene pool somewhere, because I relate to your experience with Dutch people. Most of them have skin tones that are reddish or pinkish. I always thought I had a yellow undertone, but now I realize that I am, like you, an olive. O well.
I relate to that, I am paler than you and I struggle to find the perfect match in foundation and concealer. I think I have neutral and slightly olive undertones.
I will check the new Kryolan Digital Complexion line of foundation and concealer. They have just launched a line with olive undertones.
Hi everyone!
Does anyone have recs for bronzer for pale olive skin? Thanks!
Hi :)
I don’t use bronzer very often, so I don’t have much experience with it. I bought L’Oréal Back to Bronze recently. Back to Bronze is the color name. It’s matt and quite sheer. I just tried it on and it doesn’t turn orange. I’ve heard that Chanel cream bronzer is wonderful for all skin tones, but I don’t know that personally. It’s expensive. I’m in the US and ordered the L’Oréal Back to Bronze from Amazon in the UK. It’s not available here and the new L’Oréal bronzer is very shimmery.
Another thing you can do is buy a regular setting powder in a darker color. You might be able to get a color that is better for your pale olive skin tone.
For my pale olive cool undertone skin I use too faced chocolate Soleil all over (very cool toned) and then on high point she where the sun would catch (nose bridge, temples, cheeks, top of forehead etc) I use kiko baked bronzer (one of their big ones) it has a red brown base, this looks natural like sun kissed redness and the red really compliments the coolness of undertone so you look super tanned but not ORANGE XXX
I relate to this so much! I’m from Estonia, where the most popular hair colour is called a potato peel blonde, meaning a dusty greenish yellowish brownish mix. So on sunny days, my hair and skin have a golden hue, and on rainy days I just look green all around. I always associated the term “olive” with a mediterranean sun-kissed look, so it took me a loooong while to understand that while my skin is the palest I’ve ever seen and doesn’t tan at all, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s all blue and pink undertones. As others have mentioned, dusty pink and peachy tones work the best with the pale green hue, as well as some strong colours that compliment the tone, such as emerald. I haven’t really though this through before, but now it also somehow makes sense that I looked my best skintone-wise when I had a lot of acne and basically had to colour-correct my whole face with green before applying foundation :-D
I found this post while desperately searching for recommendations for foundations for my very awkward skin tone, I’m so glad I found this, thankyou! However, I am still struggling a little, because due to my very mixed heritage (Scottish, Welsh, sephardic jew and German!) I have quite an unusual colouring, my Scottish genes have given me red hair, my Spanish sephardic genes have given me black eyes, and my Germanness has gifted me with pale-ish olive skin! I have no idea how to work with this 🤣 I really struggle with foundation and concealer too, anyone here with similar colouring, have you found products and colours that work?
Hi
I don’t know my heritage but i am from Poland, my hair are light red I have black eyes and pale olive skin (I am literally tan golden green color) This is redicuolus combination (especially my eyes) , many years looking for right shade of foundation , up to know no clue.
Having Polish heritage (from both parents), I can identify with having that specific light green/light gold coloured complexion. I previously used to buy ‘NARS Sheer Glow Foundation’ in the shade ‘Ceylan’, but it was discontinued to my dismay! It was the most perfect and enhancing shade for my cool to slightly warm skin tone. No pinky or orange tones, but with a touch of green included. Not too dark like the Mediterranean type olive colour, but a light Slav tone. It was very easy on the eye for me. The colour looked almost invisible on my face because it matched me so well. I don’t know why it was discontinued. I think many women with Slavic backgrounds would look great in the Ceylan shade. I hope it makes a come back. Maybe we should sign a petition???
I’m a little late to the party but thank-you so much for this post! I felt the love all through the post and in the comments section. Olive skin is so beautiful but doesn’t fit well into traditional seasonal colour analysis so we end up feeling weird and left out! I come from a mixed but mostly Eastern European background (Irish, German, Romanian and Ukrainian to be exact). I’m quite fair and olive but have some terracotta-ish overtones as well. Hair is dark brown with gingery-blonde highlights. Eyes are…erm…green, orange and grey close up and not really any distinguishable colour from far away. Needless to say, finding good colour matches for clothes and makeup has been a challenge. Check out Justine Leconte’s youtube video on how to determine which colours looks good on you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbwgkaa3SFY. She totally freed me from the cool / warm trap :)
I saw this post a while ago, and look at it now! Amazing! I love reading everyone’s stories in the comments.
you’ve helped me understand why I gravitated towards deep violets, navy, pale rose, and certain other favorites literally since I was a small child. I almost exclusively wear purple/berry lip shades, even if it’s just a tint. Peach can work for me as well. I have brown/black hair and grey eyes, with pale pale olive skin (Irish, Scottish, Honduran + German ancestry).
I’ve always been asked if I’m sick when I don’t wear under eye concealer and I don’t have bags, just a green/yellow cast with some purple tones as well. As a teenager, I was literally convinced by my family that it was related to my anemia at the time. My younger sister is the same color.
This winter I’ve been mixing together Bobbi Brown serum foundation in Warm Ivory with Tarte Maracuja moisturizer in Light Sand (mostly as light coverage spot and under-eye concealer). It’s very hard to find the right shade for my pale winter skintone. In the summer I use YSL foundation BD40 as concealer or their Touche Eclat stick in #2.
Hi, this thread has been so helpful to me. I’m v pale, Slavic on both sides, with very dark hair and eyes. Choosing makeup colours is hard.
Here are a few products that work for me:
Haus Labs foundation in 50 Fair Cool is my perfect match – has the greenish/cool yellow tone but cut with a little peach warmth.
MAC Studio Fix powder in NW18 – closest match I’ve ever gotten in a powder foundation. Lacks a bit of green but v good.
Lisa Eldridge has a pale olive foundation (shade 2.5). Too green for me so I mix it with her no 4 which has a peach undertone.
NARS radiant creamy concealer in vanilla – exactly as someone in the comments said: you’d think it would be too pink/beige but it’s perfect.
I use Hourglass lightening powders for colour adjustment and the Dim shade works as a subtle bronzer.
How that helps.
Thank you again ❤️
I’m so happy to have found all you ladies with the same tone as me! I never really saw anyone with my coloring! I’m German, Spanish, and English descent, and I have this pale olive skin, dark brown hair, and blue eyes. As a result, nothing ever looks good with both my eyes and skin! Bright colors and pastels would be a horror show and make me look grayish. Matching my eye color works, even though it makes my skin look pretty yellow. I stay away from makeup entirely because finding good colors is just too hard! Winter is easier, but when I get darker in summer, despite my best efforts to stay light, then really nothing looks good! I would love to wear linen or white colors in summer, but I just look odd!
Ha! I have just the opposite problem. Nothing I wear in the winter looks good on me but a tan does wonders for my wardrobe.
MUFE Y225 is not for fair/ pale cool olive skin!
I’m fair/light olive, I have a lot of green and yellow in my skin, but my overal colouring is cool (think Angelina Jolie skintone rather than Mila Kunis ;)). I just got MUFE Ultra HD in Y225 as it seems to be widely recommended for fair/light skintones.
It is too dark and pulls orange on me. Maybe if you are NC20-25 in MAC and warm, it would be ok for you, but if you are more like NC18 and cool yellow/green this will be too dark.
I’m going to try Smashbox 1.05 and NARS Gobi, hopefully these will be better colour matches for me :/
Did you end up trying the smashbox 1.05? It’s THE ONE for me! After years of searching, I can safely say it’s been my go. Its a teeeeny bit light for me, barely noticeable, but matches my jawline perfectly. But it’s probably one of the best out there color wise for us pale olives. The y225 everyone swore by but it was too dark/yellow for me. Especially once it oxidized it was orange. Also have you tried urban decay naked skin? I was wondering about their cg(cool green) undertones. I work at a makeup store on my slow times I wander around looking at underones in foundation! Lol
Hello! Yes, I got both Smashbox 1.05 and NARS Gobi. Both turned out to be too light and made me look like a zombie. Looks like my choice is to be either orange or dead :) (thank goodness I got only samples, I’m Polish and we cannot return used products in Poland – which I know is possible e.g. in the US).
Urban Decay cg30 is what I’m using currently, this and Koh Gen Do 213 are my closest matches – altough both are ever so slightly too dark for me. The undertone in both is amazing though, just the perfect amount of green plus both are quite muted (I’m cool, green&yellow and muted). I guess I will stick to Urban Decay, as said it is only a teeny-tiny bit too dark. I started looking for something else because Koh Gen Do is difficult to get in Poland and it’s very expensive for an everyday foundation. UD cg30 is a beautiful foundation, don’t get me wrong, but my 37-year-old skin needs something more luminous and hydrating
Hey Lolo! Cat again :) I don’t know what’s going on, but today my UD cg30 looks way too dark and clashes with my super green neck (yesterday my neck looked more yellow, jeeez, how can an undertone look different from day to day?!). I know you were interested in this shade, so I thought I’d re-visit my previous comment as I don’t want anyone to get the impression that cg30 will be okay for pale olives. I think I’m not that pale after all – I’m light rather tahn fair. It’s just there are days when I look super pale (hence I thought Nars Gobi and Smashbox 1.05 would be good matches), and on other days I think I’m light-medium hahaha. Olive undertone is sooo confusing!
Hi Cat! I’m quite on the pale side of the olive force too, or at least this is what it looks like as the most ghostly italian you can find in the Bel Paese. I don’t know if I’m really pale pale or just paler then my fine compatriots, so take it with a gram of salt. After 30 years of makeup experiments the most exact shade for the winter version of me is the “Vanilla nude” Bare with me from Nyx. It’s very sheer but there is quite the same shade in the full coverage version – I think is the 1.5, wich should be “Fair” – the price range is quite fairt to, if you feel like experimenting. Hope this help a little bit. :)
The comments on here are so helpful!!! I found my home ☺️ I have struggled my entire adult live with my pale olive skin. The hard part is I’m blonde with blue-gray eyes. I know it comes from my heritage, but doesn’t help me at all. I’m Southern Italian ( grandmother had jet black hair wit blue eyes ), Austrian, German & Russian. Nothing ever looks good on me. I glow in the dark in the winter & I tan in summer. I can wear silver & gold. Both look fine on me, but I’m allergic to gold, so I stick with silver. I also suffer from Rosacea in winter, so everyone just assumed I’m cool tones. Then, I look like giant radish! I work in healthcare and I’m actually happy that we have to wear masks. I don’t even try to wear makeup & most of my face is covered. I’ve just been doing my eyes & nothing else. But, it won’t last forever & then I start my mad search of trying to mix & match foundations again!!!!
Hey! You are the only person I have ever found whose coloring sounds like mine. I am a natural ashy blonde with medium grey-blue eyes, but my skin is super yellow-green. I am light most of the year but can get really tan. I never could figure out what I am! I also feel like I can wear silver or gold, but I have trouble with makeup. I’ve found a lot of reds make me look SUPER green, and pinks make me look weird too. Same as wearing orange- I look sickly! I found one yellow-orange lip color that somehow works. But otherwise, I stay away from color sadly.
Woah! I also have ashy blond hair, grey-blue eyes, and very pale yellow/greenish skin. I have mostly English and Swedish ancestry, so no idea where this green undertone came from. It’s kind of a weird combination, because I’ve always felt like all my features (hair, eyes, and skin) kind of blend together. I love bright colors, but unfortunately I find that they wash me out or make me look sickly, so I stick mostly to neutrals (tried dying my hair red a few years ago, and boy was that a mistake! Back to my natural now). I’ve basically given up on finding a foundation that matches, and I can’t do a bright red lipstick or anything orange or bright pink. But I have found, I can do darker, almost brownish reds. My favorite lip color is the Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in the color Fierce. Muted colors seem to look best. I’ve also been experimenting with light purples and rose pinks for eyeshadow. Nothing too over the top (sadly).
Years ago when I went to a make up school I found out I was cool olive and it is best to match your foundation to your shoulder area. Since my shoulders did not have a lot of sun exposure it was my true color. Cinema secrets and Ben Nye had perfect matches for my light, cool olive skin.
Love this post and all the comments!
Aussie (with Finnish ancestors) pale chick with green skin. People always ask me, “Oh my God, are you sick,” when I don’t wear makeup. So I am relieved it is not just me! I’m off to read all the comments and work out the colours which work for us.
I have noticed that peach blush makes me look healthy and I get heaps of compliments when I wear it. Any other colour does not work, which is sad because I always loved big pink cheeks. Weirdly, peach on clothes looks horrible. Maybe that was my hair when I first tried peach though and I should look again.
For clothes, both black and white made me look like a grey ghoul. Burgundy, creams, beige, dusky pink, antique pink, warm pink etc, pale yellow and purple of all shades are the colours people like on me. Pastels are a big no. I’ve seen emerald and forest green mentioned here a lot as working. I’ve never worn green but I’ll give it a go now!
It’s all pretty confusing with the different types of pale green skin going around too.
I like to use this powder, as it adds that olive cast to my skin that is missing when I use my tinted sunscreen… https://shop.shoppersdrugmart.ca/Luxury/Quo-Beauty/Categories/Beauty/Makeup/Face/Powder/Colour-Correcting-Loose-Powder/p/Q910?utm_campaign=P1_01222021_2021-P1-BB-ACQ-Shopping-Smart~Shopping-Mass-EN-NA-Acquisition-PLA-na&utm_medium=LD_sc&utm_source=google&utm_term=na&utm_content=na_na_na_na_na&gclid=CjwKCAiAg8OBBhA8EiwAlKw3khzjakxlOMzexJOOMrYqLKGWOPIa0t6ZRZ6WFheMJVP6lealR-u6ehoCeHAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Bronze jewelry or a rose-gold works best for me, not silver or gold.
Do you use the green or the yellow tint? I’m assuming the green but I don’t want to try the wrong one. Thanks!
Same for me with the rose-gold!
Hi x many thanks to Loepsie and all who advise on this most wonderful blog xxx I posted about green grey skin tone problems and have taken the extremely kind advice very seriously indeed! I’ve gone all berry,fushia, purple, black (!!) , deep green , dark army green and am on a diet from ‘warm’ mustards, mid brown, orange and yellow – result? I look well, healthy, glowing and happy – (people tell me, with astonished expressions) – well, that’s after 57 years (I’m 58) of people telling my dear mother (yep she even got challenged about her ‘green’ baby when I was in my pram!) and as a child being called an alien or a witch due to my green/grey skin tone !, for 2 weeks now I haven’t looked jaundiced, sickly, anaemic or frail … so a massive thanks to Loepsie and all you fabulous greenies on here xxx psst. Clarins colour corrector in Lavender or Rose is amazing- Rose particularly xxxx
Yes, Clarins color corrector in Lavender is a staple for me in winter when I look more sallow.
And I’m summer, it’s Revlon Skinlight in warm light tinted moisturizer.
Thank you for sharing! I struggle with this too! Except my undertones are very clearly cool (purple-blue veins, skin doesn’t tan at all), however I’ve still got some warm… overtones I suppose? But like you said, makeup always looks either way too yellow, too pink, or too grayish! I don’t really fit the bill for olive-toned either though so who knows haha
I have also heard of peach undertones, but I personally don’t know a lot about them.
My veins at the thinnest skin are purple-blue too. Where the skin is thicker, they look a bit more blue-green because of the yellower overtones. Combining certain cool undertones with typical pale to medium yellowish overtones can give an olive. I didn’t really understand how I could be a cool season with a light olive skin until I read the explanation of overtones and undertones on https://www.simplifiedwardrobe.com/blog/how-to-do-a-color-self-analysis
The best fair/light olive foundations I’ve found are:
Armani Luminous Silk foundation in the color 4 and I mix with 6 when I’m tan. MAC Face and Body in c2 or c3 if tan. And I LOVE Dr Hart Cicapair drops and the one on the tub also. They are a pale cool green and when mixed with any yellow foundation they’re GREAT.
I totally relate to this post. My mother’s family is Ashkenazi Jewish and my father’s side is part Scandinavian and part Swiss. Which means I have my mother’s olive tones, but my father’s ash brown hair and green eyes. Being foundation matched is a nightmare. My best match is MAC Studio Fix Fluid in either NC5 (slightly too light) or NC10 (a tiny bit too dark). I actually think NC7 would be perfect if it existed. Sephora beauty people usually matched me in the past as pink toned, which was all wrong and made me look like a lobster. I also appreciate the neutral tones of Estée Lauder Double wear in 1N1 (porcelain), but like the Studio Fix, it isn’t a perfect match.
Hi…I’m in the same boat. I’m a mix of Italian, Albanian (Eastern European) and Irish. I’m light skin tone in summer and light to med in summer however if I choose to tan I get tremendously dark (brown with yellow undertones). When I’m pale not many foundations match. I usually use a neutral with yellow undertones and sometimes mix a dab of warmer foundation for summer. It seems too work but I think I need a brightening peachy pink powder to make my face more alive because I also have some pink undertones on certain areas of my face. Banana only works if my foundation is on the neautral side. I think blush make be a tad too much color for this effect. My veins too are sometimes blue, purple and teal looking. Rose gold is also my metal of choice. I’m trying to find a light texture powder to achieve this effect. I’m also a cosmetologist who does makeup for a living so I understand this “head scratcher”! Do you have any recommendations for the powder?
Hi Diana, your background is EXACTLY my background, and our skins sounds the same! I am wondering if you could comment as to which foundations you use in the winter and the summer.. my struggle has been lifelong with trying to find good matches and I’ve never met someone who has this same background. Would be thrilled if you responded, thanks!
Finally, someone who has the same issue as I do! I’ve had such a hard time finding foundation, because cool is too pink, warm is too yellow/orange, and neutral is just a smidge too pink/gray. I can’t quite do a totally cool yellow either because I will look gray–I need just a tiny more pink to liven up my skin. I look warm/yellow, but a very yellow foundation will look a bit too warm. People often match me to light/medium foundation, yet people have always said that I’m quite fair.
I finally got around this issue by taking a foundation that’s neutral undertones but a bit too dark, and added some green concealer. Voila, perfect match! I’m a somewhat muted neutral olive. And the right foundation shade makes it clear that yes, I am actually pretty fair, apart from my very tan forehead lol.
I just went looking for green concealer thinking that could be my solution and then I came across this thread. Which green concealer do you use??
OMG so sorry just saw this! I use the LA Girl green concealer.
Thank you!! Using it has changed my foundation! What a great tip from you and now others!!
I am 55 and just figured out I have light olive skin tone. So don’t feel bad that you did at 24, you have me beat! Haha!
Your story sounds like mine, I never dreamed I had olive skin. I thought that was something exotic women had.
Its funny, my green undertones are most obvious to me when I compare my hand to my Italian/Asian husbands hand. You would think HE would have olive skin, not me. My ancestry is Irish/UK/Germany.
I have been trying to find out where I fit in this color type thing since it began. I first thought I was a “winter” but that didn’t feel quite right, the colors were too intense. Then I thought maybe I was a “warm” like a ” deep Autumn” , but I finally came to the conclusion that I didn’t fit into any of those neat little categories.
Even since I was told I have Olive skin, I am STILL struggling to find makeup and clothing colors. I hope to find lots of advice here ! Thank you for posting !!
Brenna, I’m just turned 56 and I just figured this out, too!!! I always knew I had olive skin…because my mother pointed it out since I was young… and I tanned easily… but I only recently realized I look best untanned with this bizarre…and LIGHT (talk about denial!) skin tone. Maybe now I’ll find which colors are best… this article, Lucy, really has helped! Thank you both… and all!!
You have had my EXACT experience. My mother has always told me I was olive toned and I tanned like a mad when I was young because I hated how green I look when I’m pale. Now I have spent many thousands of dollars on tattoos so avoid the sun like the plague and have struggled to find foundation that doesn’t clash with my light olive skin. I usually go for the lightest two foundation shades and try to warm up my complexion with blush. But contouring has evaded me because the color is never quite right. As a teen in the 80s I had my “colors done” and I was a “winter” so I carried that little swatch sample around forever. I look great in black and jewel tones but not in orange, pastels or white. I only wear silver, steel or brass jewelry.
I’m 44 and I just found this out…lol. I have Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, German, French, and Belgium backgrounds. Nobody has ever matched my skin tone.
I’m Chinese/Hawaiian, Italian decent so I’m a yellow-green when I get paler in the cold winters in DE, USA.
Thanks for sharing! These tips are helpful!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! FINALLY! Now it makes sense all those cool and warm undertone charts and colour seasons never mafe sense! And yes, me too I looktruly horrible in orange….
My ancestors come from South-East Europe, Greece and around the Black Sea.
So happy to finally know! But not sure if it’s going to help me find the perfect foundation shade – as the majority of products is just nit made for “us” ?
But maybe….there’s a little glimmer of hope… 🙂
Hi everyone, I think I have pale olive skin too (but still unsure). I’m Portuguese and I have dark green eyes, and dark brown hair and I’m considerably darker than my parents, siblings and other family members who are your typical tanned live skinned, I struggle to find make up that matches my skin tone and my vains are both green and purplely blue, I’ve found that pastel colours wash me out and I like myself in darker Jewel colours like purples, burgundy red, Royal blue etc, but as I’ve said still unsure as I can not see if I have pink, yellows or green undertones x
hello from a fellow pale olive portuguese girl! It sounds like you have all the right problems that point to olive (especially the aversion to pastel which is the signature in my opinion lol) I’ve found that really natural earthy tones, as well as jewel tones, look amazing on me–clothes and makeup! One of my favorite blushes is the glossier cloud paint in the shade storm :)
I think I could’ve wrote this lol. I’m a quarter Portuguese—and probably a good deal lighter than you—but I have the same hair colour, eye colour and I suit those colours. I can’t seem to figure out my undertones either.
Same struggles here! I have the added problem of my face and neck being a totally different color than my arms and legs. My face definitely has a greenish cast, but my forearms, hands and legs are blue-pink and kind of translucent. (If I put my hands next to my face, you can really see the pink/green difference – they don’t even look like they belong to me! My veins in my wrist are blue and purple, and I look much better in jewel tones, icy toney, cool neutrals, black and white with silver jewelry (Winter coloring), however I can pull off some warmer tones if there is enough contrast and gold jewelry if no too orange. Hair is naturally med-ash brown, colored cool, very dark brown, and my eyes are dark hazel-green, but more forest green than warm green. Ethnic background is Chinese, Filipino, English, Dutch and German.
As far as foundation goes, it is a nightmare – most turn orangey or pink. Makeup artists often put me in a shade too dark because I look like a I have a lot of color, but I’m quite fair. Lighting has a lot to do with how my skin tone looks too. I’ve tried NYX Bare With me in Vanilla Nude, and it gives me a slightly too yellow cast, and oxidizes a touch dark, NARS Gobi makes me look kind of bright cool yellow, Koh Gen Doh is too dark. What is working fairly well is Revlon Photoready Candid in 120 Buff, although it is a teeny bit dark when it dries down, or a 60/40 mix of Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation Stick in Cool Ivory (prefect when I have a slight tan) and the same stick formula in Neutral Porcelain. Both are great for my dry, sensitive, 46 year-old skin. I’ve tried to use blue mixer to tone-correct yellow/orange foundations too, but its just too much work most days to get it right. This past year I stepped my skincare and had IPL to remove spots and broken capillaries, so I actually don’t need foundation most days. I HAVE found concealers that work for my dark blue/purple/gray under eye circles and for my face when I need it.
Undereye holy grail concealer (it is water/tear resistant too) – Bobbi Brown Corrector in Extra-Light Bisque and Bobbi Brown Concealer in Warm Ivory (the thick cream one in pot, not the liquid with wand), in a 2:1 ratio (more of the pinky corrector) -use light layers. I set it lightly with Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Power in 1. I’ve been using this for over 10 years and nothing else compares for me.
Facial Concealer: (1) Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage in 1 works for cool olive skin. The left side look quite pink, but the right side is very light COOL yellow. It’s way pale, but when mixed with some of the pink-beige color it just disappears into my skin. It is a wax-based formula that starts off dry, but just warm it up on your hand first. Use light strokes to blend and pat, and don’t cake it on – a little goes a long way. (2) I recently tried NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla, and while it seems like it might be too pinky-beige, for some reason it just works for me and blends beautifully.
Colored make-up is a struggle too since colors often look harsh or muddy against my skin tone. Even ones that suit my coloring just make me took too “made-up” which is not really appropriate for my conservative work environment (even on Zoom all day). Chanel Maggy and Mademoiselle a beautiful but I hate the rose fragrance/flavor. Maybelline Superstay lip Crayon in Lead the Way (warmer) and Stay Exceptional (cooler, a little dark) are pretty good, not too drying, and don’t transfer to a mask, but its fragrance is too strong. I usually have to mix lip colors to get to something that works. Blushes that work right now are: Chanel Rosewood applied lightly with a duo fiber brush, Wayne Goss Blush Peony blush/highlighter duo, Bobbi Brown Pale Pink for a pop of cool bright pink, L’Oreal True Match Blush in Baby Blossom (C1-2), Tender Rose (C3-4), Precious Peach (N1-2), and Innocent Flush (N3-4) (these have slight shimmer), Stila Lilium (cream blush), Milani Romantic Rose (very neutral muted rose).
I hope this helps someone!
This is so incredibly helpful for me! With the pandemic, I’m so pale and I’ve come to realize how olive toned. As a 50yo, starting from scratch isn’t easy since certain formulations just don’t work on my skin anymore
Thank you fortaking time and writting this – I followed your advise and rwvlon 120 turned out to be a perfect match and formula for my skin! I like it better than my favourite EL DW in shade 1W1 bone due to gel like formula! It blurs my pores which EL doesnt. Thank you! I will try other cosmetics you reccomended , Happy New Year!!
Having a typically Polish/Slavic version of skin tone, it is moderately light, very light golden with a slightly green undertone which may sometimes be considered cool or warm toned, but generally cool. I have medium brown hair and blue-green eyes. Most colours suit me, but I sometimes look washed out in some pastels. All jewellery tones generally suit me.
Yet, I also tend to have a hard time looking for the ideal shade of liquid foundation makeup without it looking too pinky, muddy, orange or yellow and masky.
However, some years ago I had found the most perfect foundation for my skin tone: ‘NARS Sheer Glow Foundation’ in – Ceylan! It perfectly matched my skin tone like a dream and evenly disappeared into my skin, while giving me a flattering and harmonising appearance which seemed easy on MY eyes.
But . . . some time later my ideal Liquid Foundation was discontinued. I tried the other NARS foundation version in Ceylan (one of the few which were left), but the colour was just not the same. Then, the Makeup lady at Mecca recommended the ‘Deauville’ shade, but that one is slightly too pinky.
Oh, how I wish NARS would bring back that Sheer Glow – Ceylan . . .
Yet, today I am looking for an equivalent and I have been recommended the following via Mecca Chat app online: Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r – 140 or 145, Huda Faux Filter – Creme Brulee, Dior Backstage Face & Body Foundation – 2W . . .
Hmmm, what Foundations does ‘Mila Kunis’ use?
Will get samples when I visit Mecca next time. Hope, I find a perfect match. Will get back to readers with the results!
I’ve found my people! I have light olive skin, soft black hair and very deep brown eyes. Finding foundation has always been a struggle, but I recently bit the bullet and bought Ken Gen Do’s 213. Fingers crossed it’s a good match. Otherwise, Deauville from Nars does a pretty decent job.
I see a lot of people talking about how hard it is to find colors that work well with your olive tone. I’ve read that olive tones are often mistaken for a warm tone when really, they’re a cool tone. When looking for colors that suit you, it’s the undertone that matters and olive has a blue undertone with a yellow overtone (giving that green hue). But since it’s the blue that’s the undertone, you should look for colors with a cool undertone.
In that instance, the summer and winter palettes are the most likely to work depending on the rest of your coloring. I’m a deep/dark winter under this system and I do find that those colors work really well for me. Some colors on the deep/dark autumn palette work well too.
I have light olive skin (Native American, French, English, Irish) with so many colors and seasonal variations that I’m constantly adjusting my color palette, but I find that I can find a way to work in just about any color. Personally, I favor the actual color olive green for clothing, but I think, if you love a particular color or item of clothing, you can probably make it work with complementary makeup and accessories. Keep an open mind about the “look” you’re going for, and perhaps embrace a somewhat exotic result that may have a striking effect.
Hi again :)
Can I ask, if a ‘pale olive’ wanted a flattering green to wear (clothing, not makeup), what green would anyone go for? Im currently looking at a bright ‘meadow’ green…Im desperately trying to think its okay (as it makes my amber brown eyes look more dark brown :) but….my husband says it makes my face look sallow and ill…
But…:) oh my gosh, I just may be onto a winner with the dark bitter chocolate (Hickory Brown) cardigan…AND the very dark red (with blue undertones) cardigan! (to wear both with a top in dark black/dark pinks/bits of pale biscuit colours – Confetti print from FatFace UK). This is as a result of this marvellous website :)
I have the best luck with jewel tone greens- rich emerald and dark forest green. Complements my hair beautifully. These might not work for you, but it’s worth a try!
I am not sure if I’m a light olive, warm, or neutral. I tan very well in summer with a very golden glow, but I also get pale very quickly in winter (where I live has very few winter days with sunshine and it is often below 35 F November-April.)
I would consider myself light skin toned in winter and medium in the summer. I can easily get away with warm foundations when I have my tan, but every winter I am ghostly pale. I also have a lot of face redness which I think is hard to look past when trying to figure out my undertone. When I walk into Ulta or Sephora in the cool months looking for foundation almost every consultant says I am cool or neutral. A few have seen warm because of the yellow skin. No one thinks I’m olive. I don’t think having blue eyes and being lighter skinned help either. Whenever I use cool or neutral light shades I look like a dead ghost. It also doesn’t cover up my redness very well. When I go to warm shades it looks like the right depth but too yellow, like slight jaundice. I am tired of having the winter jaw line from foundation skin mismatch.
My skin definitely is a different shade than most lighter skinned people I know, but I’m not sure if it’s more green or yellow. My veins are mostly green but a few look slightly purple or blue in the wrist. I look best in gold jewelry but silver and gold both look good. The white paper to the face doesn’t seem to work with me-I can’t tell if I look the same, pink, yellow, etc.
I recently spent 5 hrs in Ulta buying foundation and trying it on in the car and then returning every single one because it didn’t match. We can’t try on in store due to Covid-19 right now…I found that my NYX green light to medium color correcting CC cream works better at matching and getting rid of redness than everything I tried from Ulta.
I have such a hard time looking past my redness in my face that I decided to focus on my neck just under my jaw. I compared it to your picture above and I was a little surprised when the two photos almost exactly match. I took mine in my bedroom just to the left of a south facing window in a rare winter’s sunny day. Do you think I’m olive too, or something else?
also, I would love to post the photo but I’m not sure I can here.
I think my colouring sounds like yours you might be a soft summer like myself but one shade in the soft summer i can’t wear is bluesy gray hope this helps
Same!
Dear Lucy x Hi and thank you SO much for your beautiful website and for this amazing and kind article. You have solved a lifetime of struggles for me! You are SO right about the rich emerald and dark forest green – they seem to cancel out the awful grey tone for my pale olive green skin and make it look more ‘luminous’ in a nice way. My (amber) eyes don’t look so orange, more darker brown and as I still have naturally dark brown hair, the green makes it look richer too. I am steering away now from teal and light/mid grass green I asked you about, as they definitely contain yellow – which completely makes me look grey/green. A lovely reviewer of yours, Camila, advised on berry and fuchsia – they are really good too on me. I can finally find flattering colours for me now that I have escaped from my former fixation error that those of us mistakenly labelled as warm colouring ‘should’ wear ‘warm’ tones of clothes and makeup (or that those of us who are light/pale olive ‘should’ wear bright colours) – your discovery of us ‘green’ folk deserves a Peace prize! Thank you so much xxx
I think I have a pale olive skin tone. Foundations that have almost a grayish tinge to them look best on me and I have golden blond hair and gray blue eyes so this may not work for you but here’s what works for me. Out of any color (not just greens) I’ve worn, army green has gotten me the most compliments. A nice deeper hunter green and muted greens like sage also look good on me.
I get it. I tried wearing lime green and looked jaundiced, which is odd because I can basically wear any shade of yellow, but a yellowish green? Yeah, no. I can wear greens that are more on the blue side. Maybe you could try that?
I have light olive skin (Native American, French, English, Irish) with so many colors and seasonal variations that I’m constantly adjusting my color palette, but I find that I can find a way to work in just about any color. Personally, I favor the actual color olive green for clothing, but I think, if you love a particular color or item of clothing, you can probably make it work with complementary makeup and accessories. Keep an open mind about the “look” you’re going for, and perhaps embrace a somewhat exotic result that may have a striking effect.
You could try a light sage green. That is the green color I get complemented on.
Hi everyone :) Great relief at 58, after many years of unkind comments such as: “you look sickly, liverish, jaundiced, pale, swarthy, sallow (always sallow), yellow, not exactly an English Rose” etc and 4 colour consultations messing with my self-image by “Autumn! Summer? Winter…?” and then the struggle of returning mounds of clothes and makeup over the years as on the website ‘similar’ colour model, in natural daylight, make me look liverish and ill…and then of course, the happy family and occasion photos…which just make me sad as I look grim! Yes, I’m an overlooked and confused pale olive too – Welsh, Irish, French and German DNA with dark brown hair, medium brown Amber eyes and pale olive green skin now with sun damage (years of desperation to look ‘healthily tanned). I remember, in the 70’s, before tanning in my teens, plastering my face with neat lemon juice in an attempt to go ‘English Rose’ and delicate rather than ‘swarthy’ in the summer and vampire in the winter! Didnt work!
Here I am now, in lockdown, with a pile of cardigans – do I have dark wine red, bright grass green or bitter dark chocolate? I tried camel and blush (and dark mustard – oh dear!) last month, which made me look coffin-ready! I also have blouses in black, dark pink and dark grey or brown (with uggh yellow bits). I’m getting ready to pack most up for return and stick to my charcoal grey or dark teal…but I SO want to look jolly and energised…any ideas please xxx
I’m a pale olive (austrian, german, spanish, british, native american roots). For me emerald or forest green, deep muted blue, coolish bourdeaux, deep berries work the best. Antracite grey is ok, black overwhelms me, but I wear it anyway. For makeup, I’ve figured out lipstick so far: cool reds, from a true red to deeper shades look great. Berries and coolish, dusty roses look the best and really brighten my skin. Fuchsia works as well. I’ve realized, that colors that are just slightly on the cool side look the best and I can wear the bright version of it. If the color is very cool, like purple or blue, I need it to be deeper and more muted. For me it’s deeper, because I have a lot of contrast in my coloring, but lighter colors might work for you.
Dear Camila x Thank you SO much x I’m going to try some of ‘your’ colours and in fact I just have, with success! Deep berry, fuchsia, soft wine and indeed, the muted versions (nothing ‘crisp’ or extremely blue) of purple DO actually stall the incredible green/grey tone of my skin. It was a big nasty shock to go outside in the stark cruel winter sun at midday & take pics of myself in ‘usual’ clothing colours (just to ‘see’ the extent of my mistakes ha ha! and the positive possibilities of some flattering colours (from my husbands jumpers/tops) – I learnt that my precious browns (even the hickory brown) and ‘warm’ colours (everything with a yellow or agggh! mustard warm) tone is going to charity donations) are the culprits, whilst purply colours help stall the green (alien) image. The fuchsia (I didn’t have anything pink to try out, so I held a book with a fuchsia cover up to my face) and deep berry are incredibly flattering, as is forest and emerald green, in small amounts. Cant thank you enough for these wonderful ideas. Off to the charity shop later and then, some (frugal, modest searching for berry toned tops)!
I hesitate to offer a suggestion without seeing you, but it sounds like deep winter colors if dark teal and charcoal grey are your go-to colors. Have you tried a dark grape or blackberry? Maybe a rich royal with a touch of black added? I suspect dark pine greens that have a hint of blue (not yellow) might look good.
I am so happy I found this article as the struggle is VERY REAL! I have spent so much money on face makeup only to have it look too pink, or too yellow, or make my skin look INCREDIBLY paler than what it is! It is nearly impossible to find a face makeup that matches my skin tone. What makes this more challenging for me to find face makeup is I have very dark hair, dark eyes, and very dark circles under my eyes. When reading this, I have a new sense of hope! I have the Urban the Urban Decay palates listed above and noticed they look best on me in comparison to other eyeshadow palates I own. I will have to try the face makeup, and I will read through everyone’s comments. Maybe I can find something that will work and if so a big thanks to the person who recommended it!
40 years old and finally the struggle is OVER! I had no idea green undertones were a thing, but after years of poorly matched foundation, it all makes sense.
Apparently Tina Fey is one of us: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.allure.com/story/tina-fey-people-interview/amp “ ‘I feel like my body just wants to be light green—pale with green undertones—so it would reject it.’ We’ve never heard of green undertones before, but for some reason, we feel like we can definitely relate to Fey when it comes to that special skin color.” You know the struggle is real when a beauty mag has never heard of you undertones.
Just ordered some Fenty 130 and 145, fingers crossed! So glad I googled “pale olive undertones” on a hunch and found this validation and advice. Cheers my sisters!
I wanted to love Fenty. But it’s trash. I have both 130 & 145. They categorized it as “warm olive” when in fact olive is a cool tone. On top of that, the formula oxidizes like crazy. 🙃
The Osmosis brand has a base powder makeup in the color “Olive.” It is the best match I have ever found. Pictures of it online make it look quite greenish, but in person, it is more neutral looking. I am light skinned with hazel brown eyes. I am not sure if I am cool or warm toned, but probably leaning cool. I seem to look better in warmer eyeshadows and blush and cooler lipsticks. I never got matched correctly for foundation, so usually just wore a tinted sunscreen or moisturizer and always wonder whether I was just too picky or why nothing worked! I have trouble with lipstick too. I had dark ash brown/black hair, but now it is bright silver white. I have so many products that should have been good on me, but finding the right ones have been challenging. Happy with the Osmosis product, not only the color match, but it is also a great quality foundation powder.
This article is a godsend to many. I recently hit thirty and only now realized what was going on after spending years thinking I was either warm or cool-toned because some colors from either side looked good on me, resulting in a lot of trial and error (and the purchase of a lot of useless products).
I’m a make-up lover, and have tried a LOT of lipsticks in my life. Here’s my tried-and-tested picks for a very pale olive:
– NYX Lip Lingerie matte lipstick in “Seduction” – a nice medium nude, the only one from the entire line I can pull off
– MAC matte lipstick in “Taupe” and “Whirl” – both are brownish nudes that compliment the skin tone
– MAC matte lipstick in “Chili” – the ONLY red I’ve ever managed to get to work for me without being too orange or too pinkish
– L’Oreal Free the Nude in “No cage”, another medium nude
– Rimmel Stay Matte in “Moca” – pale, slightly beige nude
– Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink in “Seductress” – a long-wear medium nude
Hopefully this will help those who are struggling to find shades that work for them!
Thank you so much for this thorough list!!
I send you a virtual glass of the finest, coldest beer in gratitude. You’re the best!
Hello my light olive sisters,
Dear Author,
Can you share with me your red lipstick shade from the photos in this article. Forever on the search for THE red. It was so much easier in the 90s when brown reds were available.
The neutral or brown reds in stores now just look pink on me.
This is probably not what she used, but I have the pale olive dilemma with my own skin and the red I use is Kat von D shade called Nahz Fur Atoo. It is perfect!
Hi Jeni, just my two cents: reds that are cool (ish) but do not turn pink on me ever are viva glam i and russian red from mac, and velvet jazz from Lisa Eldridge. The mac ones are also easier to find, as the Lisa Eldridge one is only available on her website and with shipping and all it can get pricey.
Hey Jeni, might I suggest Tom Ford Velvet Cherry or Lisa Eldridge Velvet Jazz? They are both muted reds with a hint of brown and don’t bring out the reddish tones in my face (pale olive skin that flushes and has reddish cheeks…which clashes with green skin when I’m pale…I have to keep a slight base tan to even everything out…the struggle is real). Weirdly Urban Decay 714 works on me, even though it is a warmer red. NARS Cruella and NYX Snow White are also good muted reds with a hint of brown which keep them from going too pink on me. Mostly I avoid red lipsticks because they inevitably bring out the red in my face, but all of these have worked for me in the past.
For a 90s brownish-red lipstick, how about Revlon’s Super Lustrous Lipstick in the shade “Toast of New York”? I hear it was very popular in the 90s and is still being produced.
I’d really like to try it myself, but as a cool pale olive, I’m wondering if it might look too warm in me. But it looks promising, at least for warmer olives.
Hey this is so cool.
Didn’t find out I had olive skin until someone working in makeup store who is a dark olive recognized my undertone last year. No wonder I never felt good at makeup or dressing myself! 🙃
I have Portuguese, Latin American (Brazil) and German ancestry. I think I get my olive skin from my Iberian side, seems common in Mediterranean areas. I’m pale with hazel eyes (that turn green sometimes! My mom has green eyes), chestnut brown hair with some red and blonde mixed in there. Actually a hairdresser once told me I’m a blonde even though I have brown hair. Someone explain?? I look best in warm purples, reds, magentas, pinks and greens (like emerald and teal). I don’t wear much jewelry so I have no idea re: gold vs. silver.
I feel like I have the same skin tone as the OP based on her pics and wonder what foundation shades she uses! I’ve bounced between fair and light tarte shades but they never felt *quite* right.
Hey! I don’t currently use foundation, that’s why I don’t have my own recommendations in the post. Some days I’ll use NYX Bare With Me tinted skin veil in Vanilla Nude as a base layer, and I loved Bourjois Healthy Mix in Vanilla when I did wear foundation :)
Hi, if you’re looking for a foundation you should look at Fenty Beauty. They’re the first brand I’ve found that have foundation with fair and light olive undertones :)
Hi, first off, you are absolutely stunning. I see that green and it’s lovely. I’ve always been green and it’s so nice to see it recognized!
I’m mexican with medium-light olive skin and matching has always been a nightmare. Everything is always gray or too orange. People at sephora and ulta always try to give me the wrong color. It’s just always a mess. I finally found a color that kinda matched me in Clinique’s line, but I’m trying to change my products to be vegan and not tested on animals so I have to find a new one and delving into this nightmare is just… so frustrating. I wonder if I can just buy foundation pigments by themselves and mix my own. Lol. Or atleast add lots of green to the ones I have.
I’ve turned to just trying to heal my skin enough so that I can go without foundation. Even if I have the pores, the scars, and the patchy skin I won’t be orange anymore.
Oh, hy there!
My name is also Nora and I had the same struggles ! :))
I was studying in art school since 5th grade, now I’m an art teacher and I can say that I have the talent to recognize any undertone color, except mine… than I’ve found out that green-olive undertone is a thing and exists in makeup too and I started to mix up some shades: I bought from Revolution Conceal and Define foundation shade 5.7 for olive undertoned skin and a pure white shade to lighten it up, because the winter is coming and my skin gets paler and greener (but in the summer I bronze very well).
I have a lot of Italian and Eastern European ancestry and CoverFX’s G+40 shade was the first foundation I’ve ever tried (at age 50, two years ago) that’s ever matched my skin. Depending on how light they make their G+ shades, they may be a good choice for you as well.
Almost everything in my closet is: black, navy, charcoal gray, dark chocolate brown, brownish burgundy, deep rust, deep teal, dark olive — I had to dye many of the items myself (wool dyeing is a pain, but the results are worth it IMO). (There’s also some indigo (mostly denim) and a few warmish light neutrals (mostly hats) in there as well) I didn’t realize it at the time, but all of the colors that I picked seem to be considered “neutrals” by at least one color analyst somewhere online, and I track as a “deep autumn” or “dark autumn” depending on which seasonal color analysis one goes by. Your skin is lighter than mine and I perceive you as cooler toned than I am, so you may want to consider “Dark Winter”/”Deep Winter” for inspiration as well as (or instead of?) deep/dark autumn.
For blush and lipstick, if there’s “mauve” in the name and it’s not too dark, it probably looks good on me. “Rose” is typically a good sign as well for both. “Champagne” and “bronze” as well as neutralish browns are usually good for lips and around my eyes. (My eyes are very dark brown rather than hazel like yours, so while I’m tempted to make eyeshadow recommendations beyond that, I won’t :) )
My hair’s warm to neutral dark brown naturally and I like that, but have also been happy with burgundy and burgundy/plum out of a box as well as burgundy/warm magenta balayage from a salon. If your job and lifestyle permit unnatural colors, one or more of those might be fun to try :)
Me tooooo! Cool tone foundation makes me look like night of the living dead ; and warm makeup sits on top of my skin and looks yellow. I’ve always considered my color season to be soft autumn. My mother always called me her golden child because even with my light skin, I tan a very deep brown. My eyes are medium brown with gold, and my hair is another issue altogether, sometimes it looked like cool steel, and other times chestnut and golden, burnished bronze even, but unfortunately, due to the issue of looking a little sallow in the winter, I’ve been bleaching and highlighting my hair blonde since I was a younger child, my mother started lightening my hair when I was around 7.. which is very sad because I actually think my natural hair color was beautiful, and it was me. Now I can never go back to it since I’ve started turning gray/white/silver at the roots. I’m so glad you posted this though!! Currently my foundation color is true match neutral 2 and 3 mixed together, its not too bad. When I have a tan I can wear warm tan foundation. And back when it was available, one of the max factor lighter warm color pan stick foundations looked really good on me in the cooler months. I would love to try an olive foundation and see what it does.
My blush is peach and my lips look best with mauvey pink colors. I love to wear navy blue, khaki, dark brown, teal, mauve and certain blacks and colors that are heathered.
Hey there. I appreciate your struggle, mine is similar but on top of having pale olive skin I have neutral pink tones too. For buying makeup, the best thing is to take a picture of a portion of your skin, probably best would be the inside upper part of your forearm just below the elbow crease, and take it with you when shopping for foundation. It is so hard to tell your color in the cosmetic section mirror or a handheld one. You already know the clothing colors that work for you. Best regards, Mary T.
I thought I was the only woman in the world with this problem. I am pale, but i’m not. I’m not cool, warm or neutral. I look horrible is most colors. Bright colors are the worst. I find if I have any luck at all, I seem to be able to pull off drab colors the best. Navy blue seems to e my newfound go-to color. Although I said I mostly look good in drab colors, I noticed I looked sick when trying on ivory wedding dresses, but looked great in white wedding dresses. I don’t look good in either gold or silver, but if I had to choose one jewelry color to wear, I look better in silver. When I highlight or bleach my hair, cool tones make me look dead and grayish. A nice warm golden strawberry blonde looks wonderful on my skin and compliments my skin beautifully. However, finding something to wear that also looks good with that shade of hair is difficult. Good luck! I don’t feel so alone now.
This is me too. I look great in black, white, navy, charcoal, true red (bluer undertone red, no orange or bright undertone). Some soft pink, and one particular deep coloured camel can be good if I have a bit of a tan. That is the extent of good colours for me. I hope that helps.
Hi! I’m naturally a golden strawberry blonde French-Gaelic girl with pale olive skin. I have medium brown eyes. To add to the color matching problem, i have very mild Rosacea. I definetly can’t wear a black skirt, i look sickly pale unless i’ve got tanner on. I like Isle of paradise tanning drops. Anyone burn easily too? I wear a cooler foundation. Your tips are appreciated! So glad I have found this site.
Hey! I’m 100% Slavic/Eastern European, but burn easily and can’t tan to save my life and my hair sounds kind of similar– it’s a strawberry blonde but somewhere between gold and ashy? So happy I found all of you! This weird predicament of being pale, green, and cool but not too cool?! Maddening.
I had always known I was olive, but the warm / cool spectrum seemed almost impossible to determine. I generally fit neutral but finally realized that I lean much more toward cool and I look so much better in cool clothing and makeup.
Having naturally dark blonde hair (level 7) that almost matched my skin & unusually dark brown almost black eyes, there was no clear cut category for me. I recently had my hair colored dark ashy brown and wow– my skin just popped! Like 100% clearly cool and so much more flattering. In fact, most everyone thinks this is my natural color and that I was coloring it before.
On the flip side, if I am tan, I can get away with some warms. Since I stay out of the sun these days that doesn’t really matter.
So anyone who is light cool olive, please share your resources! I can hardly find anything for this specific trait online.
PS. I tried black hair once and it was way too harsh, making me think I couldn’t handle dark brown…so wrong. Good luck all : )
I have similar coloring to you. I’ve tried black and dark red hair before, it was just awful!! Level 9 blonde hair with blue undertones looks amazing and silver/gray blue eye shadow also makes my eyes pop, with teal in the outer corner.. Navy blue eyeliner.
I want to try dark brown hair. Do you know what shade you used?
Looking at pictures of myself as a child, my hair/skin/eyes/and brownie uniform all matched-the same color! I was level 6 hair shade dark dark blonde/shiny brown.
Wow love that post! I can’t believe how many of us have that skin tone and we still struggle to find makeup that is not just meant for pink undertones. I myself have pale golden olive skin and i just don’t wear makeup or if I really want to, I put green and yellow foundation corrector before applying a neutral pale foundation. But some people told me to look for makeup from other countries like maybe korea? Seems like they’re really advanced on everything more esthetic and skin healthcare. Sorry if the english is not quite right, I’m french-canadian :)
Ahh! I’ve been struggling to classify my skin-tone for a WHILE now and only recently (pretty darn sure) correctly identified it as… pale olive. It’s frustrating because it’s not talked about and even many (most?) beauty and make-up brands don’t acknowledge it as an option. Every branded online skin tone ‘test’ I’ve ever taken has not provided the pale-shade + olive-undertone combination as an option that actually exists–and these are the people that should know better–but…. as we all know… it does exist. :p
My father is of northwestern European (Welsh/British & Germanic?) ancestry, but he’s pure pale tomato (incapable of developing the SLIGHTEST tan) and I believe my skin tone much more strongly reflects that of my mother who was of Eastern European (Belarussian-ish?) ancestry, but actually… Jewish so *anciently* ancestrally, Middle Eastern. Seems to line up with many of you out there and I’m under the impression that a good chunk of Eastern European/Ashkenazi Jews also have the same quite pale skin with olive undertones.
I am capable of tanning VERY well, but I definitely fully burn first. E.g. as a child, spending most of my summers outside and swimming at our local pool, I could get VERY dark and have been mistaken for Latina (most often Puerto Rican, but occasionally a country of darker average skin complexion) countless times, though only in late August/September and only when I was still in school and thus spent my summers outdoors more than I do now. Contrary to that, I absolutely burn… first…. especially now since I haven’t spent extended periods of time in the sun like I did when I was kid. I nearly always burn first (sometimes bad if I’m not careful), but after the burn ‘heals’ it always turns into a nice base tan layer. Also, on the rare occasion when I have the opportunity to actually develop that base layer and then continue spending time in the sun, it’s subsequently extremely easy for me to continue to tan much further. I’m under the impression that post- base layer, I tan faster than nearly every other person of (northern) European descent that I know.
I was confused for so long because different signs pointed to warm vs cool so I assumed I must be neutral (cause “those are the only options” for us pale skinners). Yet every time I tried foundation for pale neutral skin tones, I looked terrible. I think if you had to pick a ‘tint’ or a ‘side’, I’m a hair on the “warm side” of olive, e.g. I most definitely look good in gold jewelry (and eye-shadow), and most definitely do NOT take to silver or even rose-gold jewelry & tones. On the flip side, though, somewhat similar to the author, when I look at my wrist veins, some are CLEARLY purple, but then the rest are obviously green-ish blue, which might suggest neutral-to-cool undertones?
Similarly with makeup… because I have blue-green eyes, when I was younger, I always thought I should look good in jewel tones… Nope. I look like an 80’s plastic doll version of an old lady in any blue/green/purple shading. So I must be warm right? Plus the gold jewelry suggesting a warm undertone ? Nahhh… disproven by seeing myself in bolder warm red/orange tones. Yuck. Just gold is “gold”.
With lipstick, anything pink (cool) or peach (warm) or ‘light’ (or even medium shades) at all just washes me out completely and I look like an alien. Going darker and using the gold working as a ‘warm’ hint, I tried coral, but of course, just makes me orange. I had this instinct for a while that pure solid red should be better, but again pure red just does the orange-y thing. The berry colors for cooler skin-tones are acceptable, suggesting a cooler undertone, however I need to keep it dark. Ultimately, it’s a little my eyes are a muted warm-tone while my lips are a muted cool-tone (and both require strong vs light shading).
All this sums up to the fact that until now, the online instructions have been… confusing… and very good at making me feel like an idiot. As I read others’ posts, I think all this may actually suggest that many of us pale-olivers have evidence that point to totally divergent undertone classifications depending on which signal we’re reading. So perhaps… the variance in those signals is a signal in and of itself of olive undertones?
In terms of makeup that actually works… over time, I’ve discovered that my acceptable eye-shadow palette is super limited to just (darker than tan) brown eye-shadow tones or dull bronze/gold or a just white-ish highlighter accent. If I try a cinnamon-y or even copper eyeshadow, I’ve already gone way too far. I wish I could wear more bold and experimental colors, but, though limited, at least I’m now confident about what looks good (re: not alien-level abnormal). I’m told that of a ‘jewel’ like color, teal (NOT green or blue) can actually look quite good with olive skin, but I’m a little nervous given past experiences and I suspect the shade of teal needs to be quite precise. For lipstick, the berries are acceptable, but they’re much better with a reddish-brown tint vs. on the purple side. As such, wine, burgundy, and maroon are the best. Plum is fine too but starts to “push it”. Pure brown colors without the ‘berry part’ are another no-no.
I love this post. I am from Romania, so.. eastern Europe, same type of skin, pale, olive, tans easily, but looks really light during winter, especially on my face. I usually choose foundations with a bit of yellow, I like the ones by Sephora because they say on it if it’s neureal, or yellow, and I found a great korean BB cream, that I use only in the summer, as it’s quite dark, but not orange – Dr Jart BB cream.
If you have anymore suggestions for not so expensive foundations, not like Armani, with a light-medium coverage, I would appreciate it.
Also, I am lipstick obsessed, and I just found a great one, a muted neutral berry/red from MAC- Brick-o-la, its so great! Also, I never seem to find a hair colour I can stick to. When I had chestnut hair, reddish, I hated it, but it looked good in photos apparently, and now I have a sort of balayage, that always goes a little orange over time, but it’s like a caramel colour that seems to lighten my features and I like it. But somehow I still like the contrast dark brown hair does for me, it makes me look a little asian, as I have almondy eyes… ah. And I really want to go blonder but I’m afraid it won’t look good on me. It’s hard to be a girl :))
xoxo
I have pale olive skin and, just like you, I love brick-o-la MAC lipstick, and also struggle with my hair Color.
Years ago, when I was in Europe, I was mistaken as a romanian and another time from eastern europe – I’m brazilian. I couldn’t Understand why, Now I think It must be the skin undertone 😁
Heyy salut!
Same situation from the same country, Romania :))). What I’m trying to do when it comes to foundation is: I get one shade that has olive undertone and if it’s too dark for wintertime, I lighten up with a pure white foundation, for example (and these are more affordable brands, but decent products): Revolution Conceal and Define foundation shade f 5.7 + Revolution Conceal and Define foundation shade f 0.
<3
Hi! Same here, always trying to figure out my rare, pale skin tone. I’m latin american, also with some eastern europe background… interesting how many of us have the same rare tone and common background. I get burned quickly under the sun, but also get tanned if I want to, using the right products… Sometimes I make jokes saying I feel green or like a ghost!! Blushes dont last much, bronze tones look terrible on me, I look better with pink or coral tones… I was using Estee Lauder makeup and if I looked closely, it looked so yellow on my forehead, but the cool tones looked so pink! Haha I’m not wearing makeup anymore, only a very light Korean bb cream that feels like I’m not wearing anything… I have dark blonde hair and light brown eyes, black hair looks terrible on me (I look like Morticia) and light blonde hair makes me look kinda boring… The good thing is that I barely have wrinkles… people say it’s so weird that I haven’t, even tough I’m pale and 30 years old… and almost all lipsticks look brighter on me than most people :) So I guess it’s time to love and embrace our rare skin tone. If we talk about clothing, I feel really good on black, emerald green, maroon and yellowish blue. I feel like those colors contrast with my pale tone. Most pale people are not like me, but rather have a healthy pinkish hue! I would love to learn how to pick the best colors for me on another post!
Hi everyone,
6 monthly update from all of my previous comments and recommendations.
I have pretty much settled on using Armani designer lift in shade 5, it’s not too warm and not too cool, so it’s great for mixing in other shades dependent on time of year/how tanned I am (I tan so easily, other than on my face which just doesn’t tan at all).
I mix in my Estée Lauder Youth infusing perfectionist foundation in the shade cashew (discontinued).
I have also started fake tanning my face with St tropez bronzing spray, which has made a huge difference to how my make up looks in comparison to my skin.
St tropez tans seem to have a green undertone so look really beautiful over our skin tone! (Others I tried, just made me look horrifically orange).
I am still using the same concealers as mentioned before, nars in custard and tarte in light medium sand, I believe nars in vanilla would be a better option if you want to highlight the under eye area.
I’m pretty content with my make up collection at this point (finally) – I will leave a full complication breakdown below.
Foundation: Armani designer lift, shade 5 (base foundation)
Foundation: Estée Lauder youth infusing perfectionist, shade cashew, now discontinued (mix in colour)
Concealer: Tarte maracuja, shade light medium sand (under eye when darker)
Concealer: Nars radiant creamy concealer in the shade custard (under eye when lighter)
Concealer: Nars radiant creamy concealer in the shade ginger (all over concealer when darker)
Powder: Laura Mercier loose powder in the shade translucent (all over) and Laura Mercier secret brightening powder (under eye) Charlotte tilbury powder compact in the lightest shade is also great.
Powder: Ben Nye in the shade banana (when darker)
Contour: Tom Ford shade and illuminate cream compact (when dark)
Bronzer: Benefit hula original (when light)
Bronzer: MAC give me sun (when dark)
Highlighter: Charlotte Tilbury flawless filter shade 4
Charlotte tilbury Hollywood beauty light wand
Charlotte tilbury wonderglow (I sometimes wear this instead of foundation or just concealer as it makes my skin look less dull, it also looks great alone over my st tropez spray).
I hope this helps someone ❤️
This comment section is so so uplifting. All my life I’m always the one with the weird and sickly looking skin.
I’m ultra ultra ULTRA pale, not to say pasty, BUT my skin is definitely not rosy/red leaning but very clearly yellow to green. It looks more extreme yet against my dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. And all my life people kept asking me if I was doing well, why do I look so sick and tired. It’s just my skin.
And all makeup and fashion advice I got throughout my youth as I was so pale went towards blueish (cool) pink colors and looking back on old photos of mine it’s so obvious how my makeup and clothing choices clash with my skin tone. Gradually I also figured out it may be due to a good chunk of my ancestry being from Eastern Europe. The middle and norther European logic of pale = cool tone, tanned = warm tone just doesn’t apply to me.
Ah, how frustrating beauty advice in girls’ magazines (way back when there was not much of an internet going on) used to be for me. They always had three categories: 1. blonde hair/blue eyes with pale skin and cool/rosy undertone 2. brunette hair/blue or hazel eyes with cool or neutral undertone and 3. dark hair/brown eyes with warm undertone.
For god’s sake I am pale with dark hair and dark eyes and warm undertone who doesn’t tan!!! I just burn and go back to my natural yellowish pale tone. So no, tanning is a bad indicator for if you’re warm or cool toned. But for so long I felt like I’m just weird cause my type just didn’t exist in any makeup advice.
It took me to my early 30s to finally just pick colors that were meant for warmed tone people and… presto… suddenly products would compliment me rather than clash with me.
Anyway, it’s just very great to see that more people went or are still going through the same struggle. It’s amazing getting to feel not quite so weird. Thank you for this article! And thank you everyone else for sharing their experiences in the comments!
I can tell you, as an Arabic girl, that olive skin is not always that beautiful rich shade. My skin is often pale (since i barely see the sun, especially in recent months) and most days it looks literally yellow. Not exactly flattering and i was asked, on multiple occasions, whether i was anemic. it truly is a struggle.
SAME! When I’m not wearing makeup, people constantly ask me if I feel ill including my bf lol. I workout regularly, eat well, and get good sleep and still people ask me. I’m convinced it’s just my pale green undertones and naturally deep eye troughs. 😥 I’m 1/2 Filipina and 1/2 caucasian.
Fake tan cancels out some of the green tones, but the rest of the year is a struggle to look healthy. Also the upkeep is annoying. I live for the summer which is the only season my skin actually looks good.
Wow! I’m not alone! I am 1/2 Italian (my dad is 100%) and 1/4 Slovak with bits of English and German from my mom. I have dark brown almost black hair and pull off cool jewel tones the best. I can get very tan but have to be careful of burning in the beginning. My face always stays pale though and gets sun freckles if I’m not careful. The best match I have found is porcelain beige (B) from Tarte shape tape concealer. I apply it very lightly as my “foundation” with a sponge and it does not look cakey. I then set it with tarte’s neutral 22N face shape foundation powder. It’s the perfect shade for me. In terms of bronze highlighter, I use Benefit’s lighter pallet Cheekleaders- they have a brown shade that works well when applied lightly under the cheekbones.
I use Nars pure radiance tinted moisturisers: Alaska (light 2) when paler and St Moritz (medium 1) when tanned. They add warmth to the skin without any pink or orange hues. They have more of a golden undertone which works well with warm olive skin i think. Ive heard fenty beauty does a huge range of shades for different skin types so i will try them also.
I know this was posted in 2017, but wow this comment section is a godsend. I’m half middle eastern and also have lighter skin with olive undertones like most people here. I’ve been mixing the Dior concealer (2wo) with a moisturizer to create a lightweight foundation / bb cream look. It works well in the winter, but can be a bit yellow during the summer when I get deeper green undertones. Looking forward to trying out some of these products!
Finally other people to relate! I don’t know any fellow pale olive skin tone people. My eastern European family is all of darker skintone and the only two as pale as me don’t wear makeup.
I’m in a further predicament because I feel like I go completely against the norm of the abnormality that is even pale olive – I can rock both gold and silver, I can tan (hard for me to burn), I have freckles, brunette (copper-chestnut hue that naturally goes blonde at the ends), and I can rock any color besides pastels. Most foundations make me look too orange or yellow or washed out. I feel like I need a salmon-olive foundation to maintain my “alive” look…
Hey everyone!
Finally I’m aware of my skin undertone.I have green eyes ,ash dark brown hair,freckles and I get tan pretty easly. Assume that I’m on the warmer side because gold also looks better than silver on me.I’m Slavic decent btw.Over the years I’ve learned one great trick that changed my foundation game.Buy yourself a green primer,mix with almost every fondation and you are good to go.It will lighten foundation shade a bit,so take that into consideration.
I just went looking for green concealer thinking that could be my solution and then I came across this thread. Which green concealer do you use??
Big news…I purchased inexpensive NYX green primer and added two medium sized dollops to several of my ill-matched foundations and EVERY one now matches my skin. Found (in my failed foundations makeup bag) Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer in Nude (2W2) is perfect with the green primer, but that color has been discontinued. For the first time I feel like I can find something that works. I am trying another LM or NARS next. Thanks to ADNA for this idea!
Hi! I’m not sure if I’m olive, neutral or cool because I have a very “weird” skin tone. I’m super pale but I can tan a little. I look good in all the “cool colors” and my veins are blue/purple. However, I see sometimes (depending on the lights) that my legs have a blue undertone, my belly, arms and back looks like a mixture between red and yellow, my neck looks green/yellow and my face is a mix between all of those colors. I use fenty beauty in shade 120 and suits me very well but it’s still not a perfect match. Another foundation shade that works well on my is Mac nw15 but is darker than my skin color (but nw13 is too pink)… if some of you could give me some piece of advice would be very helpful.
I’m literally you this chameleon of sorts but my face is green I went to Ulta and she said you literally have a green undertone and she saved my life!! I have to use a beige tan like concealer for acne and green based naked foundation long wear!
Which foundation shades do you use in your recommended products??
I’m almost entirely French on my dad’s side and Lebanese and German on my mom’s side. I have pale olive skin, probably due to my mom being half Lebanese, and I’ve always had a green undertone to my skin, but never thought it could be olive since both my mother and I thought olive-skinned people needed to have darker skin. My mom is like this, she’s fairly darker than me while I am quite pale. I also have hazel eyes, freckles and dark brown hair with red/gold tints in the light. I tan pretty well, although I always burn first. Every foundation I’ve ever tried has always been too pink or too yellow. Although I do have pretty rosy cheeks generally so it can be hard to tell. I’ve never really looked good in either gold or sliver and it can be hard finding things that look good with my skintone. I’m pretty new to makeup so honestly I want to thank all the other commenters for the helpful information they’ve given. Anyways yeah, I’m glad to know there’s other people who experience the same issues as me, it’s a relief.
I just had to comment because I’m so similar to you! My Dad is half Lebanese and French and Italian and my Mom is English and Irish. I’m fair with rosy cheeks, but have warmth to my skin as well. I have hazel eyes and very warm naturally ombre hair but can and love to pull off a much warmer copper shade. I have never been able to do the vein check or the gold/silver test and thought I was crazy! I don’t know about you, but lipsticks turn either bright orange or muddy brown on me. And eyeshadows go super cool and muddy as well, unless they’re literally orange, yellow, or red. It’s quite the adventure! Lol!
Hey, sisters!
I have black hair, hazel eyes, and the lightest weirdest skin anyone had ever seen in my family. I burn really bad, by the way. For decades, I could not find a foundation match until I went to Prescriptives (back when it had a store in Dillards) and they handed me yellow-orange makeup! It looked great! Still, I didn’t figure out until a few years ago (my 40s) that I had pale olive skin. That makes so much sense! For me, copper looks good, so I try to aim for copper lipstick. Looking back at the pink/purple/silver photos of me from the 1980s, I cringe. But I guess no one knew back then. Thanks for the article!
Oh, weird! Same experience, same results at prescriptives. Do they still exist? I only got the sample. Wonder if they could get the right color again. It really was a peach/yellow. But it was also very thin, so blended more easily regardless of color. I’ve noticed that very sheer makeup looks best on me because it is less likely to clash.
I’m in the same category as well. I’m mostly French on one side and Swedish, Western European, and Native American on the other (as far as I know). I have fair freckled skin with olive undertones (but I tan a bronze color similar to my hair and eyes) I have auburn copper hair (mistaken for brown under indoor lighting) and hazel eyes. My skin looks green standing next to my best friend who is warm toned and dark brunette. I struggle so much with finding makeup. I don’t care for heavy make up bc it’s washes out my freckles and my arms, neck, body don’t match. I struggle with lil color, anything I put on makes my lips look so pink. The only lip color/gloss that I’ve found and liked was a nearly clear with light green tones to it which just gave my lips a warmth but not so obscene. I also get asked if I’m ill or ok when people see me for the first time without makeup. I’m so glad to have come across this and see so many others suggestions! Thank you for sharing !
Yes! I was a R/O Prescriptives and the color was Fresh Vellum. They are completely out of business so no way to order. Sheer makeup works best for me.
I too am pale olive. I’ve always lamented the lack of consideration given to the specific needs of the “pale olive demographic” within the cosmetic industry. There’s little advice, guidance, or technical assistance available on the concerns we face when looking for informational resources. I’ve had to find what works for me through painstaking trial and error- it’s only my passion for make up and solid knowledge of color theory (as I am a painter and artist) that has prevented me from giving up entirely out of exasperation.
Recently, I’ve been struggling to find a contour shade that really is perfect. The products made for the “average” medium skin colored consumer come off orangey- and much too warm, while the very “cool-toned” ones are exclusively for VERY pale women and as a result, those products tend not to have sufficient pigment. Despite the cosmetic industry beginning to become more conscientious about diversity and catering to a range of skins shades and tones, there are currently very few options for those people in our demographic when it comes to items that rely on tone to look natural, like foundation, concealer, contour.
Through experimenting with eyeshadows, I’ve found colors that worked particularly well for contouring included very “grey” colors: some leaning grey-taupe, others going all the way to a red-purple undertone (an almost bruise-like color). However, eyeshadows are terrible for “everyday” use as face powders. This is due to their general pan size not being suited to brushes generally used for larger surfaces, and their formulation typically being so heavily pigmented that they are very tricky to use on the face because to get them sheer enough to look right, they then become patchy due to the need to over-blend them onto such a large swath.
If you have specific recommendations for products, you should absolutely write an article catering exclusively to that topic. And judging by the number of comments, there are a substantial number of women who are equally as lost as I am when it comes to finding flattering products!
Hi, I found these work for cheekbone contour on cool olive skin:
1. NYX Sweet Cheeks in So Taupe (will probably work for up to medium skin tone – I am very light but not pale, and this is a little dark for me unless I blend the heck out of it). Its very inexpensive too but the case cracked after 2 months which is annoying.
2. Kevin Aucoin the Contour Powder in Light is what I use right now, and the medium shade looks good too but too dark for me. Its expensive for a small amount and the powder creates a lot of dust, so unless you need a light contour color like me, definitely try the NYX.
Wow, I can totally relate! My skin tone and hair color are very, very similar to yours. I always wondered why on Earth no foundation – warm, cool, or neutral tone – worked on my skin.
I am Brazilian but I have Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian roots. My Italian ancestors lived in a region near Slovenia… maybe this explains the pale olive skin? I don’t know, but thank you for the very helpful tips!
Btw, does anyone here with pale olive skin also suffers from the “eagle syndrome” – a.k.a body skin tends to tan more easily than face skin? This complicates even more my foundation choices, hahaha
Hi Lola. I have the same problem. Not only does my face not really tan, I have rosy cheeks which is completely contrasting to my tanned arms and legs. Right now, my arms are several shades darker than my legs and even more than my face. bleh
Omg yes! I resolved to using face tan when I’m “tanned” (my tanned colour is usually my boyfriend’s pale, untouched-by- the-sun-for-months colour lol).
I’m struggling big time with selecting colours that complement my skin and eyes (skin extremely pale but with yellow and green undertones and my eyes are honey brown).
Omg yes! This exact thing always happens to me! My face and neck stay paler whilst the rest of me darkens a lot and its frustrating!
Fellow very fair olive here. Had a personal color analysis and am a Dark Winter, in case that helps anyone. I have medium ash brown hair with gold and red highlights in the sun. Greys are coming in bright silver. Dark grey-blue eyes with taupe and sunny-taupe: makes them look dark grey-teal.
I’ve a good foundation match in mineral powder foundation: Meow Cosmetics Ocicat line. Abyssinian is not bad, either. Worth a sample!
Thank you! You’ve just described me except the eyes are very pale grey blue. I’m going to go see what your info gets me!
Thank you for confirming that we aren’t crazy. I’m nearly 50, hair that is described by my hairdresser as mixed blonde and a “neutral” skin tone – both green and blue veins. The main thing that stood out was that near other people who are also pale without suntans (I tan quite dark and quite olive) I am green. I can swipe green eyeshadow on my skin and it will look like my natural witchy undertones.
There used to be a shade available only in Singapore by Guerlain that was wonderful, they called it “ambre clair” and it was perfect, but Guerlain did away with it, so I’m now searching for that nice rose-smelling makeup in that “not pink, not yellow but green” undertoned light foundation.
Hi there!
I’m a fair olive too, 38, white medium brown hair and grey eyes. It’s a struggle to find foundation matches, but I wanted to mention a HUGE lifesaving tip that I discovered a few years ago. Not sure if anyone has mentioned this.
BLUE MIXER. Seriously.
Make Up For Ever makes some (Chromatix Mix) and on the cheaper end of the spectrum L.A. Girl makes one.
I’ve used the MUFE mixer for years and it makes virtually every yellow-toned foundation wearable. Might take some trial and error to get the right ratio, but this is the easiest way I’ve found to get those green undertones.
I am so glad to see this discussion it confirms I am not delusional!
Natural blonde, blue/green eyes. Mixed bag of genetics and I tan freakishly easily. 49 y.o. and for twenty sad years I’ve applied foundation from every major brand to look like an Oompa Loompa. Trying hard with fifth color “match” to make EL Double wear work because I like the brand… swiped a bit of my daughter’s watercolor tubes -yellow and blue- to play with this last (remarkably orange) shade…😔.
You’re spot on, and I am amazed to see an actual solution in print. Can’t wait to find your product recommendation and sub it out for (probably toxic) blue craft paint.
Blessings
Yes! Me too! I look almost grey, sallow but with grey/ gold eyes and mid brown hair. In winter I look sickly, no glowing cheeks, just sickly! In summer I’m a deep olive bronze as I tan well. I’ve found that kettlewell colours classed me as a deep winter and they are spot on. I can wear muted jewel shades, taupe, black and charcoal, as kettlewell suggested after I did an online colour analysis with them. It’s free, give it a go!
I can’t find this MUFE item in color blue anywhere. Was it discontinued?
I am also Croatian & have had issues finding flattering makeup for my light, cool olive skin. I have cool dark brown hair & light brown eyes with some green. I always burn before I tan. The tan always fades within a week. :-( Foundations are either too yellow or pink. Have given up. I can wear only blue-based pink and red lipstick. Every other lip color (corals, neutrals) make me look like death warmed over. It’s so limiting! Am also limited with clothing colors next to my face – black, gray, navy, blue-based reds & strong vibrant cobalt, emerald, purple are great. Orange, all pastels, brown, yellow, rose, cream wash me out. I love my skin tone, but such a pain to deal with! Thank you so much for the article. Will be reading the comments for sure.
This is great article! Indeed this is fact, pale Olive skin. I am Croatian & Slovenian decent, I’m am very pale Olive nc15-20 and tan easily.
Interestingly Rose Hold really suits my skin. Colours I find work well, Rich Navy Blues, Blue Reds, Fuschia & white really suits my complexion (orange & yellow ..Hell NO!)
The foundations that have worked, miraculously: Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation shade 213, is ultimate shade match, please ladies do seek this out. By Terry Sheer Expert shade 3 creamy beige, or the By Terry Foundation stick N2.
Tom Ford Foundation stick “Fawn“.
These are the best, particularly the Koh gen Do!
others I have heard: Urban decay stay naked G30, I have yet to try.
I also have found Japanese makeup brands have better matches than western brands.
Great article! I have been struggling a lot, looking at sort of similar looking ladies and wondering why do those make up products work on them and don’t work on me. I am soft autumn, I have grey-green eyes and muted grey with golden tingle hair. The foundation I found matching very well in my case is
DIOR FOREVER SKIN GLOW 2WO (warm olive).
But could you recommend some other Japanese foundations please? I would be grateful!!! Pale/light olive here
Many Thanks x
Guys hi!!! Loepsie thanks for this great article and I’m so happy to meet all my fellow fair-olives!
I’m a pale olive too, of Eastern European and Italian descent. Thankfully some of my family members were keen on noticing skintones so I’ve know about “oliveness” for a long time, but it took me FOREVER to learn how to handle it with makeup! From what I understand olives can be either mainly warm or cool, but we tend to be neutral overall, so neutral shades tend to be easy go-tos for us all (true red, navy, teal, putty, eggplant).
Color theory helped me figure out that I am medium-light, medium contrast, and neutral leaning warm, so in terms of makeup I go for soft, medium depth colors that lean a little warm – but for whatever reason I flush deep berry pink, so I use a neutral or cool shade blush! (Incidentally – do you guys flush easily? Because I have to run miles before I do! It’s useful to have a “secret blush” sometimes but I almost never have cute pink cheeks naturally!) Anyway, here are my personal makeup favorites: Fenty 145 (specifically labeled olive!) foundation and concealer; any neutral-to-cool medium pink blush often with “berry” or “rose” in the name; black-brown or burgundy mascara; dark brown, burgundy, plum, and charcoal eyeliner; sand, light golden, mushroom, soft red, soft orange, warm pink, shell pink, lilac, and dark brown eyeshadow; medium muted red or rose lip colors (Burt’s Bees Redwood Forest lip crayon is great). I also really like Burt’s Bees tinted balm in Rose and Red Dahlia.
Yay olives! Thank you for sharing everyone!
I love finding this post 😊
My foundation journey has been so difficult. I always wore fair-light skinned colors and stayed toward the cool side because let’s face it, it makes sense. And everyone gets so defensive that being more fair skinned can’t be anything but a cool undertone. I even feel like I annoyed the girl at Ulta too because I kept feeling washed out and pink constantly when trying colors! I settled with one foundation that still made me feel that way but it was better than ones I used before lol
Ironically in the summer I burn like crazy at first but then I tan. And when I was a kid I used to call my tan an olive glow lol. I should have listened to my kid self! I am a dirty blonde (used to be strawberry) with red tinted hair in the sun and green eyes. Thanks to my mostly German red-headed green eyed family :)
I researched a lot and found that the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation 6 is the perfect match. It is literally described for olive undertone. At first it looks like it would be too dark and a bit yellow. But it blended in perfectly! I don’t look like a ghost anymore!
I’m a soft Summer my body is pale Olive. My face is rose beige . My undertone is green ashy gray cast. I have French Irish roots. Silver looks better than gold although gold doesn’t look bad . I look good in berry blush soft rose lipstick. Olive skin is neutral
OMG, I think you’re the first person who I’ve ever “met” that has the same skin tone situation. I’m a Soft-Summer-Deep” with pale olive skin, but to make it more confusing when I stay out of the sun my face looks more “English rose”. French, Irish, Welsh and English roots. Silver and rose gold. Best blush and lipsticks are berry and rose shades. I would love to hear what foundation/s you’ve found so far?
Since there seem to be so many comments on this of fellow oliver skinned people, I wanted to throw one in. I am olive skinned and pale because I choose not to tan, but I can tan easily. I have green eyes. I am also naturally dirty blonde which starts off light brown at the roots and grows out lighter and lighter. There’s a little hint of red to my hair dispersed in sections. I have not been able to find any olive skin examples or guides for blondes. I have even found guides flat out refusing that blondes can be olive…but here I am. =) I know it isn’t just me, either. My dad’s side of the family is 100% sicilian (mom is scottish-so I am a mix but the older family isn’t), and we have olive blondes and redheads mixed in with the dark brunettes. So, if you are sure you’re olive but being told you can’t be because you are blonde, know that you aren’t alone. We exist. I have no tips, though. =(
Hey, I am similar to you, half Sicilian and half irish. I have ashy blonde hair, blue/green eyes, pale olive skin that tans and freckles on my face. I have wasted a lot of money on foundations that do not work with my skin and lipstick never looks the same on me as in the tube. Anyway you’re not alone :)
I too have a mix of anglo-celtic and a dash of swarthy italian (grandfather). Naturally I’m a dirty blonde, but dye my hair copper, which looks great with my blue/grey eyes. my skin definitely has green undertones, and i look great in dirty gold, dirty olive, most greens actually, rusty oranges, brick reds.
cannot. wear. pastels.
I have never found a foundation that i love-always missing that green tone.
my skin sounds weird to describe and my perfect makeup colour is cinema secrets green colour corrector! which I got for broken capillaries/rosacea however i cannot get it to look good on my skin (so so dry).
Lots of great tips here (blue drops, Meow cosmetics)
So glad i’ve found other pale olives
Hi! I’m similar. I have naturally dirty blonde hair that always leans brassy, dark blue/grey eyes, and pale skin with an olive undertone. No idea if it leans warm or cool. The only way I can describe it is that there is a slight yellow in the base, and then pink splotchyness on top all while giving that lovely green undead look. I am half Irish (pink spotchyness), half Ashenazi Jew (olive/yellow base). I always knew my skin tone was awkward and that I couldn’t wear a lot of colors – but I only recently learned why.
Here’s some products that I finally found:
-Dr Jart Black Label BB Cream – comes out of the bottle almost grey, but is the very first ‘foundation’ that ever actually matched me
-Tarte Shape Tape Concealer – Fair Light Natural
-Fenty Cheeks Out Cream Bronzer – The most neutral ‘bronzer’ I’ve ever used! I use it to contour (and fill in my eyebrows)
-Colorescience Sunforgettable Balm in Blush – the first peachy blush that actually looks good on me
Hi all,
I haven’t commented since the end of October so I thought I would update you with some new finds and some advice I was recently given by a stylist I was working on a project with.
I will break it down so it’s easy to follow.
Concealers I have found work for me;
Nars radiant creamy concealer in custard
Tarte concealers in ‘light medium sand’
Estée Lauder double wear concealer in the two lightest shades
Foundations that I have found work for me;
Estée Lauder perfectionist foundation in the shade cashew in the summer (now discontinued)
Armani designer lift and luminous silk, I’m
Mixing multiple shades between the numbers 4-6 currently
EX1 foundation (mixing multiple shades)
Charlotte Tilbury flawless filter in shade 4 along with her new foundation (I am currently testing out two shades so I will update/reply to this post) she has made specific shades for olive tones (please be aware the shades are fully oxidised after ten minutes, see colour chart on her website for before and after oxidising comparisons)
I have just ordered a few shades of Dior face and body which are meant to be perfect for olive tones so I will update/reply to this post.
Mac studio sculpt in NC37 mixed with NC20, NC25.
Clothing colours;
Black (Cool)
White (cool)
Navy (cool)
Jewel tones (cool)
For reference if you haven’t read my previous comments over the past few years;
– I have light olive skin
– My eyes are brown/hazel (again warm)
– My hair is naturally Dark brown (With a very slight warm tinge)
– I have a few very light freckles on my face
– Ethnicity, I live in London, UK and I was born here and so we’re both my parents but my dads family are all Italian and my mums family are Spanish, Latino, Iranian, Indian etc.
– I rarely burn, always tan (And very easily)
– my mother in particular has got a lot darker skinned as she has got older and so has my grandmother (My mother would now be classed as medium and my grandmother would now be classed as dark)
– I look best in gold jewellery (warm)
– silver jewellery close to my face looks awful (cool)
What I’ve learned;
I Personally believe all olive skin tones regardless if you are light/medium/dark are cool toned and it’s the (yellow) overtone of your skin that can make you appear to lean warmer.
In the summer I can wear a warm foundation as long as the base tone of that foundation isn’t too overly orange/red and It wears quite nicely alongside one of the concealers I have listed above.
I have yet to find one foundation that I don’t have to mix or play around with.
Most make up artists don’t understand this skin tone and will either make you orange or ghastly white.
Yellow is horrific.
I’m Croatian and fair olive in winter and light olive in summer and I so relate to your struggle! I spent years with foundation that never matched the way it should (I chose neutral, which wasn’t too far off but not quite it either..). Last year I gave the Fenty Pro Filtr a chance and it was a revelation! The first foundation to perfectly match me. There is no difference between neck and face any more! I now use shade 130 (fair skin with olive undertones) in winter and 145 in summer and couldn’t be happier. They also sell the matching concealer, which was another struggle… If you’re still struggling with the right shade, give it a try.
I’m Croatian too and I’ve always had such a hard time with my skin tone! I’m very fair skinned but I tan super easily, yet I’ve never had a sunburn in my life. Glad to know I’m not the only one lol
Same here!
Hello Ladies, think I have you all topped..lol..53 yrs old..just now, tonight, finding out WHY I have never been able to wear more than mascara and a shade or two of lipstick I could apply as my blush, eye shadow AND lipstick without my face looking dirty or appearing in the 3rd ring of Barnum and Bailey’s 3 Ring Circus. lol. very pale/fair, hazel green eyes, dark brown hair, freckles, burn like mad with OLIVE undertones! How’d I come upon it? Well, now that I am “old” and have re-acquainted myself with the SAME damn frustrations felt at age 15 as my counterparts where ‘glamming it up’, I took to a baseball cap and announced myself a tom-boy therefore could not be bothered with the makeup nonsense, I find I have a need to finally shed my cap..and cover up my dark circles, spotty skin, and other “old lady” stuff that has appeared, to me at least, overnight. It was the tip..”yellow corrector covers dark circles on olives..not green..wow..works like a charm on redness for olives as well…good luck ladies..lol..Dr. Young PhD. Pharmacology..lol..go figure..
I have the same exact problem as you. I am in my late 30s and tan rather than burn. If I do burn, I’d have to be outside for a long, long, long time, and it would be a little spot that’s gone in a day. What makes my foundation hunt even more of a pain is this discoloration I have as a result of taking a particular type of birth control. I can’t do the thing where you match the color to your jawline because the discoloration extends past that point. Many strategies have been implemented, but they are not perfect since I also have hormonal acne. My winter routine consisted of a cool foundation topped by a neutral powder, followed by transparent finishing powder to blur everything as best as possible. Now that it’s warmer and my tan is back and darker than previous years, I’m at a frustrating trial and error phase of finding the right routine for my specific needs without getting sticker shock from seeing my credit card bill. My mom mentioned in passing that we tend to get darker as we get older in our family. Not super dark, but darker than we were when we were kids, even without frequent sun exposure.
Nikolina! You are my skin twin. I am Fenty 130 in the cold months and 145 in the summer. even darker than that when we hit the beach. I am Filipina (which means a mix of Chinese, Spanish and Malay). I tan Gray which fades to orange, then green then back to light gray green.
Thank you *so much* for this article. I am 30 and very pale, and I could never figure out my undertone or why certain colors that I thought would be flattering looked awful on me. Now I know–its because I”m olive! I’ve thought many times that I look kind of green , but I usually just chalked it up to being tired, wearing an unflattering color, or weird lighting, etc., instead of acknowledging it as an acceptable part of my appearance. Reading your article and seeing a gorgeous pale, olive-skin lady like you makes me feel a lot more at peace with myself. Thank you <333
Can someone please help me too! I’m not entirely sure, but I think I have olive undertones and I am really pale. If you’ve seen the Nyx Can’t Stop Won’t Stop foundation in Pale – that would be my foundation colour if i had the right undertones for it. I have green/hazel eyes and ashy brown hair. My arms tan really well, but my face sometimes burns. I also have freckles. I don’t know really anything about my background, but I live in East Europe. I am 13 years old right now, so my appearances may change, but still, I need to cover up some blemishes, but all the concealers and foundations I have are too peachy or too yellow. Can someone please help? Thanks :)
Try ex1 foundation, in one of the lighter shades it’s specifically made for olive skin tones.
Or nars radiant creamy concealer in custard
Xxx
You probably are a neutral like me :)
I wonder how common this is in Croatia!? I’m also from Croatia, with ash blond hair, and grey/blue eyes. I’ve had my ‘colours done’ several times, and though I generally fell into the ‘cool’ spectrum, neither the summer nor the winter pallette completely suited my colouring. I always suspected I was olive, although it was quite pale. I heard you needed to check if your veins were blue or green to see if you had cool or warm undertone, but mine were both! Recently I found out that olive skin often has both green and blue veins… Thanks for the foundation tip. I never usually wear foundation because it’s usually too yellow or too pink! Audrey Coyne on Instagram has light olive colouring, and has posted a good video another it – it inspired me to Google it further, and here I am on this website! 🙂
Also from Croatia and here after watching Audreys video! :) I always knew I was olive (dalmatia genes) because my mom was very pink next to me and I knew that this is the issue with trying to find good foundation, I neved found perfect match. I look sick in most greens and green-blue clothes, yellow, orange, mustards, beige that has yellow in it etc, muddy and orange bronzers on me, as well as ugly yellowish instead of gold highlighters, yuck! Always pale, with greenish undereyes and lids actually, cannot live without concealer. I never considered that I am actually cool toned. Makes a lot of sense. Hope that Fenty arrives to Croatia so that I can try the foundation, the duty and taxes would be huge from US :(
Hi!!!!! I am also a blonde and olive! I got here from first seeing the Audrey Coyne video, too. <3 The struggle being blonde and olive is real.
I know this is an older post but I believe I am a pale olive! But I have this question- when I am in a store such as Sephora they always go straight to the palest shade for me, unless it’s summer time and only then if I allow myself to get a tan, I can tan well but steer clear usually lol. Anyway, I’m their harsh bright lighting I feel it makes me look more pink or something but as soon as I am back in normal lighting I look green again. Different parts of my body look more green than others too. After I had my daughter I was soooo green it was crazy! But anyway, is it normal for people like us to look different Colors in different lighting? I’m probably lighter olive than you! Haha
oh my god YES! I have always wondered if I am the only one noticing that I look completely different skin tones in different lighting….and the greenness really comes out under white lights.
Sooo true.this is me
Exactly my case – I’m Polish and I’m a pale olive. Every time a consultant tries to match me, they choose a neutral/pink-ish colour, but then I go outside and it is awful on me – so distinctly pink and different from my greenish neck! But then a warmer shade is so yellow. I never manage to buy just one good shade, I always have to mix.
Try shade Fawn from Tom Ford. I am like you, you will love it. Fawn “plowy” in Polish, its perfect combination of slightly greenish beige.
Alima Pure has a complete olive undertone line, from pale to dark!
Hi everyone,
I too am a light olive (MAC NC20) and like most others here am a mix of Mediterranean/Northern African/Levantine (my father’s side of the family) and Polish/Czech/Lithuanian/Finnish on my mom’s. Grey and white look best on me as does silver or white gold which is my favorite. I also have blue eyes.
The older I get the more Golden I’ve become. It’s that Sicilian/Greek/Malta mix. In summers white colors now look gray. I’ve noticed that no matter the season berries look best.
I’ve been building a palette and want to share. I use MAC NC20 on my fave and dab a bit on the eyelids and above to my eyebrows to neutralize. I dust my entire face including eye area with Jane Iredale translucent powder (only available in one color). Choose a eyebrow pencil that matches your roots. I love MAC lingering. Remember to buff it out. Try MAC Vanilla to apply to eyelids and MAC sketch (berry) to the crease and blend. I finish it off with Benefit’s Dandelion. The combo of sketch (berry) and the Dandelion pink warms my skin the way Deborah Lippmann Venus in Furs and Miss Independent warm my skin on my hands and feet. The combos here don’t show up orange, which is often a problem for me.
I’m still working on the lip. Little by little I’m working on a palette. I’ve traded in some empties MAC packaging by mail for Modesty (pink neutral) which I read flatters light olive skin. Any suggestions on lips?
I need help🥺 I’m from Mexico, my skin in light medium, I have reddish medium/dark brown hair and my eyes are medium brown, my veins are blue and green and I tan easily, sometimes I burn, but I don’t know what my subtone is, I sometimes look more green and sometimes more yellow with red, and sometimes I look more ashy 🥺 I thought I was deep autumn but I don’t think I look that good in very warm color (I look horrible with yellow and pink) I look better in dusty colors I guess… but I don’t know! Help
I’m pale with olive undertones. My hair is darkest brown with white streaks as I age. My eyes are hazel (brown/green). White and light colors wash me out at best, and at worse make me look ill. Yellow is a death knell. Dark colors are easy to wear, but aren’t exactly flattering. Jewel tones are the sweet spot!! The social response I receive when I wear the right colors is incredible.
hello! can you send a picture of the skin of your face? i have olive light skin too and would like to see if the mac foundation on nc20 would work for me. thanks!
I think I could be a pale olive too. My sister definitely is but she’s a lot more olive toned than me and looks straight up green/yellow and even makes comments like how pink I look even tho I can’t even wear most pale foundations since they tend to be too pink toned on me
There are a lot of comments but I might as well share my experience! I have Blue green grey eyes with flecks of yellow that change depending on what I’m wearing or the lighting but I just say they’re blue. My hair color is something I’ve never been able to determine because it’s almost an ashy dirty blonde but it appears brown. On closer inspection all of my baby hairs and many hairs look silvery blonde. Now, my skin has always confused me because I’m half Northern European like Irish and English but I’m also half Hispanic including Spain and Mexico. My sister is very red and she even tans red (aka a sunburn because she doesn’t tan) but I tan like crazy even though I avoid the sun. of course, I avoid the sun so I am extremely pale and when I compare to my Vietnamese friend who is just as pale it’s very different. I always thought my skin was yellow however warm makeup looks too orange on me while cool tones simply don’t match any part of my skin. Because I have sensitive skin on my face that is often red people say I have cool tones however because I tan so easily my olive neck and warm tanned shoulders say otherwise. I usually use a green primer before using a pale warm foundation and it usually ends up matching my neck very well. Whenever I’m in the sun wearing shorts my legs seem almost orange like they have been spray tanned so I still think I have olive skin but I’m just not sure. I also want to dye my hair a color but I don’t know which color. Right now my roots have grown out but the rest of my hair is a yellow cream colored blonde and It doesn’t look very good with my skin tone.
I think I might be one of you guys… I have ashy brown hair, light skin that is gold/green/peach/neutral. As a toddler my hair was the color of a new penny. My parents struggled trying to find flattering colors for me to wear. Then my hair turned blonde, and finally brown. My eyes are dark blue. My family is from a bunch of places – Germany, Russia, Lithuania, Welsh, and more. It’s hard to find a flattering foundation! The closest I came was Bare Minerals Original powder in Fair c10. My favorite lipstick shade is Aveda Poppy. Blush, Clinique chestnut blush. This morning my bf said, Olive?! Nah, olive people are tan!
I feel you and I am a cool olive or pale olive with brown eyes with specks of amber and dark brown hair.
My heritage is Native American, French and Finish.
I have such a hard time beyond Neutral tones to bright my eyes and face.
I too look terrible in gold so I have identified myself as a cool winter for clothing colors but I still struggle with hair and makeup.
I am going to try Mahogany Chestnut as I have read Mahogany is both cool and warm.
Lol, glad I am not alone and found this article!
Much love and light!!⭐
I definitely relate to this! I have dark ash blonde hair and hazel eyes. I think I get my coloring from my Czech and Lebanese side. The closest match I’ve found for myself is actually drugstore: L’Oréal True Match Lumi Healthy Luminous Makeup C3 (creamy natural). It’s not 100%, but it’s pretty close. The only blush I love on me is Becca Pop Goes the Glow in Berry, which is also the perfect lip color. The struggle is real though!
So nice to see I’m not the only one to have struggled with this! I’ve never been able to find the perfect foundation match… cool tones make my face look really pink in comparison to my neck, neutrals make me look peachy, and warm tones are generally too yellow/orange, unless I go for the palest warm tone, which then looks too pale! I’ve often get contradictory comments about my skin, with one friend even commenting “how is your skin pale but dark at the same time?” ?! I live in the UK, so I don’t get much sun most of the year but when I do I tan easily without burning. I have looked back as far as 4 generations, and have ancestry including Maltese, Lebanese and Syrian.
I prefer to wear loose mineral makeup and the closest I have come is to buy cool-green loose minerals from a cosmetics company on ebay, and mix a very small amount with bareMinerals Golden Fair 04, sometimes I’ll add a bit of bareMinerals Light 08 as the 04 is pretty pale. It’s a bit of a pain mixing so will definitely try the ex1 range as I notice they do a loose mineral too. Have tried the Alima Pure Olive tones and I love the formula but find Olive 1 looks a tad too peachy on me, and Olive 0 is just too pale. Liquid wise, I actually find bareMinerals barepro liquid in 07 Warm Light is a pretty good match, if I use it sparingly it still lets the olive undertone show through.
I have dark brown hair and eyes. Really struggle with finding colours of eye/blush/lip colour that suit me. I always get compliments when I wear slightly orangey-brown eyeshadow, and when I wear BarePro lipstick in shade Geranium (muted red). In general I think nude/neutral tones suit me better. No idea what shade of blush suits me… I always think pinks seem to clash with my skintone somehow… but peachy blush makes me look washed out, so I tend to stick to a cool toned bronzer.
Lots of great recommendations on here for me to try now :D
I don’t wear foundation or powder anymore, but I still at the age of 35 can’t find the right colour of clothing to make me look healthy. In the summer its ok because I tan, but in winter I look like that android out of star trek, if anyone remembers that?! I think I lean towards a cool olive rather than warm, but even so….what colours should we wear?!
Try Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation Shade 213!
Colours go for rich cool toned, Navy Blue, Darkers Blues, Fuschia, Blue Reds, White & Darker pinks, it’s a start!
Milani brand cosmetics has great foundation for olive tones. Try Medium Beige in their Conceal + Perfect 2 in 1 Foundation.
(Ahhh my phone is pretty glitchy because of my cracked screen, so I accidentally posted this comment as a reply to someone! Resubmitting it here 😂)
Hi Loepsie
I have the same problem
Have you tried EX1 foundation? It’s made for olive skin. I bought it recently and I’ve been slowly testing it. I’m so used to my face being a different shade to my body (the closest I’ve had to matching undertones is neutral foundations) that the first time I used it I was like like “holy shit I look green” and put it away for a month or so.
Tried it again recently and I didnt see the greenness, it just looked like a match. I’m just so used to my face being pinker than my body haha. But with a completed face of makeup it’s a definite match.
I use shade 1.0 which would probably be the one for you too
Finally!!! I am 50 and just found out I am a Light Olive. Now I understand why so many makeup counter color matches have gone wrong. I can’t thank you enough for this article. And, thank you to all who posted with specific brands and shades…will definitely help in finding my perfect shade.
You and me both kid! I’m 48. I had an inkling years ago when I was matched to a light olive stage makeup, but in real life I just assumed my face would never match my neck.
I feel your pain! I am super light, as in you can clearly see a number of veins (Technically blood vessels? I don’t know.) through my skin with ease. I moderately react the the very melanin your body produces to protect itself from UV, which is what causes you to have a tan. Yes, that can happen, it’s pretty similar to someone being allergic to their own sweat. Because of this I am, I dare say, very mildly translucent to a degree. Finding a foundation for my pale self, with that olive tone, oh forget it. I have to mix it myself, it is the only way.
I am so happy to find so many options to try. I hate wearing face makeup! I don’t like how a lot feels, but also I have never had luck finding the right one. I have dark hair, dark green eyes, and tan. I never knew why I had such a hard time until someone pointed it out when we were standing in a group at work. One friend said, “I never noticed your skin was greenish” to me. I have been using the almay concealer in light-medium with damp fingers because it was the only thing close enough!
YESSSS! Wow I feel so validated. When I was younger I used to compare my arm to my friends’ and say “Why am I green?!?!?” LOL but long story short, I have found a few things that work for our unique frustrating but dope skin tone. I love makeup and have done a lot of testing so heres a list of products that work for me and hopefully do for others! :
Tarte shape tape in light sand (full coverage)
Ipkn bb cream in light/medium (light/medium coverage, I loveee this product)
Maybelline fit me in buff beige (medium coverage)
Jeffree star concealer in C6
The wet and wild powder contour pallette has a perfect contour color.
Physicians formula butter bronzer in bronzer
ABH Norvina pallette – the original light purple one with neutral shades and rose gold which looks bomb on our eyes
Theres a lot more but yeah I love this post :)
Fellow cosmetologist here! I have super light olive skin (as close to Mila’s shade as it gets), and the ONLY suitable foundation shade I’ve been able to find is shade #2 Light Olive from BTS organics. I usually mix it with an Asian tone-up cream (ie: 9wishes Vanishing Balm) to adjust the lightness and for a more natural finish. I am still on the hunt for a more suitable concealer tho. I usually just make due with a super light yellow-based one. For blush, rosy shades look best, so i usually mix a deep rose cream blush with Jane Iredale’s enlighten concealer (which is somewhat peach). The result is gorgeous and doesn’t clash with my olive skin while still canceling out some of the sallow tone.
Hi Loepsie
I have the same problem
Have you tried EX1 foundation? It’s made for olive skin. I bought it recently and I’ve been slowly testing it. I’m so used to my face being a different shade to my body (the closest I’ve had to matching undertones is neutral foundations) that the first time I used it I was like like “holy shit I look green” and put it away for a month or so.
Tried it again recently and I didnt see the greenness, it just looked like a match. I’m just so used to my face being pinker than my body haha. But with a completed face of makeup it’s a definite match.
I use shade 1.0 which would probably be the one for you too
Hello,
I just want to say that I`ve tried EX1 in 001 and 002 and both look very very pink on my skin. I`m still looking for the perfect one, I feel it should have the perfect amount of yellow and blue and almost no orange.
Funny enough, Latin people from Iberian Peninsula have all and every skin undertone you can find, in a huge range of tones from the fairest of the fair to a well fair deep. Due to the fact that every race in the world had a meet up there on a moment or another. From japanese, to subsaharian africans, to germanics, magyars and whatever people that had set foot on the mediterranean sea on a given moment. So yes, we have plenty of fair skinned olives here, that go nuts to find a foundation, because most companies think Spanish and Portuguese people are generally warm toned tans (which it might be around tanning salons, but it isn’t the majority, not even near to half). I myself have three daughters, one having cool fair freckled skin, another one peach mid tone skin, and the third has pale olive skin like myself. Another thing that I struggle with, is the change of colors once applied. My skin is very fair, but my lips are always tanned, so they change colors and mismatch the skin… Not starting with eyeshadow… because most eyeshadow brands turn into a muddy mess on my oily lids too… And having a test about the skin type I appear to have ultra dry skin, except on the eyelids, for whatever the reason… so I can’t apply my foundation to my eyes to even the skin… so it messes everything a little bit more…
Funny enough, Latin people from Iberian Peninsula have all and every skin undertone you can find, in a huge range of tones from the fairest of the fair to a well fair deep. Due to the fact that every race in the world had a meet up there on a moment or another. From japanese, to subsaharian africans, to germanics, magyars and whatever people that had set foot on the mediterranean sea on a given moment. So yes, we have plenty of fair skinned olives here, that go nuts to find a foundation, because most companies think Spanish and Portuguese people are generally warm toned tans (which it might be around tanning salons, but it isn’t the majority, not even near to half). I myself have three daughters, one having cool fair freckled skin, another one peach mid tone skin, and the third has pale olive skin like myself. Another thing that I struggle with, is the change of colors once applied. My skin is very fair, but my lips are always tanned, so they change colors and mismatch the skin… Not starting with eyeshadow… because most eyeshadow brands turn into a muddy mess on my oily lids too… And having a test about the skin type I appear to have ultra dry skin, except on the eyelids, for whatever the reason… so I can’t apply my foundation to my eyes to even the skin… so it messes everything a little bit more…
I am a very pale olive skin tone. I also had the exact same struggles with foundation and gold or silver jewelry. ( i use EX1 foundation and that is what i heard of the best foundation for olive skin and they have very pale shades, i LOVE the foundation)
My skin is pale olive, i also tan instead of burn, however i have freckles on my face that are a copper colour and my brown eyes are really warm with lots of orange hues.
When i wear grey clothes or use an cooler eyeshadow it clashes, and the same happens when i wear really warm colors.
I did find out that a very pale muted lilac colour looks goos on me ( it’s a dress i’m talking about).
But the ‘silver or gold’ still continues for me…
Gosh! Someone like me!!! I tend to use Bobbi Brown light/lightest tinted moisturiser regardless of season and just blend out more in summer when I’m tanned or forget trying to even out my skin.
(Unless on stage when I resign myself to thick Oompa Lumpa foundation. Everything tends to look yellow on me.).
Having my colours “done” in December. Can’t wait so hope that it will help. At the moment (and all my life – am 45) feel I can only wear black, neutral reds, forest green or v dark almost black-brown. Softer brown shades make me look like a digestive biscuit. Have always worn silver as I like how it looks on my skin but would never wear a silver top & I think gold is ok on me, just sometimes looks a bit like a yellow. Mysterious.
I also have pale olive undertones! Except I naturally have dark blonde hair and blue eyes. Light colors like baby blue and pinks make me look sickly. I find gray is an easy color to wear. I am really wanting to go lighter blonde, but for the life of me, I cannot decide what color will look good on me. Warm tones seem to make me look horrible, but I like my skin with gold? Warm foundations seem to suit me better than cool ones. My skin is definitely yellowish, but when I stand next to someone else with yellow undertones, I look slightly green. I feel like it’s always a struggle to find what I look best in. I cant choose makeup, hair, or clothes!
Very close to me!! I like shade 1.05 (lightest olive shade) in the smashbox foundations. A tad bit dark for me still but so fair, check it out ;)
I’m with you! Gold is good on me, silver isn’t terrible but is not ideal, and rose gold looks best. For eyeshadow, I feel most comfortable in warm rosy tones. I look best in deep jewel tones and darker earth tones (chocolate, rust, etc). My hair is a medium ashy brown but somehow with red and gold tones in the sunlight. My eyes are somewhere between grey, blue, and green. I would love to try a new hair color, but I’m not sure what. Mahogany never looked natural on me. I also tried to blonde years ago. The stylist was perplexed because the tone had quite a bit of gold in it, yet somehow looked ashy next to my complexion and made me look older and washed out. Some people claim I have medium tines skin or always look slightly tanned. Others claim that I am extremely fair. This skin tone always feels like a contradiction.
The same situation here! Medium ashy brown hair, grey-green-blue eyes with small golden dots in it, also some freckles. I tried a lots of hair colors: from black to blonde. Based on my experience, I can say the next – if you pick from darker colors they should be a bit warm – like chocolate or chestnut/ or some caramel highlights are great. But if its blond suppose better cool, like some ashy light blond, even platinum. Cause when I tried honey blond, exactly your words – I looked washed out and actually I had a bit of a feeling there’s no contrast at all, like the color was the same as my skin especially when I got tanned.
But, of course, its all individual. For now I’m staying with my natural hair color. Will definitely try darker hues or the same as my natural color only other shades. With blond its harder, even if its cool – just don’t want to harm my hair in vain.
The last 2 sentences omg validationnnnnnnn
Literally same to absolutely everything you said. Nothing seems to work because my skin tone, eyes and hair have hints and tones of everything… so it ends up matching nothing
Hi darlings,
Haven’t commented in a while, but I thought I would update! I have been wearing Armani designer lift foundation (I have dry skin, oily nose and chin) in shade 5 (it’s a tad light for me) – especially in the summer, but I’ve been mixing with Estée Lauder perfectionist in cashew to warm it up slightly and it seems to be perfect, I am going to try the shade up in designer lift but I don’t think the undertone looks as close of match.
IE clothing, I only ever wear black or white, anything else on me looks absolutely terrible.
Jewellery, I find gold looks better on me some days and some days silver looks best, but I have found my Tiffany silver earrings always look awful that close to my face! Which is strange.
For reference my eyes are dark brown and my hair is naturally dark brown almost black with a light olive skin tone, I tan easily and although I am from London and as are my parents my grandparents are Italian, Spanish, Persian etc. 😂
Have you considered deep winter for your coloring? I used the paint app to swatch colors next to your face on a pic of you with no makeup (faux-freckles-6.jpg) and thought the deep winter colors suited you well.
I’m so glad I found you guys. I also have pale olive , neutral — light to medium skin tone. Pale rose gold jewelry works beautifully on our skin. Eyelids look gorgeous with dusty dark rose, plum ( not purple) , dark teal, emerald green, dark jade along with burgundies. No wishy-washy Browns for us.. dark chocolate shades look great. Medium nude & medium red lipstick complements our skin tone. Struggling to find foundation to complement my skin. I have .. Medium brown eyes And highlighted brown hair.
Hi. I know this is an old post, but still …
To those who have a harder time seeing the green hidden in the natural beige of the skin : it becomes more obvious when compared to people with clearly warm (golden/orange) tones or with cool (petal pink) tones. When side by side, the difference becomes striking.
Also, one will not see an actual GREEN, like grass green, tone. If you will open a Paint window, and go to color mixer, choose the yellow. Reduce the saturation to some degree, about 2 /3 down, and / or darken the color. You will notice that the yellow hue starts looking clearly olive. If you lighten up that color, the unsaturated one, you will notice that of all the olive green not much green-ness is left, … the more you lighten it up, the less green-ness it retains; the grey-er / more taupe it shows.
That greenish / olive-ish / taupe grey is the famous olive undertone, that plagues or graces some of us. Some times, it reminds me of a greenish brassy tint. Sometimes, I find it more easily noticed if I somehow look at the person with my peripheral vision, or if I unfocus my vision. Then I`m less tempted to look at the actual skin tone, and I notice better the olive / grey overall vibe. Also, in a picture, on the sides of the contur is the olive undertone more obvious. That is, on the sides of the neck, on the sides of the face or in the depth of skin folds. Sometimes, in very pale people, all you see is a … “porous” grey-ness…., like a water color seeping into a rather white neutral skin. And at the same time a complete lack of petal pink tones, like you would expect in very pale people.
As for me, I`ve noticed long ago, that the neutral dark saturated colors cleared my skin and made me look less … dusty grey-ish brown green. I was always a bit disappointed that my skin never had that beautiful baby pink undertone or that clear, golden, rich one. I always felt I had this dusty grey brown, with a grey / green tinge, like a faded, antique cloth. The icy pastels felt wrong – they accentuated the antique green dusty beige tone of my skin. They made my skin look sallow and dirty. Those very dark, neutral, rather saturated colors clear my skin and make it look marble light beige.
Black seems to accentuate the sallowness of my skin, or somehow seems a bit heavy… even though my hair is for all intents and purposes black.. soft, but not faded black, with absolutely NO reflexes (no blue, no gold, not even red anymore…)
Light, gentle, slightly muted, slightly warm colors (pinks or greens, some mellow yellows too) seem rather neutral on my skin – as in they don`t visibly hurt my undertones, not like the icy pastels or the cold grey colors. Grey, neutral (not cool, not warm) and medium, accentuates the sallowness of my skin. White gives me a lot less sallowness than greys and is only slightly less neutral than those light gentle neutral colors.
Anything that is visibly warm or cool is harmful to my undertones. Gold looks better on me, especially with even the faintest tan (and I tan even from the light reflected in the building across the street!). Silver is not awful, but I think it`s not as harmonious as gold, and can look dark black-ish on my skin. Maybe in this it`s more a matter of personal preference….
Any foundation looks either pink or orange on me, or darker, or chalky… Given the fact that, despite my (reasonably medium) skin imperfections, I am more comfortable without makeup on than with it on, I just don`t put enough energy and resources to look for a good match foundation. If I need one, just the most neutral, light / fair beige, and the rest is to be simply ignored.
Lipstick wise, for example, a rather dark-ish medium dusty brown – Cashmere from Avon – is considered as a nude on my lips by those that see it. Even though I have been asked if I have some chronic disease that makes me look so pale…. I have noticed that we have a certain hidden darkness in our quite light (at first glance) skin… So it makes sense that we look good in quite dark colors (in clothes, I mean ) … Darker than expected… Eye shadow … – light warm pinks… But this might have more to do with the fact that I have deep set eyes AND that I`m not into goth looks… Also, muted eye shadows translate into greys on my eyelids….. Darker shadows translate into goth… Bright eye shadows have enough color in them to still show some color on my eyelids….
You have described me perfectly!!! Have struggled ALL my life of 62 years!!! What in heck hair color do you you think is good???? My hair naturally is a kind of ashy dark blonde which washes me out….
thanks!
I’m with you! Gold is good on me, silver isn’t terrible but is not ideal, and rose gold looks best. For eyeshadow, I feel most comfortable in warm rosy tones. I look best in deep jewel tones and darker earth tones (chocolate, rust, etc). My hair is a medium ashy brown but somehow with red and gold tones in the sunlight. My eyes are somewhere between grey, blue, and green. I would love to try a new hair color, but I’m not sure what. Mahogany never looked natural on me. I also tried to blonde years ago. The stylist was perplexed because the tone had quite a bit of gold in it, yet somehow looked ashy next to my complexion and made me look older and washed out. Some people claim I have medium tines skin or always look slightly tanned. Others claim that I am extremely fair. This skin tone always feels like a contradiction.
I am from Asia. Covermark Bo00 is the best I have tried.
Hey! So I’m even paler than you, so much so that sometimes in pictures I look like a ghost. I have dark, dark brown hair with brown eyes. It took me a long time to figure out my best colors, but after a lot of trial and error I have a pretty good list.
Bad: As you said, orange and earth tones are our worst colors. Omg, they look sooo bad. Any warm or “loud”/rich colors look bad on us, but orange is THE worst. Ivory/cream, lavender, any shade of blue besides deep blue, and silver grey clothing are a no too. For some reason though, silver jewelry looks great on me, and gold jewelry looks awful.
Good: The best colors I’ve found are deep, jewel tone colors. My staples are navy blue, deep red like a ruby (the red is more blue than orange, orange red like a garnet doesn’t look good on us), jade/forest/deep emerald green, charcoal, and black of course.
Deep teal looks good too. Purple is a toughie as it has to be the right shade. Deep purple/violet work, but it can’t be too dark. Neither can it be too light. If it’s too light or dark, it won’t look good. Maroon and burgundy look fine, but not as good as the deep red. I once tried on a deep chocolate pullover and was surprised that it actually worked. But in this case, I think it would have to be the right shade, just like with purple.
Interestingly enough there are some light colors that work on us. White, icy pink and icy-ish pastel green work, but imo they don’t look as good as the deep colors do. I could see a pastel icy yellow working too, but I’ve never tried it as yellow is a dangerous color for us. It’s honestly interesting how some icy colors work (pink, green) but some absolutely do not (lavender, blue, silver).
Hope this helps!
Loved everything you said, sounds like we are the same person. I am so glad I found you guys.
I’m 34 and just now figuring out I am a super pale olive! Everything you’ve said makes sense to me, and my mom is clearly medium olive. I never thought I got her skin tone because I am basically translucent.
This might not help much now, but I’ve had decent success with UD Naked Skin 1.0. Unfortunately it has been discontinued, and in my search for something new, I kept being matched incorrectly by Ulta and Sephora employees. I tested the Stay Naked 30CG as mentioned below, but it was way too dark for me, and the 20WY was just plain too yellow (plus I didn’t like the thicker consistency). Like I said, I’m super pale and I have a pink flush to my face, so no one has been able to color match me. Lucky for me I could still get the Naked Skin 1.0 from UD’s website while they had some left. I don’t have the dedication or patience to mix my own stuff. Why can’t anyone just make olive foundations?! I guarantee there are way more of us out there who don’t know they are olive!
L.a. girl pro matte mixing pigment in blue is a godsend. You can get it at ulta. I add that and white (because the blue can darken the foundation as it neutralizes it) to any foundation that is too orange or yellow and voila! It’s olive toned! I no longer have to choose between formulas I love and having the right color. :)
Pale Olive Ladies/Gents!!!! Urban Decay Stay Naked 30CG, its much lighter than I expected and the undertone is a dream. On the website it looks like it will be tan but on its rather fair. For reference I typically use huda in Vanilla…the second palest. This is not that light but because the undertone is finally right I can use it and it looks great..
That’s what I use: Urban Decay 30CG and it matches my light cool olive complexion perfectly.
Thanks so much! I was eyeing the UD stay naked 30CG but i was worried it would be too dark for my MAC NC15/ Huda Panna Cotta skin. The model looked really tan. Foundation matching sites kept pushing me to 20WY but the porcelain youtube reviewers who are way lighter than I am are using the 20 range.
Oh darling welcome to the club ❤ I’m a very fair olive-skinned girl who, just like you, has hazel eyes and very dark blond + COPPER HIGHLIGHTS (natural ) hair.
We are just Lovely Mother Nature’s jokes 😂
I’ll share a post ,maybe on saturday, on my blog on how I create my own very fair olive foundation because there’s NONE out there, let’s face it 😢
Everyday minerals has olive!
Yes smashbox 1.05 is the palest olive I’ve come across 🌹🌹
Pale olives please try
BECCA skinlove weightless blur foundation in the color SHELL.
And
NARS sheer glow in the color GOBI
And
MAKE UP STORE sculpt excellence in the color COTTON.
I am a pale olive and these three foundations are perfect.
Iam shade depth nc10.
Gobi is a tad darker but works.
thank you ladies.
i am 63, you have finally given me hope
Michelle
Oh, yes!!! NARS, Gobi is perfection! But I think only in Sheer Glow. Other products in the same shade are a bit off.
I have lived 28 years without even knowing that pale olive skin even exists. I have always thought im warm toned because cool foundations turn me instantly into miss piggy…. but eeeverything is somehow still too yellow compared to my grayish greenish neck. Neutral beiges are almost impossible to find and almost no foundation is as pale as I am. So every single one I have owned so far has been more or less wrong and turtleneck sweaters have been my best friends :D
So after years of frustration and way too many hours of googeling I blind bought a foundation from Guerlain, a shade that was basically impossible to find: 31 ambre pale.
It. Is. Perfect. Ok 99 percent perfect. First time ever(!) my face is the same coulour as my neck.
I will cherish my bottle and probably buy as many backups as I can find.
I love this thread SO much! It’s like we’re all family :)
I know this is an old thread but if anyone is looking for a good foundation for fair skin with olive undertone (I’m 100%italian) tarte just launched their Foundcealer foundation and I’m obsessed with shade 24G (for olive undertones)!! I had been using fair neutral from tarte but it was never quite right… everything is a bit easier now that I finally understand how olive works
Omg! I’ve been struggling to find a good match for me and tarte is the closest I can find! I’ll have to find the one you are talking about! The face tape foundation in porcelain sand is the palest, “yellow-toned” shade. I think tarte runs kinda pink, which means the shade is a bit more neutral than other pale yellow shades. I do still have to blend it down to my chest, but it’s the closest I can find. Being super pale with a yellow olive undertone is such a struggle! We should all write in to makeup brands and ask them to make olive ranges lol
Check out 100% Pure. It’s fruit pigmented makeup and it’s wonderful. I’m one of the fairest of the fair, olive skin toned ladies around and their alpine rose color suits me well. It just disappears into my skin! Their other color, creme, does well when I’m a bit sun kissed in the summer. Check out their cream foundation. A little goes a long way!!
Oh wait, never mind. I looked that shade up and it will definitely be waaaayyy too dark for me. I’m about as pale as Loepsie, if not, paler. I hope it works for everyone else though!!
Anyone have any natural makeup brand recommendations? Moving away from toxic products due to health battles. Can’t seem to find any to match my pale olive skin!
I’d recommend looking at Asian brands. They have, generally, pretty natural ingredients and offer a wide range of pale skin colors. I’m currently in the process of finding one, but I also have very dry skin so I have another layer of difficulty. I am very, very pale olive. I have freckles and thin skin and it often has a red flush over the green tint, so makeup artists always try to match to the redness and I end up looking orange/pink. It’s awful.
Chantecaille had a shade that actually matched well, it might be mentioned in this blog. I couldn’t buy it though, my skin was too dry.
Have similar face tone what with freckles leaning greenish, pale base color skin that can flush to red. If you find something you like, please post!!
Follain.com is a great clean beauty company offering many different clean brands and products!
I am so happy I found you all!! I am 50 and have spent a fortune trying to find the right foundation.
I am dark ashy blonde with greenish eyes.
I use Revlon Coorstay in Buff.
I can’t wait to go check out some of the ones listed here!!
What an eye opener!!!
I’m light olive, not very pale, for reference I would say I’m slightly lighter than NC20 in MAC (NC18 would be my thing:)) – but to be clear, I haven’t found my foundation match in MAC, this is just for reference when it comes to the degree of my “lightness” :)
Here are some foundations that work for me:
– Koh Gen Do Aqua in 213 (best match ever)
– Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Weightless in Warm Sand 2.5 (not a fan of the formula though, too thick for my liking, but great colour match)
– Ex1 in 2.0 – slightly too light, plus the formula dried me out
– NARS Sheer Glow in Ceylan – this has been discontinued I think, but they still have it on Asos (I’m Polish, not sure if Asos works outside of Europe)
For concealing spots/blemishes, I’m currently using Urban Decay All Nighter concealer in Light Warm. Looks a bit too light at first, but gets a bit darker (=perfect colour match) when it dries. It’s great for spots as it stays put. You only need a little bit of this.
Too dry for under eyes for me though
For concealing blemishes, I also loved Make Up For Ever Full Cover Concealer in Ivory (#6). It was the best colour match in concealers, but I hated the packaging (I prefer a wand, much easier!)
Thank you for the specific info!! :)
Chantecaille color chamomile. Works for me.
I’ve been wanting to try the ex1 foundation but I’m in between shades 2.0 and 3.0. I’ve tried their concealer as well and loved it but again I’m in between shades! I do think that their foundations tend to be too yellow for me (Bear in mind my skin is olive warm with lots of yellow surface color). For reference NC20 matches my skin well…
Thank you! I am in the NC15 to 20 range and i love KGD. I use Bobbi Brown in Warm Ivory though. Sand comes up pink on me
Hello all. I’ve struggled with color matching most of my life. Late 40s. I am pale olive toned on my body but have hints of pink in my cheeks and a slight bit of redness around nose. My eyes are greyish blue outer with green and a small bit of gold inner circle. Some people think my eyes are blue. Some think green. My hair is sorta walnut toned with tones of gold undertones. I typically use gold, sand beige neutral highlights and sometimes through in a few stands of aubergine. Almost an eggplant tone.
I’m both. Warm. And cool. But not exactly neutral. I’ve learned to embrace that and appreciate the lack of conformity. :)
I try to have a balance of dark and light in my hair. To help bring out my eyes and balance the tone.
I think of it as makeup and it does half of the work for me :)
I am eastern euro and Spanish background.
Raspberry liptones and shimmery nudes make my skin look glowy.
One thing I’ve noticed tho I tend to look better in muted warm colors and certain vibrant cools. Warm grey. And black. But also chartreuse and pale turquoise.
It just depends…:).
Foundations are a chore. Currently using tarte light sand beige. And often mix it down with a slightly neutral cc cream that it slightly pearlescent.
And finally…get facials if you can. Let your skin glow 🌸. 💛
This describes me almost exactly!!! Always looking for makeup
Recommendations!
This sounds exactly like my coloring!!
Berry/ wine lipsticks tend to look great on pale olive skin!
But when it comes to clothing, I swear the only colors that I actually look good in are black and grey… 😭
Hah my mom always compliments how good I look in grey. Blue and green (emarald, not olive) are good colors as well. Even red sometimes works. Never orange and not really pink or yellow either.
Haha I’ve found my people! I’ve always been so confused by how I can be olive toned and one of my best colors is a cool grey. 🧐 I find that pure colors often work – royal blue, kelly green, never – ever – yellow, tan, or olive. I’m 40 and I’ve only recently realized that I can wear both gold and silver jewelry – and so I do. Berry lip color always. Foundation is extremely tough. Kosas makes a wonderful safe face oil; I’m using shade 6 for the summer with a bit more color than I have in winter. Eyeshadow, I have no freaking clue. I often go with darker but muted purples or darker beige with grey tones. Thankful to have found this thread!
I just figured out my undertone is actually cool green. I am very fair (NC8-10 in MAC), don’t look good in either pink nor yellow foundation, and neutrals usually look too peachy. I definitely look better in cool colours than warm (orange looks horrific on me, but purple and blue look good). But I can’t wear extremely cool tones, as they look off. So it seems like I hit the jackpot, huh? I haven’t found any foundation that’s light enough and has cool green undertones. Does that even exist? All of you here are a lot darker than me :))
try Fenty Beauty 105 ;)
I am in the same boat. I find Koh Gen Do foundations in 112 work for me. I’m too pale for the light olive shade 213 unfortunately.
I have also got “pale olive” skin, which is translucent so my veins show everywhere, and also can get a pinkish glow from exertion. It may help to think of your skin as fabric. What colours go best with pale olive? Actually though, there are colour systems and palettes that recognize neutral skin tone, and they suggest pick from any of the polarized palettes, wear whatever you feel good in – same with makeup colours.
Hi ladies,
I have just watched the Jeffree star concealer launch video on YouTube, and he specifically mentions our skin tone, over and over! I think we are really going to be included in his shade range, I believe it launches soon, and I will be purchasing so I will update the comments!
Fenty already came out with light olive shades..130 and 145
Thanks so much, unfortunately, I tend to be a little more tan then both of these shades, they’re several shades too light for me!! I actually use the 145 to highlight! Xxx
I’ll have to try that I have pale online skin with yellow and green undertones when I don’t tan and finding foundation is so hard.
I tried those and they’re too dark and still kinda yellow rather than the green/gold i need personally. I’ve found luck with her fenty concealer in 130 (its lighter than the foundation) and the MUFE Y225 (:
I picked up his concealer in C6 and I think this is the first time in my life I’ve been wearing the appropriate shade for my skin. I thought I was cool-toned when I was a kid, then I thought I was warm-toned for a few years. Cool-toned foundation turns orange on me, warm-toned looks too yellow, and neutral turns grey/ashy on me. I tried Jeffree’s concealers in C2 and C5 because I thought **maybe** I was neutral, but after seeing how grey they look and trying C6, I believe I am actually olive undertoned!
Also have pale olive skin. Try burgundy for clothes/accessories. It looks great on me, so maybe you’ll like it too
This blog suggests some foundations too http://www.beekeyper.com/2017/11/the-best-foundations-for-light-olive.html
Hi! Thank you for posting this article, i’ve been very confused all my life about this. I have visibly green veins but all the warm undertone suggestions never work for me. i’ve been using warm shades for clothing and make up for ages, people also tend to say i look ‘somehow yellow’ but fair. I always wonder why i never looked great in photos, as i tend to look gray or yellowish and even look sick in certain warm colors like orange and khaki. My body got tanned easily, but my face burned first, my face also looks more reddish than the rest of my body. As a south east asian (indonesian) olive skin tone is very uncommon, so it was never come into my mind. I tried your suggestions here and all the colour also works to me. I just bought my first cool shade lipstick today, and it suits me very well, yeay!!
I’ve been using Ex1 that’s specifically for olive skin and highly recommend it. I have dark brown hair (but dye it soft black) and dark brown eyes, and I’m a bit darker than you though still pale olive and I mix 1.0 and 2.0 or just wear 2.0! They also have concealer.
I have no tips because holy cow I’m 24 and I think I just figured out my skin tone is also pale olive. I’m feeling quite emotional, haha! I started getting curious when I discovered cool toned foundation always made me look sick, and while warm livens up my face, its still a bit yellow. Then I was trying to swatch a foundation on my arm and I took a picture, and the person I sent it to said “all I see on your skin is green.” I’ve always wondered why around my mouth, foundation or no, I look green. By george, I’ve got it.
Hi,
Thank you so much for this article, it’s a true revelation!
Lina, I am exactly like you in terms of hair and eyes and I am definitely a pale olive girl.
Please, please share some of your tips for the right foundations (brand and shade) but bear in mind I am from Croatia and probably can’t find anything else than only the big, well-known brands in here. Anything from loreal, rimmel, mac, maxfactor, catrice or maybelline would be great!
I can get away with NC37 in Mac studio sculpt and NC41 In studio fix appetently the between numbers IE 37, 41 etc are more neutral toned
I’m not a big fan of mac foundations as the majority are just really heavy on my dry skin but if I do happen to pick one up it would be one of the above.
The best I’ve found for you our skin tone, is Estée Lauder and Dior.
Xxx
Hi girls! I’m a fellow olive (I’m dealthy pale, nearly translucent olive to be exact) and some of the best or closest matches for me have been MakeUpForever HD foundation in #225, Nars Gobi, ByTerry Sheer Expert in Cream Beige, and then I usually have to mix in other brands. It’s so funny how even in this day and age of so much social media exposure and information access, no one talks about our skin tone. Could it REALLY be that less common, or are there just a lot of us out there settling for the wrong foundation tones without realizing it? Anyways, I’m always glad to find fellow fair/light olives as I figured this out myself many years ago whenever anyone would ask me if I was sick or nauseous if I went makeup and spray tan free. *insert eye roll here*
I have been struggling with this exact problem since I first started playing with make up! I used to spend hours googling my heritage, skin tones/undertones trying to find some answers and I never came across anyone else who had discussed this issue until now!
I have tried SO many foundations, it’s unvelieable…
My father’s side of my family are italian… and my mothers side Spanish, Latin American, Eastern European and if you go back far enough black.
Myself, my father and mother were all born in London.
I have found the best match is when I buy two of the same foundations in two different shades and mix them together…I typically lean towards a warmer shade to cancel the green in my undertones out a little I typically lean towards shades with the slightest hint of yellow in them.
The best match I’ve found for my skin has been in Estée Lauder foundations.
Typically the ones with a thinner formula as they seem to blend together better when I mix two shades.
I am currently using two shades of the Estée Lauder perfectionist foundation.
I’m finding the same, I need to mix two foundations. What a pain. I’m Portuguese and when I use foundation with pink it looks dull, too much yellow is too light. However, I can pull off both because I believe I’m neutral but I don’t like too much of either. I’ve tried Smashbox foundation for olive skin but then I look too green. With all the foundation that’s out there it shouldn’t be this difficult. Every makeup counter sales person gives me a different shade. Frustrating.
It’s so frustrating isn’t it! I literally have a little clear pot and I put three pumps of Estée Lauder perfectionist in cashew and two pumps of YSL youth infusing serum foundation in BD50 and It’s a perfect match for me in the summer.
It’s the winter colouring I really struggle with as I’m not as golden as I am in the summer – still trying to find a good match for this.
I have been recommended EX1 (I think that’s what they’re called, so I may try a few shades) will let everyone know how I get on – I have this page bookmarked 😂
Also if anyone has any suggestions regarding clothing colours please let me know, the only colour I look good in is black and sometimes (summer mainly) white – and in summer it’s awful!
Xxx
Wow..I can really relate to all of the comments here. I have struggled with this color thing for years. A group of us had our colors done, and I was the ONLY one out of the group that the analyst was confused about. I tend to lean more towards the cool spectrum, I believe. I note that a lot of the comments indicate we all have similar coloring. My mother is a mix of French and Danish (her mom with dark hair, dark eyes, and her dad blonde with very blue eyes), and my dad was 100% Sicilian. My skin is pale, my hair is dark brown with some red in it, and my eyes are green/hazel/grayish/a little bit of rust in there.. (no wonder I’m confused!) and I honestly feel like very few colors look flattering on me. I pretty much stick to black and navy, and some darker grays.. Reading this post and all of the comments is very enlightening! I don’t really even try to use foundation, just a tinted moisturizer. I’m going to do a bit more research on this topic! Thank you!
My mom always knew I was olive skin toned, but I didn’t ever understand it because makeup came in fair, light, medium, deep and dark. Just like every one here I am Irish, and a little Italian, and I had honey blonde hair growing up which faded into a sort of calico hair with steaks of reds browns and blonds. I also have hazel eyes that verge on green. Every cool concealer or foundation either makes me look like a pink peep, and the warm ones give me oompa loompa vibes. Neutral stuff just seems to be lacking…. Something. I don’t know about any foundations or concealers, unless you want to know what not to wear, but I know apricot and peachy lips look really good on me. I also look good in emerald greens and this maroon that’s been trendy lately.
Thanks for all your advice! I’ve been taking screenshots of colors and brands!
Me too! You just described me to a T! Please let me know what you end up getting for foundation! Did you try EX1 that everyone is talking about?
Wow I found my home! My hair is naturally brown with copper tone, eyes are a mix of bluish/greenish with hazel gold around the pupil. I am so pale and since I have been over 30,being in the sun makes me physically ill and my skin reacts as if I have an allergy-skinscreen or not..on an overcast day with sunscreen I burn. What is odd,I used to tan and not burn at all until I was in my teens. I could get very deep olive. I am half Croatian and half a combo of Scottish/English/Irish- but both of my parents have darker skin than me- my mom is light warm and my dad is medium olive/warm- so here I am with thin skin with veins of all colors very visible. At 40 I have a few noticeable sun spots on my hand,décolletage, and face. I hate them! Foundation I go for ivory neutral in most brands,but I have to use strategic concealers and highlighters because I have always had dark circles and uneven spots. Its more my body skin that is annoying- my arms are blotchier than Id like and thats where I do have freckles and my legs are so pale and veiny but Im afraid of bad sunless tanner! I have trouble finding nailpolish that doesnt make my veins stand out more!
I just discovered BH Cosmetics Naturally Flawless Foundation in “Light Olive” (with a name like that, I had to try it). When I put a dot on my wrist, it seemed too pink, and I almost discounted it. Thank goodness I didn’t … it’s the best match I’ve found and at a bargain price, too!
I know this thread is old but it was so encouraging to me. I am Native American/Irish/Scottish/welsh. I am one of the few with a true red undertone. I tan very easily and when I’m tan it’s not too hard to make a mix of neutral and red brown that will work okay for me. However when I’m pale I am exceedingly pale. I have very dark brown hair and dark green eyes. So anything with a pink or yellow base make me look like a clown. And I have never found a neutral foundation light enough for me. So its pretty much impossible to wear anything but a porcelain concealer to not look very odd. It’s really incredibly frustrating and disheartening, but it makes me feel better to know I’m not the only one with this struggle.
Woah that is such a cool (but I imagine not super common) combination. I can imagine that you have difficulty finding the right shade. The one good thing about having red undertones is that you could possibly mix in some liquid blush of the right shade to your foundation (test in small batches). (I’ve wanted to do this with green but very few makeup items are green.) If you use powder foundation that might be a lot easier to experiment mixing in additional pigment.
I’ve always thought my cool-ish pale olive skin (with very dark hair) comes from my Welsh ancestry. It’s so interesting to read through these comments!
I have struggled for a long time to find a foundation that matched my skin tone. Neutral shades are too pink, and yellow colors just don’t look right. No makeup counter has ever been able to match me. I always had a feeling that I had pale olive skin.
I recently tried 1W1 Bone in Estée Lauder Double Wear, which is a pale yellow tone, and was just going to settle with it being slightly off. However, I picked up a sample of the same foundation in 1W2 Sand and it is perfect. Sephora’s website describes 1W2 as light with warm, subtle olive undertones. I would suggest anyone having trouble finding the right shade and think that you are a pale olive, to pick up a sample at your nearest Estée Lauder makeup counter. Now I just need to find my Summer shade!
I have this Estée Lauder shade too. I also have the Dior Backstage 2Warm Olive. Dior are including an olive undertone in all new foundations. I didn’t get the new Forever one in the same shade and I don’t think it’s right.
I custom blend a warm and a cool foundation for this very reason! There is no foundation for us lol. I use 3 parts dark cool (darker than my face) and 1 part light and warm/yellow (lighter than my face), both liquid obvi. and apply with a mineral powder brush
Hi all,
This post is already a few years old but I’ve just read it – and I’m impressed! Thank you ladies for the tips and recommendations for foundations!
It’s wintertime so I’m struggling with founding a matching foundation to my pale olive skin. In natural light my neck looks literally light green and finding a foundation that doesn’t give me the “Donald Trump -effect” is hard. The foundation should be very fair and green-olive-based. I’ve used makeup with warm undertones because they look better on me than cool undertones (that make my face awkwardly pink), but the warm ones are usually too yellow or orange based or too dark.
I guess olive complexion wouldn’t be a beauty problem if I had that sunkissed tan all year around, but as I’m Finnish, I’m as pale as snow during winter. The reason why I haven’t realized that I could have olive skin is that the definition isn’t associated with fair skinned and haired northern Europeans but instead, with Southern Europeans with brown hair and eyes. However I’m quite sure that I fit under the label olive skin, as my veins seem both blue and green and I can see the green and some yellow colors on my skin. My eyes are green and hair is natural medium brown (it used to be golden brown when I was a child) and I tan easily.
I’ll definitely try some foundations mentioned above (ie. Smashbox Studio Skin 1.05 and MUFE Ultra HD Foundation Y225 Marble). Let’s hope that I’ll find the right one! :)
Oh my goodness, I have completely found my tribe!! I used to LOVE being tan and would tan pretty easily and I always felt better with the color, but I have been natural and pale as ever for the past couple of years. I feel my skin has days where I am pale with grayish tones to it even, and greenish for sure. I never understood, and I tend to love gold jewelry but some days I look in the mirror at the gold stud backs on my earrings close up to my face, and I feel discouraged as if something is clashing. I look great it grey and black
even, but when I’m
wearing black I always go for the coolest of pale shades like The fair CC cream from IT cosmetics or the natural fair shade of Glo Minerals. I also find the 105 shade of Maybelline Fit Me to be a nice match! I also tend to smear my blushed on the tops of my cheekbones opposed to a little lower like most people recommend. I don’t know why, but this does something for my face and I just can’t get enough of a great blush. My eyes are dark
brown and my eyebrows are ashy, but dark! I had blondish/yellow/golden hair as a little girl and it gradually turned to sort of a carmel red with ashy undertones still. I feel like I look
great it white one day, and then the other I will look better with cream! It’s all so confusing and frustrating even. I also think it has to do with circulation and time of the month or cycle of our periods? I have Norwegian background and get mistaken for Eastern european often. My hair has some
curl to it, is extremely fine in texture but I have a lot of it.
Eastern European here and I have the same problem. Even the makeup artist at Sephora couldn’t tell me if I am warm or cool. I look awful in most colors so I wear a lot of Gray and Navy. Black washes me out. White looks abysmal. It’s hard to find a hair color that suits me, too. I was light blonde as a child with dark hazel eyes. My hair has since darkened to a medium ash blonde.
I think I’m really late to this post, but thanks for writing it! Love the comments too. My skin is likewise pale olive, with green-ish veins. So warm, right? But my hair is very dark brown and my eyes are grey-blue. Clearly cool. I can’t wear yellow or orange (cool!) but pink makeup is not good at all (warm!). Both gold and silver jewelry are fine, though generally silver is a bit better. It’s such a conundrum. What I’ve found is that for clothes, clear colors are always a good bet. Emerald green. Neutral (leaning blue) red. Royal blue. Black. White. And because I ran easily, I change things up in summer vs winter. Anyway, here’s to not fitting the mold. :)
Oh, at last, my heavenly home! I knew I find you all one day. Eastern European/mixed background. Hair honey colour as child, darkened to light-medium brown, both neutral and warm in tone. Eyes, medium gold/green/grey-blue = but neutral in effect. Skin, my face is a little paler than my body, which is where you can see the greenish cast most clearly when I’m semi nude! Greyinh hair does not suit me that well, so I colour it, but have been restlessly moving from colour to colour all my life. In other words, I am still a bit confused about what colours look best on me. I CAN state that dark, rich brown looks better on me than black (very good in fact), and even a dark Brown lipstick is excellent. Otherwise, I tend to look better in medium strong, rich colurs for clothes. Muted colours kill me completely. I was put under ‘Dark Autumn’ palatte, which might be right – but have still had trouble working out my undertone (now clearly understood to be green!). Does that move me out of ‘Autumn’? Either way, I believe that I am a warm/neutral now. Still searching for that perfect hair colour though …
Like Mila Kunis, my background is Ashkenazi. My skin tone has both yellows and pinks in it. There is a yellow undertone with definite pinks coming through. My veins are not clearly blue or green. People say that my skin is olive toned, but they tend to miss the pinks. I used to have make-up custom mixed for me by a make-up artist. She commented that I had both yellow and pink in my skin. And her mix was great. My dentist says my teeth have an unusual mix of both warm and cool undertones. The big challenge now is trying to find a complementary hair color. People claim that if I have both pinks and yellows, I am “neutral,” meaning I can look great in any hair color. But, I have more a tendency to look sallow in the wrong color than ruddy in the wrong color. Any ideas as to what would be a good hair shade?
Hi, genuine Eastern European here! I’m from Estonia. Unlike most Estonians, I have dark brown eyes and dark brown hair. But in the winter I’m quite pale – I compare myself with my fiancee and I just look greener, not necessarily darker.
This spring I found EX1, a new brand that caters to olive skin ONLY. Yaaaassss!!!! I have the foundation in 02. It was light in the summer but I never got around to ordering a darker version.
Prior to that, L’Oreal True Colour (I think that’s the name?) was a major flop. Ugh.
I avoid too warm eyeshadows. Current irange and red eye look craze has left me wondering if I’m simply bad at eyeshadow. I do try stuff ( got Urban Decay’s Born to Run) but I find myself not excited at all about anything orange or pink.
My go to is Urban Decay Naked Basics. I love navy, turquoise, moss green. When I need actual color in my make up. Also, I think make up artist Andreea Ali (on Youtube and Instagram) is a pretty pale olive do check her out.
Also, ordered myself Anastasia Beverly Hills Sultry palette, it’s nice and neutral for a change.
My blush is L’Oreal Life’s a Peach and bronzer from the same line.
Someone should start pale olive makeup videos! You’re a makeup artist, give it a whirl? :)
Yes, I am Eastern European, too, and at 35, I’ve just figured out my undertone! I am pale olive! While Smashbox Studio Skin 1.05 was a gorgeous shade on me, the foundation itself was to heavy for my sensitive skin. I have been using Alima Pure satin matte foundation in Olive 0, and it is perfect for me! Pale olive and gentle on sensitive skin. If you can get Alima Pure shipped to you, they make sample kits to test out shades. Worth the try!
I’ve been thinking about trying that foundation, but I only recently discovered I might be pale olive. I’m going to give this a try soon!
This is so unbelievable helpful!
I’ve always been confronted by concerned people because of my vampire complexion. I have Ash blonde hair. Dark brows.Blue/grey eyes and completely bananas veins when it comes to determine its colors. I look good in earth color and some very clear and cold colors. And pitch black. In the summer I tan to my human self, but never burn. I come from Norway and have some Italian geenes way back. I’m always taken for being east-european.
These are my go-to colors:
Estee lauder double wear concealer 1c (light cool).
Isadore quatro eyeshaddow in Cappuchino love.
Isadore face sculptor in pink.
(I always look good in pearlish eyeshaddow.)
NYX matte lipstick in Siren (I was going to embrace my outer goth with this deep deep red, but to my suprice it looks super sofisticated on olive skin!)
In summer I can pull of Garnier bb-creme in claire/light.
I look best in auburn hair.
Thank you for this post!
Oh wow! I just went medium ash blonde/bronde…i have green hazel eyes… Do you look good in cream or white? I am Armenian/European heritage so pale olive skin is inevitable here…
Hello,
I ve been reading your blog, and reasearching my skin undertone for ages. Always failed, because I never seemed to fit any category really, just mix of them..
I wish I could send my picture with this message, so you guys can all tell me if Im crazy, or if my undertone really is pale olive. Im not sure of anything anymore, just know Im tired of not being able to fit any “box” :D.
Regards,
Kat
Thank you for this! I have the olive undertone (I tan easily, have reddish-brown hair, and have grey-green eyes). But I’m also pale. Finding a foundation is hard. Fair is too white, but a beige is too Orange-y. (My skin is also at the weird time of tan and losing the tan).
I have Eastern-European descent! So I find this really neat!
I have pale olive skin too , very similar to yours but maybe a little bit on the warmer side but it really depends on the lightning.
I am trying to find the right colors for me but it’s really hard :(
I’ve analyzed my skin in natural light: my veins are blue and purple and my skin has three distinct colors in it which are golden, green and warm pink. Without the green my skin would be definitely peach toned. I’ve tried many colors and the only ones that seem to look good on me are:
1)warm greens (grass green, olive green and forest green and yellowish green to be specific), they really bring life to my skin;
2)ivory, cream and”dull” beige;
3)dusty pink and rose gold;
4)turquoise;
5)yellow, makes my skin look more peachy rather than green;
6)”muted”, unsaturated blue;
7) cool browns;
8) salmon pink.
YES! Thanks for this post. I am light olive as well (not super super pale) with green really showing through. To be honest, i haven’t figured out if i’m warm or cool toned because although cool eyeshadow colors suit me (like purple, cool browns and taupes), the skin on my body is definitely on the warm side and necklesses look best in gold. I also noticed that i look the best in foundations with really strong yellow undertones (MUFE Ultra HD Y245, which was 120 in the original formula), which totally confuses me. Neutral or red undertones in foundation make me look sick. That’s so strange since i consider the skintone in my face rather on the cooler side. Does anybody have the same problem with needing foundations with strong yellow undertones? And do you know why that is? It’s driving me nuts not to understand the colorscience behind it (and i’m a photographer, so i know a thing or two about colors…)
Oo that like u r describing me.. 😟 im not very light bt not medium as well. Light medium i guess bt is often too dark due to the fact that cool tones look so odd and muddy on me bt warm tone foundations are wayyy too orange and neutrals look peachy and dark . I can get away with lighter shade of warm foundations which have more yellow in them as they adjust after sometime on my skin bt can’t get a perfect match ever.. I always get compliments when i wear light cool shades like frosty pink, silver, pale blue bt i can pull warm colors in dark shades too. I can see blue green and purple veins in my wrist bt sometimes they seem totally green. Bt i dont have any pink in my skin. Its jst a complete mess u can see 😂 i guess this thread is the answer to my never ending frustration.
That’s me! Now my hair is silver. Good thing I look ok in silver. Best color? Really rich wine, like burgundy.
YES! I struggle so much sometimes with my skin tone especially when trying to find a good hair color that doesn’t wash me out. Whenever I take a quiz I’m grouped into the cool porcelain group that looks great with black hair but black hair only looks good on me if I have a spray tan and define my eyebrows a lot which is more work than I want to do. I had chestnut brown hair growing up with kind of dark grayish green eyes but from years of coloring my hair it’s dark brown now. My skin is very pale but not pinkish, definitely green! I’m also mostly German with some French, Czech (Eastern European), Irish and Dutch. I feel like I always try to find similar toned celebrities for hair color inspiration but I feel like they always tan their skin to not look so pale so it’s hard.
Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!
I have NEVER been able to find a perfect foundation to match my pale skin, and I’m 46! Everything has made me look piggy pink or a weird shade of Donald Trump orange. All my life people have told me I look tired and/or asked if was coming down with something. What really got me wondering was when I compared my own skin to my SO’s – he’s Central Asian and no doubt olive toned. I’m a whole lot of shades lighter, but the undertone is definitely there. Friends have tried to type me according to colour seasons, and throughout the years I must have had more seasons suggested to me than the year has months.
For clothes, I have found my best colours tend to be whatever is STRONG with no decidedly warm or cool tones. Even orange-y red, as long as it’s warning sign strong. Unfortunately, it doesn’t suit my occupation (law). I wouldn’t use it for makeup much either – I tried red lipstick during the big hype, and it just made me look like an ageing opera diva.
But anyways, thank you. This made my day.
Why don’t you try a warm, strong blue like Ultramarine or Prussian blue?
I believe that would fit law. Best Regards!
The best foundation I have found is the Revlon Colorstay in Sand Beige. I find the combination/oily formula to be more full coverage than the combination/dry. It is more of a yellow based formula and I find it blends well on most skin tones. It works well for me in winter, but tends to be a little light for me in summer time. Since I am yet to find a foundation with a similar tone in a darker shade, I hit it with a little more bronzer to get that nice summer glow. It’s relatively inexpensive at about $35AUD, but places like Priceline in Australia often have specials and you can sometimes pick it up for about 20 bucks.
Makeup forever water blend foundation in y225 is the only foundation I’ve found that actually matches me. It is yellow undertone but not bright yellow, more like a muted yellow with a hint of that cooler greenish tone. I describe it as a cool yellow tone. (Sounds like an oxymoron but you’d have to see it to know what I mean). It isn’t the fairest of the fair but I’d say it’s a fair/light shade.
Hi!
A big thank you for this post! Here, in France, the struggle is real to find some foundations or concealers that can match very light skin (though I’m from Paris where the supply might be considered extended!), and it’s even harder for the olive undertoned-ones. All that I can find is orange-toned and pink-toned products. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to find some pale yellow-toned product that could do the trick and conceal my red-brown acne scars (I don’t know whether I have a yellow-pale-olive skin or a neutral-pale-olive skin, I can see both of green and yellow pigments in my complexion). I don’t like my green pigments, since it makes me look like a corpse in the light of winter!).
In France, it’s very hard to find pale hues in stores, as it’s still considered badly. It can be explained by the fact that in southern France, people tan easily – the weather is always sunny, and nothing is done for brunettes with pale olive skin like me: brands find the pale hues not profitable because it’s rare.
I find some matching products in those brands: Kiko, H&M, Bourjois, Boho cosmetics, Lily lolo, Make Up for Ever, MAC, Nars, and within the expensive ones I can’t always afford: Sisheido, Bobbi Brown.
My tips: always pick berry hues of lipstick, it really helps brighten the skin. Those from Bourjois (the Red velvet mattes in the following shades: Grand Cru, Red Volution, Plum Plum Girl, Saperliprunette, Pink pong, Nude-ist etc.) are very affordable and the choice is wide.
For the eyeshadows (I have hazel eyes), neutral beige, pale shimmery gold (almost beige) champagne, very fair taupes, light peach, deep purples, cool plum hues, indigo, navy blue and black always look good on me.
I get inspired by the make-ups of Eliza Dushku, Demi Lovato in her teenage years, Lily Collins, Natalie Portman, Leighten Meester, Rose Byrne, Lorde, Kat Dennings, Charli XCX (although she might look cool-undertoned), Jenna Coleman, Kristen Ritter, Winona Ryder, Rachel Weisz, Emma Watson (sometimes), and the French actresses Louise Monot, Virginie Ledoyen.
For the hair, I’d love to rock some wine/plum shade! I once tried a wig in this colour and I had tons of compliments since the contrast between the skin and the hair draws the attention. But my natural hair colour always bring me success (it’s very dark chestnut brown with golden highlights).
With that features, you have to embrace that kind of goth-inspired sultry make-up with berry hues that pop with your skin, I assure you that you can really stand out among other people as it’s very uncommon. I learnt to accept it in the early 2000’s, when tan was so praised.
Sorry for the mistakes I might not see, I’m not a native speaker.
You described me exactly and imagine living in Croatia I barely found the lightest shade od revlon which is good for me in the summer when I do tan a little. However I had to settle for oily skin foundation even do my skin is normal/dry. I did find a pigment for lighting up foundation which is actually great when I use it as concealer. But no luck with finding eyeshadow in any of flattering colours you described. Or clothes for that matter. On top of that im a size xs so most of my clothes is too big. Girl cant get no shopping satisfaction.. the struggle is real for us dark brown hair with coppery highlights, hazel eyes and pale olive skin types….also finnaly found a great cream for skin made of tea tree(Just) low on chemicals cleared me completly of acne and faded 90%of spots to find what I havent seen since I was 14-I have freckles
Please do tell! I too have had freckles ever since I was 9 or 10 :c It is so hard for me to achieve full coverage in any foundation
I have dark brown hair with hazel green eyes and i am very fair. I always remember my tattoo artist telling me I had olive skin tone. I have the hardest time finding any foundation to be light enough for me. I did finally find tarte amazonian clay foundation in “light beige” to be the perfect shade for my . fairness. It costs almost $40 and it’s full coverage. I love it!
Central and Northern europeans originally had light olive skin exactly like yours before blondism spread through natural selection. There are still a lot of people with light olive skin in Europe, especially in Northern Italy, Germany, France, UK , and of course Eastern Europe where it’s much more common. Johnny Cash and Sean Connery (both of Scottish heritage) are a great example of what original european inhabitants looked like.
The only reason why olive skinned people are categorized as “tan” is that they do tan fast plus you will never find untanned light olive skin in sunny countries because it’s literally impossible not to tan there unless you are serious about staying in the shade. You literally have the potential to become brown with enough sun exposure but you are also prone to hyperpigmentation. Another thing that I’ve noticed is that dark and medium olive skin naturally lightens with age while light and pale olive skin darkens due to accumulated sun damage.
Olive skin is not just green, some are grey (very pale east europeans like Nastya Kusakina) some are more yellow (east asians), some are peach/red (Shakira, Justin Bieber, Jessica Alba…), some can be neutral (Troian Bellisario) or even pinkish (Leonardo DiCaprio and Olivia Wilde).
Hair color has always been my biggest problem. My hair is light ash brown and I love changing color but it’s really hard to find the right colors for my green skin :( Olive skinned people usually have dark brown, ash brown and rarely ash blonde hair but those with more visible peach undertones can have golden brown hair too. The problem is that you can’t really go “bold” without looking weird. I would like to pull off bright red and blonde shades but I simply can’t.
Wow.. this comment is so informative! I always wondered about my light olive skin and my heritage. My DNA test said I am a British, Irish, German with a small amount Eastern European. Sounds like we have similar skin and hair- I have green skin, medium ashy blonde hair, and blue-grey eyes. I have always lightened my hair but have never loved warm or reddish shades on me, and keeping my hair toned cooler is a pain! I have your exact same problem!
No idea if you’ll see this nearly a year later but I have very similar coloring – light olive + blue-grey eyes. I feel like it’s the super-cool coloring of my eyes that really throw the coloring out of whack. I’ve had the most success with very dark cool-brown hair color. Think Jennifer Connely. You should give it a try!
Not to add to the confusion, but there is such a thing as Neutral Olive tone lol….. it’s neither warm nor cool, it’s why you distinctly see your green undertones. L’Oréal makes a very kid line for neutral toned skin (the mineral makeup with the kubuki brush attached) the closest I’ve come to finding my shade is this foundation in Soft Ivory…… it does not contain any undertones (no pinks, oranges, or greys) if anything, there is a very very very light yellow tint (if at all) which makes it to where I don’t look like a vampire 🙃 it’s my go to shade. And on the days it’s too light, I just brush on some highlighter or blush. Speaking of, soft sables are the only blushes that work with my tone…. their not orange, but more of s baked brick color.
I think if your undertone is green, the opposite colour of green should suit you really well. such as pinks or reds. I have a cool toned light medium olive skin tone… which I think is so “opposite” because cool tones are supposed to have pink undertones in the skin, but i have the green of the olive undertone .. which you would think would cancel each other out. But I know for a fact I’m cool toned because I only suit silver jewelry. Gold makes me look so strange.
pinks, reds, oranges, brown nudes look good on me while I would totally stay away from mauves, purples and navy. Black or dark colours can also make me look muddy sometimes.
Quick question I forgot to ask! My natural hair color is a boring dishwater/mousy brown. I want to dye my hair a nice, dark, brown but don’t know if I should do a cool or warm tone of brown on my PALE olive skin. Everything I look at only gives hair color advice for darker olive skin tones. Help!
I’ve always been baffled by the fact that I’m soooo pale, (like most brands of makeup don’t make a shade as light as I am), yet I can sit in the sun for hours and I don’t burn. I’ve always wished for rosey pink checks but that’s just not in the cards for me. I am absolutely a pale olive skin toned girl, and we do exist!
I am Native American and Irish, and my skin is pale olive. My hair is a cool/neutral light brown and my eyes are grey-blue but my skin tends to be on the warmer side of olive, and so it’s difficult for me to find foundations/concealers. When I wear anything Cool toned it makes my face look pinky-grey and dead, and when I wear Neutrals I also look very sickly. But on the other hand warm foundations/concealers are often too warm, even in the lightest shades: they show up on my skin as orangey-pink. And I can wear light golds but anything too orangey-bronze and I look ridiculous (unless I’m tan). My best foundation was the original MUFE HD foundation in #117, the reformulation to the Ultra HD in the same shade number is too dark and cool toned for me. MUFE Full Cover Concealer in #6 does work well for me, but beware of oxidation, it can turn too dark.
I’m Native American, Irish and English, and my skin tone seems exactly yours but I have greenish/golden dark hazel eyes. My hair is also dark neutral brown. I always thought I had such a hard time finding my undertone because of being mixed ethnicity =)
Native American, and Italian here. I seem to be neutral toned? My natural hair color is dark, ashy brown, and my right eye is green while my left eye is half green/ half brown. cool tones look an awful pink color on me and warm tones make me look like I have Jaundice or very orangey. I can wear both gold and silver well. where do you get the MUFE foundation, I’ve never heard of it and I’m curious? Is it online?
MUFE, or Make Up For Ever can be found at most higher end beauty supply stores, like Sephora, Ulta, etc.
I see a lot of people mentioning good foundation matches. Anyone have any concealer suggestions?
Hi Ashley, I am very pale (NC10-NC15) and have an olive undertone. For concealer I recently found the nars radiant creamy concealer in the shade Chantilly (lightest one) and I think it works really well !! It’s not olive but neither pink or yellow and even on bare skin I think the color is great for a pale olive skin gal :)
Hey there! Haha similar situation here
I’m fair neutral-warm olive skinned. Ash brown hair w warm hazel-green eyes. I find that warm undertones (reds, oranges and browns) works great on me ~ also greens, but I’m thinking you might be neutral-cool ^.^ anyways what’s im trying to say is, middle way always suits me and it could work for you, too. Try rose gold instead of gold, try classic navy instead of icy blue or neutral mid brown instead of oragey brown ~~~ hope it helps
I’m an extremely fair blue-eyed person with mousey brown hair with a tinge of red and gold. (born white blonde) but my other siblings are olive skinned with brown/hazel eyes dark brown hair and much darker more traditionally olive skin tone. It took me years to figure out why cool foundations in my brightness were too pink and warm was too orange even neutral seemed like it just wasn’t grey enough…Olive may be what I was looking for, thanks. My veins look dark blue and greyish dark purple. I’d love to show you a photo of me next to my sister to show you how I maybe olive in disguise…
I am so glad to come across this website. For years I struggled with my true undertones. The veins on my inner wrists are purple violet, aqua and wedge wood blue. I have dark brown hair all over, but sandy beige blond at my temples, my eyebrows are super dark brown almost black looking. My eyes are brown with green swirls, spokes and yellow in it. My skin is light. It’s not golden at all. Sales people /make up artists, trying to match a foundation always assume I have, a warm skin tone, just because I look like I have warm hair and eyrs it always amuses when they swatch warm foundation on my jaw line, they looked surprised when that swatch is so so orange or yellow against my skin. Next thing they do, they think oh maybe she is cool they then swatch a cooler tone which goes pink on me. Perscriptives are good., they matched velum foundation for me. I always knew I have unique confusing colouring. I found revlon buff foundation to be very good. Also boots no7 calico. I had a suspicion I saw green tones in my skin and brown. I was so confused I ruled out olive skin tone because i’m not Latin, Mediterranean, Arab. Never judge a person’s undertone by their ethnicity. Now that I found your website I know my eyes have not deceived me. Now I know I am a pale olive. Thanks so much..
I’m pale olive (a little darker than you but not much) and love my hair platinum or ashy blonde or silver. I don’t like how warm tones look on me. I’m hoping to go pastel lavender soon and hope the purple doesn’t clash with the yellow/green too much, lol.
For foundations you should check out Koh Gen Do in shade 213 (I wear 123 so that could be good for summer maybe?) and MUFE y225, both are good for pale olive skin.
I have medium/dark brown hair that can look mousy sometimes, but up close has gold and red in it. My eyes are a grayish teal. My skin has green undertones, but a yellow hue to it, too. When I’m super pale or tan my skin can glow, but in between it’s so easy for me to look like death. When pale, I can pull off cooler and brighter colors better (more like clear spring), and when tan I wear saturated warm colors like coral and crimson or light warm colors (more like warm spring). Pinks, greens, and warm purples are easiest for me to wear. Black, white, and cream depend on how tan my skin is. Most super muted colors make me look sickly.
Yes, yes, yes!!! I’m an ethnic blend of Sicilian and Western European, which worked out in the genetic wash for me, as super pale with distinct olive undertones. Oh, and really thick course hair, for extra fun. Thank goodness I can tan!
The gray-pink foundation mask has been the bane of my existence for years! I recently discovered my salvation in a Korean brand, of all things.
I got a sample of Touch In Sol Advanced Real Moisture foundation (shade natural beige) in an Ipsy bag. I had that amazing “aha” moment where I finally experienced the “my skin but better” phenomenon. It had never happened to me before, ever. I’m 38 years old. Needless to say, I stocked up!
My ethnicity showed up as Jewish Sicilian, Eastern European with Scots-Irish 10%, Britain 10%, Middle East 2% Caucasus 2%, Russia/Finland 1%. Because the Romany migrated from Rajasthan India, many Eastern Europeans (Romania and Hungary) will have traces of South Asian DNA showing up. My sister has this but I do not. She has higher Middle Eastern percentage but less Southern European and less Eastern European, more Britain, but she is darker complected with a pale olive complexion, ash brown hair,
and brown eyes with green swirl. This help explain why many people of Eastern European descent have an olive skin tone. We have many people of Romany descent who were born in Romania, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia in our family tree. I am the lightest complected person in my family. I have naturally dark auburn hair and dark grey eyes with green around the pupil and a navy blue limbic ring. My skin gets a golden glow in the summer and I tan well, but I definitely have an unmistakable pink undertone. When I look at my skin in daylight, I see a yellow tone, but in
photos I show up with a pink tone. I wear gold jewelry and gold metallic eye shadows, but I can wear gold and silver equally well. My best colors are a fall palette of rust, plum, navy, khaki, deep olive, deep teal. I can wear any shade of green and jewel tones. I do not look good in pastel colours, salmon, orange, or peach. I can wear light pink but not purple. The rest of my family has burnished red undertone olive skin and dark hair, warm brown eyes. My grandfather and his sister have high percentages of Sicilian and Middle Eastern, European Jewish, North African (Tunisia). My parents showed exactly the same mix of ethnicities (which we refer to as Heinz 57) but different percentages. My father is fair complected with higher Britain and Eastern European percentage, and my mother is darker olive complexion with higher Southern European and Middle Eastern, Caucasus percentages. Hopefully this helps someone. I have struggled to find any foundation that works, and I am not a makeup guru so I can’t remember the brand. I usually mix shades to achieve a somewhat acceptable match and contour with a light bronzer. I love warm terracotta, gold, and cranberry eyeshadows.
I am so pale, the most fair skinned person I know, with hazel green eyes (that occasionally look gold) and natural dark brown hair but I have lately been rocking a warm blonde. (Ash blond looms horrendous on me).
For makeup foundation is tricky, I go without these days and I wear RCMA when I go out. Fuscia lipstick looks amazing on me as well as coral and soft pinks. I stick to coral and pink blush and if I dip into red it has to be a raspberry.
For eyes I love plum eyeliner, and I think gold, warm brown and honey shades are my best neutrals. Pink and purple being my most flattering colours to wear again
I also look horrible in washed out shades. Navy blue looks amazing though, so people with our skintone should make sure to stick to dark denims as well. I love grey, purple, black , pink (bright or soft), white, olive green and warm neutral colours like camel. I have a bright bright coral orange tank that makes me look super tanned (for me) so that and fuscia are my go to neons and turquoise in jewellery look a great. I stick away from yellow and true orange, lilac and lavender like the plague. Greens are tricky because there are so many hues, but i find olive and emerald, and rich dark greens look best. Any jewel tone really. On the subject of jewellery, rose-gold (with runner up being gold gold) does me the most favours.
I also lighten my hair because I look almost dead with it natural, as the contrast is so extreme.
I’m definitely pale olive and have finally found the right foundation for me: No. 7’s Calico. Still flummoxed about what color clothes to wear, but at least I don’t look like I’m wearing a pink mask anymore!
Another eastern european here. I’ve been trying to figure out my skin tone for the longest time! So glad I came across this article because my skin is almost exactly like yours. The struggle is real! I also have pale skin with a greenish undertone and tan easily. My hair is a light ashy brown and I have light brown/hazel eyes. As a teenager, I always thought I looked greyish/greenish and sickly so I dyed my hair jet black. Now, I’m struggling to find makeup that suits me. Warm or cool shades of makeup… I’ll never know.
Omg I thought I was crazy when I couldn’t tell my undertone by just looking at my wrists. My wrists are blue like those with pink undertones and my skin is just as pale as theirs if not paler in some cases.
Nobody has ever fully understood my skin undertone and I feel so mismatched…my lips and cheeks are purplish and my natural hair is auburn…I now dye my hair jet black because I looked sick all the time.
I was born with red skin (yes, red), bright red hair and hazel grey eyes. At some point my skin became this weird greenish color and it was a lot more noticeable when I was a kid. Compared to other kids (they all had pink undertones, sometimes neutral) I looked like a zombie, I was paler than all of them but really green. I also could cover a broad range of shades, I could tan deeper than other kids in summer and quickly become paler than them in winter.
I am glad things are changing a little over time, my skin is slowly gaining some pinkish undertones to it but sadly it’s still green and it’s really hard to find colors that suit me. The only colors that seem to go well with my skin are plum purple, navy blue and of course black. The colors I absolutely avoid are pink, beige and orange.
I swear I’ve never seen anybody with green undertones like me except one of my cousins. The only ones who seem to have green undertones like me are eastern europeans and pale skinned chinese. My facial features look eastern european too, I hear this all the time from people.
In conclusion, I think green undertones are definitely in the neutral category, just a lot difficult to handle… not the most attractive of the skin tones if I have to be sincere.
I don’t really wear makeup but I look okay in neutral foundations like Lily Lolo’s mineral foundation is shade porcelain.
I get you. I have dark brown hair and eyes which borders black but a really fair complexion, but isn’t exactly white or pinkish, and it wouldn’t take much for me to look pale when my skin is on its own (not suntanned etc.) What I found was any muted color is a big no (bright colors are okay, even pastels), but the muted ones, when I’m wearing those, many misinterpreted that I’m sick or exhausted when in reality I’m not! I had no idea why was that so until I spotted myself looking more greenish in those colors, a pale, sick kinda green, not the beautiful fair complexion I have usually. The shade fuschia work wonders for me, especially lipsticks. Foundation is a struggle, I currently resort to a light beige (better than other light shades that makes the face distinctly fairer than the rest) mainly to balance out my brown eye circles that makes the pale effect worse.
I have confusing mixed colouring. I have very pale skin with green undertones, and dark gold hair and pale grey-blue eyes. They all clash. Something that suits my skin and hair does not suit my eyes and vice versa. I look silly with a tan because my grey-blue eyes look ill placed with it. I always look like a mis-matched patchwork quilt lol.
Finding a the right undertone in foundation is a struggle for me too,I’m Australian but with Polish and Scottish ancestry but now I know my skin tone is inherited from the polish side of my family,I’m Fair but was told awhile ago by a makeup salesman that i have a neutral to olive undertone and he even picked up that I have Eastern European ancestry,I find most foundations to be either too orange or too cool for me and one of the only foundations that has come closest to my undertone is the Revlon colorstay in Buff but I they have changed the formula recently and it’s not as long wearing as it use to be,so now I’m on a hunt for another long wearing foundation that’s similar to Buff.
I know they also make buff in a mousse formula, it might last longer?
Yes! The struggle is real for us olive-tone PALE girls. Most people associate olive skin with tanned, medium complexions. Very few make-up brands cater for us PALE chick/guys. Sadly many MUA and cosmetic retailers struggle to identify/be aware of it too- so we are constantly misled, misunderstood and waste money on products that simply don’t work for us. It’s not just an Eastern European skin type either: I’m half British and half Indian. Also, those Asian chicks often have our skin tone too. Here are some foundation shades that I find work:
1. NARS Sheer Glow in Gobi (best match EVER- it’s like my skin, in a jar.)
2. MUFE in 117/Marble (they might call it something else now- they recently changed the shade names.)
3. Bare Minerals BarePro is No. 3 Champagne (Not a bad match but oxidises a bit.)
4. GA Luminous Silk in No. 3 – now, this isn’t an olive undertone, it’s a warm undertone but it’s not too golden (thus translate orange on us), it seems to work. It’s not perfect, however.
Revlon Colourstay do a shade but I forget which one- I’m not a fan of drug store. Shameless high end snob here.
There’s an Australian make up brand- I forget the name- Make up Store ? Apparently ALL their foundations lean olive. Also check out YouTuber/influencer Karima McKimmie. She too, has an olive undertone- albeit darker than us- but still a good reference point for colours that work on us. Additionally, foundation shades can always be ‘lightened’ with a mixer. I also like her aesthetic. Cool chick; check her out.
I forgot to mention, the Koh Gen Doh Aqua foundation in 213 is olive. However, for shade referencec, it’s about an NC25-30, so it’s way too dark for me. However, you can mix it with liquid colour white solution, to lighten it.
Yaaaas! I use Nars radiant longwear in Fiji. I think this is a little darker than Gobi, so if you get a tan try it out. It’s interesting because th descriptions say “yellow undertones” ??? I still don’t even know if my skin is olive but after reading all the problems from other girls on here I was like yup that’s me.
Liz Huelfenhaus fiji is completely a normal neutral(peachy undertone) shade honey. Its not olive at all. Olive is a real struggle trust me 😕
Also if fiji suits u then u could check stephnie marrie blog.she has a complete long list of foundation matches for that shade match 😊
a color match for you you can find in Meow
Mineral Foundation
play with Ocicat #1 mixing with some Angora #2 (or #1)
kind regards 🌱
This article you wrote just speaks to my soul. Thank you for sharing! :)
I have a very pale complexion, but am able to build up a tan quite easily… I have dark brown, ash-toned hair and hazel eyes. My mother is of Costa Rican/German descent and my father is from British Columbia with Scottish roots. I have a fair amount of freckles across my cheeks, but I am not covered in them.
Whenever I go into a makeup store to get shade matched for a foundation, they see my freckles and instantly point me towards a cool toned foundation with pink hues. It’s only when I’m out of the store and in a well-lit room do I see that the tone is oh so wrong. Going in the other direction proves less productive as even the palest of warm toned foundations look like I’m rocking a sheer yellow mask. Neutral foundations don’t seem to do the trick either. Though they’re not as noticeably different on my skin as the cool and warm tones, they still come out a bit too pink for me.
The best solution I’ve come up with so far is the Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation in shade 213. It’s too dark for me, but it has that slightly green, olive undertone that I need. I usually mix in a bit of the super pale neutral foundations I have around to try and get the shade lighter and that seems to help……. I’m still on the hunt though for that perfect foundation shade. Reading some of the other peoples suggestions and comments on here is a huge help and gives me confidence that I’ll find it :)))
Hi Lucy,
I also believe I have this undertone, at least on my face. While the rest of my body seems to be plain pale and white where my skin creases, on my face, which is more red it seems to be olive, specially around my eyes. When watching your videos I got the feeling we have a similar “problem”… the brownish dark eye circles… I can’t really say I see a green undertone, but it looks more like brown to me. I find it really hard to match to any colour, so I just use a light concealer and then my face suddenly loses that olive tone. Since my cheeks are red and everything else so pale, I seem to have a totally different undertone. I also “feel” a different shade when in northern Europe, however, I can’t agree with this undertone being common in Eastern Europe. I’ve been in Russia, and the Baltics and it’s not common in slavic people. Maybe you mean in the South or Middle East, that makes sense to me.
I also disagree on it being uncommon in people of Latin descent, specially with dark features like mine and yours (brown hair and eyes). I recon you’ve been in Spain, where, along with Italy, Greece, Turkey, and other Southern countries it’s not rare. Since you also tan, the being paler thing might be a thing of living where there’s less sun, while locals are constantly exposed to it.
Having lived in Latin America, I also don’t think you would stand out. One thing are people who have direct ancestors of Native or African origin, and others are a mix of Spaniards, Portuguese, as well as black or native, as well as arabic, so there’s also plenty of people with your/our features who identify as Hispanic or Latin.
Anyways… to add something useful, aside from covering my dark eye circles, which I find the least forgiving olive undertone feature on me with a very light and pinkish concealer, I find strong colours suit me, particularly navy blue. Maybe it’s worth giving it a try. I also find that other colours can look decent if I wear enough makeup… I just hate that the majority of my body looks good in one colour, and a small detail can totally “ruin” the look, so I don’t even dream of going somewhere public without makeup :/
I like what dark lipsticks look on you, specially leaning towards purple, as well as black clothes. I don’t care much for pastels, but the main idea is I’d love to see if you could maybe make a video where you separate your clothes in seasons or shades and try them on separately. I think seeing only a group of colours at the same time would help determine what really suits you and would be helpful for people struggling to find what suits us.
Ah, another video I would perhaps want to see is a more intimate q+a about relationship topics that might be a bit controversial (like, what’s your stance on non-traditional relationships, how would you react or deal with someone cheating, a threesome, or things like that… not in the perverted sense at all, but more like a realistic talk about some more difficult topics people might face with their significant other).
Other than that, best of luck, and thanks for uploading content.
Thank you – this was super helpful! I too have been trying to figure this out for ages and all the guides on how to find your tone make me even more confused. But this makes total sense – My grandad, dad and sister are all much more traditionally olive-skinned, almost Mediterranean looking, but I’m so pale I thought that that couldn’t possibly be me! But yep, very pale olive toned gals exist! Hurray.
Pale neutral olive skin tone here! I have dark hair and eyes. I don’t wear foundation, but as far as eyes, lips, and clothes, I have found the colors that work best for me are saturated and darker. Plum, forest green, navy, etc. Pastels make me look yellow and jewel tones make me look red. A straight-up gray doesn’t look so good, but something with a taupe-y hue looks much better. I just need that bit of blush in the color to avoid making myself look ashy. So maybe try that out.
I think a good option is if you buy a foundation adjuster and mix it into your foundation to adjust it. I’ve had the same problem with finding my perfect shade. My skin is definitely warm but my veins always look blue AND green. And the jewellery trick never worked for me. You can buy face adjusters from Face Atelier and Temptü. It was only after i added a yellow adjuster to my already yellow foundations that i realised that my undertone is not just yellow but a green yellow. Hope this helps.
I’m austrian and all ancestors i know of are austrian too. My skin is extremely pale but i can be quite dark if i get enough sun. I never found a 100% fitting foundation. I’ve been wearing too orange/pink foundation for years just because there wasn’t anything available back then. I’m now using Revlon Colorstay Foundation in Buff. It’s still a tiny bit too dark for me but quite neutral so it doesn’t look as unnatural as pink/orange toned foundation. It’s also very affordable. I’m going to try the Fit me Foundation of Maybelline soon. See if one of the newer pale shades is a match for my skin. I have severe acne and oily skin so I need a proper one. When it comes to eyeshadow… Copper! I have light blue eyes so it’s extremely hard to find colours that match eyes and skin. Copper is one of the few. Very dark neutral purple-brown shade with bronze shimmer is a nice match too. Black and white looks awful on my eyes. Makes me look like i haven’t slept for days. Everything that is too bright like neon colours is just as awful.
Colorstay in Buff has been the only foundation shade I always went back to when I needed a safe, not–mixing-a-ton-of-shades look. I’ve been using it for years while hopelessly trying a lot of other brands and foundations. Would be great to find alternatives, if you find any.
I’m of Portuguese descent (have medium brown eyes and dark brown hair), and like you, have a pale complexion with that green undertone. I use CoverGirl Classic Ivory and find that matches me pretty well.
I’m older than the rest of you, and have never worn makeup, precisely because of problems matching my skin tones. I’m fair-skinned, with light brown hair with strawberry blond highlights in summer, more red and less blond as I get older. I burn, then tan lightly in a reddish brown. My eyes are green-blue with a tiny bit of yellow in the center. I’ve always had freckles and now, to my horror, age spots, which led to a search for makeup once again. My first matches with Sisley and MAC were all wrong. Both identified me as cool because of the red tones in my skin and because I am fair. The Sisley makeup turned me grey, and the MAC (Studio Face and Body C1) got rid of the red in my face but turned me yellow. Yesterday, back at another MAC, I was quite surprised when the MUA looked at me and said “light olive.” She matched me with their mineralized foundation at NC20 or face and body at N2. The first is a tiny bit yellow and the second a tiny bit pink, but we’re definitely closer. MAC Syrup lipstick is first I’ve ever tried that works great. We didn’t find a perfect blush or bronzer. Like all of you, neither silver nor gold looks great on me, but silver is better, and I can’t wear orange or especially yellow without people thinking I’m tired or sick. Navy, teal, blue reds, olive, grey look good and I’m fine with cream and black. You’re my tribe!
My ethnic background is Irish/Scottish/English with a smattering of German, but I read that light olive skin is common in German and Scandinavian countries — and those Vikings did get around the British Isles!
Same problem! Fair complexion with olive undertone….I tan fairly easily without burning, but during the winter I always look “washed out” or sick. I also have a difficult time finding complementary colors for my skin tone, however I have discovered that Maybelline’s #20 Classic Ivory is a fair match to my tone and blends easily to my skin color!
I have olive skin too – darker than yours.
I would highly recommend asian makeup brands. I worked out years ago that western brands all have pink tones in them, so to get the yellow tone you need to follow where most of the market has the same skin tone.
Shiseido make the best colour match for my skin.
Highly highly recommend
I can identify with all the comments above. Some things I’ve learned that I hope will help:
1) I’ve gone to more than one color analyst and have been identified with both warm and cool undertones. Cool colors are sometimes too purple or blue, warm are too yellow and bring out the yellow in my skin. I’ve now decided I’m olive neutral undertone.
2) I think we can wear both, just nothing too bright and it seems black and white are not really my friends. Navy has been a better neutral, also sand or very light taupe. Nothing that overwhelms or wears you, instead of you wearing it.
3)Makeup: Before spending a lot of money, try these. I just discovered some of them and what a relief. Aveeno tinted face moisturizer (spf protection, lightweight), sugar plum lipstick in moisture riche by L’Oréal (not too cool, not too warm and even goes with red), Nude crème lipstick by Milani, L.A. girls lipliner in Forever. Bronze eyebrow pencil by Wet and Wild (I use it for eyeliner) I have green eyes. And Smudge pot (bronze) eye shadow by e.l.f. Normally I would not have tried most of these products based on their color, but researched them on the internet first and found them all to be winners. Also like Burts bees, Sedona Sands, lip crayon for a natural look (kind of waxy though).
Though these may not work for everyone, I think we struggle with many of the same color issues and hopefully this will help you same some money.
This is the problem I’ve been having for the last 35 yrs of my life I’m a mix of Greek and Irish and well I have a genetic back ground of almost every continent but Irish and Greek are the most dominant and it gives my a light olive color finding foundation is so hard I’ve tried it all even went to Mac and let a professional suggest a color sadly it came out a weird pinkish tan color and looked horrible on me someone suggested Nars but I’m to worried about being disappointed again because most make up companies only think of olive as dark tan
Try NARS sheer glow in Gobi. I assure you, it’s a perfect olive-tone, pale foundation.
Has anyone ever looked into Asian or Korean foundation? just a though, as they tend to have the olive-ish undertones and less pink tones. I haven’t searched around, but its an idea :D
I spent a month in Korea and shopped for makeup while I was there. Much of it is tinted pink because whitening the skin is the fashion, so the bb cushions and fluid foundations are tinted with pink to neutralize any yellow. So. It makes me look pink. I can get away with it in the summer but never in winter.
That Bb cream in a red tube from Missha worked well.
Omg I have found someone like me! I am half Italian half mix of Australian /English / French lol and I can’t even tell you how much money and time I’ve spent trying to find a foundation for me. My skin is such an unusual tone not in the way that people comment but I can never find a foundation match and depending on the person and lighting and how much sun I’ve had changes the view of my skin. I tell people I’m green-brown-yellow undertone and get looked at like I’m insane. I do have yellow in my skin but not how others describe it I guess as I think sometimes when they say a foundation is too yellow they mean it’s Too orange. I’ve shown this by holding something yellow up to it and orange. I think our skin has yellow in it. But mainly it’s green brown and also just neutral in the truest sense. I haven’t got any pink in my skin really but because I’m pale I get told I’m pink undertone but also told I’m warm lol. The problem is a lot of ‘olive’ foundations are golden orangey. Olive is green neutral. My skin is pale but it’s also not pale which is challenging. It’s like the depth of my skin tone underneath is neutral brown but on top is green-white-slightly yellow. I have been told by frustrated makeup artists they can’t match me or employees say they don’t have my color. I can see them trying but they end up finding nothing or trying to sell me ‘beige’. I understand though and blame the makeup companies. Why are there no foundations for us? Do they exist in Europe and what brands are they? I can’t find anything. I stopped a girl about a year ago as she had my skin tone and had makeup on (eyes,lipstick) and I said what foundation are you wearing? Unfortunately she said she wasn’t wearing any and I saw she had flawless skin but her eyes etc done. Unfortunately I need to wear foundation. I’ll add that for me I look awful in green or orange, both silver and gold look meh but silver is a bit better, I have dark cool toned brown eyes, dark brown hair. I look awful in peach blush and look best I think in blue based red lipstick and for eyes neutral brown, black, a bit of purple and royal blue. What foundations have you found to wear?
Hello! Fellow olive skinned girl here. Have you guys tried EX1 foundations? Supposedly they are made for olive skin specifically
I literally ordered that foundation the other day, based on a recommendation from another website dedicated to olive skin. I purchased EX1 in shade F100, as recommended. It arrived yesterday- The problem is, it’s way too dark. It’s for light-medium skin. For MAC
reference, I’m like an NC15 (but MAC ‘C’ is too yellow and the ‘W’
is too cool. ) The best foundation match ever for me is NARS Sheer Glow in Gobi and MUFE 117 (note they’ve recently changed the shade names.)
Try the Revlon Colorstay in Sand Beige. I find the combination/oily formula to be more full coverage than the combination/dry. It is more of a yellow based formula and I find it blends well on most skin tones. It works well for me in winter, but tends to be a little light for me in summer time so I hit it with a little more bronzer to get that nice summer glow.
Wow everything makes sense now! I even used to work as a makeup artist and would match people all day but nothing ever looked quite right on me. I’ve gotten matched incorrectly at Nordstrom and Sephora so many times. Either they think I’m cool and I leave with a pink line on my jaw or warm and I look too yellow. Thought I figured out I’m neutral but even those foundations leave a slight wash of grey.
Never thought I’d be olive because I’m so pale and of mostly Irish and French ancestry but now that I think about it both grandmas were olive!
I agree with others the best match I’ve ever tried is NARS Gobi. It was like my face came alive. Unfortunately I had to return in because it broke apart on my oily skin. Now that I know I what undertone to look for I’m hopeful. Thanks everyone for their insights <3
I am not of eastern European descent (I am German, so I’d say central European?), but I definitely have the same undertones – I am a pale olive. I am also quite cool-toned, but ‘cool-toned’ foundations actually pull orange on me. I have ashy brown hair and green-grey eyes with specs of yellow in them as well.
What I can advise you to do is look on reddit, there is a sub called OliveMua and it is basically a forum for everyone with olive undertones, regardless of the depth of your skintone or of the warm- or coolness. (Cause yep, being olive wasn’t complicated enough – you can be a warm olive, a neutral olive or a cool olive as well, apparently.)
I actually find it quite impossible to find a foundation with my skintone depth (somewhere between nc10 and nw13) and a cool, yellow-greenish undertone. If you ever find one, please let me know, I would be very interested!
This sounds like me, but I have more blue in my eyes, a mix of blue, green, grey and flecks of yellow-ish in the middle. I have quite cool brown hair, with golden highlight when I’m in the sun.. Never looked good in yellow, pink or neutral foundations. Everything looks dull or strange. I don’t think I look good in a lot of colours either, so I usually wear navy, black, grey, some kind of white (never really good though). Really disturbing, when I was about 12 years old I was looking for my first eyeshadow och said I thought I was olive toned (read about skin tones already then), but people said I was wrong. Depending on stores, some thought I was cool toned because of some redness in my face and on my hands, others very determined I was on the warm side because of the obvious yellowish (actually more green-ish in daylight) tone on my skin. So many confused years! Will look up what you recommended!
/ A Swede
Ok. We have the exact same skin colour and undergone. The best match ever is NARS Sheer Glow in Gobi- seriously, check it out. Is light to medium, buildable coverage. It’s not glowy, more a demi-matte.
P.s, I’m not a NARS Rep, I swear! I’ve literally spammed reply comments with this suggestion. It’s just, it has taken me years to find this foundation perfect match. Want to shout it from the
Roof tops!
Hi, I’m Chinese but your skintone seems to be very similar to mine (pale Olive NC13-15). I find Asian foundation seems to yield better matches for us pale olive girls. I find Sulwhasoo’s perfecting cushion intense in shade 17 Light Beige to be a decent match for my skin. It’s almost identical to MUFE 117 Marble when swatched. I just find cushion foundation to be more convenient for touch ups throughout the day..
I also don’t have any Eastern European background. I am Native American, but a tribe that’s genetically much more closely related to Israelis than other Native American tribes (Chahta, if anyone is interested) and also English. I was always much “whiter” than my mother’s side, but I never had the rose petal complexion of my father’s family. I have dark brown eyes and my hair is naturally light ash brown. I would get SO frustrated with those, “What’s YOUR Skin Tone?” quizzes, because I never fit ANY of the categories (or, more precisely, I needed to combine two categories to describe myself.) It wasn’t until last year after working with a Stitch Fix stylist that I found out that I’m light olive–and that it’s possible to be that! I am MAC NC-30 and ELF shade “Sand,” if that helps anyone!
Hi♡ im so happy to read this because I feel not alone. I’m mixed race person featuring Polish, German, Jewish, English, Irish, Samoan and Tokelauan, with hazel eyes that are usually warm, sometimes cool, and those cool blue veins but I tan cool dusky grey green, definitely Not a warm tone. Its very hard. The best concealer i found is a korean brand yellow based “Sand beige”, but otherwise use neutrals. Thanks for your wonderful tips.
I am in the SAME boat! I have Eastern European roots as well, dark brown eyes, naturally a level 4 in hair color, my veins appear both blue and green depending upon where you look, and when I’m tan-great…but I live in a place where winter is a primary season, and therefore the moment I lose my summer color (which happens fast and then I’m back to pale)-the green comes out. I do not look good in bright orange or yellow, or any yellow-based reds, bright pastels, lime green, etc. I look better in blue-based reds, and blues, greens, purples, black is fine I find, and dark brown. Also do not look good in coral lipstick or any orangey based blushes as well.
Thank you for allowing me to relate-I was on a search for a different hair color. I have highlights which I maintain by using a purple-based color shampoo to keep the brassy out, however, I think I may switch this us-cuz I am so dark naturally, haircolor-wise. Also, definitely did not realize Mila Kunis was so pale olive….she fits me to a T. In fact, I never realized we probably could pass as twins.
Hey Lucy,
I am soooo happy I found your page! I think we are skin hair and eye color doubles, or almost! My eyebrows are lighter I think… HAPPY because I am struggling!
For the moment, in make-up, I use L’Oréal 1,5N or 2N. 2N is better because it fits my skintone better, but it also seems to have slightly warm reflections which are not in the 1,5N. I am really curious now about the one you suggested!
I wear “dirty” jewelery, silver, gold and copper. But it has to be dirty!
I also tend to be more cool, but I wear best a washed out black, broken (warm) white, all sorts of dark greens, nightblue, bordeaux red, saturated dark purple, neutral red, orange, light brown, jeans, …? still searching for more!
I was thinking of getting a professional color analyses, I found someone in my town who seems really good at it, having a big range of categories etc… I can share my results with you, if you wish…
Greetings from Berlin
Ana
hey loepsie,
i think we have the same hair-, eye- and skincolour! :) i am so happy to finally see pictures of someone “like me”. guess what, i am ten years older and still confused ;) i went to chanel especially to get advice for a lipstick and always went home with cool colours. but i can also wear slightly warm colours, like red with a slightly brown touch.
for make-up, i use l’oréal 1,5n or 2n. the 2n is slightly warmer unfortunately, but fits better to my natural skintone. but i’d like to try the ones you suggested.
silver or gold – non of it looks really good on me, unless it is dirty ;) so i go for vintage and then i can wear both.
clothes: i have been wearing only black, nightblue and green for ages!! i feel so boring and always wanted to be the “spring type” who can wear a big range of funky colours! also, i couldn’t handle my tan and so i have been using selftanning cream for ages. i stopped this now and begin to discover myself….
my clothes vary from a washed out black (not grey!), to nightblue, and all sorts of greens. but i am really struggeling here! is that all? bordeaux-red seems to work well too, deep purple and a broken white/creme (but not too warm!), and jeans. i have an orange scarf that i love to combine with night-blue and it looks good, surprisingly. and a very saturated neutral red raincoat that seems to fit well to my surprise, as normally i can wear muted colours better. my most terrible colours seem to be a saturated light blue, turquoise and a very warm yellow. i am thinking of getting a professional color analysis, but i am hesitant, as i got already adviced so wrongly from make-up professionals. but if i do i might share my results, if you wish…
I have paler skin than you; if I remember correctly, you use the second to lightest shade from the Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation and i use the lightest, Vanille Clair, which has warm undertones. My hair was very light blond when I was a child and it darkened throughout the years and is now very ashy, so you would expect a cool undertone to my skin, but I only have pink undertones in my cheeks. I’m very pale compared to most people i know, so it’s like you said, you can’t really tell what my undertone really is, when it just looks white standing next to other people. But my sister also has pale skin and when we’re comparing skin tones, mine has a definite yellow-olive shade and hers looks pink.
I look good dressed in bright red and a number of other bright colors, whether warm or cool, but creams and more neutral tones wash me out. Or maybe my preference in colors has something to do with it as well, haha.
Oh, and I’m from Eastern Europe too.
I actually buy foundation that is designed for olive skin! I love it and it looks super natural on me :) I really like the way warm neutrals look on me and ashy cool toned colors look really nice. I get my foundation at sweetminerals.com/kingofqueensmua I wear a 2O so I’m more medium olive, but the 1O should be light enough for you. I love taupe or mauve shadows, contours, and lip colours
I have an olive undertone to my pale skin too (although not as pale as you are). Online “tests” always say that i have a cool undertone, but i always look washed out or sick when wearing the colors that are supposed to be good for people with cool undertones. On the other hand, there is a very specific shade of orange that makes my skin look glowing while other shades of orange don’t look as good. I’ll always end up looking grayish in most shades too.
When it comes to makeup, finding the correct foundation is always a struggle. It either comes out too orange (even the lightest shades) or too fake. Foundations with pink undertones make me look like i’m wearing a mask. I’ve just resorted to using CC cream as makeup base. Lipsticks come as a struggle too. Whether finding a good red or nude, it always comes down to me mixing two or three different products together.
I guess we get the best of both worlds with our undertone. It makes us unique but that uniqueness comes with a price of a lifelong search for colors that would suit us the best. In the end, the struggle would probably be worth it
Very interesting. I have green, blue & purple veins in my inner wrists, so was always confused as well. I’m East Asian, but decidedly more tan. I’m discovering that bright, full saturation colors look best on me – does this make me more on the cool spectrum? I have no idea. :) Yellow is definitely not my friend, so silver is my metal of choice.
Omg, I can totally relate! I found those test too, and I didn’t get it. I have both green and dark blue veins, and I never wear orange because I feel it makes me look yellow, or something. I only have one blouse in a warm orange, kinda autumn-orange, because I felt it suits my skin tone.
And that experience with foundations happened to me too, so I quit trying to find make up for me. =(
I must say I don’t see the green tone that you talk about in your pictures. Where is it? In which part of your face you see it?
It’s really hard to see unless you compare it to someone else’s skin. You can only really tell it’s green when I hold it next to someone else or when I’m sick :P
Hey!
My two cents: I’ve come to understand that whether you tan or burn doesn’t really have anything to do with coolness or warmth. Natural redheads are super pale and burn easily, but they’re likely warm-toned.
Also, if you’ve read anything about colour seasons – there are a zillion spectrums to take into account (for example whether you suit clear, bright colours more or muted colours, whether your overall “image” is dark or light, and so on). And to make it more confusing, you don’t necessarily have to be strictly one or another, you can be somewhere in between. I have dark brown eyes and hair, pale skin and I tan super easily but my colour season is definitely winter (not sure about the subtype, probably clear). I also look like vomit in orange, yay. (I really like orange but I guess some things have to be admired from afar and not incorporated into clothing.)
Have a great day and do more updates on what you find suits or doesn’t suit you!
I can relate to every one commenting here. I have struggled and have been mismatched by professionals all my life. I am very pale with grey-blue eyes and medium ashblonde hair, |I do not tan at all. Im a bit older and besides foundation I also struggle with dying my hair as most of the hairdye has too much orange tones in it. I already mute it down with an ashy color but even an ashy color hairdye always has a small amount of red and my hair seems to pick up even the smallest amount of it. Perhaps its better to let it go grey but Im just not ready for that yet.
This is all so fascinating? Although my hair is very dark brown, I have the exact same problem with color. It always picks up a red tint (that I despise) , I haven’t found the solution other than to not color it either🤷🏻♀️😆
**This is all so fascinating!!!
I have dark ashbrown hair, dark green-grey eyes with amber in it and this distinct skin color. I think the cooler the color, the better its looks on me, especially silver and blue toned purple ;)
oh, and i`m of eastern european descent too, from one side. but i always struggeled to find a good foundation and powder that would let me look “fresh” but pale, like redhaeds and blondes do. and everytime i find one affordable, its taken out of the sortiment :(