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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 canjust 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

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Source: http://loepsie.com/2017/05/pale-olive-undertone-struggles/