TikTok is loving cool-toned makeup – here's how to try the 90s trend

Two makeup experts give us the skinny on deciphering your undertone, the best tones for Celtic skin and a bronzer tip that will leave you looking like you’ve come straight from the beach

Alexa Demie's contoured cheekbones and feline flick are part of the cool-tones makeup trend. Picture: Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images

Thanks to TikTok, the way we’re doing our makeup is changing. Take the myriad brides-to-be asking the platform for tips ahead of their big day, or the re-appreciation for classic products — Benefit’s Benetint, for one — so that those starting out on their journey can discover the products that stand the test of time.

At the moment, creators and fans alike are extolling the virtues of cool-toned makeup, the trend that reigned supreme in the 80s and became eminently more wearable in the 90s. The trend, which sees products centre around cool greys, purples and browns as opposed to warm oranges and golds, champions muted tones to create sculpted, striking looks. Think Pamela Anderson with grey eye shadow and a frosted lip, or Alexa Demie with contoured cheekbones and a feline flick.

Interested in trying, but don’t know where to start? You have to fight the mind first, says M·A·C Global Senior Artist, Carly Utting. “If you’ve always leaned towards the warmer tones of makeup, trying cooler tones can seem totally against your instincts,” she says. “Slowly incorporating colder, greyer undertone products such as lip liners and blushers is a great place to start.

“M·A·Cs Lipliner in Stone is a firm fan favourite, bringing just the right amount of coolness to the edge of the lip, creating the most perfect ‘lip contour’ shade. M·A·Cs Pink Swoon blusher is a glorious ‘cool’ pink tone, it leaves 0 orange tone and instead is the perfect winterly chilly pink.”

You can check your undertone by looking at the veins on your arms. Are they more blue or purple? Then you’re a warm or pink undertone. If they’re closer to green, you will usually be more of a cool or yellow/olive undertone. Cool-toned makeup works especially well if you have undertones of pinks and reds in your skin tone, making it a perfect choice for Celtic skin.

Some cool-toned makeup from MAC and IT Cosmetics

“The cool contrasts of blue and grey complement the skin tone beautifully,” Utting continues. “This being said, if you’re an olive undertone makeup lover, a combination of both the more bronze/warmer tones alongside a dabble of cool is perfect.”

Deciphering undertones can seem overwhelming.

“In my many years of doing makeup, this is definitely one of the topics that confuses people the most,” makeup artist and UK and Ireland Brand Ambassador for IT Cosmetics, Rose Gallagher, says. But there are ways to simplify.

“To begin, keep your cooler tones to any areas that you want to define. Skin naturally will have warmth to it, so anything cooler will look a bit more polished. Things like a blue-pink blush, for example, can be beautiful for creating an elegant and polished looking makeup, and a blue-red will do wonders to whiten the look of teeth and whites of eyes. If you’d prefer a more natural look, you might wish to opt for neutral or golden undertones.”

When choosing new complexion products in different tones than usual, simply reading the product descriptions can be a big help.

“For foundation, for example, it can be as simple as choosing a different variation of your everyday shade,” Gallagher says. 

“Let’s say at IT Cosmetics, the Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer will have a C, N or W next to the shade name, indicating Cool, Warm or Neutral. You can stick to the same shade family (like Light or Deep), but just select a different undertone if you feel something is off.

Then, when it comes to things like your bronzer or contour colour, I would try and find something two shades deeper than your natural complexion to begin with.

That’s another thing — contouring. How does one gauge the difference between contour products and bronzing products?

“Contour products are usually very cool in undertone and are designed to mimic natural shadow,” Gallagher says. 

“The whole idea here is that you can emphasise the shadow placement on your face, for example under cheekbones or in the socket of the eye, to create more depth and sculpt the features somewhat. Seeing as shadow is always quite dark, there is no warmth in these. 

“On the flipside, bronzer is going to create light and dark, but in a different way! This is usually much warmer in undertone, and designed to give a natural wash of colour all over, but with emphasis on areas that the sun would naturally hit. Using the same sort of principles, this adds structure to the face in a much more natural and soft way.”

Gallagher’s favourite tip with bronzer?

“It will always look more natural if you add some of your blusher into it — if you caught the sun ordinarily, you’d be a bit rosier as well as sun-kissed.”