Here’s part two explaining how I look at, classify, and understand color, which reflects how I describe products in reviews and how they’re classified in the Swatch Gallery (which is truly a work-in-progress as I refine and get a better understanding of depth, undertone, and how relative that is within each color categorization!). You’ll want to make sure to at least read through part one for a primer on color theory.

Green | Cooler

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Emerald #2

Lagrimas

Mint (26)

Sweet Tooth

Cooler-toned greens will lean blue, they might sometimes like more like teal if you tend to see teal as an equal mix of blue and green. “Emerald green” is often a cooler-toned green, but I find it translates into cooler and more neutral-to-warm shades in makeup. Lighter, cooler greens can look like “mint green,” which I’d classify under “cool aqua.”

Green | Neutral

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B3 (Norvina Vol. 2)

Transform

B2 (Norvina Vol. 3)

Level Up

Neutral-toned greens are balanced between blue and yellow undertones, though some will use the term “neutral” to really mean muted or “dirty” – these would be more olive greens, but they tend to contain more yellow/brown undertones (making them more warm than balanced between cool and warm).

Green | Warmer

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Olive U

Gold Earth

Antheia (286DC)

Wicked Envy

Warmer-toned greens have stronger, more noticeable yellow or golden undertones. They can get so yellow that they get into chartreuse territory, which is a true yellow-green mix. The lighter, brighter, and yellower-leaning, the more likely it is to be more of a “cool” yellow than classified as a green. With more shimmer to them and some depth, very yellow-toned greens start looking like “cooler” golds.

Teal | Cooler

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Boom

Formation

Mystic Ice

Bring It

Teal is created when you mix blue and green together, and teal tends to represent more of a mid-tone to deep amount of darkness (lighter teals are often classified as “aqua”). Cooler-toned teals are ones dominated by blue rather than green. They might sometimes read as “warm” blues rather than true (very blue through and through) or very cool-toned blues (that lean purple).

Teal | Balanced

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Livius

Narrow Path

Slay-farer

Venice

Balanced teals are neither blue-leaning nor green-leaning and seem to strike that perfect, 50/50 mix of undertones. Most teals are cooler-toned than they are balanced or warm-toned. Sometimes this area is better classified as “warmer” blue. In makeup, more balanced teals are often the result of a cooler base color and warmer shimmer.

Teal | Warmer

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Toad-ally

Fruit Dove

Marine Waters

Hug Life

Warmer teals are a mix of blue-and-green that seem to have a higher amount of green than blue. They are often “too blue” to be classified as “cool-toned” green.

Aqua | Cooler

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Aqua

Fluorescent

Mint #9

The Next Morning

Aqua is a mix of blue and green, whichi often overlaps with what you might think of as “mint green.” Cooler-toned aquas will lean bluer and less green.

Aqua | Neutral

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Art

Mint #3

Make Magic

Mint 4 U

More balanced aqua hues will have a more equal mix of blue and green tones with less of an obvious slant toward one undertone.

Aqua | Warmer

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Mint #8

Mint Green

Lookin' Fresh

Flux

Warmer aqua shades lean greener, and these are often described as “mint green.” They’re very light, more pastel (or white-based) greens that have less warmth to them than true green shades have.

Blue | Cooler

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Dream Catcher

Marina

Chris

Slow Dive

Cooler-toned blues are ones that start leaning purple, and they might be described as “periwinkle” or “cobalt.”

Blue | Balanced

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Laguna

Drip Drop

B5 (Norvina Vol. 2)

Les Portes Bleus

True blues are ones that look dead-on blue, so they don’t lean purple nor do they look like teal (mix of blue and green) — but these are still cool-toned as blue itself is a very cool-toned color.

Blue | Warmer

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Chameleon

Crux

Smoke (65V)

M240 Prussian Blue

Since blue is really a cool-toned color, there are only a few “warmer” varieties, and in makeup, this is typically the result of a cooler base color paired with warmer shimmer, which gives it a “warmer” appearance overall. “Warmer” blues tend to be better described as blue-based teals (as warmth is introduced by mixing with green into blue).

Berry | Cooler

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Venom

B4 (Norvina Vol. 3)

SF

Heron Chic

Berry is like plum’s cooler-toned sister. Berries are cooler-toned most of the time when referenced, and I think the way to think of “berry” is to think “raspberry” rather than “strawberry” or “blueberry.” I also think that “grape” as apt here. Cooler-toned berry hues lean purple, whereas warmer berries will tend to lean redder, and this space can overlap with warmer purples, too.

Berry | Balanced

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Betrayal

Watermelon (10)

Pinker

Risque

Berry shades balanced between purple and red still tend to be dominated by red but lack some of that brightness that cooler-toned berry shades do. A lot of raspberry-hued colors are more balanced than strongly purple.

Berry | Warmer

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Senorita

Shake It Off

Mauve

Like

The more “strawberry” it starts looking–which means there’s more and more red to it–the warmer it is. I generally don’t find that a lot of cosmetics fit into “warm” berry and tend to better correspond to other color classifications (pink, coral, plum).

Plum | Cooler

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Exo

Semsa

C4 (Norvina Vol. 1)

Pink Diamonds

Plum is a mix of red and purple, which means that cooler plums lean purpler, but they are not strongly cool-toned–really “cool-toned” plums are often described as berries or purples.

Plum | Balanced

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Care 4 You

Juno Moon

Wittle

Maroon (22M)

These are more “true plum” so they tend to lean slightly redder but not approaching orange or brown in warmth.

Plum | Warmer

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Teboulbou

Dollhouse

No Plum Intended

Vegas

Warmer plums get redder, more orange, or browner. A very warm plum can look almost like a red-based brown, which may appear too red to be brown but not red enough to be a red.

Purple | Cooler

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B2 (Norvina Vol. 2)

Rest More

Eve

Electric #4

Purple is a secondary color created when you mix red and blue together, and so the more blue that is in the mix, the cooler-toned the purple appears. This is why you’ll sometimes see people use the term “blurple.” With a lot of blue, it may also appear as a “cooler blue.”

Purple | Balanced

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Amethyst #6

Pandora

Gravity (Wired)

Cannes

“True” purples are balanced between red and blue undertones and are often still slightly warmer than they are cooler-toned in cosmetics.

Purple | Warmer

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Sista

143

Astrid Lust

Calypso (GPV2 #15)

Warmer purples are ones that have stronger red undertones to them, and I also read this as appearing pinker.

Lavender | Cooler

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Baby Doll

Pegasus

Seattle Fog

Flowery

Lavender is a lighter, pastel take on purple, so cooler-toned lavenders are bluer.

Lavender | Balanced

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Zena

Haze

C4 (Norvina Vol. 4)

Lilac #9

More balanced lavenders are a mix of blue and red, but in makeup, this presents mostly as slightly warmer vs. very warm (or dominated by pink/red).

Lavender | Warmer

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Neon Pink #5

A2 (Norvina Vol. 4)

Spitfire

Shock

Warmer lavenders are dominated by red (and to some degree, pink, when they are lighter); they can sometimes look like cooler-toned pinks. When they get deep enough, they can start appearing more like true fuchsias.

Brown | Cooler

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Eastern Rise

Hades

Caravaggio

Cafecito

Brown is created when you mix complementary colors together, e.g. blue and orange, red and green, or purple and yellow. This is why classifying brown is difficult, but it is helpful to think of cooler-toned browns as appearing bluer, purpler, or redder. When one undertone has enough brightness, it may end up being easier to think of it as another shade.

Brown | Neutral

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Aristocracy

Rockin' Robin

Charades

Cheens

Browns that seem to lean neither cool-toned nor warm-toned are neutral, and I think a lot of them get classified more as a taupe than a true brown. This meeting of cool/warm tends to look like a muted red or a sallow green.

Brown | Warmer

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ME654 Cauldron

Beyond Bronze 003

Distilled

Sextrovert

Warmer browns tend to look more red, orange, or yellow. I’ve tried to classify very red- or orange-toned shades that are more mid-tone as coppers in the last few years to help clean up the spectrum of brown to reflected slightly more de-saturated undertones.

Taupe | Cooler

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The Free Spirit No. 11

Rowdy

Moment-o (590)

Officer

Taupe is officially defined as a “brownish gray” per Merriam-Webster. When it leans cooler-toned, it tends to be more like a plummy gray to plummy brown — there’s a purplish influence to the undertone.

Taupe | Balanced

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Sculpture (226CM)

Ever

Sweet as Candy #1

Somber

True taupes tend to lean slightly warmer (browner) than gray or purple.

Taupe | Warmer

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Stud

Halo (2)

D562 Taupe Platinum

Daydream

Warmer-toned taupes are more muted variations on “brown” that can lean a little gray, silvery, or golden (when they get very warm-toned).

Mauve | Cooler

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Countess

Clubhouse

Winter Wonder

Undress Me

Mauve is a mix of red and purple, but it is primarily marked by a dusty, de-saturated quality, especially in makeup. Sometimes the easiest way for me to think of mauve is that it encompasses colors that are too warm/red to be listed as lavender and too brown to be listed as pink. Cooler mauves will lean purpler, sometimes appearing a bit brighter or more saturated than its warmer friends.

Mauve | Balanced

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Nebula

Rose Bud

Orchid Mist

Sterling (Amethyst #5)

More mauves appear balanced between red and purple, though they still seem to lean more “warm” to my eye, so they tend to be “less warm” or “less brown” relative to very warm-toned mauves.

Mauve | Warmer

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1st Date

Cloak

Chai Tea

Raspberry Cocoa

Warmer mauves tend to pull redder, which often translates into a pink, rose, and brown melange in beauty.

Pewter | Cooler

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Funny Bunny

Silver Screen #1

Seduce Glow (Enhance)

Glam Green (18M)

Pewter is a metal alloy that uses mostly tin with smaller amounts of other metals, like copper, lead, or antimony. If you google “pewter,” you’ll find it ranges from a darker, warmer gray to a silvery-gold. Because of its metallic background, in cosmetics, pewter often reflects lighter, brighter warmer grays to darker, cooler golds. Cooler pewters tend to lean bluish-green to gray.

Pewter | Balanced

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Cyborg

Vape

Blind

Bijoux Royal #1

More balanced pewter shades tend to look like warmer grays with a hint of beige/gold.

Pewter | Warmer

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Hairspray

Wanderlust

Wondrous Knight

Amazon Basin

Warmer pewters might be though of as “tarnished,” and they can have a “cooler gold” leaning, so they have a yellow to yellow-green leaning to them.

White | Cooler

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M126 Chalk

Young Love

Flat White

Porcelain

Cooler-toned white hues can look “icy,” almost bluish, and they tend to be quite bright.

White | Balanced

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C1 (Norvina Vol. 1)

Bump

Foil Eyes #1

Optic White (000)

More balanced white shades will look less bluish and may lean almost grayish at times, but they don’t look warm; they won’t lean ivory or beige or yellow. Most white shades in makeup lean cooler-toned or warmer-toned with less in the narrow space between the two.

White | Warmer

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Yves

Pearl

Diamond Darling

Clutch Pearls

Warmer whites have a touch of beige or yellow to them, they can look almost “golden” but they still remain quite light (and sometimes bright). Once they darken a bit, they tend to enter beige or white gold territory.

Silver | Cooler

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Parallax

Sterling

Sugar Bells

Firefly

Cooler silvers are a lot like cooler grays, just with a lot more shimmer, in my experience, which means they look icier, bluer, and often have some brightness to them.

Silver | Balanced

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Smoky Canvas #2

Silver Coin

Jingle Bells

ME116 Silver

True silver sits in the middle as a more balanced undertone–doesn’t visibly lean blue or cool-toned and doesn’t have any champagne, beige, or gold cast to it (which can make it appear more pewter or taupe).

Silver | Warmer

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The Stage

In Doubt

Blue Garden #4

Grand Tiara

Warmer silvers tend to be slightly darker , not quite as bright, and have a touch of beige visible in the undertone. I tend to classify these more on the spectrum of pewter or taupe rather than silver as silver is a more defined color (compared to other colors!).

Gray | Cooler

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Stone Face

Lost at Sea

Smoke

Thunderbird

Cooler grays have stronger, bluer undertones, they’ll look almost like a very faded or dusty blue–super de-saturated and washed out as far as a “blue” goes.

Gray | Neutral

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Stone

Grey Stroke

Souris

Shadow (Mega Pro 4)

More neutral-toned grays are balanced between cooler, bluer undertones and warmer, beige undertones. I’ve found that most shades I’d classify as gray tend to be cooler or warmer and very rarely truly neutral.

Gray | Warmer

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Blurry Blue #2

Filthy

Polished Silver

Jardins de Lumieres #3

Warmer grays can look brownish or greenish, depending on the depth and finish.

Black | Cooler

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Catwalks

Moskova #3

Euphoria

Is It the Beat

Cooler-toned blacks tend to be almost bluish or purplish, and there aren’t that many as most fall into a more balanced space. They may often get categorized as darker grays, deep, cool-toned browns (or taupes), or blackened navy blue.

Black | Neutral

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Midnight

Xtreme Black

E5 (Norvina Vol. 2)

Blackout

True black doesn’t is balanced between warmer (browner) and cooler (bluer) undertones.

Black | Warmer

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Noir Satin (26)

Glamour

Crave

Night Dream

Much like cooler-toned blacks, warmer-toned blacks are often better described and classified under the darkest depth of other shades, e.g. darkest brown. Warmer blacks will appear slightly tinged with brownish warmth (but you might classify them as a cooler brown!).

How I Understand Colors & Undertones in Makeup (Part 1)

When divided in half, you can see the warmer vs. cooler undertones of the color wheel.

Here's a desaturated version of the color wheel--colors that described as muted, faded, dusty.

Here's a darkened version of the color wheel, which starts to show the depths of colors and where they fall.

How I Understand Colors & Undertones in Makeup (Part 1)

When divided in half, you can see the warmer vs. cooler undertones of the color wheel.

Here's a desaturated version of the color wheel--colors that described as muted, faded, dusty.

Here's a darkened version of the color wheel, which starts to show the depths of colors and where they fall.