# "Ethnic" magazines always confuse olive skin with golden or tanned.



## plushpenguin (Aug 16, 2007)

I hope this is the right board for this little rant. Is it just me, or do most magazines for "ethnic" women confuse olive complexions with golden or tanned? I know most people use the word "olive" to refer to any yellowish medium skintone, and that's okay, but a true olive complexion is noticably sallow, has cool undertones, and sometimes purplish lips. Seems like many magazines, including ones geared toward minorities, try to be inclusive by including recommendations for olive skin, but most of their recommendations are better suited to golden skin tones or lighter women with tans. I wonder how many olive skinned women are wearing bright orange lipstick because they heard it would bring out their "tan" tones. I've even seen this problem many times in Latina magazine! Also, I know this seems silly, but can anyone who cares about this as much as I do please write a respectful message to the Latina magazine beauty editor on the proper use of the term "olive". Sometimes I seriously wonder if the magazine's latina editors are just figure heads. Their beauty editor is a beautiful, stylish women with a very typical olive skin tone, but the orange lipstick example I gave comes partly from them, among many other terrible recommendations. I really love their idea of always catogorizing beauty products by skintone, but it's strange that they would make some of these suggestions for a skintone that the vast majority of their readers (and editors) probably have.


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## claresauntie (Aug 16, 2007)

Amen! I get customers all of the time telling me that they have "olive skin" when they absolutely do not!


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## Larkin (Aug 16, 2007)

I go to their website to read the beauty articles.  I'm neither "olive" or "caramel" (as they group) so I just assume I can use either recommendation.

 It irritates me when non-ethnic mags do something similar thing. They will go from fair-olive-dark, and their dark will be all over the place.  Their dark can range from Rhianna's skintone, Halle Berry's,Mary J Blige's, or Missy Elliott's.


Not being Latina myself I ask, * Who is considered "olive" in the Latin community? JLo?*


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## blazeno.8 (Aug 16, 2007)

Yeah, some people just know of one "type" and then they make up all of the rules for that type that they possibly can (whether it's true or not).  I'm not olive but I sure do get the "you have darker skin you must be NW45 or 47" (when right now I'm about a NC45 just because it's summer).


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## JamaicanDiva2 (Aug 22, 2007)

this annoys me too! cuz i am a lighter skinned woman of color w/ a skin tone closer to alicia keys, rhianna's, and even jessica albas, so i usually read what they recommend for "golden" or "olive" skin tones, but then i see they put beyonce in the "dark skinned" category, and i'm sorry, but beyonce is not dark skinned! what about alek wek or african american ladies w/ truly dark skin? if beyonce & rhianna are as dark as the mags recognize, what does this say about all the women who are MUCH darker than them?!


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## lsperry (Aug 22, 2007)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *JamaicanDiva2* 

 
_this annoys me too! cuz i am a lighter skinned woman of color w/ a skin tone closer to alicia keys, rhianna's, and even jessica albas, so i usually read what they recommend for "golden" or "olive" skin tones, but then i see they put beyonce in the "dark skinned" category, and i'm sorry, but beyonce is not dark skinned! what about alek wek or african american ladies w/ truly dark skin? if beyonce & rhianna are as dark as the mags recognize, what does this say about all the women who are MUCH darker than them?!_

 
Thank you, thank you for saying this and very well-said....Hollywood or any beauty editor or writer who make up the rules seem to think only the women you mentioned are "dark" and we (anyone darker than they), apparently, don't count or are even thought about. I can remember hearing of the problems Diahann Carroll had in the 50s and 60s w/MUAs saying that they can use the same colors on her that they used on Lena Horne....

Here we are in the 21st Century and are still trying to get MUAs, cosmetic companies, beauty editors and the like to "SEE"  and hear us.


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## JamaicanDiva2 (Aug 24, 2007)

you're welcome! It has bothered me for awhile now, because whenever i read the "golden" skinned options, i look & see they've classified my skintone as "dark," and while this would not bother me if i truly was dark, it bothers me b/c i'm like "Ok - FYI Beyonce & Rhianna are not the darkest women of color! In fact, in their culture (our culture), they'd be considered much more lightskinned! Halle Berry is NOT dark skinned!

It's just saddening the ignorance that still exists in our world today. . . because these magazines that try so hard to prove that they are not racist, by having women of color models & beauty sections that supposedly meet our needs too, are still touting the ancient false belief that lighter is better. . .


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## wiggle (Aug 24, 2007)

Those magazines are just not being specific enough with their word choice. Terms like "olive" or "dark" are so widely permeated and ill-defined in the cosmetics industry that it seems everybody has a different idea of what they represent. For me, I no longer rely on words -- just look at the pictures! If the model/actress/whoever looks like they have about the same skin color as I do, then it's all systems go.


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## righteothen (Aug 24, 2007)

I wish they would have a little legend at the side, which showed fair-light light-med, med-dark etc., and show us a picture example of what they think that category is.  It would be really quick and simple, and then we would know "okay, in that mag, I'm a light/med, but in this one I'm a fair/light."


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## elektra513 (Sep 14, 2009)

I found this thread through Google, but I have to say it is a good topic. I have such a hard time finding foundations that match me, because I am African-American, so when MAs see me coming they want to put me in a color like Nia Long or someone darker. But because I am yellow-green straight up, I look darker. Plus my skin is sensitive, so wiping my makeup off at the counter so they can match NEVER comes out well. I always have to wait till I get home and start from scratch with a sample.

Without makeup I look ill, pale, and almost deathly. Add in the darkness around my prominent eyes, and I look like Data from Star Trek, lol. So finding makeup that makes me look human is super important to me.

Following trends/tips for makeup in magazines has never worked for me. Thank goodness for Specktra.


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## Sojourner (Sep 14, 2009)

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## chocolategoddes (Sep 14, 2009)

I've always been confused with this and I'm glad this thread cleared it up. Olive skintones are very cool and I've noticed mostly Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern/South Asian people have a true "olive skintone". 

I would consider my grandmother, who is Israeli, Sicilian, and Danish, to have an olive complexion. My dad also is olive toned but he is out in the sun all the time and his tan usually masks it.

Same goes for me. If I don't get any sun, I look like this strange mix of yellow, green, and brown. It's very difficult to find foundations cool enough for me when my skin gets that pale. :/


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## crystrill (Sep 15, 2009)

Yeah, I don't go by magazine suggestions. Their dark is always reallly dark or someone of Rihanna's color when I think a good amount of us are in between those shades.

 Quote:

   Originally Posted by *chocolategoddes* 

 
_ 
Same goes for me. If I don't get any sun, I look like this strange mix of yellow, green, and brown. It's very difficult to find foundations cool enough for me when my skin gets that pale. :/_

 
I have the hardest time with foundation. A lot of the time I will find a foundation that blends into my color really well, but it's it too red. It's like, "If this was yellow based it would be PERFECT." I swear, every foundation, the color that matches me the most is always red based. But the shade lighter is always the yellow based one (but that color is always too light). I think I finally found my match though - the Revlon Custom Creations in the darkest one they have (or at least the darkest one I've seen) on number 5. I remember liking the MUFE HD but I can't remember if it turned me red or not. The Mat Velvet definitely does!


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## Shadowy Lady (Sep 15, 2009)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *chocolategoddes* 

 
_I've always been confused with this and I'm glad this thread cleared it up. Olive skintones are very cool and I've noticed mostly Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern/South Asian people have a true "olive skintone". 
 /_

 
   Well, even for ME girls it depends on their ethnic mixing. I’m ME and I would say I’m considered beige or olive but my mom is essentially "white". I think the whole concept of race and colour is pretty messed up in this society. I remember when my family immigrated to Canada back in '91 I was surprised that ppl in North America thought white = Caucasian. This is so far from true. Caucasians can be darker or lighter, same as blacks or Asians. You don’t have to be a NC15/20 to be considered Caucasian, lol! It’s more about things like your skull shape, your likelihood to catch certain disease…than your skin colour. I think the whole idea of putting ppl in too many boxes in the north American society just contributes to more racism. Coz then it means too many ppl are different from each other, when in reality there are only 3 races and at the end we’re all humans :/

  Anyway, back to the topic. I agree about the magazines mix-up too. I’ve even seen someone like Jennifer Aniston being considered medium
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




. I thought medium would be someone like Freida Pinto. I would be a medium light and JA would be light.


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## cupcake_x (Oct 4, 2009)

I'm Latina, my mother and MUA's have all said I'm olive. I don't really know, this thread made me paranoid.

I noticed Latina magazine is pretty good with the whole olive/tanned thing. I don't really read many ethnic magazines other than that (the only ones around here besides Latina are ones like Ebony and Essence). So I haven't really noticed.

I have noticed however, non-ethnic magazines like someone else mentioned, Jennifer Anniston being considered medium.


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## wifey806 (Oct 25, 2009)

thank you to the OP! I have 2 questions! 

1) I always thought Olive kinda had a greenish tint to it, (like what Chocolate goddess said) is that the right way to describe it?
1.5) and does that mean that Olive skin would look good with Ash-toned hair colors (such as Ash Brown instead of Golden Brown)? 

2)I feel like my skin has a looooot of yellow (personally, I don't see any green) so would that make me Olive or Golden?

t.i.a.!


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## banana1234 (Oct 25, 2009)

ive always thought it pretty crappy that in magazines etc, there is reccomendations for extra fair, light, medium and dark skin tones, but their 'dark' is beyonce or rihanna... what about darker than that, the beauty industry, some of the cosmetics companies in england dont make products like foundations for anyone much darker than i would call medium, a lot of people with asian or latin skin tones and darker skin tones have to go some where special for their make up/read specific magazines..
whats up with that?


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## elektra513 (Aug 4, 2010)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *wifey806* 

 
_thank you to the OP! I have 2 questions! 

1) I always thought Olive kinda had a greenish tint to it, (like what Chocolate goddess said) is that the right way to describe it?
1.5) and does that mean that Olive skin would look good with Ash-toned hair colors (such as Ash Brown instead of Golden Brown)? 

2)I feel like my skin has a looooot of yellow (personally, I don't see any green) so would that make me Olive or Golden?

t.i.a.!_

 
Not the OP, but imo if you don't see any green at all, you're Golden.

When I go to counters to look at foundations, I like to swatch them on my hand before anyone even talks to me. If all I see is yellow, then don't bother trying to sell me something. It has to have some green in it or be a generic neutral base for me to even consider it.

My perfect matching foundations look ugly in the bottles, seriously [well, compared to golden ones]. Like "why would you want that on your face?!" ugly. Sallow, indeed.


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## sarahf (Mar 16, 2011)

I stumbled on this via google search as well.  Sorry to revive an old thread.  But I can't agree more.  I am caucasian (one parent with mediterranean complexion), and I believe I have very pale "olive" skin, as in a subtle greenish-brown undertone, NOT medium-depth warm toned skin.  My hairdresser is asian, and we talked about this.  She, like me, only looks good in cool tones, and you can see that although she is much darker complected than I am, we have similar undertones.  I think olive is a very confusing term.  But I try not to let anyone tell me what looks good on me.  As early as age 16, someone advised me that I had warm skin and should wear warm blush and lipstick.  I'm proud that I was confident enough in my color sense at that age to refuse to buy the products she was recommending.  I look terrible in terra cotta...


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## Sojourner (Mar 18, 2011)

....


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## Babybub10 (Jun 1, 2012)

I know I hate it too! But I don't agree with all the replies. African Americans no matter how light there skin is don't have an olive skin tone because just the shad of the color is different. Skin tones like Rihanna have their own category and it falls under brown, specifically caramel brown. Caramel and chocolate are under the brown category. A perfect example of an olive skin tone is Nina dobrev's. That is a true olive color. And olive can range from a little lighter to a little darker it all doesn't have to be one shade but what I hate is when big top magazines confuse fair or medium skin tones with olive, that's not olive! Example, Megan fox! She is NOT olive she is way too light for olive! I think native olive skin tones are of people from the middle east, central Asia, and eastern Europe like Turkey or Bulgaria, and maybe even Hispanics. Darker people falling into the olive category doesn't bother me, but lighter skin tones falling into the olive category bothers the HELL out of me! People who are fair or pale are like yeah I have olive skin it's like uh no you don't! You are not olive so shut up! One day, people who are obviously white are gonna start calling themselves olive and then us olives are going to be categorized as browns! Here are the skin shades, light/pale, fair, medium, olive, tan, brown, dark, and black. Light or pale is just pale like snow or pinkish like Anne Hathaway or Kate Winslet, fair is like leighton meester or maybe Miley Cyrus who have generally white skin, medium is like a beige or golden brown like Blake lively or Megan fox, OLIVE is like a golden BROWN/light brown to moderate brown from Nina Dobrev to Jessica Alba or Aishwarya Rai (known as "prettiest woman in the world), tan is like a moderate brown to a general brown like Freida Pinto and I'm a little hesitant on Eva Longoria because she could fall under the olive category too, brown is just your general brown from as light as Rihanna or beyonce to Tyra banks or maybe Katerina Graham and Jessica Szohr, then dark brown is like lil Wayne to jay z or Nikki minaj to Oprah or maybe some south Indians , and lastly black is like a very dark brown to black like Akon or some parts of India! And the reason why some olive skins can seem tan is because in hot weather, the skin turns tan which is a true olivian! People with medium might seem olive due to the climate but that's not a true olive, olives look pretty tan in hot climates. Now for me, I don't look at this as an opinion I think what I just said is a fact. I am an "olivian" and I have pretty good knowledge on skin tones and I've also heard people call me tan but those are people who don't know the difference. I think it's because they're judging based on ethnicity and I hate that, people who are stereotypical or just dumb do that.


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## novellastar (Jun 9, 2012)

I have an extremely green cast to my skin tone and I have always been put under the "olive category" my mother is indian and my dad middle eastern/indian.
  	I never know what to buy in foundation as nothing neutralizes the greenish cast?


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## Sojourner (Dec 7, 2012)

Babybub10 said:


> I know I hate it too! But I don't agree with all the replies. African Americans no matter how light there skin is don't have an olive skin tone because just the shad of the color is different. Skin tones like Rihanna have their own category and it falls under brown, specifically caramel brown. Caramel and chocolate are under the brown category. A perfect example of an olive skin tone is Nina dobrev's. That is a true olive color. And olive can range from a little lighter to a little darker it all doesn't have to be one shade but what I hate is when big top magazines confuse fair or medium skin tones with olive, that's not olive! Example, Megan fox! She is NOT olive she is way too light for olive! I think native olive skin tones are of people from the middle east, central Asia, and eastern Europe like Turkey or Bulgaria, and maybe even Hispanics. Darker people falling into the olive category doesn't bother me, but lighter skin tones falling into the olive category bothers the HELL out of me! People who are fair or pale are like yeah I have olive skin it's like uh no you don't! You are not olive so shut up! One day, people who are obviously white are gonna start calling themselves olive and then us olives are going to be categorized as browns! Here are the skin shades, light/pale, fair, medium, olive, tan, brown, dark, and black. Light or pale is just pale like snow or pinkish like Anne Hathaway or Kate Winslet, fair is like leighton meester or maybe Miley Cyrus who have generally white skin, medium is like a beige or golden brown like Blake lively or Megan fox, OLIVE is like a golden BROWN/light brown to moderate brown from Nina Dobrev to Jessica Alba or Aishwarya Rai (known as "prettiest woman in the world), tan is like a moderate brown to a general brown like Freida Pinto and I'm a little hesitant on Eva Longoria because she could fall under the olive category too, brown is just your general brown from as light as Rihanna or beyonce to Tyra banks or maybe Katerina Graham and Jessica Szohr, then dark brown is like lil Wayne to jay z or Nikki minaj to Oprah or maybe some south Indians , and lastly black is like a very dark brown to black like Akon or some parts of India! And the reason why some olive skins can seem tan is because in hot weather, the skin turns tan which is a true olivian! People with medium might seem olive due to the climate but that's not a true olive, olives look pretty tan in hot climates. Now for me, I don't look at this as an opinion I think what I just said is a fact. I am an "olivian" and I have pretty good knowledge on skin tones and I've also heard people call me tan but those are people who don't know the difference. I think it's because they're judging based on ethnicity and I hate that, people who are stereotypical or just dumb do that.


  I would not classify Megan Fox as medium. When she was in Transformers yes, but she had to tan for that role. Nowadays she is very pale and pink toned.

  The true definition of olive is that your skin has a green cast, otherwise what would be the point of the word 'olive'?


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## califabulous (Dec 7, 2012)

omg... this is waaaay confusing. I believe that I have olive undertones because yellow based foundations look ashy, pink/red tones change my coloring and never match.  Neutral shades make me look absolutely flat and dull.  So, all that's left is olive.  At times when I look at my chest and face I do see a green cast but only after I learned I could possibly have olive coloring.  when searching on google, I put in dark olive and pictures of jada pinkett and zoe saldana appear.  I don't really "see" undertones as in my eyes can't seem to capture the colors so I just memorize the skin tone of those that are said to be olive but also have deeper skin color.  I find out what foundations they use and start my matching around that shade.  I really hope this thread sheds more light on this topic because I have noooooo idea! as listed in my siggy, my foundation matches are all over the place so I have a hard time determining what shade range to try.


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## fredesco (Dec 9, 2012)

I fully agree. I have medium deep olive skin as a black woman. I'm not dark but I'm not very light. I have so much gold and actually olive green in my skin it's noticeable. I have definitely noticed tan or golden or just slightly dark women have been referred to as olive. Olive skin actually has olive green tones in it which are obvious. The golden toned makeup with green in it are the best matches for olive skin people. As well as grayish green makeup.


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## Mabelle (Dec 9, 2012)

I am not a woman of color, but I have read this in magazines and beauty articles too. It drives me nuts! How deep your skin tone is and it;s undertone are not the same thing friends! If you can't figure that out step away from the keyboard!


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## Jeana Marie (Jan 25, 2013)

Babybub10 said:


> I know I hate it too! But I don't agree with all the replies. African Americans no matter how light there skin is don't have an olive skin tone because just the shad of the color is different. Skin tones like Rihanna have their own category and it falls under brown, specifically caramel brown. Caramel and chocolate are under the brown category. A perfect example of an olive skin tone is Nina dobrev's. That is a true olive color. And olive can range from a little lighter to a little darker it all doesn't have to be one shade but what I hate is when big top magazines confuse fair or medium skin tones with olive, that's not olive! Example, Megan fox! She is NOT olive she is way too light for olive! I think native olive skin tones are of people from the middle east, central Asia, and eastern Europe like Turkey or Bulgaria, and maybe even Hispanics. Darker people falling into the olive category doesn't bother me, but lighter skin tones falling into the olive category bothers the HELL out of me! People who are fair or pale are like yeah I have olive skin it's like uh no you don't! You are not olive so shut up! One day, people who are obviously white are gonna start calling themselves olive and then us olives are going to be categorized as browns! Here are the skin shades, light/pale, fair, medium, olive, tan, brown, dark, and black. Light or pale is just pale like snow or pinkish like Anne Hathaway or Kate Winslet, fair is like leighton meester or maybe Miley Cyrus who have generally white skin, medium is like a beige or golden brown like Blake lively or Megan fox, OLIVE is like a golden BROWN/light brown to moderate brown from Nina Dobrev to Jessica Alba or Aishwarya Rai (known as "prettiest woman in the world), tan is like a moderate brown to a general brown like Freida Pinto and I'm a little hesitant on Eva Longoria because she could fall under the olive category too, brown is just your general brown from as light as Rihanna or beyonce to Tyra banks or maybe Katerina Graham and Jessica Szohr, then dark brown is like lil Wayne to jay z or Nikki minaj to Oprah or maybe some south Indians , and lastly black is like a very dark brown to black like Akon or some parts of India! And the reason why some olive skins can seem tan is because in hot weather, the skin turns tan which is a true olivian! People with medium might seem olive due to the climate but that's not a true olive, olives look pretty tan in hot climates. Now for me, I don't look at this as an opinion I think what I just said is a fact. I am an "olivian" and I have pretty good knowledge on skin tones and I've also heard people call me tan but those are people who don't know the difference. I think it's because they're judging based on ethnicity and I hate that, people who are stereotypical or just dumb do that.


 
  	Sorry, hun, but as a Caucasian female with olive green undertones, I fully disagree with this statement. How fair or dark your skin is, is completely irrelevant to one's undertones. That being said, one CAN be just as fair as Anne Hathaway and Khloe Kardashian (perhaps even lighter), and still have an olive/green undertone to their skin. Just like a deeply tan person can have the rosy pink undertones, most people think of as fair skin. A cooler, fairer olive complexion tends to look "pale" or "fair" but with a more subtle hint of green, that shows more in the summer.

  	That being said here is a long list of FAIR SKINNED women that have OLIVE UNDERTONES just like myself:
  	Selena Gomez
  	Demi Lovato
  	Kris Jenner
  	Mila Kunis
  	Lucy Hale
  	Alyssa Milano
  	Angelina from the Jersey Shore
  	Elaine from Seinfeld
  	Lea Michele
  	Victoria Beckham
  	Jenni "JWOWW" Farley
  	Adriana Lima
  	Penelope Cruz
  	Catherine Zeta Jones
  	Sophia Bush


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## Sojourner (Jan 25, 2013)

I don't think most people would see those women as fair though. Lucy Hale (and she seems pink-toned from candid pictures) and Sophia Bush (she does seem to be olive) are fair yes but the rest are more medium I think, I wonder what everyone else thinks? 

  I agree that it is possible to be very pale and olive but it's quite rare and often people just say they are olive when they are not because 'olive' is generally seen as a positive thing. I think the presence of that green tone is the definition, and you can't have any pinkness to your skin (not including cheeks/nose/eyes which are naturally prone to redness).

  Also, I don't think Caucasian has much to do with it. If you believe in those classifications, Caucasian covers anyone starting at western Europe all the way across to India and from the Arctic down to North Africa.


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## Jeana Marie (Jan 26, 2013)

I agree with the term "olive" fully. You're right. I do think a fair toned olive person, like myself, appears to blend in with the other fair folks, especially when they leave their hair dark brown or black, but in the natural daylight, or when wearing certain colors (bright green, true red, purples), or when we highlight our hair or color it red, that's when the olive comes out. When I dye my hair red, people often think I went tanning, or my skin looks like it has more color. I guess it's the subtle hints of green.

  	I will admit I've been classed as "fair warm" or "golden" because of the yellow/green in my fair skin, and again, the fact that most people class olive as a medium/tan color, and have been told to wear foundations that are too yellow and earth toned makeup. My mom would tell me all the time how it made my skin look dirty. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 And she was right.


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## Jeana Marie (Jan 26, 2013)

^^^
  	And I absloutly think Selena is just as light as Miley Cyrus, just with that olive green hue. I must be missing something then, what is the difference between being fair or pale, and just having light skin?

  	EDIT: Come to think of it, I'm not super ghostly, like I said, I'm positive I have that green undertone, because I've compared the forearms to darker olives and it literally looks like a paint swatch. It's the same undertone, different shades. Foundation is a pain and I've found them to either be too pink, too warm, or too yellow. I think I might just be more medium/light than fair.


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## elektra513 (Jan 31, 2013)

Babybub10 said:


> I know I hate it too! But I don't agree with all the replies. *African Americans no matter how light there skin is don't have an olive skin tone because just the shad of the color is different.* Skin tones like Rihanna have their own category and it falls under brown, specifically caramel brown. Caramel and chocolate are under the brown category. A perfect example of an olive skin tone is Nina dobrev's. That is a true olive color. And olive can range from a little lighter to a little darker it all doesn't have to be one shade but what I hate is when big top magazines confuse fair or medium skin tones with olive, that's not olive! Example, Megan fox! She is NOT olive she is way too light for olive! I think native olive skin tones are of people from the middle east, central Asia, and eastern Europe like Turkey or Bulgaria, and maybe even Hispanics. Darker people falling into the olive category doesn't bother me, but lighter skin tones falling into the olive category bothers the HELL out of me! People who are fair or pale are like yeah I have olive skin it's like uh no you don't! You are not olive so shut up! One day, people who are obviously white are gonna start calling themselves olive and then us olives are going to be categorized as browns! Here are the skin shades, light/pale, fair, medium, olive, tan, brown, dark, and black. Light or pale is just pale like snow or pinkish like Anne Hathaway or Kate Winslet, fair is like leighton meester or maybe Miley Cyrus who have generally white skin, medium is like a beige or golden brown like Blake lively or Megan fox, OLIVE is like a golden BROWN/light brown to moderate brown from Nina Dobrev to Jessica Alba or Aishwarya Rai (known as "prettiest woman in the world), tan is like a moderate brown to a general brown like Freida Pinto and I'm a little hesitant on Eva Longoria because she could fall under the olive category too, brown is just your general brown from as light as Rihanna or beyonce to Tyra banks or maybe Katerina Graham and Jessica Szohr, then dark brown is like lil Wayne to jay z or Nikki minaj to Oprah or maybe some south Indians , and lastly black is like a very dark brown to black like Akon or some parts of India! And the reason why some olive skins can seem tan is because in hot weather, the skin turns tan which is a true olivian! People with medium might seem olive due to the climate but that's not a true olive, olives look pretty tan in hot climates. Now for me, I don't look at this as an opinion I think what I just said is a fact. I am an "olivian" and I have pretty good knowledge on skin tones and I've also heard people call me tan but those are people who don't know the difference. I think it's because they're judging based on ethnicity and I hate that, people who are stereotypical or just dumb do that.


  	I truly disagree with the bold. I am classified as African-American in the US, but I do not fit into the golden brown/caramel (NC45) category whatsoever, my skin is golden but it also very clearly holds olive undertones and that's why finding foundations that match me has been a long journey (C7 has been good for me, but NC anything is a disaster that's how I can tell the difference). Considering Africa is so close to the Mediterranean it simply doesn't make sense that someone of African descent _cannot_ be olive skinned. Living in the US, seeing them might be more rare, but it is not impossible by any means. Saying skin colors of African descent are 'just brown' really bothers me because imo that is wear the most variance in skin tones exist. Especially in the medium to dark part of the spectrum. *Just because you are darker doesn't mean your undertones just disappear completely.* You can be dark and warm or dark and cool, why couldn't someone be dark and olive? Smh. A bunch of women named here are golden tan/brown or shades of caramel, I agree with that but Zoe Saldana would not be considered golden brown or caramel. She (esp being Latina) would be considered olive and you can see a difference between her skin vs someone like Beyonce' or Rihanna who are both yellow brown, not gold or gold/olive. That would be due to a mixing of specific ethnic backgrounds--ex. Beyonce' has creole ancestry (French). A quick Google search on the difference between yellow and gold and you will see that green has a big hand in what our eyes see or do not see...

  	I think a lot of women who are considered olive who look "golden" to us are just using their makeup to warm up their skin and hide the sallow. If I am wearing colors that match me, in the winter I look sickly (w/o bronzer), in the summer I turn an antique bronze color naturally (which most MA's mistakenly read as red).


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## josiers (Feb 1, 2013)

I really think 'olive skin' is the most ambiguous term ever. To me as a caucasian, saying you have olive skin refers to the lack of pink pigmentation that appears to the naked eye. Personally, I've always found that people who fall under the olive category are actually able to look a lot paler than people you most definitely can't classify as olive skinned (people with red hair, for example, usually appear to have quite a lot of pink pigmentation so I wouldn't say they were 'olive'). And your ability to tan seems to get lumped in with having olive skin tone too. 

  	I think essentially, for caucasians anyway, it has to do with ancestry. So people who are olive skin toned probably have Italian or Spanish roots, as opposed to those who don't have ties to the British or Germanic peoples. 

  	I'd never even realised that it was an even more ambiguous term for people who don't identify as 'white.' Though I have to say, whenever I go into a makeup store I always wonder how people more than five shades above the 'ivory' foundations and such manage to find decent makeup. It must make it a lot harder when magazines use terms that mean so many different things to different people too.


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## BBBB (Feb 8, 2013)

I don't understand any of this. Fair is an Anglo-Saxon/ Red-head and Olive skinned and dark are dark Spaniards and Italians. Most Latinos are native American mixed with Spaniards so they're brown and black people are black. It's as simple as that ...


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## Prettypackages (Feb 9, 2013)

elektra513 said:


> I truly disagree with the bold. I am classified as African-American in the US, but I do not fit into the golden brown/caramel (NC45) category whatsoever, my skin is golden but it also very clearly holds olive undertones and that's why finding foundations that match me has been a long journey (C7 has been good for me, but NC anything is a disaster that's how I can tell the difference). Considering Africa is so close to the Mediterranean it simply doesn't make sense that someone of African descent _cannot_ be olive skinned. Living in the US, seeing them might be more rare, but it is not impossible by any means. Saying skin colors of African descent are 'just brown' really bothers me because imo that is wear the most variance in skin tones exist. Especially in the medium to dark part of the spectrum. *Just because you are darker doesn't mean your undertones just disappear completely.* You can be dark and warm or dark and cool, why couldn't someone be dark and olive? Smh. A bunch of women named here are golden tan/brown or shades of caramel, I agree with that but Zoe Saldana would not be considered golden brown or caramel. She (esp being Latina) would be considered olive and you can see a difference between her skin vs someone like Beyonce' or Rihanna who are both yellow brown, not gold or gold/olive. That would be due to a mixing of specific ethnic backgrounds--ex. Beyonce' has creole ancestry (French). A quick Google search on the difference between yellow and gold and you will see that green has a big hand in what our eyes see or do not see...
> 
> I think a lot of women who are considered olive who look "golden" to us are just using their makeup to warm up their skin and hide the sallow. If I am wearing colors that match me, in the winter I look sickly (w/o bronzer), in the summer I turn an antique bronze color naturally (which most MA's mistakenly read as red).


  	i think you are right. when you start comparing dark skin tones of different ethnicities, you can really see the different undertones.


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## Jeana Marie (Feb 11, 2013)

BBBB said:


> I don't understand any of this. Fair is an Anglo-Saxon/ Red-head and Olive skinned and dark are dark Spaniards and Italians. Most Latinos are native American mixed with Spaniards so they're brown and black people are black. It's as simple as that ...


  	No, fair and dark skin describe the depth of one's skin, and are skin tones. Olive is a green undertone. Otherwise it wouldn't be called "olive." So that means one can be very fair and can still be olive skinned.

  	I, myself, am olive skinned, but pretty fair. I look just as pale as everyone else, but I have a greenish cast to my skin. And it's really not a nice undertone. I photoshopped one of my instagram pics, to get rid of the green cast, but then I failed and it made it worse. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  	EDIT: That being said, I am 1/4 Italian and 1/4 Irish. Dad is half-Italian and has more medium skin but with that olive green undertone. Mom is half-Irish and is fair, pink toned and prone to freckles. So I pretty much inherited my mom's fair complexion, but instead of being pink toned and freckled, I have dad's olive skin. Also, anyone who's truly olive skinned, will have a difficult, hard time with drugstore foundations. Even the deeper olive tones. I avoid cover girl foundations because of this. I think Cover Girl foundations are too pink and too orange for me. Even  their Ivory shades don't set well on my skin. It's not as bad if I put on a too dark foundation, but there's something wrong with it, and I can't quite put my finger on it. It's like looking at a really small stain on your t-shirt that no one else really sees, but you see it and it bugs you. That and I can't stand the fragrence.

  	EDIT 2: Speaking of magazines and makeup reccomendations for your skin tone, US Weekly's example of olive skin was Sofia Vererga. I don't think she's olive at all. I think she's actually pink toned, and very fair. She admits to using self tanner and dying her hair brunette to look more Latina.


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## Jeana Marie (Feb 14, 2013)

Prettypackages said:


> i think you are right. when you start comparing dark skin tones of different ethnicities, you can really see the different undertones.


	Sorry to double post, again, but what about fair-light skin tones as well? Magazines (Glamor, Cosmo, Allure) will usually recemond very pink, cool makeup for the general fair population, and will say "this color will warm up the pink undertones in your complexion..." But not every fair skinned woman is pink or cool. There are plenty of fair skinned women with golden, warm, and even olive undertones. Some fair women actually do better with warmer colors in hair and makeup. Look at Lucy Hale and Zooey Dechenel. Both have dark hair light eyes and are equally fair, but Zooey Dechenel is pink toned while Lucy Hale is olive. Even two equally fair women can have different undertones.


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## Pikahime (Feb 15, 2013)

The idea of undertones period have always confused me, but I think with Olive skin I'm the most confused. My best friend is half Italian and half Puerto Rican and her and her sister are the only people with Olive skin that I can actually tell have olive skin.  She doesn't wear makeup, so her face always looks lighter than the rest of her, plus she has blue eyes and brown hair, but when she gets tanner in the summer, I can clearly see the green-brown undertones in her skin.  It's funny because she noticed one day that when she puts the underside of her tan arm next to mine, she looks darker than me, but in the wintertime you can clearly see who's lighter in complexion. Her sister does wear makeup and we both sort of struggle with finding foundations, her because she's Olive skinned, and me because I have no idea what undertone I am.  But you're right, when I see magazines and people falling under the "olive" category, they don't look Olive to me at all, I take a good look at their face and neck and I usually see pink undertones to their skin.Or even more golden undertones. I rarely see women in magazines that truly have that green undertone, and then I think to myself, they don't show celebrities bare faced, so who knows what makeup they put on their face to make themselves look warmer or cooler in undertone.


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## Jeana Marie (Feb 28, 2013)

Pikahime said:


> The idea of undertones period have always confused me, but I think with Olive skin I'm the most confused. My best friend is half Italian and half Puerto Rican and her and her sister are the only people with Olive skin that I can actually tell have olive skin.  She doesn't wear makeup, so her face always looks lighter than the rest of her, plus she has blue eyes and brown hair, but when she gets tanner in the summer, I can clearly see the green-brown undertones in her skin.  It's funny because she noticed one day that when she puts the underside of her tan arm next to mine, she looks darker than me, but in the wintertime you can clearly see who's lighter in complexion. Her sister does wear makeup and we both sort of struggle with finding foundations, her because she's Olive skinned, and me because I have no idea what undertone I am.  But you're right, when I see magazines and people falling under the "olive" category, they don't look Olive to me at all, I take a good look at their face and neck and I usually see pink undertones to their skin.Or even more golden undertones. I rarely see women in magazines that truly have that green undertone, and then I think to myself, they don't show celebrities bare faced, so who knows what makeup they put on their face to make themselves look warmer or cooler in undertone.


	See, I think olive is a cool green undertone. Magazine examples of "olive" on their terms are really annoying! Either the person is tanned, or simply golden/warm. Example: Jessica Alba! Jessica Alba is NOT olive skinned at all. She's tanned yes, but she's much too warm to be olive. No true olive skinned person looks good in warm, earth tones, like orange, peach, brown, etc. It actually makes olive skin look dirty. And I mentioned US Weekly catergorizing Sofia Vergera as "olive" yet in the picture of her taken in the natural daylight, wearing a strapless dress, and she has VERY obvious pink undertones to her skin. Your friend sounds like me. I am 1/4 Italian 1/4 Irish 1/4 German 1/4 French-Canadian and my skin tone looks as light as the next persons, but in the summertime when I tan, or if I color my hair certian colors, it brings out the olive/green undertones in my skin. Foundation is extra difficult when you are light olive, because no one, not even Sephora or ULTA prestige makeup brands cater to fair-light olive skin. It's always olive medium or olive dark. I think more appropriate celeb examples of olive are Selena Gomez, Kim Kardashian, Demi Lovato, Katie Holmes, and Penelope Cruz. Snooki is olive too, I think, under all that fake bronze. Self tanner tends to bring on a fake color to your skin, sometimes more red or more yellow. Once she laid off the bronzer/tanner after having her baby, you can really see olive/green through her skin.


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## Pikahime (Feb 28, 2013)

Jeana Marie said:


> See, I think olive is a cool green undertone. Magazine examples of "olive" on their terms are really annoying! Either the person is tanned, or simply golden/warm. Example: Jessica Alba! Jessica Alba is NOT olive skinned at all. She's tanned yes, but she's much too warm to be olive. No true olive skinned person looks good in warm, earth tones, like orange, peach, brown, etc. It actually makes olive skin look dirty. And I mentioned US Weekly catergorizing Sofia Vergera as "olive" yet in the picture of her taken in the natural daylight, wearing a strapless dress, and she has VERY obvious pink undertones to her skin. Your friend sounds like me. I am 1/4 Italian 1/4 Irish 1/4 German 1/4 French-Canadian and my skin tone looks as light as the next persons, but in the summertime when I tan, or if I color my hair certian colors, it brings out the olive/green undertones in my skin. Foundation is extra difficult when you are light olive, because no one, not even Sephora or ULTA prestige makeup brands cater to fair-light olive skin. It's always olive medium or olive dark. I think more appropriate celeb examples of olive are Selena Gomez, Kim Kardashian, Demi Lovato, Katie Holmes, and Penelope Cruz. Snooki is olive too, I think, under all that fake bronze. Self tanner tends to bring on a fake color to your skin, sometimes more red or more yellow. Once she laid off the bronzer/tanner after having her baby, you can really see olive/green through her skin.


	For a while I thought that I was some sort of olive shade but I had nobody to really compare myself to, because most of the people I see that are olive are lighter in skin tone than me (like my best friend).  I know that people with olive skin tones look odd in earthy tones because of the green-brown undertone to their skin.  Because the same earthy tones looked odd on me as well, in the beginning of my makeup journey I assumed the same thing, that I was olive toned despite looking very golden. Eventually I just discovered that I have a very... odd undertone situation going on. I can't wear warm foundations because they make me look orange, cool foundations are too pink (despite my looking better in cooler colored clothes), and neutral shades just.. They look off. I only look warmer in undertone when I tan naturally just by being in the sun (I'm about... an NC 42 then, but in the winter I'm anywhere between an NC 35-NC40).  Going to a Sephora doesn't help for me or my friend, because they always try to match her up to a pink foundation, and for me they either match me too dark or they match me to a foundation that is too red or too orange in undertone. It looks fine in the store but when we step out in natural sunlight I look like an oompa loompa and she just looks like she's wearing a mask. Undertones are SO confusing and to this DAY I haven't found a foundation that matches me perfectly, I can only imagine what it must be like for olive undertoned people.


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## Jeana Marie (Mar 5, 2013)

Pikahime said:


> For a while I thought that I was some sort of olive shade but I had nobody to really compare myself to, because most of the people I see that are olive are lighter in skin tone than me (like my best friend).  I know that people with olive skin tones look odd in earthy tones because of the green-brown undertone to their skin.  Because the same earthy tones looked odd on me as well, in the beginning of my makeup journey I assumed the same thing, that I was olive toned despite looking very golden. Eventually I just discovered that I have a very... odd undertone situation going on. I can't wear warm foundations because they make me look orange, cool foundations are too pink (despite my looking better in cooler colored clothes), and neutral shades just.. They look off. I only look warmer in undertone when I tan naturally just by being in the sun (I'm about... an NC 42 then, but in the winter I'm anywhere between an NC 35-NC40).  Going to a Sephora doesn't help for me or my friend, because they always try to match her up to a pink foundation, and for me they either match me too dark or they match me to a foundation that is too red or too orange in undertone. It looks fine in the store but when we step out in natural sunlight I look like an oompa loompa and she just looks like she's wearing a mask. Undertones are SO confusing and to this DAY I haven't found a foundation that matches me perfectly, I can only imagine what it must be like for olive undertoned people.


	I'm pretty sure Sephora employees have no proper formal training on color theory. They must have some sort of commission out of their paychecks, and are simply trying to get a sale out of you. I went one time, looking for foundation, and the person trying to sell me's example of "olive" was orange based. Orange based skin is not even a real thing. It's an artificial color you get from applying tanning lotion. I, as well as many fair olives have been mistaken for "golden" because of the dull yellowness in my skin, and have been told terra-cotta and coppers look good on me. I know for a FACT that I'm not golden or warm and those colors look dirty against my green undertones. My mom has said to me herself she doesn't think those colors look good on me.

  	EDIT: I found I look best in purples, plums, and other rich jewel tones. C2 from MAC is a good match for me. But it's expensive.


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## lyrastar (Mar 16, 2013)

I was shopping one day for some face products and a tan caucasian (blonde) woman came up to me and asked what powder she should pick up for her "olive" skin. I think she asked me because of my dark skin... I'm not really sure. I didn't have the heart to tell her she was just a golden tan color...not a true olive. Maybe she was associating olive skin with just being a bit tan?  Its no wonder there's so much confusion thanks to magazines and generic makeup descriptions. 

  	You can't associate Olive with tonality (the lightness or darkness of the shade of the skin). There are dark and light skinned olivey people.  And don't forget the other color hues in skin can exist in different intensities from person to person - I think this is the hard part about olive skin foundation matching.  Some people can get away with a drugstore yellow based foundation, but others might   need one that needs the greenish color. Then there's the factor of how red/brown/tan a person is -- see! there are still a lot of factors when discussing Olive skin tones. Olive skin which is darker can still have red/brown in it. ( I think this is me. )

  	During the colder seasons: From a distance I look a yellowish brown, or even  just brown. As I get real close to the mirror I can see that greenish tint of yellow-green. I think the brown overpowers it sometimes. (Im summer Im just full on orange tan!) However, when I swatch yellow foundations (or any foundation) on my face, the green really pops out on the clean skin right next to the swatch. And when I put the foundation on all over my skin, I just turn orange. Red foundations - well they don't work either, obviously. 

  	I really wish I knew of a company that specialized in olivey foundations. Im don't much like the ones I've tried from mineral makeup. I'm certain I have to mix some colors --- but i always fail when I try to do this.  The only time I have some small bit of success is when I use that physicians formula green color wheel powder. It tones down my reddish/brown and helps the yellow foundations to leave me less orangy looking. This is not an ideal situation in my opinion. And no, I don't like the green primers either. 

  	If i had clear & even skin I wouldn't even be worrying about any of this. I'd buy whatever makeup I wanted but just use a tinted moisturizer and call it a day. =) So who has that secret?


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## elektra513 (Mar 17, 2013)

Jeana Marie said:


> I'm pretty sure Sephora employees have no proper formal training on color theory. They must have some sort of commission out of their paychecks, and are simply trying to get a sale out of you. I went one time, looking for foundation, and the person trying to sell me's example of "olive" was orange based. Orange based skin is not even a real thing. It's an artificial color you get from applying tanning lotion. I, as well as many fair olives have been mistaken for "golden" because of the dull yellowness in my skin, and have been told terra-cotta and coppers look good on me. I know for a FACT that I'm not golden or warm and those colors look dirty against my green undertones. My mom has said to me herself she doesn't think those colors look good on me.
> EDIT: I found I look best in purples, plums, and other rich jewel tones. C2 from MAC is a good match for me. But it's expensive.


	I agree regarding cosmetic staff not knowing how to help. Too bad they don't realize that they make it worse by trying to sell us anything.

  	Perhaps in the tan to dark part of the shade spectrum it would be easier to see someone with yellow skin who tans or burns, having redness in their skin. Yellow + red = orange. Plus there are some folks with darker golden skin who have subtle red undertones (Sanna Lathan is one actress I can think of--fairer skin like this is less likely). I think sales ppl who try to sell orange foundations to those with olive skin are "trying" to counteract the sallowness that olive skin sometimes gets (though bronzer with neutral tones does it best). Which goes back to why a lot of celebs who have been classified as "olive" but look golden in red carpet pics-- it is because their makeup artists have warmed up their skin with makeup so they don't look sick or ashy or to match their body tans. Look at someone like Jessica Alba or Kim K. without makeup on and it is a different story.

  	~~~

  	In general I think a lot of confusion comes from the difference between *depth of skin color vs. skin undertones*. There are cool olives and warm olives too. Cool ones look more beige/more green and tend to be paler and warmer ones look richer/more golden, but not as much as a yellow/warm skin tone which might have red in it (so we do better with companies that do neutral foundations - except MAC where we would be C shades). Golden or yellow-toned foundations mostly tend to be a mix of yellow/red/orange pigment so on olive skin they look orange because we have the yellow in our skin but not the orange--we need more green in our mix. Look on a color wheel and it might be more clear (it certainly was for me)--there are different shades and undertones of all colors, cool and warm, light and dark. But remember as depth of color increases in skin the variance in shades increases. Not saying that fairer skin cannot be olive, they totally can be. I read in Jemma Kidd's makeup book that light olive skin is the equivalent to fair/porcelain skin that has the English Rose look, so those olives need the same colors as the darker olives but paler tints of the same colors (so lighter versions of golden bronzers would work but not red based kind). *There are so many combinations out there it is just incorrect to say "olive" can only be one way. It's simply an undertone of skin color, so it can appear in any shade of skin of any depth or lightness, and in any amount--just like any other undertone that exists in skin.*

  	Ultimately though if you have olive undertones in your skin (no matter how light or dark your skin is), start with makeup colors that are *neutral* in undertones. So for example if you want to wear red lipstick, start with depth of color based on if you have light, med, dark skin, etc. Then look at undertone--don't pick one that has a ton of blue or a ton or orange in it--go for a neutral balanced red. And then with other more subtle undertones beside olive that are in your skin you may be able to try reds that are slightly warmer or slightly cooler, too. All that matters is what looks good on you when you try it on, not where you're from or what category someone else puts you in. Hope my ramble helps someone one...


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## elektra513 (Mar 17, 2013)

lyrastar said:


> I was shopping one day for some face products and a tan caucasian (blonde) woman came up to me and asked what powder she should pick up for her "olive" skin. I think she asked me because of my dark skin... I'm not really sure. I didn't have the heart to tell her she was just a golden tan color...not a true olive. Maybe she was associating olive skin with just being a bit tan?  Its no wonder there's so much confusion thanks to magazines and generic makeup descriptions.
> 
> You can't associate Olive with tonality (the lightness or darkness of the shade of the skin). There are dark and light skinned olivey people.  And don't forget the other color hues in skin can exist in different intensities from person to person - I think this is the hard part about olive skin foundation matching.  Some people can get away with a drugstore yellow based foundation, but others might   need one that needs the greenish color. Then there's the factor of how red/brown/tan a person is -- see! there are still a lot of factors when discussing Olive skin tones. Olive skin which is darker can still have red/brown in it. ( I think this is me. )
> 
> ...


  	To the bold, I google for this all the time, so I know how you feel. The more professional brands do them though, like RCMA and Ben Nye...as far as consumer level, it's hard to find but Lancome and MUFE have been stepping their shade game up. I think it will take more time for the department stores to really value the uniqueness of skin tones in general. But if Chanel and Dior can expand their shade range (and not immediately discontinue any of them lol!) then anything is possible


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## Jeana Marie (Mar 18, 2013)

lyrastar said:


> *I was shopping one day for some face products and a tan caucasian (blonde) woman came up to me and asked what powder she should pick up for her "olive" skin. I think she asked me because of my dark skin... I'm not really sure. I didn't have the heart to tell her she was just a golden tan color...not a true olive. Maybe she was associating olive skin with just being a bit tan?  Its no wonder there's so much confusion thanks to magazines and generic makeup descriptions. *
> 
> *You can't associate Olive with tonality (the lightness or darkness of the shade of the skin). There are dark and light skinned olivey people.  And don't forget the other color hues in skin can exist in different intensities from person to person - I think this is the hard part about olive skin foundation matching.  Some people can get away with a drugstore yellow based foundation, but others might   need one that needs the greenish color. Then there's the factor of how red/brown/tan a person is -- see! there are still a lot of factors when discussing Olive skin tones. Olive skin which is darker can still have red/brown in it. ( I think this is me. )*
> 
> ...


  	OMG I absloutly agree with the bold! I'm fair olive, and it really irks me when people use the term "olive" as a skin tone, in fashion magazines, and use a medium or medium-dark skinned person as an example. Not all of us olives are naturally tanned! Some of us are just as fair as Anne Hathaway, Katy Perry and Kristen Stewart (the tattoo artist Kat von D has VERY obvious olive/green in her pale skin!).

  	I have dark hair and dark eyes, with a fair/light skin tone, (I don't know if I would be considered snow white, because of the olive in my skin). I think in general, I look normal fair to most people, since they think "olive" is a tan/brown skin tone. But in the natural daylight, I think you can really see the olive green undertones in my skin, though I'm no darker than a snow white person who is obviously pink toned. Next to a darker olive person, (same olive green undertones, more medium toned skin), there are no weird clashes, despite me being fair and the person being more tanned. My sister's friend who does my hair is darker olive, and I'm more fair olive, and when I get highlights done, you can see less of a difference in our skin tone/undertone, than you would if I kept my hair solid dark. I've had a few SA's at the makeup counter get butthurt, when I would correct them saying I'm a fair olive and not golden. The SA showed me an example of "olive skin" on their terms, and that person was simply medium skin with golden/yellow undertones. I have no pink/red in my skin, besides dry, rough and irritated patches on my skin, more so in the winter.

  	Drugstore makeup has always been too yellow or too orange, too pink, etc for me. So MAC has been the best option. The issue for me is finding a fair olive, and MAC seems to do the job well. C2 was my best match. Every other makeup company has dark olive or medium olive, but not fair olive. And I'm not paying double to mix two foundations together. Who wants to do that?

  	And besides the term "olive" used to decribe medium tan skin, I hate how magazines will assume all fair skinned women have pink undertones, and say "purple will highlight the cool pink undertones in your skin..." There are a lot of fair skinned women with warmer undertones.

  	I have spray tanned once or twice a year in the summer, and it does make me look more golden. I find that a lot of plums, violets, and rich neutrals do best on my skin. Purple seems to be the magical color, as well as metallics. But anything TOO warm, pink or pastels are AWFUL on my skin. I do really well with true red. As long as it's not too cool or too warm I'm good.

  	I've been told I was condradicting myself when i said fair/olive. I admit it sounds a little condradicting when you don't understand the different skin tones and undertones, but once you learn the difference between skin tone and undertone it's not at all. I think when you have a basic understanding how complex it is between a person's skin tone and undertone (ex: not all fair skinned women have pink undertones, you can have the fairest or darkest skin possible and still be olive), "olive skin tone" doesn't make sense and isn't really proper. LOL! It makes more sence as an undertone.


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## Jeana Marie (Mar 18, 2013)

elektra513 said:


> I agree regarding cosmetic staff not knowing how to help. Too bad they don't realize that they make it worse by trying to sell us anything.
> Perhaps in the tan to dark part of the shade spectrum it would be easier to see someone with yellow skin who tans or burns, having redness in their skin. Yellow + red = orange. Plus there are some folks with darker golden skin who have subtle red undertones (Sanna Lathan is one actress I can think of--fairer skin like this is less likely). I think sales ppl who try to sell orange foundations to those with olive skin are "trying" to counteract the sallowness that olive skin sometimes gets (though bronzer with neutral tones does it best). Which goes back to why a lot of celebs who have been classified as "olive" but look golden in red carpet pics-- it is because their makeup artists have warmed up their skin with makeup so they don't look sick or ashy or to match their body tans. Look at someone like Jessica Alba or Kim K. without makeup on and it is a different story.


  	You know, I've seen a lot of Sephora associates, even ULTA, (ULTA has both OTC and big brands), use the term "olive" on a simply golden tan person as a way to compliment them. "Oh I wish I had that nice tan olive color..." as people who don't understand "olive" use it as a positive thing.

  	That being said, I wonder how many people who are generally fair/light complected with olive undertones, don't realize they're olive, because of their skin tone. I don't think they know they're actually olive, and assume they're yellow, because they think olive is a medium tan color.


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## Dina Tempo (Apr 14, 2013)

BBBB said:


> I don't understand any of this. Fair is an Anglo-Saxon/ Red-head and Olive skinned and dark are dark Spaniards and Italians. Most Latinos are native American mixed with Spaniards so they're brown and black people are black. It's as simple as that ...


 
  	Olive skin is very fair in color!white in  the usa is defined by the us census bureau﻿ as people of middle eastern/northafrican​/european blood! many countries in europe originated in the middle east,,,dumb folks dont know that
  	!!Even racist sites like sormfront know that whites come in MANY shades!!! the majoirty of whites have brunette hair! whites have pink/olive/yellow/go​lden/red undertones and be darker or lighter!! fair skinned can be pink and olive!  olive is very pale!
  	HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ANGLO SAXONS ARE FAIR! 
  	FAIR SKIN COMES IN MANY CULTURES! Having blotchy pork skin doesnt make you "Fair" people with flawless skin are fair!


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## Dina Tempo (Apr 14, 2013)

JUST LIKE YOU DONT HAVE TO BE BLACK TO HAVE DARK SKIN..DARK SKIN IS FOUND IN INDIA! AND INDIANS ARENT "BLACK"
  	FAIRS KIN ISNT OWNED BY ANGLO SAXONS!
  	plus, Im sick of idiots lumping everyone into the "Dark" category. Because someone doesnt look like Nicole Kidman,doesnt mean therye "dark".
  	Magazines and these "beauty" sites are despicable


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## Dina Tempo (Apr 14, 2013)

THANK YOU!  thanks for the list of fair skin women with olive UNDERTONES! Middle eastern/European,Latino.
  	Im sick and tired of people thinking you have to be freaken blonde with blue eyes to be "Fair". EVEN THOUGH SNOW WHITE WASNT BLONDE WITH BLUE EYES AND NEITHER IS DITA VON TEESE,ETC! I hate when these stupid people spill their insecurities!
  	a person can have pink/red/yellow/golden,etc undertones! aka the TEMPERATURE of your skin "skintone"
  	Im caucasian, and I have to call a spade a spade and say that this is a caucasian problem! we like to be exclusive,it doesnt matter how light an african american is..she can be whiter than white, but because shes african american..shes "tar" so these attitudes go into the beauty industry as well!
  	the world is a huge place! white around the world is people of a light skintone! in all cultures! I dont know why in America...its people of ANGO SAXON blood!
  	Fair skin is in every culture! and some self hating insecure idiot shouldnt tell you otherwise!
  	just like there are dark skinned Indians,  A RACE DOESNT OWN A SKIN COLOR! and skin color isnt an indicator of race!
  	so Im glad people brought this up and if you know any of these stupid people who do this childish crap, you need to school them!
  	Also someone needs to clock these MAC counter people who see anyone that isnt a blond ehair blue eyed female..they give them NC47! this phenomena is on every single forum,youtube video! its a mess how despicable some people are. I truly know for a fact there is a hidden agenda. Rhianna is even light skinned to caucasians..but youre going to lump her as "tar".??
  	get out of here
  	GLAD THIS WAS BROUGHT UP


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## Jeana Marie (Apr 17, 2013)

Dina Tempo said:


> Olive skin is very fair in color!white in  the usa is defined by the us census bureau﻿ as people of middle eastern/northafrican​/european blood! many countries in europe originated in the middle east,,,dumb folks dont know that
> !!Even racist sites like sormfront know that whites come in MANY shades!!! the majoirty of whites have brunette hair! whites have pink/olive/yellow/go​lden/red undertones and be darker or lighter!! fair skinned can be pink and olive!  olive is very pale!
> HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ANGLO SAXONS ARE FAIR!
> FAIR SKIN COMES IN MANY CULTURES! Having blotchy pork skin doesnt make you "Fair" people with flawless skin are fair!


	Funny you mention this, because Sofia Vergera is blonde and fair, yet she is LATINA not CACUASIAN! She ADMITS being a bottled brunette and using spray tans to appear more "Latina."

  	My sister and I have the same skin tone, are both generally fair/light, and brunettes, but she has pink undertones to her skin, and I have olive undertones to my skin. I'm tired of people assuming I'm just yellow or golden fair, because I have no natural pink in my skin but I'm too light to be "olive" yet in the natural daylight, I have a greenish tint to my skin. And the whole hard time finding foundation I've talked to women of color, and they seem to understand, but people my own race say "what's so hard, it's not like your black or anything..." No, but every foundation on the market (OTC) is too orange or too pink, even the whitest foundation...

  	The whole basing human's skin tone and undertones based on race is silly. Not every european decent is blonde haired, blue eyed, and not everyone who's mexican or spanish is dark haired brown eyes lol. Just like not every blue/grey cat is a Russian Blue or part russian blue.

  	Fair skin really does come in a variety of different undertones, and two equally fair people can have two different undertones. Nicole Kidman and Scarlett Johanssen don't have any pink undertones, and Kat von D and Lucy Hale are olive. Just like with cats and cat breeds, how not every single blue/grey colored cat is Russian Blue or part Russian Blue, and Persian cats have EVERY color of fur imaginable, not just white like the Fancy Feast cat, as a matter a fact, my Persian is orange.


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## Jeana Marie (Apr 23, 2013)

elektra513 said:


> I think a lot of women who are considered olive who look "golden" to us are just using their makeup to warm up their skin and hide the sallow. If I am wearing colors that match me, in the winter I look sickly (w/o bronzer), in the summer I turn an antique bronze color naturally (which most MA's mistakenly read as red).


  	Oh, hair and clothing colors do wonders. I can wear SOME warm colors, as long as it's more warm/neutral. I'm thinking of actually going for medium brown with light brown ombre, like the girl from Charlie Sheen's show, Anger Management (the obnoxious snobbish girl), Nina Dobrev and Eva Longoria's because it makes my skin look more golden than olive. It kind of neuterlizes the green undertone that makes my skin olive. LOL. It would be a nice summer/fall color.


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## makeupbymerry (Apr 24, 2013)

I also read the "olive color" for a skin in so many magazine. But how they think the color of skin is like olive?


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## Jeana Marie (Apr 24, 2013)

makeupbymerry said:


> I also read the "olive color" for a skin in so many magazine. But how they think the color of skin is like olive?


	It's just a fancy term for "green undertone" really. Maybe because if they said "green skin" it just sounds sickly and gross. LOL.

  	Olives are green so that's where the term olive comes in. Then the fact that it tends to tan really well, so people assumed olive meant tan.


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## brittbby (May 4, 2013)

Jessica alba very obviously has an olive skin tone. You can see it in her pictures. Just because she is a warm olive doesnt make her not olive toned. Olive skin tones can be both warm or cool. http://musicalhouses.blogspot.com/2010/01/undertones-for-asians-how-to-tell-if.html?m=1  This girl explains it well in her blog. I'd suggest those of you who are confused to read it. I have nc30-35 skin tone and am very heavily olive, to the point where under certain lightings I tend to look sickly. Very few brands actually make olive foundations, nars Stromboli and MUFE 123 are my holy grail because they are the only ones I can find that match my skin tone. When I try other brands, I reach for warm tones because I'm tanned and my tan brings out more of the gold in my skin but they never match exactly because they lack the green tone. They tend to look gray on me or muddy if they are too dark. I'm 1/4 Italian 1/4 German and 1/2 mexican for reference.


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## Jeana Marie (May 16, 2013)

brittbby said:


> This girl explains it well in her blog. I'd suggest those of you who are confused to read it. I have nc30-35 skin tone and am very heavily olive, to the point where under certain lightings I tend to look sickly. Very few brands actually make olive foundations, nars Stromboli and MUFE 123 are my holy grail because they are the only ones I can find that match my skin tone. When I try other brands, I reach for warm tones because I'm tanned and my tan brings out more of the gold in my skin but they never match exactly because they lack the green tone. They tend to look gray on me or muddy if they are too dark. I'm 1/4 Italian 1/4 German and 1/2 mexican for reference.


	I guess you're right. There's golden olive (warm) and green olive (cool). Jessica Alba would be golden-olive, along with Lea Michele and Nina Dobrev, while Eva Longoria, Selena Gomez and Lucy Hale are green olives.


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## tallgirl (May 18, 2013)

"Green undertones" is the way you can tell the difference between olive and tanned skin.  The other way is how well you tan.  If you tan like crazy, you're more likely to be olive rather than the next lower skin tone .  I refer to fair and white skinned people as "pink people", because that's the dominant undertone, not the yellows and greens that make up olive skin.  And they burn so nicely that they look like lobsters if they try.

  	While I love having olive skin, because it means I don't burn like other white people, one way you can tell if you have olive skin is the amount your skin color changes over the course of a year without even trying -- no trips to the tanning bed, no bronzers, no intentionally laying out by the pool, just being outdoors when the sun is shining.

	Apropos comments about "dark skinned",I don't think writers -- especially for the dominant white culture -- are referring to women of color.  I've been friends with African American women who are anywhere from lighter than me (cafe au lait and "high yellow") and burn to as dark skinned as can be.  What's dark for whites isn't much darker than passe blanc in the African American community.


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## brittbby (May 19, 2013)

Jeana Marie said:


> I guess you're right. There's golden olive (warm) and green olive (cool). Jessica Alba would be golden-olive, along with Lea Michele and Nina Dobrev, while Eva Longoria, Selena Gomez and Lucy Hale are green olives.


  Eva longoria and selena gomez are still both warm olives... When they tan, the yellow in their skin comes out. They look very bronzed. If you saw selena gomez at the billboard music awards, that's exactly what I mean. She's very bronzed. When she's lighter the olive is very noticeable, but when she's tan she gets golden.


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## Jeana Marie (May 20, 2013)

tallgirl said:


> I refer to fair and white skinned people as "pink people", because that's the dominant undertone, not the yellows and greens that make up olive skin.  And they burn so nicely that they look like lobsters if they try.


  	That's not 100% true at all. Fair and white skinned people can have yellow undertones to their skin too. I'm generally white, but I have a very obvious green/olive undertone to my skin. Look at Lucy Hale from the show Pretty Little Liars. She's a lot more fair than her castmates, but she has an obvious olive/green undertone to her skin.

  	EDIT: "Pink people" can also have medium or tan skin, and could easily be mistaken as "olive" when they are infact just medium with a pink undertone.


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## Jeana Marie (May 20, 2013)

brittbby said:


> Eva longoria and selena gomez are still both warm olives... When they tan, the yellow in their skin comes out. They look very bronzed. If you saw selena gomez at the billboard music awards, that's exactly what I mean. She's very bronzed. When she's lighter the olive is very noticeable, but when she's tan she gets golden.


	That's because they use self tanning to give their skin that golden color. Just like Kim Kardashian, who in reality is a green olive, and is just as light as her sister Khloe, (skin tone wise). I am a fair green olive, but I have self tanned (creams, spray) and have colored my hair to a medium warm brown to appear more golden and less green. Self tanner gives off an artificial color to your skin that gives you that golden glow. Hair color also makes a huge difference giving your face complexion the illusion of looking warmer or cooler. When I leave my hair dark without any sort of highlights, I look snow white. When I do a caramel color, or leave my hair a warm medium brown, I look more golden, when I do fake reds, or purpley colors, like Rihanna or Ariana Grande (cherry red, burgundy, mahogeny, deep plum) it intensifies the green undertones in my skin, and makes me look even MORE olive.


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## brittbby (May 20, 2013)

Jeana Marie said:


> That's because they use self tanning to give their skin that golden color. Just like Kim Kardashian, who in reality is a green olive, and is just as light as her sister Khloe, (skin tone wise). I am a fair green olive, but I have self tanned (creams, spray) and have colored my hair to a medium warm brown to appear more golden and less green. Self tanner gives off an artificial color to your skin that gives you that golden glow. Hair color also makes a huge difference giving your face complexion the illusion of looking warmer or cooler. When I leave my hair dark without any sort of highlights, I look snow white. When I do a caramel color, or leave my hair a warm medium brown, I look more golden, when I do fake reds, or purpley colors, like Rihanna or Ariana Grande (cherry red, burgundy, mahogeny, deep plum) it intensifies the green undertones in my skin, and makes me look even MORE olive.


  All olive skin tones are "green olive". If there's no green they probably don't have olive skin tone. Just like any skin tone it can range from fair to dark. Olive skin can lean slightly more cool or slightly more warm. The only definer of olive skin is that there is in fact a green cast to the skin. When warmer olive skin tones tan, the yellow usually pulls through a bit more. Eva longoria, Kim kardashian are all examples of this. I can tell you because when I'm paler in the winter months, the green is veryyyy apparent yet I still use a warmer foundation because I don't have pink tones to my skin. When summer hits, I'm still olive just a bit more golden and it masks that sickly tone a little but none the less, still olive.


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## MintyPanda (May 23, 2013)

Fun tip for really pale girls: you know that sickly green cast you get in cheap fluorescent lighting? If you still have that when you go outside, you're probably olive!

  	Now, I don't mean just kinda fair. I mean you'd make Zooey Deschanel look like a tanning fiend if you stood next to her. Since olive is an undertone, like yellow, red, peach, or rose (a sort of bluish-pink) you can find it on ANY depth of skin. Prescriptives custom blend foundations are great at pinpointing your exact shade (they hand mix them for you, and save the recipe for later).

  	I personally almost never go out in the sun, due to a mixture of lupus-induced photo-sensitivity and the fact that I like sitting on my butt all day reading more than I like interacting with real live humans.  As a child though, when I would stay fair yet not have the complexion of a mildly soiled sheet as I do today, my skin would take on the wheat color common to many fair olive skinned gals. Actually, in places like India, the Mediterranean, and Asia, fair olive is usually called wheaten because of it's neutral tone with a hint of gold, just like a wheat stalk. Yes, you may lean a bit warmer or a bit cooler but olive skin is considered a neutral undertone. That said, more girls can get away with yellow-based makeup if neutral or olive is not available. I implore you not to go pink. It will make your face look grey. I think a lot of Asian girls who have had the misfortune of tangling with Cover Girl can attest.

  	Anyways, if you're really screwed when it comes to finding foundation and the only place you have to shop is Walmart or something just find a brand like Loreal that offers multiple undertones and grab a neutral and a warm in your depth and blend them together in different ratios until you find your balance. You won't need too much of the warm. Some brands also sell pigment to mix with your foundation. Try adding greens and pale golds to get the right blend.


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## Jeana Marie (May 28, 2013)

MintyPanda said:


> Fun tip for really pale girls: you know that sickly green cast you get in cheap fluorescent lighting? If you still have that when you go outside, you're probably olive!
> 
> Now, I don't mean just kinda fair. I mean you'd make Zooey Deschanel look like a tanning fiend if you stood next to her. Since olive is an undertone, like yellow, red, peach, or rose (a sort of bluish-pink) you can find it on ANY depth of skin. Prescriptives custom blend foundations are great at pinpointing your exact shade (they hand mix them for you, and save the recipe for later).
> 
> ...


	Yup I'm half a shade darker than you or Anne Hathaway, and I have that same olive/green undertone. It irks me when big top mags like Glamor or Cosmo will use recommendations for olive skin, (as a skin tone), and their examples are someone like Frieda Pinto, Eva Longoria or Jessica Alba. Just because I'm fair/light complected does NOT change the fact that I have the exact same undertones as those three women. And that those same big top magazines think all fair girls have pink undertones to their skin. I've seen Sofia Vergara being used as an example of olive too. I'm sorry, but Sofia is NOT olive. She is very obviously pink toned, AND the cookie cutter example of fair skin. She tans and darkens her hair for her roles and to look more "Latina." Just watch the early Modern Family episodes, when she had that deep brown color. It was so harsh against her skin tone, and you can see the pink in her skin highlighted in a bad way. She LITERALLY looks like if she were to lay out in the sun, with tanning oil all over her she'd turn into a lobster.


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## Jeana Marie (Jun 17, 2013)

^^^

  	I agree. I'm olive, but Selena Gomez' shade of olive. I'm about the same skin tone as Megan Fox (very fair, but not Bella Swan fair) but I definatly have an olive/green undertone to my skin. It bugs me when Sephora doesn't cater to that. A couple days ago, I found  Lush's color suppliments in Dark Yellow to be an affordable, but perfect match for my skin tone/undertone. The January 2013 issue of glamor did lip colors for skin tone, and it really irked me that the "olive" example was two-three shades darker than my skin tone. "Medium" was a light complected girl with olive/green undertones and fair, was no lighter than the medium example, but with pink undertones to her skin. I mentioned THOUSANDS of times that Sofia Vergara is a frequent example of "olive" time and again despite the fact that she is blonde with pink undertones by nature. I believe Eva Mendez is also a poor example of "olive skin" because she has GOLDEN undertones, not one hint of green on her.

  	By magazine standards of one's skin tone goes a little something like this:

	Fair Skin= Light complected with cool/pink undertones
  	Medium Skin= Light complected with warm yellow/golden or olive/green undertones
  	Olive= Medium/tan skin of any undertone
  	Dark= Any woman of color reguardless of how fair they are by their community standards

  	I believe that this sort of formula is inaccurate, narrow and misleading. Just because you have fair skin does not mean you have pink undertones to your skin. And medium doesn't equal yellow based skin tone.


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## brittbby (Jun 17, 2013)

Eva mendes definitely has olive tones to her. When she fake tans they definitely don't show through as much but you can definitely see a green tint to her skin. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 It's incredibly obvious in this picture. Medium/tan olives looks very different from pale olives but the olive/green cast is still there.


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## brittbby (Jun 17, 2013)

Now they like to use Halle Berry for olive skin and that I don't see one bit. I've looked at so many pictures and cannot see the olive in her skin but I may be wrong. Lol


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## Jeana Marie (Jun 18, 2013)

brittbby said:


> Now they like to use Halle Berry for olive skin and that I don't see one bit. I've looked at so many pictures and cannot see the olive in her skin but I may be wrong. Lol


  	Here is another poor example of olive skin. Yes, Sofia Vergara. It's untouched and taken in the natural daylight by her. Not one hint of green OR gold on her.


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## Jeana Marie (Aug 4, 2013)

Also, I think Lucy Hale is VERY underused as an example of olive skin. Maybe because she is very fair skinned with light eyes. But you can see that despite this, shes still very much olive:  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




   Yes she is a lot more fair than Shay Mitchell but despite their skin tone differences, there is no clashing between them.   And comparing Lucy Hale to Megan Fox:  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	







   While they are the same skin tone wise, (dark hair light eyes and fair skinned) there is very obvious difference. Megan is a lot cooler with a pink undertone. While Lucy does look a bit pinker, you can see a green tinge poking through.


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## MintyPanda (Aug 4, 2013)

Yes yes yes! Lucy Hale is a fabulous example of a fair olive skin tone. 

  	I think something a lot of people also fail to realize it that any kind of fair skin is going to look extra pink despite undertones thanks to the skin's translucence. You're going to see a lot more blood through the skin which is going to cool you down a lot. The key is to look at a place with either thicker skin or that's just less prone to redness. I know that if I've just washed my face I look bright pink. Just the act of touching my skin inflames it just enough to be visible. 

  	Your decolletage is a good place to match foundation: if you want to see a pure, pale and unaffected version of you skin, look right below your tan line on your chest (the ladies are typically paler than your chest) and for a neutral area that has minimal sun exposure to best match your face to the rest of your body, check your neck.


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## Jeana Marie (Aug 4, 2013)

^^^^  I agree!


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## Jeana Marie (Sep 8, 2013)

elektra513 said:


> I truly disagree with the bold. I am classified as African-American in the US, but I do not fit into the golden brown/caramel (NC45) category whatsoever, my skin is golden but it also very clearly holds olive undertones and that's why finding foundations that match me has been a long journey (C7 has been good for me, but NC anything is a disaster that's how I can tell the difference). Considering Africa is so close to the Mediterranean it simply doesn't make sense that someone of African descent _cannot_ be olive skinned. Living in the US, seeing them might be more rare, but it is not impossible by any means. Saying skin colors of African descent are 'just brown' really bothers me because imo that is wear the most variance in skin tones exist. Especially in the medium to dark part of the spectrum. *Just because you are darker doesn't mean your undertones just disappear completely.* You can be dark and warm or dark and cool, why couldn't someone be dark and olive? Smh. A bunch of women named here are golden tan/brown or shades of caramel, I agree with that but Zoe Saldana would not be considered golden brown or caramel. She (esp being Latina) would be considered olive and you can see a difference between her skin vs someone like Beyonce' or Rihanna who are both yellow brown, not gold or gold/olive. That would be due to a mixing of specific ethnic backgrounds--ex. Beyonce' has creole ancestry (French). A quick Google search on the difference between yellow and gold and you will see that green has a big hand in what our eyes see or do not see...  I think a lot of women who are considered olive who look "golden" to us are just using their makeup to warm up their skin and hide the sallow. If I am wearing colors that match me, in the winter I look sickly (w/o bronzer), in the summer I turn an antique bronze color naturally (which most MA's mistakenly read as red).


  Actually, speaking of which, this girl is a perfect example of African American/Black girl with olive undertone skin: and shes a lot darker than Beyonce, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj   
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  She was on that MTV show catfish LOL! But the faded out Rihanna red hair red dress and red lipstick actually make it MORE obvious. When an olive toned person wears a red shirt or red lipstick--the undertones become especially obvious!


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## elektra513 (Dec 22, 2013)

Haha she looks totally green in that pic! Yikes!

  I agree. I notice that too when I wear pure bright reds, whites, or light greys alone. She should have worn a deeper red and it wouldn't look so bad. I recently got in to "color seasons" and now I pay attention to that kind of stuff more. I'd been wearing all the wrong colors in my clothes and it'd been competing with my makeup choices, sigh.

  No comment on the hair, other than...smh,lol.


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## keridabeenfabb (Dec 22, 2013)

although this is something i notice and it bothered me at a point.,i cant stand talking about it because it wont change what we see. i just will teach my daughter there are all kinds of people and skin tones and don't let magazines decide what shade is right or not. there are so many  many beautiful shades........how much people say times change they really haven't.
  but hey it all comes down to what sells magazines. and true olive and dark shades just don't and that's the truth.


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## Jeana Marie (Dec 30, 2013)

Yeah, it does bother me as a fair skinned Caucasian to only see Latina celebs with fake tan in the olive category. But not all Latinas are olive OR medium toned. And when they DO talk about Caucasian examples, it's only Kim Kardashian! What about Ariana Grande or Nina Dobrev? Or Lucy Hale?   As for olive skin and red hair: sorry, but only LIGHTER OLIVES can pull off red hair! And this applies to both Caucasian AND African American types of fair olive skin. (it's all subjective) also only straight reds (no undertones) or purple/violet based reds if you want a Rihanna red. Natural shades of red (think Nicole Kidman or Julianne Moore) are a no no for us olives. PERIOD! If you want a natural looking red, a darker mahogany, burgundy or plum is the way to go! Just make sure its cool toned and not found by nature. Also red FADES!!!


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## Jeana Marie (Apr 29, 2014)

keridabeenfabb said:


> although this is something i notice and it bothered me at a point.,i cant stand talking about it because it wont change what we see. i just will teach my daughter there are all kinds of people and skin tones and don't let magazines decide what shade is right or not. there are so many  many beautiful shades........how much people say times change they really haven't. but hey it all comes down to what sells magazines. and true olive and dark shades just don't and that's the truth.


  I always thought magazines, internet articles and bloggers were very narrow when it comes to skin tones and undertones. They all fail to take into account that someone who is NC15 can still have the same undertone to their skin as someone who is NC45, just like two blondes with blue eyes and fair skin can have a totally different undertone to their hair and skin tone.


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## Prettypackages (Dec 10, 2014)

MintyPanda said:


> Yes yes yes! Lucy Hale is a fabulous example of a fair olive skin tone.
> 
> I think something a lot of people also fail to realize it that any kind of fair skin is going to look extra pink despite undertones thanks to the skin's translucence. You're going to see a lot more blood through the skin which is going to cool you down a lot. The key is to look at a place with either thicker skin or that's just less prone to redness. I know that if I've just washed my face I look bright pink. Just the act of touching my skin inflames it just enough to be visible.
> 
> Your decolletage is a good place to match foundation: if you want to see a pure, pale and unaffected version of you skin, look right below your tan line on your chest (the ladies are typically paler than your chest) and for a neutral area that has minimal sun exposure to best match your face to the rest of your body, check your neck.


  couldn't quote everyone but there's some good stuff in here. 

  What undertone causes someone to look red when they tan?


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## Jeana Marie (Jan 25, 2015)

I would say pink/red undertones. But sometimes pale/fair-light skin tones (reguardless of their undertone) can get ruddy in sensitive areas that have less sun exposure.


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## faithiscalling (Nov 14, 2015)

Actually, you forgot to mention the Portuguese people. Lots of Portuguese and also Brazilian have olive skin tone, and we( Brazilians) are latinos. Italian, Spanish AND Portuguese people have almost the same skin color. Look at Cristiano Ronaldo for instance, he is olive skinned. There is also the Victoria's Secret supermodel Sara Sampaio, whom i personally think has light olive skin, or maybe medium skin. We usually have ancestors from those three countries, but there are also French, German & African heritage present. I personally believe i am olive skinned, because i have a ''white''complexion that my friends usually joke it is fake because i am yellow. All or mostly of us here are olive skinned, but the thing about my skin tone is that nobody is as yellow as me lol and when i say yellow i don't mean Asian Yellow, i am just slightly more yellowish than the average people, while my friends seem to have different undertones but still, you look at me and you still think i am white, as Penelope, Cristiano and Jennifer Lopez are. The range of olive skin tones is big, so there is also that. I have 3/4 of Portuguese heritage, while the other 1/4 is Italian and Brazilian. I believe that is the main reason i am more ''yellow'' than my grandparents and mom( she is olive tho, and people often think she is Spanish or Turkish), because of my father who has also Italian heritage.  

 you can see in this picture taken in Lima my fair(i think) skinned friend, me, my asian light brown skinned friend and my other friend who i also think has a certain type of olive skin going on.  
  Do you agree? maybe i am wrong, so if you want to vote your opinion and help me understand this complicated skin color i would be pleased.


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## Prettypackages (Nov 28, 2015)

Is olive the same as neutral?


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## AuroraKS (Mar 28, 2016)

Prettypackages said:


> Is olive the same as neutral?




Not necessarily. 
It depends on the person as well as what a brand defines as "neutral" 

Some olive people have very little yellow undertones and would be able to wear a "neutral beige" foundation if they have a smaller amount of olive tones. 

If a "neutral peach" is used then it would look pink. (Some brands classify peach as neutral because the "not pink but not yellow" so they use both which makes peach) 

I, personally, have a yellow/olive color and use the MAC shade C35 in studio fix powder and the shade "123 Desert" in MUFE HD (which swatches of on the old formula you can see it's actually an olive shade compared to "127 dark sand" which is the same depth but more yellow/golden) 

when I wear neutral(beige) toned foundation it either looks gray/muddy or a bit pink. 
When I wear a neutral(peach) foundation I either look pink or orange depending on how much pink or yellow the foundation uses. 

Olive skintoned people are either neutral(beige)olive or they're yellow/golden olive. 
So to answer your question, sometimes.


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