Applying the right foundation shade and formula is a makeup step that can’t be overlooked. It is the perfect way to make your skin appear flawless. Thus, it becomes necessary to know how to find your foundation shade so that you aren’t confused by the wide range of products available on the market.
Foundations come in numerous shades, and each shade caters to a different skin tone. While the foundation can make you flawless if applied correctly, it can also completely mar your makeup when applied wrongly.
Applying the wrong shade of foundation can make your makeup cakey or like a painting. To avoid this, you need to choose the right shade of foundation.
Keep scrolling for tips to help you find the right foundation shade for your skin tone:
1. Understand your skin type
This is perhaps the most crucial step to help you choose the perfect foundation formula. You must understand your skin’s needs and concerns to pick the perfect foundation.
Oily Skin
If you have oily skin, it is advisable to use powder foundation or an oil-free liquid one. These contain powders that absorb oil, leaving you with a smooth, matte finish. Mineral foundations also work well on oily skin, because the dry particles tend to absorb moisture and also prevent shine.
Dry Skin
If you’re someone with dry skin, choose a hydrating powder foundation, a liquid or a stick one. These have a creamy consistency which delivers moisture to the skin and offers great coverage.
Combination skin
If your skin is oily in some places, and dry in others – you’re stuck in the worst of both worlds. Try strategically mixing and matching formulas and avoid foundations that are formulated to be emollient or oil-rich.
Sensitive skin
It’s best to avoid certain ingredients that can irritate your skin like alcohol and fragrance. Also, mineral oil and talc are big no-nos.
2. Match the shade to your skin tone
The best place to test whether a foundation is a match for your skin is your neck or jawline. The right shade will seamlessly blend into your skin colour and won’t leave you looking ashy or ghastly. If it’s leaving a whitish cast on your skin or if it’s making you look darker, then it’s the wrong shade. Don’t be afraid to mix two different colours for different seasons. This also works because your skin tone will vary through the year and also vary in different areas of your face.
3. Identify your undertone
If you look at your bare skin, think about how golden (yellow toned) or rosy (pink toned) it appears. If you’re golden, you have a warm undertone, and if you lean towards the rosy side, you’re probably cool toned. If it’s a combination of the two, you have a neutral undertone. Another way to figure this out is to look at the color of your veins – if they appear more deep purple or bluish, you will likely fall in the cool-toned spectrum. If your veins appear greenish, you’re warm-toned. A good way to tell with most foundations is if the shade name starts with “N” it is neutral, “C” for cool, and “W” for warm. For example, NC20 would be a neutral-cool light shade.
4. Choose your finish
If you’re a newbie to using foundation, you may wonder what “finish” is. Even regular foundation users may seem to be confused about which one they want. A finish is simply the kind of sheen (or the lack of it) a foundation formula leaves on your skin. You’ll find dewy, matte, semi-matte and luminizing finishes, each one looking stunning in its own right. But deciding which one is right for you depends upon which look you like best. It also depends on your skin type to be able to pull off any finish.
5. Test before you buy it
Don’t just walk into the store and make your purchases before you’ve tested it out first. And we can’t stress enough this – do not colour test on your hand! It’s not the same tone as your face. Instead, swatch along the side of your jawline for an exact colour match. Choose a few shades that look the closest to your skin tone and test them out by dabbing some swatches NOT on your hand, but on your jawline to wind up with the most natural-looking colour.