Foundation color is the base for any cosmetic and it is also used to cover blemishes. It helps in giving an even tone our complexion. It dose help ti make it a uniform surface to apply the rest of our makeup.
It’s necessary to use the right shade. The wrong foundation can look unnatural and obviously won’t create the much needed canvas for the rest of the cosmetics.There are a few crucial factors to be considered while selecting a foundation shade. It includes skin type, tone and complexion.
How to Find your Perfect Match for Foundation color
- Learning About Skin
- Finding the Perfect Foundation Shade
- Customizing Foundation for Yourself
Learning About Skin
Understand the undertone. It is best to determine a few obvious things about the skin, such as undertone before trying to choose a foundation. While the surface of the skin can change color as of many things, like exposure to the elements or acne, undertone will always stay the same. Therefore, determining the undertone will help choose the right foundation color.
In general, people fall into one of three undertones:
- Cool : means skin is more blue, red, or pink.
- Warm : means skin is more golden, yellow, or peach.
- Neutral : means skin will have a combination of cool and warm colors.
Determine undertone. There are some tests to determine if undertone is warm, cool, or neutral. The tests involve assessing
- hair and eye color
- Naturally black, brown, or blonde hair combined with green, grey, or blue eyes is an indication of a cool undertone.
- Hazel, brown, or amber eyes combined with naturally black, auburn, or strawberry blonde hair indicates a warm undertone.
- what colors you look best in
- Silver jewelry will look best if undertone is cool
- Gold jewelry will look best on you if your undertone is warm
- Neutral undertone will look equally good in both silver and gold.
- how you react to the sun
- People who are cool will tend to turn pink or burn easily in the sun
- People who are warm will bronze or tan in the sun
- the color of the veins.
- Blue veins on the inner wrist indicate cool
- Green veins indicate warm
- Bluish-green indicates neutral.
Know the best foundation for your skin type. While knowing if you have dry or oily skin won’t help you pick a foundation shade, it will help you choose the right type of foundation. Skin can be oily, dry, or combination, and you can have normal or sensitive skin.
- Oily skin : Choose a matte finish or oil-free liquid or powder foundation
- Dry skin : Choose a moisturizing or hydrating cream or stick foundation
- Sensitive skin : Choose a hypoallergenic and scent-free foundation
- Combination skin : Choose a powder foundation
Choose a foundation that offers full or medium coverage if you have an uneven complexion and want to cover most of your skin.
It is good idea to buy foundation having SPF, because this will give a small measure of protection against damaging UVA and UVB rays.
Use your skin to narrow down your choices. You already know what to look for in a foundation based on your skin type, and now it’s time to use the knowledge you’ve gained about your undertone to select some possible shade choices. Before heading to the pharmacy or makeup store, consider what foundation bases and shades will look best based on your undertone.
- Cool undertones : Choose a foundation with a rose, red, or blue base, and consider shades like cocoa, rose, sable, and porcelain.
- Warm undertones : Choose a foundation with a gold or yellow base, and consider shades like caramel, golden, tan, chestnut, and beige.
- Neutral undertones : Consider shades like buff, nude, ivory, or praline.
Finding the Perfect Foundation Shade
Choose a makeup store, pharmacy, or department store. When buying foundation, look for a store that provides support from beauty experts who can help you choose the right shade and foundation.
Test a few shades. Use the information about the best shades for your undertone and select some foundations to try out. Choose a few shades that look closest to skin tone. Test by dabbing some swatches of foundation on your jawline. The skin at jawline will be truer to natural undertone and give an idea of how the foundation will look against the neck.
If the store doesn’t offer testers, hold the bottles of foundation up to your neck and jawline. Whether you are using testers or just holding bottles up to your skin, find a door or window to see what the foundation shades will look like in natural light. This will also give the foundation some time to dry so that you know what it will look like all the time.
Choose foundation. The best foundation is the one that disappears into skin. Foundation must not be after application. It is supposed to offer an even canvas on which to work. Use the swatches on the jawline to determine which foundation blends in best with skin. This is the foundation shade that will best cover blemishes and redness while still looking natural.
Customizing Foundation for Yourself
Lighten foundation that’s too dark. When you got a wrong foundation from the shop and unable to return it then go for customizing the color of foundation to create a better match for the skin. One way to make foundation lighter is by applying it with a wet sponge instead of the fingers. Make foundation lighter by mixing it with:
- Moisturizer
- Primer
- A lighter foundation
- Concealer or finishing powder
Darken foundation that’s too light. Just as lightening the foundation which is too dark, make a foundation darker if it’s too light for the skin. To make foundation darker, try:
- Adding blush or concealer
- Mixing it with bronzer
- Combining it with a darker foundation or tinted moisturizer
Change the color of your foundation. Foundation that isn’t right for your undertone can be customized as well.
- To match a yellow undertone, add turmeric.
- To match a more pink or blue undertone, add a pinkish-brown blush.
- To make a foundation more brown, add cocoa powder.