How To Pick Your Shade Of Foundation
Hello, Bonjour, Hola, Konnichiwa my fellow makeup mavens. If choosing the correct shade of foundation is as daunting as learning a new foreign language, you’re in the right place! Think of me as your fairy godmother (clad in sequins obvs) who will guide you through the treacherous terrain of finding the perfect foundation. Sure, it can seem like a journey fraught with peril, where the wrong shade can lead you down a path of complexion catastrophe… but with a little guidance from yours truly I’ll help you find the perfect match.
How to decipher your undertone
We’ve all seen the words warm tone, cool tone and neutral on foundations and honestly this can make things seem super confusing when picking a shade. So, the first step to know what skin tone you are is to work out your undertone. And it’s actually quite straightforward, in fact, the answer is pretty much in the palm of your hand… well close, it’s in your wrist.
Take a look at the veins on the inside of your wrist. Do they appear more blue or green? If your veins appear bluer, you’re cool-toned but if they are greener, you’re warm-toned. If you see a pretty equal amount of both green and blue, you have a neutral undertone. Tah-dah!
Another great technique for finding out if you’re warm or cool is to look at the jewellery you wear. If you tend to go for gold then you will more than likely have a warm undertone. If you prefer silver, then you will probably have a cool tone. If you like to wear both, you’re probably a neutral undertone. I’m sure you can tell what tone I am from my bracelets alone-ha!
Online tools
Thanks to the future apparently being the Metaverse (I still have zero idea what those words mean), technology online has become way more advanced than it was a few years ago. Most beauty brands have some sort of virtual try-on magic. These are actually pretty accurate, although a bit time-consuming.
And now you know your undertone, it will probably be a bit more straightforward. So, definitely give them ago! If it’s a ‘take a picture of your face’ type one, then try and make sure you have good, natural lighting as synthetic lighting (such as a ring light) can brighten or warm your natural complexion too much meaning that your foundation choice will come be light or too warm.
Another great tool is www.findation.com You basically type in your shade in any other foundation, and it will tell you what shade you are in pretty much all other brands! How cool is that?
Samples
If you can get your hands on a sample, then fantastic! Loads of brands do them. They’ve had to since Covid times (remember that?!). The main problem is that these aren’t easy to get online, you tend to have to go into store to get your hands on one.
In-store
Talking of in-store, this is the absolute best way to get colour-matched. Firstly, you have beauty experts on hand who know exactly what they are doing, secondly you have all the shades available. Thirdly, it takes away the stress as the decision is put on someone else. However, I still have a few tips for you.
Ideally when being colour-matched, make sure you have no other make up on your base as this will skew the colour. If you arrive with makeup on, ask them to take it off. Get the beauty expert to colour-match and then, ideally apply the base all over your face and neck. Applying to your neck is key as this skin tends to be a different tone to your face, so you want to make sure the shade works for both. Don’t feel pressure to buy immediately as I have a few other tips.
Go out into the natural light and take a selfie. This is a much better way to see if the shade is right as the lights in store can be quite harsh and artificial. Wearing the product for a few hours instead of buying it immediately is obviously also a great way to test the formula.
Another thing to bear in mind is that your skin tone may become warmer or lighter depending on the season. I like to have a summer shade and a winter shade. If you prefer to stick to one all year round, you can always add bronzer to warm up the skin, or you can even try and mix a touch of moisturiser into your foundation or a fairer concealer to lighten. Just remember this can affect the formula.
And there you have it; my top tips on how to pick your perfect foundation shade. I always say finding the correct foundation for your skin tone is a lot like finding your soulmate - it can take time, patience, and a whole lot of trial and error. But hey, once you've found the one that makes you look and feel your best, you'll know it was worth all the swatches and smudges along the way. And who knows, maybe your perfect foundation match will stick with you longer than your last relationship - just remember to apply and blend with love!
I hope you found this post helpful! Feel free to comment with any additional questions.
Love, lipstick and a great base,
Lis x