We've all seen someone walking around with mismatched foundation, whether it's at the mall, the grocery store, or whatever. Sometimes it's just a minor thing like a shade too dark or a shade too light, but there are cases where there's a perfectly obvious line right under the chin and the foundation is clearly the wrong color all around. Yes, we've all either seen these people, or even worse, it's been us! Today I'm going to talk about getting the perfect shade of foundation for your skin.
The first thing you should do is before you go shopping for new foundation, whether it be at a drug store, or at a place like Sephora where they do the matching for you, you should take a good look in the mirror. A lot of times the rule of thumb is to test a bit of the foundation out on the back of your hand and see what it looks like. The problem with this is if you put your hand up to your face, most of the time it isn't going to be the same color as your face. For me, my hand is close, so I can kind of get away with it, but at the same time, it's just a little too dark. I can guarantee you, if you put your own hand to your face, it'll be either too light, or too dark, even if it's just a minor difference. So what do you do if not test it on your hand? Well, first things first, get to know your skin tone. Are you more olive? Are you fair? Are you somewhere in between? Figure it out. Stand in the mirror and look at your chest area, your neck, and your face. For most women, their faces are a little bit more red than their neck, and if you fake tan, or even naturally tan, your face will probably be a bit lighter than say your neck and chest because it gets more exfoliation. If you have redness in your face, it doesn't make sense to match that small amount of redness when you're purchasing foundation, especially if you have mostly yellow undertones. It also doesn't make sense to match to your face if it's lighter than the rest of your body because you tan. For these reasons, we look at the neck and chest. I've found when I do makeup on a client, the easiest way to find a perfect match is to look along that transition from the face and jaw, to the top of the neck, right in front of the ear. Depending on what the client will be wearing, sometimes I'll look at the coloring of the shoulders as well.
Once you've gotten to know your skin tone, and you've figured out what to match yourself to, it's time to do the foundation shopping. If you plan on going to a high end company, or a place like Sephora where they match you themselves, be skeptical. They can make mistakes too, if you feel the color isn't quite right, ask to be matched again. Foundation if not done right can look absolutely ridiculous, so it's important that it's a good match for you. If you go to a drug store where you're pretty much on your own, don't stick to one brand, try a few brands, and even do some research first, find out what brands are best loved and which ones are less loved, watch and read reviews before you go shopping.
Once you have an idea of what you want to try, use testers. In some cases there won't be an available tester, which means that sadly, you're stuck to matching through the bottle. Take a mirror with you and maybe some makeup wipes, since sometimes drug stores won't actually have any available, and test the foundation out on that special spot in front of your ear. If you're stuck to matching through the bottle, then hold it up to your face. Also, ask if you can get samples and if you can't, make sure you can bring the foundation back if it doesn't work. If you can't get samples or return the foundation if it doesn't work, find another place to buy foundation from. If you get a foundation that doesn't work because you couldn't sample it or return it, you've wasted your money.
Hopefully this was helpful and gives you a few ideas. I suggest also looking at Lisa Eldridge on youtube, she's done a whole series on foundation matching and it's really fantastic. A lot of the methods for matching you see here are derived from her, so get back to the source!
As always, please follow my blog, there are posts every Monday, and if you ever want me to
The first thing you should do is before you go shopping for new foundation, whether it be at a drug store, or at a place like Sephora where they do the matching for you, you should take a good look in the mirror. A lot of times the rule of thumb is to test a bit of the foundation out on the back of your hand and see what it looks like. The problem with this is if you put your hand up to your face, most of the time it isn't going to be the same color as your face. For me, my hand is close, so I can kind of get away with it, but at the same time, it's just a little too dark. I can guarantee you, if you put your own hand to your face, it'll be either too light, or too dark, even if it's just a minor difference. So what do you do if not test it on your hand? Well, first things first, get to know your skin tone. Are you more olive? Are you fair? Are you somewhere in between? Figure it out. Stand in the mirror and look at your chest area, your neck, and your face. For most women, their faces are a little bit more red than their neck, and if you fake tan, or even naturally tan, your face will probably be a bit lighter than say your neck and chest because it gets more exfoliation. If you have redness in your face, it doesn't make sense to match that small amount of redness when you're purchasing foundation, especially if you have mostly yellow undertones. It also doesn't make sense to match to your face if it's lighter than the rest of your body because you tan. For these reasons, we look at the neck and chest. I've found when I do makeup on a client, the easiest way to find a perfect match is to look along that transition from the face and jaw, to the top of the neck, right in front of the ear. Depending on what the client will be wearing, sometimes I'll look at the coloring of the shoulders as well.
Once you've gotten to know your skin tone, and you've figured out what to match yourself to, it's time to do the foundation shopping. If you plan on going to a high end company, or a place like Sephora where they match you themselves, be skeptical. They can make mistakes too, if you feel the color isn't quite right, ask to be matched again. Foundation if not done right can look absolutely ridiculous, so it's important that it's a good match for you. If you go to a drug store where you're pretty much on your own, don't stick to one brand, try a few brands, and even do some research first, find out what brands are best loved and which ones are less loved, watch and read reviews before you go shopping.
Once you have an idea of what you want to try, use testers. In some cases there won't be an available tester, which means that sadly, you're stuck to matching through the bottle. Take a mirror with you and maybe some makeup wipes, since sometimes drug stores won't actually have any available, and test the foundation out on that special spot in front of your ear. If you're stuck to matching through the bottle, then hold it up to your face. Also, ask if you can get samples and if you can't, make sure you can bring the foundation back if it doesn't work. If you can't get samples or return the foundation if it doesn't work, find another place to buy foundation from. If you get a foundation that doesn't work because you couldn't sample it or return it, you've wasted your money.
Hopefully this was helpful and gives you a few ideas. I suggest also looking at Lisa Eldridge on youtube, she's done a whole series on foundation matching and it's really fantastic. A lot of the methods for matching you see here are derived from her, so get back to the source!
As always, please follow my blog, there are posts every Monday, and if you ever want me to