How To Shade Match Your Foundation: The Mistakes To Avoid

Don't you just hate it when you buy a foundation thinking its the perfect shade, goes on well and suits your skin type but then a few hours later it becomes cakey or starts to crack? For this article, I will be sharing with you the tips on how to find your perfect foundation shade and the mistakes to avoid when trying it. Your foundation should be invisible, comfortable and most importantly meet your skin's needs.

Colour Matching

First and foremost when shopping for a foundation you should always go bare-faced. Your foundation shade should match the colour of your bare skin, not the foundation you already own. Many people make this mistake and end up buying the wrong shade over and over again.

Ok so your at the makeup store and faced with hundreds of options. The next mistake that many people make is to choose the foundation based on the names of the shades. These names are not universal to all makeup brands or formulas. The only time that this is acceptable is if you have purchased the product in that exact shade before and it worked well for you.

Onto choosing your shade. For this, you are going to need some knowledge of your skin's undertone. To do this examine the veins on the inside of your wrist.

- Blue veins = neutral undertones (can wear cool and warm shades)

- Purple veins = cool undertones (can wear foundations with a pink tint)

- Green veins = warm undertones (can wear foundations with a golden tint)

Now that you know your undertone you should pick your foundation shade based on it. Some brands will indicate the undertone in the shade name but for others, you will have to check the colour of the product.

Have a look at the foundations on the stand and choose three potential shades. It is tempting just to choose the bottle that looks the closest and buy it without swatching but this method is more accurate. On your jawline draw a small line of each foundation from lightest to darkest. Why your jawline you might ask? Well, it is important that your foundation not only matches your face but your neck as well or it may not look natural.

After choosing the shade you think is the best you're going to do the eraser test. Remove all of the foundation swatches and use a cotton swab to cover a small area of your jaw with the winning shade. Here is where the real test begins: use a makeup wipe to erase a line down the area with the foundation. If you can see a distinctive difference between where the foundation is and your skin then the shade is not natural.

Yay, you have found your foundation shade! Use it for the season but you may find that your foundation will look off in the summer months compared to winter. When the next season arrives complete the same process again to avoid looking too light/dark.

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I hope you found this article interesting to read and that it has helped you pick your foundation shade.

- xoxo Miss Makeup