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(#1) It All Comes Down To Color Theory
Finding the perfect foundation for your skin tone all comes down to color theory. Basically, your skin tone is the surface color of your skin and is usually categorized as one of four tones: fair, light, medium, or deep.
Then, your undertones come into play, which can be cool, warm, or neutral. That's why someone with fair skin and warm undertones can't necessarily wear the same foundation shade as someone with fair skin and cool undertones. Finding your ideal shade involves analyzing your skin tone, undertones, and skin type to figure out what types of shades and formulas will make your skin look the most luminous.
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(#2) Identify Your Surface Tone
Your surface tone shouldn't be too hard to find, since it's completely based on the pigmentation of your skin. By this point in your life, you've probably discovered whether your skin is considered fair, light, medium, or dark. If not, here are some pointers to help you determine which category you fall into.
- Those with fair skin have very pale complexions and tend to burn easily.
- People with light skin are on the paler side, but may have yellow or beige undertones that warm up the complexion.
- Folks with medium skin can have more olive undertones, and tend to reach for shades labeled "Caramel" or "Golden."
- People with dark skin have a deep complexion which is often labeled as "Ebony" or "Deep."
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(#3) Look For Inclusive Makeup Brands
In the quest to find the shade of foundation that's right for your skin, make sure you look to brands that have an inclusive shade range. This way, you'll be more likely to find a product that's an exact match for your skin. Fenty Beauty and Make Up For Ever both have over 40 fabulous shades to choose from in their foundation lines, and Bobbi Brown offers a large selection as well. Babe on a budget? Maybelline's Fit Me range has an extensive amount of shades.
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(#4) Identify Your Undertones
If you don't know your undertones, you aren't living. Seriously - products that match your undertones (either cool, warm, or neutral) can make a huge difference in your overall look!
- Your undertone is considered cool if you have pink, red, or bluish undertones.
- Your undertone is considered warm if you have yellow, peachy, or golden undertones.
- Your undertone is considered neutral when you have a mix of both cool and warm colors underneath the skin's surface.
Not sure what your undertone is? There are a few ways to find out. First, check your wrist. Do your veins appear to be more blue or more green? If they're blue, chances are you've got cool undertones. If they look green, that shows the blue color of your veins is mixing with the yellow (warm) undertones in your skin.
You can also refer to your jewelry box. People who look best in silver jewelry tend to have cool undertones. Ladies and gents who go for gold often have warm undertones. If you look good in everything, then you probably have neutral undertones.
Nowadays, brands are making it easier than ever to match your foundation to your undertone by labeling each foundation shade as cool, warm, or neutral. Check out Estée Lauder's Double Wear Stay In Place Foundation for an easy guide to undertones.
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(#5) Identify Your Skin Type
Finding the best foundation is about more than just your skin tone - your skin type plays a big part in the selection process, too. Is your skin oily, dry, or normal/combination?
If your skin is on the oily side, look for foundations that are oil-free and long-wearing with a matte finish, like Tarte Cosmetics Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage Foundation.
If your skin tends to be dry and flaky, look for a hydrating foundation that will cover and calm any dry spots, like Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Tint.
If you have normal/combination skin, then you have your pick of foundation formulas - Kat Von D's Lock-It Foundation is a good place to start.
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(#6) Match Shades To Your Chest, Not Your Wrist
One of the biggest beauty myths out there is you should match your foundation to your inner wrist. However, the inner wrist usually tends to be paler than your face, leading to a foundation mismatch.
A better place to test? The chest. Lauren Conrad advises, "A good trick for finding the right shade of foundation is to match it to your chest - especially if you’re good at protecting your face and neck with SPF."
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(#7) Ask For Help
There are thousands of foundation shades to choose from, but you don't have to navigate the makeup aisles on your own. Don't be afraid to ask for help from a Sephora, Ulta, or MAC employee - it's their job to help you find what you're looking for!
If someone helps you but you still don't feel like they've matched your skin tone correctly, speak up. Ask to try a different color, and you'll be that much closer to determining your dream shade.
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(#8) Mix Colors To Get Your Perfect Shade
The most inclusive beauty brands out there (Fenty Beauty, Make Up For Ever) offer around 40 different shades of foundation, which is amazing. But seeing as how everybody's skin is different, there's still a good chance you'll need to mix together two different shades to find your personal sweet spot.
Lora Arellano, who's worked with Rihanna, says, "If you can’t find a perfect shade, buy one that’s slightly darker than your skin and one that’s slightly lighter, then fine-tune the color yourself."
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(#9) The Sun Affects Your Skin Tone
Soaking up the sun may change your skin's surface tone, meaning you probably need to get a new foundation for summer. However, having a slight tan will never change your undertones, so keep that in mind when shopping for your warm weather formula.
Celebrity makeup artist Bob Scott, who does makeup for both Bella Hadid and Chrissy Teigen, suggests grabbing two shades of your favorite formula - one lighter for winter, and one darker for summer. Then "you can blend them together accordingly to match your skin throughout the year," he says.
PS: wear your sunscreen, no matter what undertone you have!
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(#10) The Best Foundation For Fair Skin
Folks with fair skin should look for shade names that use the terms "ivory," "porcelain," or "beige," depending on your undertones.
Cover FX Total Cover Cream Foundation is a great place to start. The brand has a pale-inclusive shade range and every product is labeled with either P (for pink, or cool, undertones), G (for golden, or warm, undertones), or N (for neutral undertones), making it easier than ever to find an exact match for your fair skin.
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(#11) The Best Foundation For Light Skin
Foundation for light skin tones can be easily identified with the words "buff" and "nude" if you have neutral undertones, "golden" if you have warm undertones, and "rose" if you have cool undertones.
Koh Gen Do's Aqua Foundation, formulated in Japan, will have the perfect range of light-colored foundation for your skin type (it's a favorite of makeup artists everywhere, too).
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(#12) The Best Foundation For Medium Skin
If you have medium skin tones, look for foundation colors with "tan," "caramel," and "sable" in the shade names. These should be your go-tos!
Since "medium" is a pretty broad term, you'll do best with a brand that offers an above-average amount of shades to choose from, like Fenty Beauty's Pro Filt'r Foundation. Every Pro Filt'r Shade is also labeled "Warm," "Cool," or "Neutral," which will make finding your exact match a breeze.
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(#13) The Best Foundation For Dark Skin
If your skin tone is deep, you need to get to know the Paris-based makeup brand Black Up, which is dedicated to women of color. Their Mattifying Fluid Foundation is oil-free and lasts up to eight hours, plus it comes in 18 hard-to-find shades.
The best part? Each shade is meticulously labeled according to skin tone and undertones, with descriptions like "dark with red undertone" and "medium dark with yellow undertone." Basically, they do all the hard work for you - you just need to click "Add to Cart."
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About This Tool
If you want to know how to choose a foundation that suits you, you must first clearly understand your skin tone and skin type. The foundation has a variety of shades, finishes, and coverage levels available, just as you can customize when you order at Starbucks. This is the reason why the foundation is one of the most difficult cosmetics to choose.
It is best to find a foundation that looks like your own skin and also need to choose the right concealment and moisturizing level according to your needs. The random tool lists 13 tips to ensure you can get the right foundation for your skin.
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