Find the Right Foundation Shade

It may be because I'm a makeup newbie, but I feel like finding the correct foundation shade is becoming something akin to a spiritual journey. When you find that perfect match, it'll be as if you've just discovered the meaning of life.

One of my many searches led to a five-year-old post on a message board. The following is a recommended guide written by user "pbsadhaka" (one of the most in depth guides I've come across so far):

OK girls, here is a non-fail formula to find your true skin tone, and to match up what color of makeup and also hair color best compliments your skin tone. Save this, b/c it is always true, and failsafe!

Skin tones can be broken down into 4 categories: olive, red/pink, golden, & neutral. The easiest way to find your true skin tone is to hold a piece of white paper up to the skin where your neck meets your collarbone.

Olive skintones have an underlying tone of green, gray, or yellow. Olive people look best in either cool or neutral colors. Warm colors should usually be avoided unless it is of a darker value.

Makeup shades for cool/neutral skintones include: blueish reds (not orange/reds), plums, violets, silvery greens (evergreens), grays, and deep mauves. Haircolors that compliment olive skin are: blueish blacks, auburns, chestnut brown, dark golden brown. If you go lighter, you should never go lighter than a level 4 with a golden tonality.

Red/Pink skintones have an underlying hue of reddish brown, red, or blue-red. This skintone also looks best in cool or neutral colors. Warm colors are not recommended for this skin type. Complimentary hair colors for this type are any ashy or sandy blonde, burgundy browns, light cool blondes, avoid reds - it will make your skin look ruddy. If you want a red tone, go with a very light auburn or strawberry blonde.

Golden skintones have an underlying tone of golden-brown, gold, or peach. This skin tone looks best in warm colors. Makeup colors should include: grays, tan, browns, bronze, gold, grassy & mossy greens, warmer orange-reds, and corals. Complimentary hair colors should include ash and golden blondes, aubruns, neutral browns, and warm dark browns/blacks.

Neutral skintones have a balance of pink and gold undertones. You will have a hard time finding a dominant undertone in this type. Tis skin tone is usually described as ivory, beige, or brown skin. Neutral skintones can wear either cool or warm.

Taking your eye color into account can also help you decide your skintone:
Warm Eye Colors:
-Brown with red, orange, yellow or gold flecks.
-Blue with yellow or gold flecks.
-Green with reddish-brown, orange, yellow, or gold flecks.

Cool Eye Colors:
-Brown with black, gray-brown, gray-green, or gray flecks.
-Blue with white, blue, gray, or violet flecks.
-Green with blue or gray flecks.

When choosing makeup, there are other factors that you must take into consideration too. Women often choose a foundation that is too light for their skin. This gives you a pasty, pale "canvas" of a face. Then any makeup that you put on looks overly done - painted on. The other danger is going too dark with your foundation and ending up with an orange "mask". NEVER go more than 1 shade lighter or darker than your natural skintone. Also, don't rely on the names that the companies give to their foundations - look at the actual color of the product. What Revlon calls "golden", L'Oreal might call "beige". But whatever foundation you choose make sure that you BLEND and feather it from under your chin down onto the neck and behind the ears. But if you are choosing the correct level & tone, you should not see a line where your foundation stops anyway.

Eyeshadows can really compliment your eyes. Choosing a deeper/darker shade of a color will make the iris of your eyes appear lighter & brighter. A lighter eyeshadow will usually make your eye color deepen.

Sorry this post is so long, but there is a lot of info here. I use this guide all the time with clients, and there have been only maybe 2 or 3 times when someone did not fit this formula exactly!

If that doesn't get you closer to your "perfect" shade, then I don't know what will.

Makeup Tip Week, Tip #2: Liquid Foundation Application with a Kabuki Brush

For those of you who don't know, this is a kabuki brush:


They sell them almost everywhere they sell cosmetics, and almost every cosmetics company makes one. They'll have different names (Urban Decay calls their's the "Big Buddha Brush", while Benefit's is the "Bluff Puff Powder Brush"), and range in price from $10 to $100. Other than the quality of the bristles, they all serve the same purpose.

The one that I currently use is the Sephora brand kabuki brush ($22). I initially bought it to use with my mineral foundation. When I decided I didn't really like mineral foundation, that's when I decided to put it to use with regular, liquid foundation.

For those of you who haven't jumped on the foundation brush bandwagon, many people actually recommend that you use a brush to apply foundation. Not only does it cut down on the germ factor, but it also allows you to use less product (the foundation won't absorb into the bristles like it will into your fingers or a blending sponge). I also like using a brush because it allows you to blend your foundation better (no streaks; just an even, airbrushed finish). On top of that, with a brush, you don't get your hands all gunky or fill up your trash can with a billion little sponges.

Prior to using a kabuki brush, my foundation brush of choice was the MAC 187:


I LOVED this brush for foundation application. The only problem was that it took FOREVER to blend. Seriously, it would take me about 20 minutes just to get my foundation to look right. I can't even imagine what I'd have to go through if I used a regular foundation brush:


As you can see, while the 187 is round and fluffy, this foundation brush is stiff and flat, like a paint brush. Not exactly ideal for blending foundation on your face.

Anyway, the reason why it took so long for me to apply foundation was that the brush could only blend a small area of the face at a time. This is where the big kabuki comes in. Actually, I saw Erin from Scandalous Beauty first do this in one of her YouTube tutorials and decided to try it myself.


My foundation application went from 20 minutes, down to 3. I was sold.

How to apply? Pour a little bit of foundation (I do 1 1/2 squirts - about 1/4 tsp?) onto a palette, dish, or the back of your hand (my personal choice - your body heat will help the foundation spread a little easier). Rather than wiping the foundation onto the kabuki brush, lightly set the brush into the foundation and roll it around like a video game joystick. (You don't want to pick up all the foundation at once, so just dab a little at a time.) Now, go to town.

Many people recommend starting from the center of your face and working your way out. For people who have stuff they need to hide (like me), you can work out those areas first, if you'd like. You don't need to use a heavy hand when applying foundation. Just buff the brush over your face, kind of like when you wax the car or polish the silver (a little pressure, but not too hard). Some people use sweeping motions, but I like using circular motions (wax on, wax off). When you reach areas that are a little narrow (like the bridge of your nose), just squeeze the bristles of the brush together to form a more narrow shape. Dab on a little more foundation to the brush as needed, and remember to blend out your hair and jaw lines (there's nothing worse than when you can see the foundation demarcation lines on your face).

Depending on how fast you work, your foundation application should be done within 5 minutes, and your face should end up looking immaculate, like it really has just been airbrushed. I usually use the same kabuki brush to apply powder afterwards to set my foundation, but that only takes a few seconds. Clean up for the brush? I wash it out at the end of the day with a drop of regular shampoo (remember to rinse thoroughly!).

Anyway, give it a try! I have to say, though: it did take me a couple of tries of putting foundation on with a brush to get it right. But once I got it down and saw how great foundation could really make you look, I couldn't understand why I didn't do it sooner.

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