Following on
from my post Foundations – Which One, I decided to follow up with a post on
Perfecting Your Foundation. Here I will take you through your skin tone,
undertones, a quick recap on your skin type and which foundation formula works
best.
As I said
before finding the right foundation is a mind blowing minefield to figure out
and like most you have probably failed (I know I have) in the past, but do not worry
that’s all about to change.
Choosing a Foundation
There are a
few questions that need asking when choosing the right foundation and your
answers will enable you to find that perfect foundation.
- What is your skin type (oily, dry, combination or normal)?
- What is the undertone of your skin (olive, yellow, pink, golden, orange or warm brown)?
- What is the depth level of your skin (very pale porcelain right up to very deep ebony)?
- How much coverage do you want from your foundation (sheer, medium or full)?
- What type of finish do you want to your foundation to give your skin (matte, satin, dewy or luminous)?
Skin Tone and Strip Testing
The first
thing you need to know is there is a difference between skin tone and
undertones. Your skin tone is the colour of your skin and a lot of people think
that cool, warm and natural are skin tones, when in fact they are your
undertones, the tone(s) within your skin.
There are 7
different skin tones and depth levels, very light, light, light – medium,
medium, medium – dark, dark and very dark. So to make things a little easier
lets break these skin tones down into two categories, Ivory/Beige and
Bronze/Ebony. The reason I’m suggesting this is, because there is one difference in the basic/standard stripe test for each category.
So the strip
test is the only way you can get an exact shade match for your foundation and
yes it can be time consuming, embarrassing at cosmetics counters if you’re on
the shy side but in the long run it is well worth it.
First off
there are a few rules we need to follow when conducting a strip test:
- Always conduct your strip test in natural light (this means leaving the cosmetic counters and going outside, time and time again until you find that perfect match).
- Try multiple shades or at least three at a time to find your match.
- The shade that matches your neck is the right shade.
Ivory/Beige
If you have
ivory to beige skin tones, conduct your stripe test from your jaw down onto
your neck. It’s the neck we want to match the shade to and this is because a
lot of women with ivory/beige skin tend to have redness in their faces. Now we
don’t want to apply foundation to your necks, only to your faces and the application stops at
the jawline, that is why it’s so important to match to your neck.
Apply three
or more stripes of different foundation shades from your jaw to your neck, wait
a few minutes to see if the oil in your skin changes the colour pigments and
choose the shade that most closely matches your neck.
Bronze/Ebony
If you have
bronze to ebony skin tones, you should stripe test from the cheek to the jaw, but
why not down on to the neck? This is a good question and the reason being, is some
women with these skin tones not all but some have facial masking where the skin
is lighter on the interior of the face and darker on the outer edges. The same principles
apply to conduct a stripe test, just different areas.
Apply three
or more stripes of different foundation shades from your cheek to your jaw,
wait a few minutes to see if the oils in your skin change the colour pigments
and choose the shade that most closely matches your neck.
If you do
have any facial masking and find it hard to balance your foundation shade in
both areas of the face. You could try applying two different shades of
foundation, one lighter shade to brighten the outer areas and a slightly deeper
shade to add depth to the lighter areas.
Undertones what are they?
This is more
than likely the most difficult part for any woman to determine. Your undertone
is the tone(s) within/under your skin it falls into three undertone categories:
- Cool (skin undertone is pinkish, reddish or bluish).
- Warm (skin undertone is yellow, peach, gold).
- Neutral (has both cool and warm traits, olive).
But when
choosing the right foundation shade we have to look for colour first before in
can categorise where we fall in to cool, warm or neutral. The best place to
look at your undertones is the inside of your arm, here the skin is slightly paler
from your face and more likely have less discoloration from sun damage and
other irritants.
Ivory/Beige Undertones
If you have
ivory/beige skin, you will have one of three basic undertones (olive, yellow or
pink). Don’t worry if you can’t see your undertones just ask yourself “Do I tan
easily?” if you answer “yes “then you have olive undertone. “I burn slightly first
and then I get a tan”, then your undertone is yellow, if you answered “I always
burn then you have pink undertones”.
The majority
of women with ivory/beige skin tone will have yellow undertones, so using a
foundation with yellow or olive undertone will add colour and life to the skin
as if you are not wearing any foundation at all. If you have pink undertones,
you more than likely have pink on your neck as well; using a foundation with
pink undertones will give a fresh youthful look.
Word of
caution if you think that by using a foundation with pink undertone (when you
have yellow undertone) will add colour to your skin especially if you’re pale,
I’m sorry but this will actually make you look ashy and old.
Bronze/Ebony Undertones
Women with
bronze/ebony skin should match the undertones in their skin exactly, because
their undertones are so distinct and noticeable. The undertones can range all
the way through from yellow to golden-orange to true brown. It not uncommon to
also have multiple shades of skin on the face, so don’t be afraid to use
multiple shades of foundation and by doing so you can really even out the skin.
If you have
very deep bronzed or ebony skin, you could try brightening your skin and what I
mean by that, is to apply the correct foundation for your skin tone and use a
foundation a shade or two lighter in depth to the centre of your face
(forehead, under the eyes, top of the cheeks, nose, and chin). This will give a slight youthful glow, really
waking up the skin.
What is my depth level?
The depth
level of your skin is how light to dark it appears in natural light. The paler
your skin is, the lighter its depth, so the darker the skin then deeper the
depth level is. It’s not only important to know and match your skin tone and undertones
but the depth levels too, as choosing a foundation that is either to light or
too dark will not allow you to create that perfect canvas for the rest of your
makeup.
What is my Skin type?
This is very
important to know, as certain foundation formulas work best on certain skin. For example,
dry skin needs a foundation with moisturizers or it will just look cakey and
fine line will be more noticeable. Just like oily skin needs a foundation that
will absorber excess oil.
You can find
your skin type by taking this quick simple quiz here and which foundation formulas works best here.
How Much Coverage Do You Want?
This I'm
afraid is a personal choice, do you feel comfortable with less coverage? Just
remember the sheer the foundation, the more natural it will look, but is it
giving you enough coverage to cover any flaws that you don't want seeing. Have
a quick look back on Foundations – Which One to help guide you through which foundation will give
you the most coverage.
What type of finish do you want from your foundation ?
There are four types of finishes you can achieve with your
foundation, just remember some work better with certain skin types.
Matte
Matte is a good choice for every type of skin from normal
to oily with the exception of severely dry skin. Using a matte finish
foundation on dry skin can make it even more drier and cakey yet alone making
you look older and lifeless. It’s perfect if you have oily skin as it contains
no oils and there would be no increase in shine. If you suffer from skin
imperfections such as breakouts, scaring and discoloration this is the best
finish for coverage, the more matte the skin is the more flawless it looks.
Dewy
Dewy works great on dry skin as if adds moisture and on all
skin types except oily skin, where it can increase shine showing all flaws on
the skin surface (lumps and bumps or blemishes). A dewy finish would not be the
best choice for summer or in high humidity, as it can make the skin appear too
shinny and greasy looking.
Satin
A satin finish falls between a matte (flat) and a dewy
(sheen), perfect for all skin types but not excessively oily. It gives a soft,
smooth finish making the skin look young and fresh and is the most popular foundation
finish.
Luminous
Luminous works well with all skin types. Its light
reflecting properties help hide flaws and lines by reflecting light off the
skin surface, helping to diminish imperfections. It gives a youthful, healthy
glow but be careful of the finish if you have oily skin as it too like the
satin make the skin look greasy and oily.
Wow! that turned into one long post, hope I haven't bored you all to death and you find the information simple to understand. I will go through applying foundation and what tools to use and of course the mind blowing colour charting of warm, cool and natural undertones.
If you have any question, just pop them in the comments below and I will do my very best to answer them correctly.
Great read, full of information :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Kayleigh x
DeleteThis is a really useful guide - finding a good foundation can be tricky!!
ReplyDeleteEm x
http://happywiseowl.com
Thank Emma, so glad you found it useful x
Delete