How to choose a foundation

Buying foundation can be tricky.  To dark or to light and everyone can see not only your foundation but also your mistake. Choosing the wrong formulation can make your skin look dull or shiny. Choosing the right foundation can make your skin look flawless and creates a great base for other make up.

The traditional advice for choosing a foundation shade is to apply a few shades to your cheekbone and stand in the sunlight choosing whichever shade blends seamlessly into your skin. Which is great advice and a useful tip but most of us don’t want to go stand on the street with stripes of foundation on our face staring into a mirror. Although sunlight (natural light) provides the most honest light for using make up applying foundation swatches to your bare skinned jaw bone in store and using a mirror and finding some good lighting will work just as well.

Start by testing foundation textures and consistencies on your inner wrist (the side with the veins). To see how much coverage the formula offers rub it over a vein and see how much in conceals. Also note how easy it is to blend and the finish it provides. For dull dry skinned girls a dewy finish will help skin look healthy, for oily skinned people a matte finish (like a powder) will keep skin from looking to shiny.

Once you’ve found a formula you like, it’s time to pick your shade. If you’ve bought foundations before you’ll likely have an idea of which shades will work for you. For myself I’m usually not one of the lightest shades and fall more into the “beige” category but for winter a shade called “porcelain ivory” suits me. For winter most of our complexions become lighter due to spending less time in the sun. So your summer foundation may be to dark in the winter, and your winter foundation may be to light come summer.

Choose a few shades you think may work well for you of your chosen formula (2 or 3 should be fine) and test them in front of a mirror on your jaw line. The jaw line is used because it’s easy to blend their and since not all cosmetic stores offer wipes to remove tested make-up you may end up going home with a few swatches still on your face and they’ll be less obvious of your jaw then say your forehead.

If you find yourself stuck between 2 shades, one a little light and the other a little dark. Try blending them to find your perfect shade. If you want to look slightly tanned you can choose a foundation one shade darker then your skin tone BUT BE CAREFUL! Using a shade that’s darker then your skin tone can be hard to pull off; you must blend well around your ears, hairline, and jaw line to avoid an obvious foundation line. NEVER use a foundation that’s to light for you, it will create a ghost like look and will look very unnatural. To make your skin tone seem lighter use a foundation that matches your skin tone and then a liquid concealor lighter then your skin tone, only slightly lighter, as a highlighter across the top of your cheekbones and down the side of your nose and under your eyes and blend well. Now you’re glowing.