it’s all about base
It’s one of those non negotiable makeup rules – you’ve got to wear the right foundation for your skin tone and type – yet so many people get it wrong. And when it’s wrong, it’s really wrong – it looks BAD. It can make a pretty face look like a mask and it will make all that hardwork you put into eyes, cheeks and lips look even worse.
Very few are honest or realistic about what shade their skin tone truly is, so when choosing a foundation they go for a shade too dark in the hope of achieving a more bronzed look than they really are. This is wrong. The number one point of foundation is that IT MUST BLEND SEEMLESSLY INTO YOUR SKIN. It’s job is to cover imperfections, not become one itself.
The only way to find the perfect colour is to try a few shades at a time – draw a long line down your cheek and rub it in to blend. The shade that disappears is the shade for you. NOTE – if you are doing this in a department store, mall or chemist take the time to wander outside into the daylight to check.
Generally speaking skin tones are either warm or cool. Warm tones suit wearing gold, brown, ivory whereas cool tones suit silver, black and white. Another handy way to check is to look at the under side of your arm – are your veins blue (cool) or green (warm).
Lots of foundations come in either warm, cool or neutral colours. Neutral is good for those who could almost go warm or cool and aren’t sure.
Skin tones also come in different shades – porcelain (think Cate Blanchett), fair (Diane Kruger), medium (Jennifer Aniston), olive (Jessica Alba), dark (Halle Berry). I’ll go into more detail about each of those types in further articles.
Another thing to consider is what type of skin do you have – is it oily? dry? combination? This will determine what type of foundation you use.
Oily skin types: Stick to an oil free formula – stick, liquid or cream, powder types (like mineral) work a treat with your skin type too. To help reduce shine use a mattifying lotion first.
Dry skin: You want an oil based stick, cream or liquid – anything that doesn’t have a powdery feel; oil free formulations will make you look drier. Cream to powder formulas are best avoided too as these will only end up looking like chalk.
Normal skin: Lucky you – you can choose whatever you like!
Combination skin: If you T-zone is particularly oily then use an oil control lotion on this area first and really hydrate the dry parts to your face. You are possibly more susceptible to seasonal changes and you may like to switch from a hydrating one in winter to a more oil free one in summer.
Remember – as summer approaches you will need to update your foundation again. Find one that suits your tanned colour (wait awhile first). Some may like to mix their summer and winter foundations to blend the perfect colour for those inbetween months. You can also add a bit of foundation to your moisturiser to create your own tinted moisturiser.
How’s your foundation going? Reckon you’ve found the perfect one?
Tamsin xo
