Picture this; you are standing in
front of a makeup counter and there are a few different colour foundations
staring back at you. You know you have to test one to find your colour but
there are a few factors that are stopping you from doing this. 1) You already
have foundation on so you can’t test, 2) the lighting in the shop sucks.
Wouldn’t it be great to know exactly what colour foundation to go for?
Yes there are ladies at the
counters who can help but some are only in there to earn their salary and are
not there to take time to help you find your colour. I have a few tips for
selecting the right colour for your skin.
Light, Medium or Dark? Finding your skin shade.
Light skin can either have a pink
or yellow undertone. Most people have a yellow undertone but there are a few
with pink undertones. People with pink undertones burn easily even in the
shade. Knowing if you have a pink or yellow undertone, will help you choose a
foundation. You need to look for a foundation that looks pinker or yellower in
the tube.
Medium skin tones have an olive
undertone. They are also primarily have a yellow undertone. Ethnicities in this
group are people of the Middle East, multi ethnicity and Asians.
Darker skin tones have more
melamine production in their skin. Their skin is also a little oilier than
others. Many women of colour will need more than one foundation colour. The perimeter
of the face is usually darker than the center of the face. Using one shade of
foundation will cause the face to look ashy. Finding a powder that is the same
shade as the foundation will also help avoid looking ashy. Women of colour need
to stay clear of translucent foundation.
Cool or warm toned?
Once you know what your skins
tone is, you will need to find out if you are cool or warm toned. All skin
tones have either cool (bluish undertones) or warm (yellow undertones). There
are a few simple ways to check for this.
Check to see what colour
jewellery compliments your skin tone. You can use different pieces of jewellery
to analyse which one looks better. People with warm skin tones will look better
with gold jewellery and people with cool skin tones will look better with
silver jewellery.
Check the colour of the veins on
your wrist. If they are blue, you are cool toned. If they are green, you are
warm toned.
Choosing and testing a foundation shade
Now that you know what tone and
shade your skin is, you can choose a foundation that you will match the colour
of your skin. Remember to take thee above into consideration when choosing a
foundation colour.
To test, first choose 3 different
colours in the tone of your skin. Then on the clean skin, on your jaw line,
blend the 3 colours into your skin. The one that blends evenly into your skin
is the foundation colour for you. Women of colour need to test one colour on
their necks and one colour on the center of their face. Blend them out and see
which two work for you.
This is the technique and steps I
use to match foundation for clients. Foundation is the canvas for amazing
makeup, so you need to find the right colour. Have you found a foundation
colour that works for you? Comment below or use #CWMFoundation so we can chat
about finding the right foundation.
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