Choosing Foundation: How to Find the Right Shade

Finding the right shade of foundation to match your skin tone can be overwhelming to say the least.  When you step into a beauty shop, there are no less than 567,890 shades to choose from, which to the untrained eye, can all begin to look the same the longer you stare at them!

Below are the basic steps to help guide you through the process of choosing the right foundation shade and narrowing down your selection.

Steps to Choose Your Foundation

Determine Your Basic Skin Tone

This is the easy part! Determine whether you are fair, light, medium/neutral, olive, or dark. If you’re unsure, go to any beauty department and try out some testers. This will give you a general idea.

Discover Your Skin’s Undertones

What is your skin’s predominant color after brown and white? An easy way to assess this is by looking at the color of your veins. 

Check the veins on your inner wrist:

Blue veins = cool undertones (skin is blue or pink)

Green veins = warm undertones (skin is golden, yellow, or peach)

Bluish-green veins = neutral undertones (skin is a combination of both cool and warm colors)

If you’re still unsure of your skin’s undertones, here’s an even easier way to tell.  Someone with skin that is sensitive to the sun and tends to burn easily most likely has cool undertones.  A person with warm undertones usually tans dark and rarely burns.  Individuals with neutral undertones can also get dark sun tans, but may sometimes burn.

Patch Test the Right Area

Never test your foundation on your neck! Your neck receives much less sunlight than your face. If you match your foundation to your neck, your face will look pale in comparison. Always match your foundation to your jaw line. If the foundation blends in perfectly and ‘disappears’, you’ve found your shade!

Find the Right Lighting

Make sure you test foundation under natural light. Step right next to a window and look into a mirror. Better yet, go out on your patio to do the patch test!

Finally, when in doubt, always go darker. If the shade is darker than your skin, at least you will look tan. However, if the shade is too light, your skin will appear pale and chalky.