How To Find The Perfect Foundation & Concealer For Your Skin Tone

Natasha Patel|17.NOV.2016

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We’re all very familiar with the struggle of finding the perfect foundation to match our skin tone. Too many variables can go wrong—going too light or too dark, buying a warm-tone when you should’ve bought a cool-, choosing shades that are too orange or ashy—we could go on. Not to mention the confusion behind choosing a proper concealer.

Read on to find out what you need to know when choosing your foundation and concealer shade.

1. Know Your Undertone

Undertone is the colour underneath the surface of your skin. It appears in the categories of Cool (pink, red or bluish undertones) and warm (yellow or golden undertones). To find your undertone, take a look at the inside of your wrist and take note of your veins. If they appear greenish, that indicates a warm, yellow undertone. Whereas blue veins indicate a cool, pink undertone. However, some people are a mixture of undertones. If you feel that your veins are a mix of both green and blue, then you might have a neutral or olive undertone.

Another popular test to figure out your undertone is to put on jewellery. If you find that gold jewellery looks better on you than silver does, you are warm-toned. If you find that silver jewellery is more complementing to your complexion, you’re as cool-toned as a cucumber.

2. Selecting Foundation

Once you know your undertone, it’s time to pick the shade. Visit a boutique or department store that allows you to sample makeup before purchasing. Make sure of the following:

1. Find an employee who can help you choose a shade and let them know your undertone.
2. Try on your foundation in as natural lighting as possible. Stand right by the store’s window if there are any.
3. Swatch foundation on the sides of your face (along your jawline).
4. After choosing what you think is a match, ask for the same foundation in one shade darker and one shade lighter.
5. Swatch these two shades on another part of your jawline, but remember what you put and where!
6. Walk around the mall or elsewhere for two to three hours to see how the foundation reacts to the chemicals in you skin (which can cause colour change).
7. Check to see which foundation disappears most into your skin. Congratulations, you’ve found your match!

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation

Source: Giorgio Armani

Source: Estee Lauder

Lakme 9 to 5 weightless foundation

Deborah DD Anti-Age Foundation

Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Foundation (Source: Make Up For Ever)

Source: Bobbi Brown

Source: Estee Lauder

Clinique Acne Solutions Liquid Makeup Foundation | Source: Clinique

Source: L’Oreal Paris

L’Oreal True Match Liquid Foundation (Source: L’Oreal Paris)

NATIO Mineral Crystal Loose Foundation

Bare Minerals Matte Foundation (Source: www.sephora.com/bareminerals)

Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Even Finish Compact Foundation

Source: e.l.f. cosmetics

Source: L’Oreal Paris

3. Choosing Concealer

According to makeup expert Bobbi Brown, we should always pick a concealer that is one to two shades lighter than our actual skin. That’s because your concealer is meant to cover up flaws that cannot be neutralised by foundation (like dark under eye circles).

MMBeauty Tip: Concealers with a warm orange or yellow tone help reduce the appearance of dark circles. That’s because they cancel out the purple and blue color of eyebags.