How to find your perfect foundation shade
Step 1:
Know Your Undertones
The talk of undertones has been around for a while in the beauty community but what exactly is an undertone and how can you identify your undertone?
An undertone is the color that lies beneath your skin. It is not to be confused with your skin tone. Your skin tone is basically what shade you are within the skin color spectrum.It ranges from fair to deep .Your skin tone can change due to weather and other factors but your undertone example you can be a lighter complexion in the winter and a darker complexion in the summer. When looking at your self in the mirror does your skin appear golden, yellow, red or a mixture of both ? If it appears more golden, yellow or olive , you have a warm undertone.If it appears red, pinkish or has hints of blue in it , you have a cool undertone
If you have both yellow and red hues in your skin , You have a neutral undertone. A more traditional way of determining undertones is by looking at your veins. People whose veins appear green are considered to have warm undertones.Whereas if your veins appear bluish, you are considered to have a cool undertone.
Step 2
Match your foundation to your chest.
There have been a lot of contradictions in the beauty industry as to whether you should match your foundation to your chest, neck or face. I observed some makeup artists and I noticed that most times they match their clients foundation to their chest. This is especially beneficial if your chest region is going to be showing .After matching to your chest, apply foundation and blend downwards to your neck. This helps to give the appearance of an even skin tone.There are some beauty specialists that think you should match your neck rather than your chest because it tends to be lighter .
However there are people with skin discolorations and darker necks. The best rule of thumb is to pick whatever foundation shade disappears into your skin when applied . This is done by trial and error. Consider swatching three foundation shades that you think are your closest matches on your jawline area or chest . Which ever one seems to disappear on your skin is your foundation shade.
How do I know if I’m wearing the wrong shade?
If your foundation is too light. Your skin would appear grayish when you have the shade on. The foundation also just sits on your skin and doesn’t blend in. If the foundation is too dark , it would appear muddy and would not also blend into your skin. However if you’re wearing the wrong undertone, you may notice that your foundation wouldn’t look right . What this means is if your foundation looks a little too red or too pink on you , it’s not the right undertone , same goes if it looks a little too yellow or golden.
