How to choose the right foundation
Finding the right shade of base to match your complexion always seems like a daunting task and most of us fail to wear the right colour.
Finding the right shade of base to match your complexion always seems like a daunting task and most of us fail to wear the right colour. Often foundations and concealers prompt you to choose a shade based on your undertone, especially when shopping online. But if you don’t know what your undertone is, that isn’t much help!
An undertone is the colour that’s just beneath the skin, and while your skin tone can change (over time, with sun exposure, etc.), the undertone doesn’t. To get you closer to finding the perfect match we took guidelines from beautylish.com to outline how to figure out your undertone. These same principles apply on all skin tones, from very fair to dark. If you’re having trouble figuring it out yourself, you can ask a professional makeup artist for a skin analysis.
Those with cool undertones will notice their skin has a pink, red, or blue tinge to it
You have a cool undertone if:
• The veins on your wrist are blue or purple
• Silver jewelry flatters your skin more than gold
• When you look at your skin in the sun, it appears blue-ish
If you have neutral undertones, your skin is neither pink/red/blue nor yellow/gold/peach, but somewhere in between.
You have a neutral undertone if:
• The veins on your wrist are blue-green
• Both gold and silver jewelry flatter your skin
• When you look at your skin in the sun, it appears greenish
Those with warm undertones will notice their skin has a yellow, gold, or peach tinge to it.
You have a warm undertone if:
• The veins on your wrist are slightly green or olive
• Gold jewelry flatters your skin more than silver
• When you look at your skin in the sun, it appears yellowish
Published in The Express Tribune, March 19th, 2014.