Foundation Fool?

Choosing the right foundation can be really tricky but getting it right really pays off. Here are my top tips to choosing the correct foundation for you and your skin type.

 

 

Tone

Identify your skin tone, is it warm or cool? Not sure how to do this?

• Look at your skin as a whole, most Irish skin tones are cool with a pinkish undertone, some of us are neutral with neither a warm or cool tone dominating the other, fewer are warm toned with a yellow undertone.
• When looking at your face avoid focusing on the cheek area as regardless of tone a little redness can sometimes come through here.
• Look at your wrists, if your veins look bluer chances are you have a cool skin tone with pink undertones.
• Greeny veins are usually spotted on people with a warmer skin tone and have a yellow undertone.
• Blue/green veins you’re probably neutral neither warm nor cool.

Once you’ve identified your skin tone, you can start to look for foundations with either warm or cool undertones. Most brands have a good selection of both and many are now realising that a some of us are neutral and are producing some really great neutral toned foundations.

•   For cool tones look for words such as: Porcelain, Ivory.
•  For warm tones watch for words such as: Warm sand, beige.

Some brands have lettering systems for their cool and warm tones such as MAC who use NW for their cools and ironically NC for their warm tones. YSL use BD (warm) or BR (Cool) or B (Neutral) to distinguish between their foundation colours.
Be aware of your skin type too.  Is your skin, oily, dry, combination? All of these play a huge factor as to what foundation to use.
If your skin is:

• Oily avoid foundations with serums added oils. You’d do well to consider a matte finish foundation or using a mineral based foundation.
• Dry skin can often be hard to cover as foundation can often cake onto dry patches. Try using a gel/silicon based foundation, avoid mattifying or powder based products.

Many foundations are aimed at the most common skin type which is combination skin, normal with a possible oily T-Zone, so shop around, ask for samples and don’t just go with whatever the girl at the counter tries to sell you. Bring home a few different samples from a selection brands, wear one a day. This will really help you make an informed decision.

•    Does the foundation settle well on your face?
•   Is the coverage what you are looking for whether it’s full medium, sheer or buildable?
•  What’s the longevity like? Has it just slid off your face or do you still look fresh at the end of the day?

While there are many foundations out there on the market today from budget to blowout I do recommend trying one of the professional foundations at least once. Makeup Forever, MAC, Armani, their formals are incredible and tailored for specific skin types and tones. So while you might not want to spend that kind of money every time you need a foundation you may do well to keep it in your makeup bag for when you need to look your best, big meeting, event, occasion etc. High street brands are really great these days too and once you’ve identified your skin tone and type you’re sure to choose one that will suit.