Foundation can be one of the most daunting makeup products to choose because you know that if you get it wrong, then the rest of your makeup will look off. Want to feel confident in every lighting? Follow this fool-proof swipe test to pick just the right shade:
- First, choose your brand/formula that seems to have the best benefits for your skin’s type and condition as you will be wearing it all day so it needs to provide the right amount of hydration, nourishment, and balance for your skin.
- Choose a shade in these categories: yellow or golden, peach, beige, pink, or olive. It is important to have a representation of each category so you can be sure to identify the correct undertone.
- Dip a Q-tip in the foundation and swipe along your jawline, and across your forehead. It is important to see different areas of the face as they can be slightly different colors due to hormonal fluctuations or sun exposure. When swiping the foundations, apply a liberal amount at first then blend it into your skin and allow to dry. Place each shade side by side until you have swiped each color onto the facial areas. Let completely dry. Make sure you are near a window or outside when looking at the colors.
- By looking, or taking a photo, see which shade or color blends into your skin as if it is almost invisible or barely seen. Once you have chosen the best shade category such as “yellow/gold:, choose a shade in its same category, one lighter and one darker. This gives you 3 shades in the same undertone to check value (how light or dark a shade is).
- Do the same swipe test in the directed facial areas (along your jawline and across your forehead) with all 3 shades in the right undertone. Allow to dry, then look in the natural daylight to see which shade disappears into your skin. Congratulations! You have found the perfect foundation shade!
Once you know the right undertone, you can try different brands sticking in the same color category. Although, they may slightly differ, you will be in a pretty close range of great foundation colors for your skin tone. Never look like you are wearing a mask again!
Many people can claim ignorance, such as “no one told me” or “my mother or father never showed me”, or “my family never valued how they looked”, etc. First of all, if it is important to you, then the key is to educate yourself by seeking out a specialist, or read books, magazines and study informational websites. Understanding your hair type, skin type, nail type, body type, and what fragrance type you are can impact your look everyday. How do you think models or celebrities look better and better as they become more famous? They learn from a team of people working on them a well as prioritizing their image to the public unless they are trying to be incognito. I have always been a big fan of self care and self education. In fact, I have built my two companies around this idea that education is power. See, education does not just stop at college level. We need to continuously educate ourselves on our bodies, both interior and exterior as we are biologically aging everyday and let’s face it, things change! But you could leverage these changes if you embraced them and had the right information at the same time, that is a potent compilation.
