How to choose the right foundation

Hi weirdos,
I could not stay away from writing this week as much as I tried to, the more I said I need to study the less studying I got done. So here I am close to midnight high on caffeine and I thought to prepare for next week’s upcoming post(surprise), I should talk about choosing the right foundation for you.
Similar to building a house with a strong foundation, your make up look is built with the right base. It is pretty obvious when someone is wearing the wrong shade or has something that looks too cakey. (some people like this, not me). For me, foundation is to help your skin look its best, not like you’ve plastered your face with make up.
Determining your skin type
Firstly it is important to know your skin type. Whether you’re a dry, oily, combination or normal skin. I, for example have a slightly oily T- zone hence my skin type is combination to oily. You may google this if you are unsure. If you have a dry skin type, liquid foundations is advised. Normal skin can wear just about any kind of foundation. You are the lucky ones. For combination skin like mine, matte foundations work well in any form. If you are very oily then a powder foundation will be your best bet.
The coverage you need
Thereafter, you need to know what kind of coverage you are looking for. A tinted moisturiser or BB cream does not offer high coverage but you should only use high coverage if your skin warrants it. I did do a few skincare posts if you are wondering what to use, read them on my blog. If you have oily skin or you live in a hot/humid area, oil-free foundation will work better for you.
Finding the best match
Similar to the show The Bachelor, you may have to meet many suitable matches before finding the best match. Now many foundations oxidize on the skin, this means it can change colour on your skin. You should match the foundation to your neck and wear it out a few minutes to see if it changes colour. If you are a medium gal like me, who has pigmentation around the mouth area and forehead, it’s a little bit of struggle but you need to maybe try two shades to see which one works best. I often match one shade on my chin and another on my cheeks. In this cause, I use concealer on the darker areas. Also, do not be afraid to mix colours, many peoples’ skin tones vary between seasons, it’s quite common to mix two shades to get the perfect shade.
What is an under tone?
An important note here is your undertone. If you look at your veins and they appear greenish, you are most likely warm under toned, most olive skin is. If your are veins are more blueish, you are cool under toned. You could also be neutral which is a mix of warm and cool undertones. A big misconception is that pale gals are all cool under toned but they can also be warm under toned.
Okay whats all this talk about undertones have to do with foundation? For example if you walk into a “MAC” store, you will notice they have NC and NW. For the longest time I had no idea what it meant, someone did say NC stood for “Not Cool” and NW stood for “Not Warm.” I honestly have no idea if this is true but lets say for this post it is. Now if you are not a cool gal like me, a NW foundation would make you look an orange as a pumpkin. I know because I did try it.
Basically, if you are cool you want more off a pink undertone in the foundation and if you are warm you want a more yellow undertone. This may seem overwhelming if you are a beginner but in time it will make sense. If you are still unsure, “Google” is your friend!
Application for a flawless finish
Shew! Sorry if I made you tone deaf with all this undertone talk. Let’s get to the fun part. The application. First and foremost, please do not apply foundation on skin that is not moisturized. Also, note if your moisturizer or foundation does not contain SPF then you need to apply sunscreen before make up. Warm up the foundation in the palm or the back of your hand and apply with your brush, fingers(clean fingers) or beauty blender. I like to sweep it on my face with my fingers then go in with my blender and blend it out. This is to prevent the beauty blender from soaking up most of the foundation. I take the foundation slightly into my hair line and jaw line where it meets my neck and I also apply to my neck until it all looks evened out. It’s the worst when your foundation does not match your neck so be mindful of that.
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Some of my favourite foundations include Mac Face & Body & Studio Sculpt, Clinique Superbalanced & Even better, Rimmel Match Perfection, Maybelline fit me.
You can use the website www.findation.com to find your matching shades in whichever foundation you like 🙂
Tip: Ask the consultant matching you for a sample of the foundation that matched you and take it home and try it for a day or two to see if you like it then go back to repurchase. If not, walk around in the store with it for a while to see if it oxidizes.
I hope this helps beginners. Do you have questions about foundation? Let me know in the comments.
Stay warm weirdos,