How to Choose Perfect Shade of Foundation Every Time

Video Transcript

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Today, I’m going to be answering the question, How to Choose the Perfect Foundation Shade Every Time? I’m Annmarie, and if you’re new, welcome. If you are not, welcome back. This is unfiltered makeup. I am a makeup artist and makeup enthusiast, here to bring you tips, tricks, and makeup knowledge and reviews to help you decide how to find the best foundation to you to hopefully save you some time and some money. On this channel, I do try to promote cruelty-free, vegan, and sustainable products because those are all things that I believe in. If you are interested in more content like that, please do like this video and consider subscribing. I very much appreciate it. And let’s go ahead and get into the video. Here is how you’re going to choose the perfect foundation every time. Now, hear me out before you think this is click shade. It is possible that when you go to the store and you look at the foundation range that you want to buy, they might not have the perfect foundation shade for you. It’s just that everyone has different skin tones, different needs, different undertones, and companies can only produce so many shades.
 
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So it is possible that even in the shade range you’re looking at, even if they have a wide option of shades, there might not be the perfect shade for you. But I’m going to teach you how to know how to choose the best one of those shades for you. And then I’m going to show you once you get it home, how to turn it into the perfect foundation shade for you every time. So the first thing that we want to consider is undertones, and you’ve probably heard of undertones before. There’s a cool undertone and a warm undertone, and then there’s also neutral undertones. So if you look at the the veins in your arms and your wrists, look at the veins, and if they look purple or blue, then you’re probably a cool undertone. If they look more green, then you are probably a warm undertone. But let’s say you’re looking and right now my veins look blue, but a minute ago, they were looking a little green based on the lighting that I was in. Sure, some of that is lighting, but part of that is I’m in between. So I’m actually more of a neutral undertone.
 
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But a way that is fun for you to test for yourself what undertone you are, if you don’t already know, is to consider your jewelry. So we want to look at different metals. If you typically find that gold looks better on yourself, you are probably a warm undertone. If you find that the silver or white gold shades look more flattering on your skin tone or better complement it, then you are more likely a cool skin tone. If you look equally great in both, which I’m sure you do, you might be a more neutral skin tone. So you can consider it that way. Also, if you are someone who tans easily and you never burn, you are probably more likely a warm tone. If you are someone who burns very easily and doesn’t likely tan, you are probably a cool skin tone. If you’re like me where you do tan until a certain point at which you burn, then you might be a neutral undertone. Those are just going to be the three terms that will start to help you with any of your foundation shopping. So you want to consider those first up. This is not critical because you can adjust trust your foundation with some of the tips we’re going to learn today.
 
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But if you choose a color that is too warm on you, that is often when you see foundation starting to look orange or very fake bronzer-y, then that is probably because you have chosen a shade that is too warm for you. So if you do find that foundations tend to look more orange on you, you might be a cool skin tone and a cool undertone to your skin. And then that means you want to look for cool foundations rather than those warmer ones, or even lean more towards neutral. If you’re unsure always start with neutral because you can mix it up. So you’ve got your undertone. Now, let’s look at a foundation range, and you’ll start to see that every foundation range is going to have a lightest shade and a darkest shade. Now, sometimes the lightest is super light and the darkest is super dark, and sometimes they’re all somewhere in the light range. So of course, you have to find a foundation line that has the right skin tones for you. So do try to look online, if at all possible, or in the store, because online is going to have the full range, most likely.
 
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So I typically start with looking online first, but you can choose from the range in store as well. If you can see what’s in front of you, see what they have in stock, and see what is the lightest shade and how deep does it go. So then you know what your working with. Typically, you will know that there’s fair, maybe considered porcelain, but fair. And then there’s light, maybe light-medium, up to medium, medium-tan. And then you start to going into the medium, tan, deeper shades. So consider yourself along those lines somewhere. Now, if you know that you are the lightest shade in any foundation, that is going to still not be the easiest because sometimes even the lightest shades don’t come light enough for people. And just like sometimes the deepest shades don’t come deep enough for people. So working in those constraints of the foundation line that you’re shopping from or comparing line to line of what they have, see if you can find one that really sets the right undertone first. So you’re either looking for light, neutral, or warm. And then you’re going to look for fair, light, medium, tan, deep, and Start falling in the range of that.
 
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As you have perhaps shopped for makeup over the years, you might know that you typically fall to one side or the other, or perhaps you’re right down the middle. So try to use that as your guide as a starting point. So now you will see that maybe you need a light neutral like myself. So maybe it’s one shade that’s a light neutral. Maybe that’s all they have, or maybe they have a couple up from that and a couple down, a couple lighter, a couple darker. So what you want to do is opt for the lightest shade that you think will work without going too light. And I know that sounds very tricky, but darker makeup is easier to lighten than it is to deepen makeup color because you can lighten a foundation one at home yourself much easier than trying to deepen one because it’s really hard to start messing with the undertones and the shades as you’re trying to deepen a product. So the best way to do it is perhaps get one that’s maybe your summer shade. So sometimes we tan a little bit in the summer, we have a little bit deeper complexion in the summer, and by winter, we might have lightened up a couple of shades.
 
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And so you can choose your summer summer shade, which is a little bit too warm for you in the winter, but will be the perfect shade for you in the summer. And you can actually use that one all year long. I talked a little bit more about this in my video of my top three favorite foundations. So I’ll go ahead and link that so you can listen to that a little more in-depth on the color selection. But today we’re just talking about any shade. How are we going to make it the perfect one? So you’ve considered the undertone, you’ve picked that, and now you’ve looked at the shade range and found where you tend to fall in other foundation lines in the spectrum of where you usually fall if you’ve bought from before. Now, again, they might not have the perfect shade for you that they even make in that line. It might be a combination of a couple of their shades that actually is your perfect foundation. So do choose one that might be a little bit deeper that you can wear without going too dark. If you’re able to get a foundation at home and it’s a tad bit too light for you, again, it’s hard to darken that up on your own, but you are able to Use things like bronzer and blush and highlighter and frame your face with other powders and things like that to darken it a little bit.
 
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You don’t want to look like two ghost face, but you You can deepen it up a little bit with other products, but it can’t be too light because it will wash you out or make you look like you’re feeling ill or just that you have the wrong foundation shade on. So you don’t want to go too light either. It’s a very hard balance, and that’s why it’s very hard to achieve the perfect foundation shade right off the bat. So now you’re at the store, you’ve chosen your undertone, and you found in your shade range one that you think will work at your most tan phase, a little bit deeper color, and choose that one or the one right below it. Because here’s the other thing about foundation. When you are choosing one in the bottle, it will look different than when you squirt it on your hand. And when you’re shopping online or even a lot of the time in store, there are not testers. So you aren’t able to actually try it in store. So you think you have the shade that’s maybe your little bit darkest, but you might want to actually step down.
 
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Because once you squeeze that out and it’s hit your skin and it’s going to oxidize, over time throughout the day, it will usually darken. Just like paint dries when you put it on a wall, it dries darker, your foundation will probably dry down a bit darker. So in your hand, you chose the one that you think is your darkest shade, you’re going to go down to the next shade. So you’ve chosen that one, and you are going to hope that when that oxidizes, it dries down just a bit deeper. Now, if you’re able to test on your hand, of course, try that. Do wait to test it and give it some time. If you’re testing and you can hygienically, safely test on your face or skin, test on your jawbone to your neck because you actually want to match your neck. Lots of people’s faces because the sun hits your face more than your neck, are actually darker than their neck. It’s very common to have a darker face than your neck. But when you put makeup on and you stop right around here at your neck line, you’re going to have a line of demarcation all the way around your face.
 
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And now that you’ve put darker makeup on a darker face, it’s going to be a huge contrast of your neck, and you’re going to look like someone has placed a doll head on your neck and body, and you don’t match. So you actually want to match to your neck and your face. And so that line right down here is your best place to try to color match. So if that possible and you can test on your skin, do test there. And again, keep in mind you are matching to your neck, so it might be lighter than you think. People oftentimes do choose a foundation that’s a hair too dark for them because they aren’t matching to their neck. And when you apply your foundation, you do want to make sure that you are pulling it down onto your neck. You can go down as far as you want. You can go onto your chest, but make sure that you don’t stop right at your chin line. You need to go beyond the chin line and down the neck, over the ears, down the neck for a more seamless application. So keep that in mind, too.
 
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When you’re applying it Don’t look here. And we can look on our hands and our wrists, but they’re not always the same color as on our neck. So make sure what you’re comparing it to is your neck. So now you’ve gone down the shade, you you’ve got the right one, and at this point, you probably are ready to take it home. If you can shop online, you can also use things like Sephora has a shade match finder. And so you go to a foundation and you click the shade finder, and it will ask you to put in shades of current foundations that you’re wearing. Now, I have to say I’ve tried it before and you run into some problems. One being, if your current foundation is the wrong shade, it’s going to recommend the wrong shade of foundation for you. So if your current shade is a little bit dark and it recommends a shade for you, then do know to pick the next shade down. But even sometimes it’s not perfect. It also doesn’t have a lot of the foundations to choose from that you might use. So you will go to look for a brand And one of my favorites that I talk about all the time is Face Atelier Foundation.
 
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And this is one of my favorite foundations of all time. They don’t sell it at Sephora. It’s not on there. So I can’t say my foundation that I know that matches me every time, it’s not an option on Sephora. And then also, as you know, not all of these foundations that you’re going to be buying might be sold at Sephora. Maybe you’re looking for some drug store options and alternatives. You’re not going to find those at Sephora. So you can use it to try to guesstimate in different shades, foundations in different companies, in different formulations what color you are. And just because your one color in a brand doesn’t mean the same color of that same brand, but a different foundation type, so a different formulation, maybe they have a hydrating one or a matte one, just because you know you’ve got the shade in the hydrating one doesn’t actually mean that even if the shade name is the same in the other foundation, it will actually match. Because That’s just how things are manufactured and formulated. It’s a science, but even so, it’s not a perfect science of matching skin tones. So you do have to consider the fact that it’s probably not going to be exactly the the same.
 
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And the fact of the matter is you’re just going to have to try out some foundations. Now, the good news is that a lot of stores like Ulta and Sephora will let you return foundation. If you have purchased it and it doesn’t match. If at all possible, especially at Sephora, see if you can get a sample first. The Face Atelier that I’ve mentioned here also camera-ready cosmetics where I actually bought that from. They sell samples, small little sizes that’s just about enough for one or two applications. You can just buy the sample rather than purchasing the entire bottle. Because as I mentioned before, I do believe in sustainability. And if you buy the foundations and return them, you’ve used them, they just have to throw them away. So of course, it’s your money and you’ve spent it, so I don’t want you to be out money. However, I hate to see things just go to So what I’m going to show you in just a minute will help you. If you buy a foundation that doesn’t quite match, then we’re going to still get it to work for you with the addition of some other products that you can keep in your makeup kit.
 
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But that way you won’t have to throw away a bottle of foundation or even return it, but then have it be thrown away. You can make use of what you already have and quite possibly They still get the perfect foundation match for you. So that being said, you’ve got it, you’ve brought it home, and then you say, Annemarie, this does not match. And then I say, Oh, here is how we’re going to fix that. We’ve got a few options. So first of all, if your foundation is too dark, you could look at it and say, I think just one shade down would work. You could say, This shade doesn’t work. I think I need to go two shades down, and then buy that, and that’s the right foundation shade. But what you could do is say, If this shade is too dark. Here’s the solution. You can get a foundation mixing pigment. This one is by LA Girl, but many different brands have them. You can also buy If they don’t have a white mixing pigment, you could also just buy a second foundation that is the lightest color. And it’s perfectly okay to mix foundations from different companies, different formulations of foundation.
 
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The only thing that you want to take into consideration is if they’re water-based versus silicone-based, they may not mix together. But trial and error is going to be the best way for you to go about So most of your foundations that you probably have, you’re able to mix. So if you have one that’s a little too light for you, go ahead and mix that into your new one before buying a new one. You want to do it as economically for you as possible, too. So if you have something that will lighten it up enough, then you can mix them together. If they’re very similar in shade, you’re probably going to want to mix them about half and half because that will allow you to get it lighter, and you can always add more. So I do recommend you can mix it on your hand, but do mix it with a tool, like the back of a makeup brush or something. Do mix it first before mixing it with a brush. Don’t mix it with a brush and then apply it. You want to mix it up first before applying to the brush. You could also do it on a glass or a cup or a makeup palette, which are very inexpensive to get.
 
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I just use an acrylic makeup palette and a metal spatula and mix it up that way. And that way, when you go to test on your chin, you can see if you need a bit darker or a bit lighter. And once you get the formulation down, you’ll just remember that. So the next time you reach for it, it only takes you a couple of seconds to pump it out and mix them together. But that’s using what you already have. If you have a foundation that is darker and you you want to fix any foundation that you have that is darker, pick up something like this white pigment. These are fairly inexpensive. This is the drugstore version. Face Atelier does have a line of mixing pigments as well that are amazing. They’re just going to be a lot more spendy. So it depends on what you like and what you need. But this is going to be a great way to get your feet wet and try out this method. So you’ll use this white pigment and you will mix it into the foundation, and it’s not going to change the undertone at all. It’s just going to lighten up the foundation, and you just need to add a little bit.
 
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You can always add more again, but you don’t want to do too much because you definitely don’t want to turn your foundation too light because it is hard to darken it up. So you do use something like this white pigment that will allow you to lighten up your foundation, which is why I told you to try to air a little bit on the darker side because it’s so much easier. Now, let’s say you did buy one and it was too light. Now, I would say your best bet is to actually buy a couple of shades deeper, a second foundation of that same foundation, or use a foundation that you have that’s a couple of shades deeper to darken it. The cool thing about doing that is you can actually use that darker foundation. You’ll mix it into your foundation that you have that’s a little too light, just like we talked about, do it on a palette, mix it up before you put it on the brush, test on your chin, and then you will get a perfect foundation match. But another cool thing that you can do with having a darker foundation, since you know you already have it, is you could add that darker foundation and add some of your lighter foundation, mix that up, and use it like a liquid bronzer.
 
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So you’re going to apply it anywhere you would apply liquid and cream bronzers. So from the ear to about the eye, going down, typically, depending on your face shape, you can add some of that up around the hairline, around the jawline, around the nose. So you can actually create a liquid bronzer, which is what makeup artists do oftentimes. So it’s like a liquid bronzer, but it’s also just built right into your foundation. So your base is already built with contour built into. So that can save you from buying additional liquid cream bronzers or we’re just using up the products that we already have. We’re going to make use of them and learn to spread them even farther. So if your foundation is a little too light, do consider either finding one that you have in your stash that’s a couple of shades darker or consider buying a second one that is a couple of shades darker to use that to get it to the right shade, and then you can also use it for those little tricks that you want to make. And also then you’ll have it if you are someone that tans and your light shade is perfect for winter, but it’s not quite dark enough for the summer, then you’ll be able to have that as well.
 
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And it’s very common for people to need two shades of foundation throughout the year, and sometimes more, depending on how much you tan or maybe it’s not just in the winter because maybe you’re going somewhere sunny in the winter. So you just will very likely have more than just one shade of foundation in your kit, and that’s perfectly okay. You’re going to use them. Now, let’s say it’s not an issue of whether your foundation is too light or too dark, but let’s say you got home and you applied your foundation and after oxidized, it’s really orange-looking. Now, it could be that you bought a neutral shade and you’re actually a little more of a cool tone, or maybe even the cool tone is still too orange on you. There is a way to fix that. And again, we’re going to be talking about using a mixing pigment. And this is the blue shade. And again, this is another LA Girl mixing pigment. The same thing. And again, Face Atelier has these, too. You can find them from other companies, but these are cruelty free and vegan and pretty accessible. These I picked up at Ulta.
 
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You can get them from the company itself. So let’s say you are having a problem where your foundation is still looking too warm for you. What is the opposite of orange on the color wheel? It’s blue. So we’re going to use the color theory to cancel out that orangeness by using blue. So you’re just going to use a tiny bit of this And again, you want to do it on your hand, on a palette, somewhere before you just do it on your face, and you’re going to test it. So it’s going to take you a little bit of playing around with any of these to find that shade. But once you get the right formulation, you’ll be able to easily replicate it. So squeeze out just a little bit of this into your foundation and mix it up and see if once you’ve got that, if it then is not so warm. And that’s a good indication that you are probably a cool undertone and you needed more coolness in your foundation. Now, if you have the opposite problem where you are looking ashy or gray, then you might need to use this yellow mixing pigment, and this will help to put yellow into the foundation.
 
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Now, some people have have a naturally more yellow skin tone with their yellow undertones, and they might be very warm. So maybe the foundation that they have chosen, whether it’s just neutral or warm, maybe it doesn’t have the right amount of yellow, they can mix this in, and that will help to achieve a warmer look and bring more warmth and/or yellowness to the face. So it’s the same as these others. You’re just going to mix it up on your palate and go for the right amount, and you’re going to have to play with it a little bit. Now, the other thing I didn’t mention is olive skin tones. So I do have a bit of an olive undertone to my skin. But with the neutralness, I generally don’t have a problem with… I don’t have a ton of green undertone in my skin. But some people might have a more olive undertone. Well, some companies do have an olive mixing pigment, green shades of foundation that you could find and mix in. I don’t have a green one, but of course, yellow and blue mixed together make green. So if you can find a green one that works for you from any foundation line, any range, then do go ahead and try that.
 
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If you are olive and need more olive and green undertones in your foundation. If you can’t find a green one, then you could try mixing these two together. Mix these two together to get the shade of green you want first, and then mix that into your foundation. So that’s going to help with your olive undertones. I debated on whether or not to include this tip in the video because it’s a little bit up in the air. Because I was going to say that you can always read reviews on Sephora, Alta, and check out reviews of what other people say. Sometimes they’ll put even in their skin tone, undertone, they’ll put in pictures, and you can compare. But everyone is so different that even with those reviews, it’s hard to say. So you might get an overwhelming amount of great reviews and great color matches, and that’s a pretty good indication that it’s a good performing foundation, but it might not have the best color range for you. And alternately, it could be that there are not the best reviews on some of the foundation, but you have found your perfect color match. But just because you have found the perfect color match doesn’t mean you found the perfect foundation formulation, which is a whole different thing.
 
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So again, check out that video of my top three favorite foundations where I talk more about formulations, but that’s something you’ll just have to discover as well as finding that perfect foundation shade. All right, so All of these tips that I gave you here today are long. I know it’s going to take effort to get the perfect foundation shade every time, but with a little practice, you can do it. Thank you so much for watching this video. Please don’t forget to like and subscribe if you want more content like this in the comments below. Please let me know what else you’d like to see. I’d love to make videos that you want. Thanks for being here, and I’ll see you in the next video. Until then, take care of yourself.