Color matching your foundation can be tricky—and even downright frustrating! Who wants to spend hundreds of dollars on the "perfect foundation" that doesn't even match your unique tone? Luckily, with the help of our shade-matching experts, we've rounded up the top tips you need to learn how to color match foundation to your skin tone.
- Amanda Bell is a makeup artist based in London.
- Kate Morris is co-founder of Findation, an online database of matching foundation colors.
- Nikki DeRoest is a celebrity makeup artist who has painted the faces of stars like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Addison Rae.
Know Your Skin Type
Before finding the proper foundation color, you need to know your skin tone and texture. Skin tone is your natural complexion's color—usually defined as fair, light, medium, or deep.
Look at your jawline, where there's normally a natural flush, to help determine your skin tone. You can also consider your skin's reaction to sun exposure. Those who tan easily have a medium or dark skin tone, while those who burn easily likely have a very fair skin tone.
Consider the Changing Seasons
With the changing seasons and weather, your skin tone may also change. For example, the warmer summer months may cause your skin to tan, while cooler winter months may cause it to lighten again, particularly if you spend a lot of time indoors due to cold weather. Go ahead and color match your foundation with the seasons to be sure you have a flawless year-round look.
Evaluate Your Skin Texture
You'll also need to be aware of your skin texture: oily, dry, or aging. Some foundations are hydrating, which works well for those with dry or aging skin. On the other hand, someone with oily skin may wish to look for powder-based foundations. The ideal foundation for combination skin is a balanced formula that isn't too moisturizing or drying.
Find Your Undertone
When shopping for concealer or foundation, your undertone plays a major role in choosing the right shade. But first, a clarification: While skin tone is the color we see on the surface of our skin, the undertone is the hue under the surface.
Amanda Bell, Makeup Artist
"Every color that you choose will either complement or contrast the undertones of your skin. So first, you have to ask yourself: Is your skin undertone warm, neutral, or cool?"
— Amanda Bell, Makeup Artist
Finding your skin's undertone requires a bit more investigation than determining skin tone. Here's an easy way to find your undertone: Check the color of your veins in and around your face and neck.
- Cool: If you see blue veins, you have cool undertones.
- Warm: If your veins appear green on the skin (olive), you have warm undertones.
- Neutral: A mixture of warm and cool undertones results in a neutral undertone.
Use Online Beauty Tools
Whether you're a newbie or a pro on foundation and concealer, there are tons of innovative ways to get color-matched online. Thanks to the development of virtual beauty tools, personalized color matching has never been more accessible. Many brands, like Charlotte Tilbury and Huda Beauty, offer virtual consultations where you can chat one-on-one with beauty experts to help you find your flawless shade match and any other beauty concerns.
Take a Foundation Quiz
Other brands like IL Makiage have scarily accurate foundation quizzes with positive reviews from hundreds of thousands of people. The quiz aims to shade match you to one of its 50-shade Woke Up Like This Flawless Base Foundations. You're asked a series of questions, including identifying your undertone from a lineup of photos to picking your desired foundation coverage.
They even offer a 60-day money-back guarantee for any product purchased through the shade-matching quiz that isn't the right match. You can find similar shade quizzes at big beauty brands like Maybelline and Ulta Beauty, so it's always a good idea to scope the site you're shopping for virtual assistants.
Find Your Shade Across All Brands
Lastly, and perhaps most helpful, you can try Findation, a website that provides shade matches across 1,577 global brands and 68,000 makeup shades. As one of the world's best databases for matching foundation and concealer shades online, the website uses an advanced proprietary algorithm to match shades between different beauty brands. In other words, if you know your foundation shade from Maybelline, you can track your perfect match at Laura Mercier.
"Findation has seen an increase in traffic since the start of the [COVID-19] pandemic, and we only see this growing as more retailers upgrade their online capability," says Kate Morris. "Data is always evolving, and we're continuously working with brands to improve the quality of our data so we can provide more and more matches."
Try Inclusive Brands
Unfortunately, not all foundation brands are guaranteed to have your exact skin tone. When it comes to the perfect match, Nikki DeRoest suggests going for inclusive beauty brands that already offer a diverse range of shades on their website.
"Some of the most notable brands that always get inclusivity right include Fenty Beauty, Bobbi Brown, and Estee Lauder," says DeRoest. "Picking a brand that really takes your skin tone and undertones into consideration is so important because it means you aren't limited to shades (or have to resort to mixing two different colors)."
Spot Test on Bare Skin
Before deciding on a foundation, pick a few shades (about three) that seem like a good fit. Stores like Ulta and Sephora usually have test containers for foundations that you can use to test multiple shades at a time. (You can also ask the sales associates for help.)
Then, spot test each foundation on bare (makeup-free) skin. To test each foundation shade, apply them along your jawline in parallel lines—from the cheek down to the neck. The shade that blends into the skin in both areas is right for you.
Use Natural Light
When testing your foundation, it's important to check it in natural light. Different lighting will affect how the shade appears, so seeing it in natural light is optimal. Look at your face from various angles to see how the light is absorbed and affects the color.
Avoid indoor lighting, especially the fluorescent lighting many stores use. If testing your foundation shade in-store, try going near a window to catch the natural light.
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