how do you match a foundation ?
EDS Skin Care Forums Forum Index » Skin Care and Makeup Forum

free skin care · Sun Feb 14, 2010 9:35 pm

well i m trying to research on mineral makeups and there r a few brands like
Laura mercier,,,jane iredale and earthen glow mineral that i wanna try....i already got the samples of theem...bu tthe problem with me has always been the fact that i really dont understand how to decide which shade is right for u...I know if u apply a shade and it blends in completely and is not visible on your skin,,thats the right shade for u...
But i have some other problems...
I am using obagi nuderm that has made my face on a pink side and i know it wont stay pink for ever,,,as soon as i ll get off this system its gonna be normal again( by the way my skin tone is on a yellow/golden side)...
So anyway...my face is pink these days and at the same time it has become lighter in complexion that is more fair and,,,since i dont apply obagi nuderm on my neck,,,,my neck has started to look darker than my face...The chest part and also the rest of the body is much fair than the face or the neck...so i m soooo confused,,,where to match the foundation,,the face,,,the neck or the chest ???????????????????????? aaah i m sooo confused...
Also,,,whatever shade of mineral foundation i apply,,,it all looks the same to me....dont have anyone aroundme to help me know which one is better on me...When i go to the mall to the sales women,, they always suggest that i should let them find the right shade for me and then they try to match the shades on my skin,,,but it is usually a different shade than i would choose fo rmyself...
Plzzzzzzzzzzzzzz help...i wanna get this foundation soon since i have a big party coming by the end of this month,,,,Helppppppppp

free skin care · Sun Feb 14, 2010 9:53 pm

does anyone know if there is a site of mineral makeup,,,dont know which brand is it,,,,they ask u to send your picture and they match the right shade for u....?

free skin care · Sun Feb 14, 2010 10:14 pm

Hi Maheen, I was trained to apply the foundation right along the jawline going vertical to cover just a bit of the face and a bit of the neck. The one that you can't see is your match. However, it is a very difficult area to look at yourself and determine, it is best to have someone you can trust that has a good eye to help you determine which is the best match. You may be able to do it yourself if you do it closer to the chin.
However, right now with your face being pinker if you want to get a good match maybe do your foundation match by applying the product just under the jawline and down into the neck a bit. You may have to do this again after you stop using the obaji so you can adjust it to your skin tone when you're done.
I don't think I would trust matching foundation by comparing to a picture, the picture color may not be true but all foundation can take on a different cast once on the skin plus there is the reaction with your skins natural oils that can also change the color. This is why sometimes blush or foundation can take on a different cast after having worn it for a few hours. I don't have that problem with mineral makeup but always did with all the others that I wore prior to switching to mineral products.
Have you gone to a sephora or a bare escentuals for help?

free skin care · Sun Feb 14, 2010 10:32 pm

oh thank u Moxie mama...yes i did go to sephora..i wanted to try Laura mercier.....the sales person tried and suggested the shade (natural beige) for me...that was hte only shade she applied on me and said to me that it was the right one for me....Ofcourse its all happening inside the store in the lights of the store and not the sunlight,,,so i really dont know if i should trust that since it can look completely different in sunlight,,,i guess not sure...
Then from Sephora i went to Nordstorm and went to laura mercier stall and asked the lady to help me...
She looked at my face and siad that (Classic beige) would be right for me..she applied it and said it was my right shade...
so i dont know who to trust...To me both shades look the same in doors..Also got samples of both these shades Smile

so dont know if i should try tomrrow in the sunlight,,,..
I was thinknig that something in a yellow tone would be the right sahde for me...i dont know..i m soo soo soo confused...
Thanks for the help though Smile

free skin care · Sun Feb 14, 2010 11:30 pm

hey maheen,
i'm chronic about matching foundation colour too. i used to get huge anxiety fits when foundation shopping... get all hot and flustered... and exhausted by the end of the day. so i kinda gave up and usually have many shades in my make up drawer.

first i think its great that you got samples. that's the first step. yes, looking at shade matches inside of stores are a hazard... hallogen lights, shadows, and all the reflection from the glass and products. can't even see straight never mind matching anything.

i would recommend doing a test spot on your face and looking at it in sunlight..but different shades of sunlight. if it is direct sunlight, it will bleach everything out, blinding you, and making you believe it is a perfect match. you have to look at different angles in the sun and shadow. well that's what i do.

and with different seasons i have noticed my face shade changes, a tad. this is another reason i keep various shades in the drawer. i usually opt for a liquid foundation since it blends easier. i find the powders good but they are high maintenance since even with a bit of moisutre it clumps and turns in to a bad finish.

once the shade is matched, relatively... i believe most of the work is in the blending. blending is key. you have to blend and blend so that sucker looks naturally and get a beautiful finish. in real life it is much more difficult to get a beautiful finish. its much more work. even with a liquid foundation, i mix it with a cream and blend like crazy.

in photography the models are all air sprayed, all over. the colour match is quite irrelevant. real life is trickier.

h hmm

m... if possible... hmmmm i know mac has wonderful make up artists. they are not the same as the counter sale pple. during special events, make overs, i have seen some special mac makeup artists come in for promotions. some are absolutely phenom! really. i stood there with a friend...watching a man makeup artist work on a fair girls with many discolourations... he worked magic while only apply product on parts of her face (not the whole face). i was so struck and didn't believe it... that i started to peer into her face to see if i could see any tell-tale signs. Confused

the make up artist was not impressed. probably thought i was some crazy woman. but anyways, if possible, it would be wonderful to learn from a real pro of how to do with your skin.
HTH

free skin care · Mon Feb 15, 2010 10:48 am

HAHAHAHA llina u r funny....but if i was u,,,i would have stared at the girl the same way.....yeah i really wanna learn the tricks of hinding one"s skin's flaws...i am really happy with obagi nuderm since it has really helped to diminish most of the blotchness on my face but still u r right girl !
Okay so right now my mission is to go and put my baby to sleep,,when he is asleep i m goonna go and do what u told me...gonna apply all those shades and see in sunlgith what it feels like and how it appears in the sunlight...
i am hoeful its gonna work...
i ll telll u if i succeed Smile

I am just a bit mad at the people working in the makeup deparmtents,,they should tell u that we r matching it in the lgiths within the store and they r not reliable,,,u should go and try it in sunlgith for the best match.,,they give u the impression as if they r giving u the 100 % right shade for ur tone...
huh...
Thanks llina...will update u with the prigress...thats wird,,,matching a foundation is really a hard work...

free skin care · Mon Feb 15, 2010 1:24 pm

maheen,
yes, i think i lost alot of my shyness as i got older. i'm quite the spectacle when in public. perhaps shyness is not a bad thing. Neutral

good luck with the foundation!

Mon Feb 15, 2010 4:36 pm

I have a book called Beaute made simple by Robert Jones, a celebrity makeup artist. He says that all women should use yellow undertones in their foundation, as this looks more youthful. Only 15% percent of women are truly cool, or pink.
Also mineral makeup is so forgiving that a women can wear a number of shades in her range and look great, but she may prefer one over another.
Hope this helps!

free skin care · Mon Feb 15, 2010 7:29 pm

thanks alot girls...
Idelissa u r right about the shades...i was thinknig the same thing...i was trying shades and more than one was looking fine on me,,,,yeah Mineral foundation is forgiving,,,it doesnt give as strong pigemnt as the regualr ones,,i guess.
thanks for the help....i hope i get the right foundation...
T he sale girl gave me 2 different shades,,she tried on me and suggested those and when i applied them at home and saw in the sunlight,,,no one was closer to my skin tone...HATE IT...

Mon Feb 15, 2010 7:47 pm

its hard. Ive been to MAC and the girls werent that helpful really. They were a little snooty. thats the truth though all the makeup books say apply three stripes to the chin and go outside.
have you tried mixing the colors at all? you may need to get 2 containers mix them 1/2 and 1/2 to get the right shade.

free skin care · Mon Feb 15, 2010 8:31 pm

maheen,
if its just for a party at the end of the month, you may be able to get away with whatever sample that you have. just pick the colour that you like and presto! if the party is at night then no one will be able to tell. just make sure you blend and that you get a perfect finish.

you face is a different shade from your neck and chest? you can't use obagi for your neck?

anyways, if the difference between your face and neck is noticeable, wear some big monkin earrings that dangle. it'll tie everything together and distract the attention away from the different shades of face and neck.

whatcha think?

free skin care · Mon Feb 15, 2010 8:55 pm

llina wrote:

maheen,
if its just for a party at the end of the month, you may be able to get away with whatever sample that you have. just pick the colour that you like and presto! if the party is at night then no one will be able to tell. just make sure you blend and that you get a perfect finish.

you face is a different shade from your neck and chest? you can't use obagi for your neck?

anyways, if the difference between your face and neck is noticeable, wear some big monkin earrings that dangle. it'll tie everything together and distract the attention away from the different shades of face and neck.

whatcha think?

sorry, another thing.

once everything is in place, if there is still a huge difference between your face and neck... take a bronzer that is close to your neck and chest colour, using a big fluff brush, lightly coat the big brush and sweep colour, very lightly, on to your forehead, around you hair line, a dab on your nose, along your cheek bone, and then along the jaw line. this should give you added definition while tying in all the different 'shades'.

a story about the earrings and the method of 'distractions'.
once, long ago, i was fretty myself into hysteria cuz i had a hug zit on my face just before a date with a cute boy. it was a raised zit... and so no matter how hard i tried to pat and paste, and use my makeup camouflage techniques... foundation, eyeshows, powders... i tried everything. i could not hide the zit. my brother, a guy, typical jock, gave me advice. he said, forget about the zit, that i could even paint a red bull's eye on it... just wear a low cut top and he'll never notice. Laughing

i wore the tightest lowest top i had! Laughing

i don't think my date was blind to the fact that i had a huge zit, but he sure didn't care! Laughing

soooo, don't get stressed. it'll work out! Very Happy

free skin care · Mon Feb 15, 2010 9:05 pm

Idelissa wrote:

its hard. Ive been to MAC and the girls werent that helpful really. They were a little snooty. thats the truth though all the makeup books say apply three stripes to the chin and go outside.
have you tried mixing the colors at all? you may need to get 2 containers mix them 1/2 and 1/2 to get the right shade.

hey lissa,
i know, sometimes the ladies at the counter, though they are make up artists and such, are not that helpful or knowledged. i find that when i'm shopping for makeup or skincare, i have to take matters into my own hands. the crazy thing is is that alot members on this forum are more knowledged than the cosmetic/skincare reps at the department stores. this included sephoras. whenever i ask them about certain products or ingredients, they have no idea what i'm talking about. alot of times at sephora, the sales pple just want to shooo me away.

the mac make up artist that i was talking about above, they were a special line of artists that came in special for the promotion. they were absolutely amazing. i was always used to the department store/specific counter 'brand name' artists... and was never impressed by them. once us girls went for a make over at the bay. i forgot which counter it was. after the makeover we all bought something... eyeshadow or lipstick or something. but our one girlfriend requested a sultry look. we all walked out and she looked a street walker. everyone stared at her. the make up application was horrid. she really looked like a drugged up street walker. so we gathered all the tissue that we had and she tried rubbing off the tons of make up and lip stick. didn't get it all off, but even at that she looked so much better.

not all make up artists are the same. some are magicians! Very Happy

Mon Feb 15, 2010 9:48 pm

I'm sorry, I hope I didn't seem to be posting in reply to your comment, that was just one experience I had. My memory was triggered by your comment.

free skin care · Mon Feb 15, 2010 9:53 pm

Idelissa wrote:

I'm sorry, I hope I didn't seem to be posting in reply to your comment, that was just one experience I had. My memory was triggered by your comment.

Idelissa,

no offense taken. i was just talking about make up and all our experiences.
we're just all chatting, and sharing...helping eachother through.
peace out!

free skin care · Mon Feb 15, 2010 10:05 pm

I seem to have the worst of luck with both the foundation and the concealer. The makeup ladies at the counters have been of zero help! Last time I was at sephora the lady was in a great hurry and hardly took any time with me. As a result I am stuck with a expensive powder/foundation that I absolutely hate!

free skin care · Mon Feb 15, 2010 10:17 pm

Starlight wrote:

I seem to have the worst of luck with both the foundation and the concealer. The makeup ladies at the counters have been of zero help! Last time I was at sephora the lady was in a great hurry and hardly took any time with me. As a result I am stuck with a expensive powder/foundation that I absolutely hate!

did you return it? sephora takes returns.

but i agree, sephora is the worst place for me to shop at. its crowded in there, the customers all act like divas, and the customer service pple ALWAYS act like they're in a hurry for something. and they have no idea what the ingredients are for... i find the members on EDS way more informed.

now i do my research on the forum, and either buy on EDS or if EDS doesn't carry it, i go shopping with a list and an ingredient list in my hand.

the wooooooo's of shopping! i think we've all had our share of bad experiences. Sad

free skin care · Tue Feb 16, 2010 1:01 am

You might want to try putting a bit of each colour on your jawline, then taking photos in different lighting conditions (e.g., outside sunlight, cloudy, inside fluorescent, tungsten). That way you can be more objective in your comparison.

free skin care · Wed Feb 17, 2010 2:31 am

the only way to do it is to go to the counter and try out the color.

I like my foundation a little darker, the counter girls always give me a shade 5 times lighter than my skin and I always look like im wearing a white sheen on my face.

I usually go to the counters early in the morning with no make up on, then i apply it ALL OVER my face to find a match. I usually pic 2 shades then put it half half on my face and compare them. I'm very very particular about foundation color, too many a times I have bought the wrong shade!

free skin care · Wed Feb 17, 2010 8:04 pm

^Agreed. Just make sure you look at yourself in different kinds of lighting too, not just inside the store. And give it time to "settle" to make sure the formulation doesn't oxidize orangey.

free skin care · Sat Mar 27, 2010 3:58 am

thank you for sharing. its useful

free skin care · Sun Mar 28, 2010 4:28 pm

I used to use Prescriptives which sadly is being discontinued. I was colorprinted way back in the day as a yellow orange so I tend to go with that. I use mainly foundations that are yellow based or occasionally neutral. This is probably not the way to match foundation but it works for me. I put a little on my inner arm and hold it up to lighting in my house and also natural sunlight. If it appears to blend in then I use it.

Everyday Minerals has a great selection of foundations with descriptions of which each category is (ie, warm, golden, beige, cool, buff, olive) . You might check that out.

free skin care · Sun Mar 28, 2010 7:13 pm

I've always read it best to hold the product or test against your jaw line in natural day light.

free skin care · Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:35 am

For anyone in Canada, if you have a Murale or a Shoppers I would recommend going there. Especially Murale. They are usually a standalone or near the exit and they don't sell one specific brand (similar to Sephora but I find Murale is usually less busy). You can try the three colours and step outside with a mirror - although I would probably suggest you bring your own. I purchased my last brand of foundation at a Sephora, but I did feel cramped and there wasn't an exit close by for me to leave and check in the sunlight. My next one will probably be from one of these standalone store. HTH!

Automatic Message

If this is your first visit to the EDS Forums please take the time to register. Registration is required for you to post on the forums. Registration will also give you the ability to track messages of interest, send private messages to other users, participate in Gift Certificates draws and enjoy automatic discounts for shopping at our online store. Registration is free and takes just a few seconds to complete.

Click Here to join our community.

If you are already a registered member on the forums, please login to gain full access to the site.