How to Find your Perfect Foundation Shade
Say goodbye to the ‘It’s Complicated’ status and embrace your perfect match. Easy is our love language when it comes to all things beauty. Transforming your makeup game begins with finding your perfect foundation shade. Your foundation is the base of your everyday makeup looks and the gateway to a flawless face. In this guide, you’ll learn how to first properly identify your skin tone. From there, we’ll walk you through finding the correct undertones of your skin to consider when finding a shade. Additionally, you’ll learn how to test any foundation on your skin properly. Pro tip: lighting is essential! More importantly, we recommend always to consider your skin type and to remember that seasons change so will your skin!
How to Find Your Foundation Shade
Good makeup doesn’t always happen overnight. Finding the perfect shade is sometimes a journey, and it involves understanding your skin tone, identifying your undertone, testing shades, and considering seasonal changes — all critical factors when finding your right match. Getting to the base of finding your foundation shade starts by determining whether your skin tone is fair, medium, or deep. Next, we need to identify your undertone: warm (yellow, peachy, or golden), cool (pink, red, or blue), or neutral. Understanding your undertone is a crucial step in determining your shade. When testing foundation shades, start on your jawline, where your face and neck meet, to find the best match. Lighting is important when testing, so don’t be afraid to step outside or go near a window to see the actual color of the foundation shade when shopping. Lastly, remember that your skin tone can change with the seasons! We often suggest color matching for two shades—a lighter shade for winter and a darker one for summer for a natural-looking finish all year round.
Tools and Resources to Help You Choose Your Shade
Take out the guesswork of finding your perfect foundation shade with our online tools and resources: our most popular tool, the e.l.f. Shade Finder combines a virtual shade matcher and a quiz to help you find your ideal shade. The quiz asks you a series of questions regarding your skin color depth, color match, and specific undertones. After completing the quiz, the virtual shade matcher uses your answers to recommend an exact foundation shade. You can even try the shade virtually using a selfie or uploaded photo, ensuring a closer match. To try both resources, use this link and view them under the product shades options.
Tips for Accurate Foundation Matching
Foundation is a must-have in every beauty bag – it’s the base to an iconic full face and an accurate shade match helps to ensure that. When matching for your preferred shade look for natural lighting. Often, color matching under artificial light can distort the color and affect the perception of the shade match. We recommend testing the foundation close to your jawline or the side profile of your face. Although you might be in a rush or tempted to test the foundation on your hand, we don’t recommend it. Your hand’s skin tone can differ significantly from your face. This method of color matching from your jawline to your side profile helps to ensure that the product will blend seamlessly between your face and neck. Also, take your time when testing products; don’t be afraid to compare options. Our best pro tip would be to swipe on a few shades side by side to see which one effortlessly blends into the skin. Comparing and testing multiple shades will help you find the best match for your natural skin tone.
Adjusting Your Foundation Shade
Let’s face it — sometimes finding your perfect shade match is hard, but it doesn’t need to be a full-time job. Here, we’re breaking down a few extra tips we’ve learned along the way because sometimes color matching requires a few extra steps and adjustments. If your skin tone falls in-between standard shades, you can create your own custom blend by mixing two shades. Another thing to consider is that your skin changes when seasons do. We often find that your skin may be lighter in the colder winter months compared to the summer, when your skin may take on more color. For a consistent match year-round, we like to keep two shades on hand. More importantly, when searching for a foundation, you can’t forget your skin type and texture. Matte formulas and a matching setting powder are often recommended for oily skin to control excess shine. Hydrating, dewy, and serum-based foundations are best for dry skin. For our texture and acne-prone makeup lovers, avoid heavy formulas and use a light to medium-coverage formula that allows the skin to breathe and blend out smoothly.
