How do I choose foundation colour online?

This may be one of the most challenging things to do yourself, especially if you’re not trained to look for the clues as to what skin tone you have. You’ll need to know a few things to be a boss at choosing colours online that suit you all year round. Here are some easy tips to get you started.

Your Basic Skin Tone (undertone)

There are 3 basic types or tones — Have a look at the underside of your arm and see what colour the veins are. If the veins are blue you’ve got blue undertones and a cool skin tone. If the veins show through green, you’ve got yellow undertones and therefore have a warm skin tone. If the colour of the veins doesn’t show through well, chances are your skin tone is neutral.

Underlying redness

Another thing to consider when choosing your foundation colour is the amount of redness in the skin you are wanting to cover. If you have sun damage or your skin is dehydrated or you have Rosacea, you may have redness that will show through even a perfect colour match.

Do you have tiny capillaries showing around your nose, on the cheeks or chin?

The best thing to do is choose a concealer that is a shade lighter than your skin but in the same colour family — warm, cool or neutral. You would apply your concealer to the affected areas first and then apply your foundation on top. I recommend a loose mineral powder for your concealer. 

Pigmentation due to sun damage or hormonal imbalance

If you have sun spots, darker areas on the skin, pregnancy mask or uneven colour around the eyes or sides of the face and neck you might want to consider having two foundation colours to work with; one to cover the darker pigmented areas, and the other to apply to the skin that is your natural colour. 

The Season

While I don’t recommend exposing your skin to the sun in summer months, I don’t think staying in the house is a good alternative. Using a sunscreen that contains SPF30 under your makeup is the best way to prevent sun damage. I like to get a little colour in the summer but I don’t go out sunbathing to do it. I live my life AND protect my skin.

Thankfully, my skin can have a summer glow with an adjustment in my foundation colour and with the help of bronzers. Just keep in mind that you want your foundation colour to match your neck and decollete as well. That’s where bronzers really come in handy. You can get that sun-kissed look by applying a bronzer to the high points of the face, the nose, chin, forehead, and cheekbones.

Eye Colour ~ make your eye colour pop!

Although eye colour is a good indication of what your underlying skin tone may be, it’s not perfect. When choosing shadows, liner and lip colours it is best to go with shades that make your eye colour pop.

Generally speaking, anything goes, however, keep in mind whether your skin tone is cool, warm or neutral as it will help narrow down the choices. And don’t forget, as we age our skin becomes more sallow and colours that once suited us may not anymore. 

Looking at colour on your computer monitor

Sometimes computer screens display colour differently. What you can do to check the screen’s colour compatibility is to take a photo of your current foundation in natural light and compare it to the product on your screen in natural light. Then you can tell if the colour on the screen looks more blue, or red or green.

About Mineral Makeup

I could go on about the benefits of mineral makeup but I won’t. I will say this, however.

One of the great things about mineral makeup is that once you choose the foundation that matches your skin tone, for example, using a warm colour on skin with warm undertones, the natural pigments will blend easily with your skin’s colour. Then it’s a matter of choosing the depth of colour you need depending on the season. It’s nature, baby! And if you choose a product that doesn’t contain fillers like talc and mica, there’s a really good chance that your makeup will not only feel lightweight and fresher throughout the day, but it will be easy to remove and well, if you forget to wash it off at night, it won’t harm your skin. Just don’t get into the habit of doing this. The best chance your skin has at repairing itself at night is when it is freshly cleansed and moisturized. Take advantage of the time you’re sleeping to rejuvenate your skin.

This is a good start to understanding how to choose foundation colour. Once you have your basic skin tone down, you can choose lip colours, eyeshadow pigments and your clothing to compliment the best of you every day.

Finally, ask a trained makeup artist to get you on your way to the perfect colour match. I love Jane Iredale mineral cosmetics. Check them out here.

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Disclosure: I am a licensed skin care therapist and makeup artist. If you decide to purchase any products via links above I will receive a small commission which helps maintain this website.