How To Find A Foundation Shade For Your Skin Tone

Choosing the right foundation shade is a pretty important task if you want your makeup to look its best– whether that’s with a natural makeup look or more of a trendy glam vibe. Go too light and you can look washed out or sick, but go too dark and you get the dreaded line of demarcation along your jaw/neck that makes it look like you’re wearing a mask. So, you just have to find one in the middle, right? Well, with so many factors to consider like which shade matches your actual skin tone versus your undertone, what kind of finish you want, how long you need it to last, and more, it’s enough to make your head spin. But, Maybelline New York is here to teach you how to choose the right foundation shade with a few simple tricks, including our game changing Virtual Try-On Studio. Read on to find your skin’s perfect match.

You may have heard the terms ‘skin tone’ and ‘undertone’ used interchangeably, but they’re actually quite different. Both matter when choosing your foundation, though, so it’s important to understand them. Skin tone is the surface layer of color you see when you look at your skin, which is determined by the amount of melanin you have. So, if you have less melanin, you’ll be on the fair or lighter end of the spectrum, but if your skin is more melanated, you have more pigment and will want to look on the tan to deep end of the foundation shade range. Most foundation ranges will span from fair, light, light medium, medium, tan, dark to deep.

Undertone on the other hand refers to the subtle color beneath your skin tone. Are you warm, cool, neutral or olive? Luckily the names of the undertone families are somewhat self-explanatory with warm tones having more yellow and orange while cool tones have more blue and red. If you don’t fall under either of those categories, you might be neutral-toned, which means that you have equal amounts of warmth and coolness. If that’s still not you, you probably have an olive complexion, which you-guessed-it, has a hint of green.

You can figure out yours by looking at the veins in your wrist. If they’re blue or purple, you’re likely cool-toned. Green veins usually mean you’re warm or olive-toned and blue-green signals neutral. There’s also the jewelry trick, which is a bit more simplistic and a little less scientific, but can give you a quick idea of what undertone you’re working with. Typically, those who look best in gold jewelry are warm-toned and those who prefer silver are cool-toned. If you’re still stumped, a swatch test along your jawline will help you to see which shade best matches your own.

Typically you’ll have an idea of how you want your skin to look before you even get into identifying your shade, but pigment can vary based on ingredients, so it’s helpful to consider both formula type and shade when you’re selecting your foundation. Plus, certain ranges offer more variety of shades than others. For instance, a lighter coverage formula that’s more of a tint than a rich pigment can cover several different skin tones while a true, full coverage foundation should really match your skin as closely as possible so you don’t run into the too light or too dark debacle. Below, identify the way you want your skin to look to ace your base.

Matte and Luminous

While it may sound like it’s too good to be true to achieve a matte finish that’s still glowy, we’re here to show you it’s possible. Our newest foundation formula, the Super Stay® Lumi-Matte Foundation is airy and lightweight, but it’s also buildable along with transfer-, water-, and sweat-resistant for 30-hour wear, making it the perfect formula for all skin types. If you want a more dewy complexion, you can add a hydrating primer like Poreless Jelly™ Hydrating Blur Primer underneath, but if you want more matte, just add some powder. Its flexibility is a dream.

Matte and Smooth

If you have oily skin, the number one goal is usually to tamp down shine, leaving skin looking natural and flawless. Enter Fit Me^® Matte + Poreless Foundation, which has oil-absorbing clay to give you a 12 hour matte, seamless finish. And although it may be impossible to physically shrink the size of your pores, you can rest assured that this blurring formula will help them appear smaller so your skin looks smooth and poreless as promised.

Full Coverage and Natural

Two adjectives that don’t usually go hand in hand to describe a foundation because full coverage often means the opposite of natural, but the Lifter Stix™ Multi-Use Face Stick defies all odds. Not only does it cover your imperfections and whole complexion, the creamy easily blendable stick foundation is also the perfect formula to contour and highlight with, lifting every angle effortlessly!

Smooth and Dewy

Whether you have dry skin or are just really into a dumpling-like, glass skin finish, Fit Me^® Dewy + Smooth Foundation may be the one for you. It packs hydrating Vitamin E that goes to work on dry, rough patches, smoothing out texture and imparting a healthy, radiant glow. The medium coverage formula also has SPF 18, so you get some extra sun protection as a bonus. 

Smooth and Natural

Specially formulated for mature and dry skin, the Instant Age Rewind^® Eraser won’t settle into fine lines and wrinkles, but rather disguises them for a smooth, even-toned finish. The goji berry and collagen-infused formula moisturizes skin while providing coverage, so you get instant and long-lasting results. We also love its sponge applicator, which allows you to target certain areas such as under the eyes and around the nose, which are prone to discoloration and redness.

Soft and Matte

Prefer a powder formula? Super Stay^® Up to 24HR Hybrid Powder-Foundation has you covered– literally. The medium to full coverage foundation is fueled by unique hybrid technology that gives you the performance of a liquid and the comfort of a powder. Unlike outdated powder formulas that are prone to caking and cracking, this unbelievable powder has a creamy feel that glides on like butter and blurs imperfections like a dream. We like to use the sponge applicator it comes with for the most seamless finish.

While it might be easier to swatch foundation formulas on the back of your hand, the most accurate way to find your match is by swatching along your jawline. Follow the steps below to find your Maybelline New York Foundation. Bonus, these steps apply to finding the right concealer, too.

1. In order to choose the right foundation shade, make sure you’re swatching on clean skin– you don’t want to be wearing any makeup that will interfere with your shade selection. And if you know you’ll have a spray tan, you may want to wait to swatch until you have a better idea of the shade you’ll be. (Another option: select the foundation shade you like and bring it to your spray tan to see if they can get your faux glow close to your foundation of choice.)
   
   
2. If you already have a good idea of what your undertone is, you can go straight to that color family and swatch a few shades within it. For instance, if you have a cool undertone, you can bypass the warm and neutral shades.
   
   
3. Not too sure which undertone you are yet? Take one foundation shade from each of the four color families (warm, cool, neutral or olive) that match closely with your skin tone (fair, light, light medium, medium, tan, dark or deep) and swatch stripes next to one another on your jawline to compare. Whichever shade blends most seamlessly into your skin is the one for you! Typically, you can eye it so that you’re somewhere close to your shade, but sometimes the bottle can be deceiving— that’s why you should always swatch if you can!
   
   
4. If you’re selecting a foundation for a special event and you know what you’ll be wearing, it’s smart to wear that color while you’re swatching. Believe it or not, the color of your clothes can skew the way your makeup appears.
   
   
5. If you’ve swatched several shades and they all seem a bit off, you might want to go back and try a shade lighter or darker. Or switch up the undertone if the shade feels right, but it’s reading as too warm or cool for your skin.

 

Bonus: If you can, try to take a look at the swatches in different lighting because your foundation can look like a perfect match in artificial light and a disaster in natural light or vice versa. Go outside or stand in front of a window to see how the swatches look in natural light– it may make you rethink your foundation shade. 

If you don’t have the luxury of swatching different shades on your jawline and want to take out all of the guesswork of choosing your foundation shade, head straight to our Foundation Shade Finder that’ll do the work for you. Grab your mobile phone and follow the steps below for the best results!

1. Get Started
   Your browser will likely ask for permission to use your camera, so grant access in order to begin and click the “start” button. A message will appear, asking if you’re ready to take a selfie. If you are, you know what to do!
   
   
2. Read the Fine Print
   Because you’re going to be inputting personal info, be sure to read the terms of use and if you agree, it’s go time!
   
   
3. Step Up Your Selfie Game
   For the best results, follow the selfie tips. For example, you’re going to want to be in a well-lit room or standing in front of a window for natural light. If you have a ring light, now would be a great time to use it.
   
   
4. Snap a Pic
   An oval will appear, make sure your face fits the frame and click the shutter button to capture your image. You’ll see a preview and get to decide if you like it.
   
   
5. Meet Your Match
   If your image was captured correctly (sans shadows), it’ll take you directly to your color match. Then you choose the type of coverage you want and the finish you prefer and you’ll be taken to the foundation that best fits your skin tone and complexion needs– it’s as easy as that!
   
   
6. OR Skip the Selfie
   You can use the shade finder without using a selfie, too. Instead, you’ll have to answer a few extra questions. It’ll ask you to identify your undertone by examining the color of your veins. Then, you’ll be asked to select a face–from three images– that best resembles your coloring. Finally, you pick your coverage and finish and you’ll be directed to your perfect match!

If you wound up with the wrong foundation shade, there are a few ways around it. Here’s how to make it work.

If You Went Too Dark…

• Dilute your foundation by mixing it with a primer or moisturizer. By adding a pigment-free formula, it’ll sheer out your foundation so that there’s less color and coverage.
• You can use it as a contour shade, applying it under the cheekbones, along the jawline, on your temples and down the sides of your nose to add dimension.

If You Went Too Light…

• Instead of using the formula all over your face, treat it as more of a concealer by applying it to certain spots that you need more coverage.
• Use it as a highlighter on the highpoints of your face like the cheekbones, bridge of the nose and on the inner corners of your eyes for a pop.