I’m very new to makeup. The only times I’ve bought foundation and concealer is with my mom. We only buy from Clinique though I’ve also tried other brands. My problem is, I can never find my shade. The sales lady always gives me a shade that is way too light on me but it’s not obvious in that moment because of the lighting. I think my skin changes (or looks like it changes) color depending on the lighting. My mom also wouldn’t let me put the tester foundation/concealer on my face so we put it on my hand/arm. But the thing is, I’m like 80% sure that’s not an accurate way of finding a person’s shade because the shade of my skin on my arm is different from that of my face. I also can’t tell my shade to be honest because I never found one that was fit for my shade. So I don’t have any reference. I think I’m on the lighter side of morena? But not necessarily brown? All the foundations/concealers I’ve tried are either too pale on me, have this white or orange undertone that makes me look weird, or makes me cakey. Tbh I’ve never tried a foundation/concealer that didn’t make me look cakey but maybe that’s because I don’t know how to use makeup. Anyways, yeah, how would you advise me to find my shade?
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Match your neck or your jaw line. Finding your undertone is more important to me than finding an exact shade match because too light can be fixed with bronzer, contour etc… but the wrong undertone will stand out much more. I don’t really wear foundation anymore, just concealer but when I did, I used to mix a couple to get as close to perfect match as I could. If you are finding foundations look Orange on you then you probably need a cool or neutral undertone.
I don’t know where I saw this suggestion but the advice I was given was look for a match for your neck, not your face and hands. I looked through the shades and tried various samples on my hand and held to my neck, and I found the shade I still use today. It’s a tiny bit off from my face but gives better coverage and blends better. Unfortunately it’s a lot of trial and error, but you’ll find the right one. Try to find a place that you can do samples too. Also agree with going to a place with really good lighting to determine shade. That really helps as well! Good luck!
Get foundation samples to try. I recommend the Kosas starter kit because they send you like 12 shades to try for 40/45 dollars then you trade in a code for a full bottle of foundation.
You can use your kosas shade on findation.com to find other formulas if that one isn’t your favorite.
You can try putting the foundation/concealer on your hand then hold it up to your face (with no makeup on and white lighting) to see, or try and match the foundation to your chest instead
After you swatch the foundation on your jawline and neck, take a black and white photo.
When shade matching the first thing you have to figure out is what your undertone is. There are four main undertones red/cool/pink,neutral, warm/yellow/gold, olive/green. To best understand what undertone you are you can look at pictures online of different skin undertones. Once you know what undertone you are you want to try out different shades (lightness and darkness) of that undertone. Based off of what you describe yourself as I would probably consider you as a light medium or medium skintone depending on the brand. Your foundation in my opinion should be a mixture of your face,neck,chest color. We have multiple shades in our skin but the foundation that blends into the skin without it looking obvious is a good enough match. I understand that makeup stores can often not be the most hygienic but most foundation is in a pump so definitely try to grab a couple of disposables to do swatches on your face. Maybe you could also bring your own brush or blender to try on foundation at the rest of your face to make it more hygienic? To be more hygienic eith concealer just pump the foundation that matches on the back of your hand and match the concealer to it. Hope this helps!
I got the best match the other week at Mac. The new studio radiance serum foundation! It was amazing how good the colour match was! My last foundation match was not like that at all! I put it on and I barely need to blend the edges it just works!!!