At any given point in our makeup history, it has happened that we decide to shop for a foundation. We go to the store, we see what they offer, we make a pick and then we go home just to find out that there is no way that that foundation will match our skin tone. It has happened to me many times before, and for the people that has a “summer shade” and a “winter shade” they may have had many more foundations laying around and not being used because they are the wrong shade, even for summer or the simply don’t get enough use of it before they expire.
*marked are affiliated links, which means I make a small commission for your purchase.
*marked are affiliated links, which means I make a small commission for your purchase.
This year, one of my goals is to attempt the minimalist life as much as I possibly can but in a gentle way, and while I don’t find myself wanting to get rid of every single product I own, I do want to make use of every single makeup item I have in my collection, specially those that been sitting around in my drawer for far too long to be even gifted to a friend or a family member. So, today I share with you two things that I do when my foundation is waaay to dark to match my skin tone. But first, let me talk to you about how to pick the right foundation shade for your skin.
Can't find the right foundation for you? It all depends on the undertone of the foundation more than the actual color.
While you may think: “I can’t use this foundation because it doesn’t match my skin tone” there are a 50% chance that they are usable in some way. The best way to no waste your money away while buying foundations, even if you’re not sure if its your right tone, it’s to choose the right undertone. There are pink undertones, olive undertones, yellow undertones, golden undertones and mostly, in drugstore foundation specifically, it exists the most feared: THE ORANGE UNDERTONE.
TIP: ALWAYS CHOOSE THE RIGHT UNDERTONE
To avoid buying the wrong shade, start for identifying what is your undertone. There are a few easy ways to do this, but the easiest and quickest to me is to look at the veins of your wrists, what color do they show through the skin? Is it green? Is it blue? Is it a combination of green and blue?
People with green veins are more likely to have warm undertone, while people with blue veins are more likely to have a cool undertone. People with both colors are what its consider “a neutral undertone” which technically means that both of this undertones works great for you, but realistically, this is only theory and you need to know yourself to choose the right undertone.
Usually, cool undertones can include shades like pink, peach, blue and grey and they can match lighter, medium and darker skin tones. On the other side of the spectrum, the warm undertones can include yellow, golden, olive and orange shades.
So, after you identify your cool/warm undertone, then you have to pick which one can suit you best! I will highly suggest you to stay away from brands with small shade range, because you are more likely to pick the wrong shade and waste your money. There are many brands that are specifing the undertones in their shades, for example with an “Y/W - Yellow/Warm” or a “P/C - Pink/Cool” or a letter, or for example, Elf cosmetics specify on their website which ones are yellow undertone and which ones are peach undertones, which makes it more easy to pick the best shade for you! Honestly, I’m not judging you if you didin’t know how to do this before, because is difficult and takes time discovering what is your right shade.
One of my favorite brands to choose foundation from are L'oreal Paris, their True Match* line has very easy names to choose the right undertone, and W3 is my trueheaven match for my skintone! Elf cosmetics's Flawless Finish foundation* also has a great shade range, making them easier to choose the right undertone, if you're buying elf from a physical store, I would suggest to first go to the elf website and chek out the right shade for you. Urban Decay's Stay Naked Foundation* has also a wide range of foundation shades, from warm yellow to peaches!
One of my favorite brands to choose foundation from are L'oreal Paris, their True Match* line has very easy names to choose the right undertone, and W3 is my trueheaven match for my skintone! Elf cosmetics's Flawless Finish foundation* also has a great shade range, making them easier to choose the right undertone, if you're buying elf from a physical store, I would suggest to first go to the elf website and chek out the right shade for you. Urban Decay's Stay Naked Foundation* has also a wide range of foundation shades, from warm yellow to peaches!
Another great tip if you know about one foundation that fits you like it was your own skin is the website “findation”. Simply choose the name, brand and shade of your perfect foundation and the website will find for you other shades and other brands of makeup with a similar color. Perfect!
Now that you know how to avoid the mistake of buying te wrong shade, then now here are two things you can do with you darker foundations:
01. MIX YOUR DARKER FOUNDATION WITH A LIGHTER ONE TO MAKE YOUR OWN CUSTOM SHADE
This is what professional makeup artist do all the time! Realistically, they won’t own every single shade of foundation out there, so they keep a selection of foundations under the different undertones to mix and match to their customers perfect skin tone.
If you’ve picked a darker foundation in the same undertone as your skin tone, then you’re lucky! Simply mix a lighter foundation that has a similar finish, to create your own custom shade. Always start by mixing little and then once you figure how much do you need of each color, then you can prepare more.
02. AS A LIQUID BRONZER OR CONTOUR SHADE
If the shade you’ve picked is a few shades darker than your color and it has a yellow or orange undertone, it can work nicely as a bronzer. Simply take a little bit (really, a little) of your darker foundation with a foundation brush or your favorite brush and blend in your face at the spots where the sun will naturally hit you or in the spots where you will usually get a natural tan. Like I said, this will more likely work with a golden or orange undertone foundation. A lot of people like to buy cream bronzers as a separate product, but if you already have a foundation, then better use it, right?
On the other side, if the foundation you bought is extremely dark for you, and has a cooler undertone, it might work well as contour! Remember that the difference between contour and bronzer is that contour works to define the bone structure while bronzers give warmth to your face, therefore, their undertones are different (most of the time, anyways!)
The good thing about using a foundation as a contour shade is that they usually have more coverage and stay put longer, since they are foundations anyways. You have to be extremely careful while using this technique tho, because a little bit of foundation goes a long way. You can squish half of a pump and then with your fingers dot your contour area and then blend with a smaller brush.
These are the two ways that use mostly everyday to take advantage of all of my products before they expire! Keeping a foundation only for summer and considering that the summer period lasts so little, it will meant that you won’t be able to use it completely before it expires. Like I said before, if this tips don’t work for you and obviously if you notice that the shade is absolutely wrong, you can give it away to a friend or a family member that the color may suit them better than you. But I feel like since I’m becoming more aware about what I use and how I use it, I definitely want to become better at using everything that I like!
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