Match Your Foundation To Your Skin Tone

From a fake orange tinge to a ghostly appearance, colour matching foundation to your natural skin tone can be a long, tiresome process to master, leaving many of us with an embarrassing make-up mishap if we fail to find our desired shade and tone.
Although your perfect match may require mixing two or more colours together, it is vital to remember that the tone of the skin is created by pigmentation in the epidermis. This naturally produces a variety of tones and is described as:

• Light
• Medium (containing neutral, pink, red or blue tones)
• Dark

The depth, tone and colour of foundation can all effect the overall application of further cosmetic products. It is therefore essential to match the base of your make-up to your facial skin tone as closely as possible. This can be done by simply following my basic guide:

Skin Colour: Fair
Foundation Colour: Ivory or light beige with warm tones of pink or peach

Skin Colour: Olive
Foundation Colour: Dark beige or bronze

Skin Colour: Suntanned
Foundation Colour: Bronze

Skin Colour: Florid
Foundation Colour: Matt beige with a green tint

Skin Colour: Sallow
Foundation Colour: Beige with a pink tint

Skin Colour: Light brown
Foundation Colour: Light brown with a warm tone

Skin Colour: Medium brown
Foundation Colour: Light brown with a yellow or orange tone

Skin Colour: Dark brown
Foundation Colour: Deep bronze with a yellow or orange tone

Skin Colour: Black
Foundation Colour: A dark golden bronze gel

A great tip when testing your foundation is to apply the product to the angle of your jawline in natural daylight. If the colour becomes darker or has an orange tone, opt for a paler or cooler shade of foundation.
Finally, remember to always double check for the natural shadows which may be forcing the foundation applied to appear darker. This is a common occurrence if natural sunlight is hitting your jawline at the wrong angle.