Finding the Best Foundation is all About the Undertones

The basis to good professional make-up is all about the foundation, choosing the right foundation sets the canvas on which you apply the rest of your makeup.  That said, it isn’t always easy to find the right foundation to suit your skin tone.  According to the experts there are an awful lot of girls out there wearing the wrong foundation – it’s a bit like bra sizes isn’t it?

If you take a look online for foundations and concealers you’ll read a lot about undertones – they are what you need to match to your foundation. But what is an undertone? It really isn’t much help telling someone to match their undertone if they don’t know where to start looking for it now is it?

The undertone is the color which lies just beneath the surface of the skin – the tone of the skin changes frequently thanks to exposure to sunshine etc but your undertones always remain the same. 

When it comes to foundations the marketing material will often ask you whether you have:

• Cool undertones
• Neutral undertones
• Warm undertones

If only life were that simple – many of us fall somewhere between the boundaries and have warm / neutral undertones or cool / neutral undertones.  So how do you know what your undertones are and where can you find them? It’s all in the wrist.

Check out the skin on the underside of your wrist and if . . .

If your skin has a pinky, reddish or blue tinge then you have cool undertones.  If silver jewelry looks fabulous on you but gold does not then you have cool undertones. If you look at your skin when you’re out in the sun and it has a blue tint then you have cool undertones. – got it?

If your skin doesn’t have pinky, reddish and blue tinges – or yellow, peachy gold tinges then this means that you have neutral undertones, you are somewhere in the middle.  If the veins on your wrist are more of a green / blue then you have neutral undertones. If you can wear both silver and gold jewelry and it looks equally fabulous then you have neutral undertones. If your skin appears to be a little green under the sunshine then you have neutral undertones – got it?

If, on the other hand your skin has a yellowy, peach or gold tinge then you have warm undertones.  The veins in your wrist will appear olive or green, gold jewelry is more flattering than silver and your skin looks a little yellow under the sun then you definitely have got warm undertones – got it?

Okay, take a look and check out your undertones.

When it comes to choosing the right foundation in a store you should always be sure to have clean, exfoliated and moisturized skin (dirty, sweaty skin will affect the color of the foundation). You should also make sure that you check it out in good lighting and find the best match for not just your face but also your neck.

You are now an expert on undertones!