Take a good look at the veins on your wrist under natural light for an easy way to determine your undertone. If your veins look green, it is likely you have warm undertones; if they are blue/purple, you have cool undertones. If they appear blue/green or match your skin colour, you most likely have neutral undertones.
The experts have spoken, and the answer is, foundation should be one or two shades lighter than your skin tone. This is because when you use bronzer or contour then the foundation should be able to blend and give the perfect look to your face.
Blend The Foundation Lighter Than You
When in doubt, always pick a shade that is slightly lighter than your complexion rather than darker. This can prevent your complexion from looking darker than the rest of your body. It is the safest way to go when unsure about two shades that may look too light or too dark.
What is the colour of your veins? The easiest way to determine your undertone is by opting for a closer inspection of the insides of your wrists. If they appear green, your undertone is warm while blue veins signify cooler undertones. If you can see a mix of both, you likely have neutral undertones.
Beige/Warm Beige: Beige skin tone is a light medium tone. Warm beige is a slightly darker than beige that is best foundation for medium skin tone. Natural: Natural skin tone is a warm medium skin tone. Honey: As the name suggests, is a honey toned medium skin tone.
Your foundation should blend seamlessly with your natural skin tone. You don't want there to be an obvious difference between where your foundation ends and your bare skin begins. Otherwise, your foundation will look unnatural and caked on.
Instead of matching the shade of your foundation to the usual spots people list off — like your jaw, neck, or the back of your hand — Vo suggests swatching it on the highest point of your cheekbone, the same place where you sweep on highlighter. She considers this area as the "median" skin tone of your complexion.
Flip over your arm and take a look at the inside of your wrist. If your veins appear to have a blue or deep purple tint, you likely have cool skin undertones. If they look more greenish, you likely have warm or olive undertones. If you can't tell one way or the other, you may have neutral undertones.
Your neck is another place you shouldn't match with because it is literally always in the shadow of your face, and doesn't get tanned. So, it's not ideal to match your foundation to that. Instead, it's better to apply your foundation down to your neck, so that it blends into the colour of your chest.
To find your perfect foundation shade, you should always dab a bit on your jawline and neck first. Checking the color match on your neck and jaw prevents jarring discrepancies and results in the ideal hue.
The interior palette is roughly divided into two groups of color: warm and cool colors. Reds, yellows, oranges and beige are warm.
Look at your wrist veins under natural light.
If your veins appear to be green, you probably have warm undertones. If they're blue or purple, you probably have cool undertones. If they are a mix of both, you may have neutral undertones.
'Beige' and 'Sand' foundation shades have warm tones.
In a place with bright, natural light, hold up a piece of printer paper and look at how your skin reacts to it. If your skin looks pinkish against the paper, you probably have cooler undertones; if your skin looks yellow against the paper, you're probably a warm tone.
If you are COOL and pick a WARM or NEUTRAL foundation, it will look yellow on you. If you are WARM and pick a COOL foundation, it will make your skin look pale and icy. If you pick a NEUTRAL foundation, it will look grey.
That's what you need to do with your foundation/concealer. If it looks too yellow/orange, it is too warm. If it looks too pink, it is too cool. If it looks grey, it is too neutral.
How do you know if your foundation is too dark? If you use the wrong foundation shade, your face will appear tanned, but the rest of your body will not, and your skin will appear as if it has an additional layer.
The makeup should look flawless, it should be like your second skin. And people who think that using a lighter foundation will make them look fairer, they are completely wrong. It will only give them a white cast and it will make them look zombie-like in photos."
Color-correcting concealer should always be applied before you put on foundation. For best results, use a foundation brush to apply a light layer of foundation. Start in the center of your face and work your way outward. Then, use a damp beauty blender to blend the foundation so it looks natural.
You should match your foundation to your wrist when shopping for a new shade. "The best place to match a foundation is on the area that you are placing it," noted Lujan.
PSA: The back of your hand and inner wrist are not the best places to test whether a foundation is a color match for your skin; it's actually your neck or jawline.