I hope you’ve read pt.1 of this series: Color Made Simple! Using the Color Wheel to Master Your Makeup, Pt. 1: FINDING YOUR UNDERTONES , if you haven’t you’re going to be lost! In this article, we are going to learn how to pick the right foundation shades for our skin. In the last article, we talked about our undertones, so let’s pick up from there.
FOUNDATIONS: Now that you know your undertone, you now have to find a foundation that matches your undertone. One of the best ways to do that is to test the foundation out on your face. Yes, I’m serious! Bring a mirror with you when you go foundation shopping. Take out your mirror, and dab a small bit of the foundation you want to purchase on the darkest part of your face. Blend it in. If the color evens out the skin tone and matches the lighter parts of your face, then that’s the one.
APPLICATION: It’s best to apply your foundation first, then your concealer second. Dot the foundation on your forehead cheeks and chin. Use your fingers or a slightly damp wedge sponge, and blend the foundation on your chin all around mouth, chin, and brushing upward toward the cheeks. Then blend the foundation on your cheeks out toward the temples, under the eyes, and around the edge of the face. For the foundation on your forehead, blend it down the bridge of your nose, across the forehead, and around the hair line. Your whole face should be covered nicely!
CONCEALERS: There are a lot of different concealers out there, and picking the right one can be confusing. There are liquids, creams, and sticks. Each one gives different coverage. Liquids give sheer coverage, creams give medium coverage, and sticks give full coverage. You will want to pick the one that will give you the right amount of coverage for your flaws. Although they all have different coverage, they also have buildable coverage, meaning each one can give full coverage if you put enough on your skin.
Some concealers come in weird colors like green, purple, and orange (the secondary colors!). This is because the secondary colors are also pigments we have in our skin, and each color can neutralize your flaws. Orange neutralizes blue toned flaws (dark circles and spots). Green neutralizes red toned flaws (red spots, pimples). And purple neutralized yellow toned flaws (splotches and blotchiness-if they look yellow). Highlighters can also be used on dark areas. I’m personally not too thrilled about using highlighters on dark circles as a way to lighten them, but we’ll talk about highlighters in the next article.
APPLICATION: If you don’t already have one, you may want to purchase a concealer brush. If not a concealer brush, a lip brush will do just fine or even better. If you can’t get a hold of a lip or concealer brush, just use your finger. It makes great application, too.
Dab the concealer on your flaw, then pat it in with your ring or middle finger to blend it in. Try not to do too much rubbing. Just pat.
Pat the concealer in until it blends with your foundation. If you’re using a colored concealer or neutralizer, go back over it with a small dab of foundation to cover up the excess color. Dab it on with your finger as you did the concealer. After that, go over your whole face with powder using a fluffy brush.
Stay tuned for Color Made Simple! Using the Color Wheel to Master Your Makeup, Pt. 3: HIGHLIGHTING AND CONTOURING.
