How to choose foundation color online For My Face? Good question, right?
After all, if the color is incorrect, you should forget about the rest.
I know it is a challenge. I have been there and wasted money and time buying a foundation just to realize it was not the right one.
For this reason, I put together a simple guide to help you find the right foundation shade online, so let’s get started!
How to Choose Foundation Shade Online For My Face 101
Here are a few practical tips to reduce the chances of errors while choosing a foundation shade online.
The First Step
First, you choose the tone: light, medium, or dark? Then the undertone: whether it’s warm beige or pink.
Identifying Your Skin Tone
While looking for a foundation online, you have probably seen when they mention the tone and sub-tone.
For example
Some products have different pigmentations that may adapt better to pinkish, neutral, or yellowish skin tones.
In general, dark, black, oriental, and indigenous skin are warm, while very fair people belong to the group of cold tones.
Here is an excellent way to find out if you have a pinkish, neutral, or yellowish skin tone.
- You probably find it hard to get a bronzing tan if you have a pink skin undertone. If your skin is pinkish, then you can pick cold tones;
- In case you find it easy to get bronzed, and your skin gets reddish, you can pick neutral tones;
- You can pick warm tones if you tan easily and your skin gets golden.
Reminder: Warm skin is a perfect match for yellowish foundations. The cold ones combine with the rosy tones. Neutrals look good with both.
3. Identify Your Skin Sub-tone
Every skin has a sub-tone which means a shadow color that can be cold, warm, or neutral undertones.
The skin sub-tone is not the same as the skin tone.
Knowing your skin subtone can help you find perfect foundation shade matches that valorize your skin tone.
The overall makeup look will match your face and neck by knowing the tone and subtone.
Tip: red, orange, and yellow are warm colors, while green, blue and purple are cool undertones.
foundation shades Tips for identifying your Skin Sub-Tones:
Stick your inner arms and take a look at your vein colors.
Your vein colors can help determine if your skin undertone is cold, warm, or neutral undertones.
- Blue veins – purplish veins: Cold skin undertone
- Green – blue veins: Neutral undertone
- Greenish – Brownish veins: warm skin undertone
This trick is a common practice by makeup artists that is easy to do.
The Coin Or Jewelry Method
The coin method sounds funny and will also work fine. All you need is a golden and a silver coin.
When your skin looks better with the golden coin, your skin sub-tone is warm. If it combines better with silver, then it is cold.
Does your skin combine with both silver and gold? Then it has neutral undertones.
If you don’t have a coin, try silver and gold jewelry and ask yourself which one suits you better.
Combining Skin Tone & Subtone
How to choose a foundation color online For My Face based on this information?
You should consider that warm undertones work best with foundations with yellow tones, while cool undertones work best with pink tones.
Neutral undertones look good with both.
It won’t look natural when the foundation shade doesn’t respect your skin sub-tone.
If you have a cold skin sub-tone, you can pick a foundation with a pinkish or olive undertone.
In case you have a warm skin sub-tone, you can pick foundations with yellowish undertones.
If you have a neutral sub-tone, you are fortunate because you don’t need to worry about that.
Both cold and warm undertones foundations will work perfectly on you.
1. Finding Reference foundation shades
If you have no idea how to find the perfect foundation color online, you need to find a starting point.
This way, if you have at least two foundations that worked for you before, it is an excellent idea to look at them.
This way, you can have a parameter of what direction to know your reference color.
If you don’t have any foundation shade in hand, you can find a local store and test different shades.
Take a note of two suitable shades for you; this way, you can use them as a reference for other online shopping.
Suggested Reading:
In this phase, it doesn’t matter the brand, but it is good to consider that you should do the same process for each type of foundation you pick. (e.g., liquid, powder, etc.)
Once you have one or two shades, Take note of the colors you like, and remember to take pictures to use them later.
Now that you have some shades for reference, it should be easier to choose a foundation shade online.
Many online stores allow you to choose your foundation based on this information, as you can on the image below.
Searching & Comparing Swatches
Searching & Comparing Swatches is an excellent tip if you are wondering: how to choose foundation shade online For My Face?
Do you remember when I suggested you find one or two foundations you already have and take a picture?
You can go online and do a quick swatch search if you have these pictures to find your perfect foundation match.
Once you are in the brand “X” online store and got interested in a particular foundation.
You can search online for Foundation X Swatches.
This way, you can compare your photos with all the results that the search will provide you.
Look For Trustworthy Brands
Well-established, high-quality brands offer a large variety of well-defined swatches.
Many of them claim to have inclusive colors, augmenting your chances of finding the right foundation shade online.
Some stores use advanced technology to help you choose the best foundation for your makeup routine.
The stores should have clear nomenclature to help you make the right decision.
Some brands state that they contain inclusive shades on their website.
This means that they offer more shades options, increasing your chances of finding your perfect match, no matter if you have dark or fair skin tone.
Pick Stores That allow Exchange
Unfortunately, it is possible to take all the caution and still buy a mistaken foundation.
Double-check beforehand if the online shopping offers product exchange and even refund issuing.
Online Tools To Choose A foundation Color Online
Nowadays, choosing a foundation color online is more straightforward because most brands will have special tools on their website to do that.
But other sites are specific to help you with that, and here are a few recommendations.
One of the most used tools is to choose foundation color online at the Findation website.
This is a fantastic tool because you can just look for a foundation you have already used before, and they will scan similar shades from a variety of brands.
Use A Color Changing Foundation
You can also try using a Color-Changing Foundation, an intelligent white foundation that will adapt to your skin color.
At the moment of application, it will look white, but within a few seconds, you will be surprised it will somehow turn into your skin color.
The downside of these foundations is that they are not full coverage.
But if you can and like to adopt a more natural look, it could be a friendly alternative.
Suggested Reading: Color Changing Foundation TLM Review
How To Choose Foundation Color Online Conclusion
You may find it challenging to buy foundation online, but it is doable and straightforward when you know some tips and tricks.
Before getting started, look at your face, neck, and shoulders to understand more about your skin tones and subtones.
In this article, you found a few tips for identifying your skin tone and subtone; the next step is to go online and look for brands that offer foundations that attend to your needs.
First, look for a foundation that matches your tones and sub-tones, to buy foundation online.