Anyone else having trouble finding the right makeup shades first time? Even as makeup pros, we’ve been there and experienced how a slight mismatch in tone can leave us looking less than perfect. But is there a way to dodge the makeup mishaps every time?
Trust us, there is, and you don’t need to be a professional makeup artist to get it right. Read on to find out step by step guide to help you nail the perfect shades.
It all starts with your skin undertone
Maybe you’ve already got your base sorted, and that’s good news. If you’re still in doubt over your foundation, then listen up. This all comes down to your skin tone, and this will help you check your foundation shade is a match and ensure everything that you wear on top falls into place too.
Skin tones are generally described as being warm, cool or neutral. If you’re not sure which you are, there’s a simple way to find out.
Start by looking at the veins on the inside of your wrist. Here’s how to decode what you see:
- Blue veins = cool skin undertone.
- Green veins = warm skin undertone.
- A mix of green and blue = neutral skin undertone.
Easy, right! Now you know the basics, you can set about finding the right foundation shade match based on your skin colour and undertone.
Choosing your blush
Whether you like to wear foundation or not, a blusher is the ultimate contouring and shading tool. It acts as a highlighter across the parts of your face that catch the light and brighten your complexion.
Cream blush is one of the best ways to achieve a glowing, dewy look, with an easy application both on bare skin and over foundation. Even better, buildable formulations with ultra-pigmentation can be layered up or kept pared down depending on the look you’re after.
To find your perfect shade, think about your skin undertone and work with colours that complement it. Here’s a quick guide to help you:
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Soft baby pink – to work in harmony with cool skin tones, especially fair skin, for a natural look.
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Soft pinky coral – to add warmth to cooler skin tones and increase radiance.
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Strong peach – a warmer blush tone for medium skin which can be used on cool, warm or neutral undertones.
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Warm-toned brown – the natural, luminosity-bringing shade for dark skin with any undertone.
Adding a pop with lip colour
Similar to finding the right shade of cream blush, your lip colour can be used to add a dramatic flourish through contrasting with your skin undertone or to elevate your natural features.
You already know your skin colour and skin undertone by now, so now it’s just about finding the shades to complete your look. Remember, it’s also worth looking for a lip colour that also hydrates and cares for your lips. This can be especially useful when wearing deeper colours because let’s face it, the dry, clinging to your lip grooves-look is not great.
As a quick cheat sheet, here are the colours that work best with each skin undertone:
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Cool – works with purplish tones, such as LC 3: a rosy mauve or dark pink, which also acts as a good nude for dark skin, or LC 2: a wearable pink candy with warm undertones.
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Warm – works with red or orange tones, like our LC 4: peachy taupe with cool undertone or LC 1: peachy nude with soft warm undertones.
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Neutral – the world is your oyster! But you can easily rock the LC 5: neutrally toned medium red with brown and the LC 6: neutrally toned chocolate brown.
Nailing your glow
If you’re applying foundation, one of the ultimate hacks is a highlighter. It can be used as a base to increase your all-over glow or to accentuate points of your face where it hits the light.
Choosing highlighter makeup that’s ultra-pigmentated will ensure you get maximum radiance and wear. But which Glow Highlighter shade should you go for? This time it’s not so much about skin undertone and more about skin colour. Here’s our rundown including our Facetheory foundation shade match to boot:
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GL-1 for fair skin: if you wear a Facetheory foundation in shades F1-F3, this pale pink, pearl shimmer glow highlighter will blend seamlessly.
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GL-2 for light to medium skin: this mid pink, rose gold shimmer highlighter is for those wearing a Facetheory foundation in shades F3 to F5, with a warm or neutral undertone.
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GL-3 for light, medium and deeply bronzed skin: this multi-tasking glow highlighter can work with any skin tone and Facetheory foundation from F4-F9 with its gold shimmer.
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GL-4 for bronzed to deep, dark skin: the bronze, gold shimmer of this highlighter works in tandem with Facetheory foundations F8-F13 to add luminosity.
Roundup
You don’t need to be a makeup artist to choose the right shades to complement your skin tone and finesse your look. Remember, all you need to know is your skin colour and your skin undertone.
That will enable you to first pick your foundation, then your glow highlighter and get your base right. For your lip and blush, there are ways to play around with them to change your look. Follow our tips here, and you can do that while working with the palettes that make you look like your best self.
