Talk to any makeup artist and they'll tell you good skin is essential for any makeup look. But what’s all the whole nightly retinol-then-serum-then-sheet-mask routine worth if the foundation you use the next morning makes you look like you’re still wearing the mask from the night before? Or, worse yet, like a certain, er, presidential candidate. And because we’ve been guilty of both said horribly embarrassing scenarios, we dialed up two of our friends, who happen to be professional makeup artists, Wayne Goss and Tasha Brown to solve life’s most exhaustive beauty conundrum: how to match your foundation to your skintone. Herein, their crown jewels of face makeup tips. Let there be flawless skin for all.
Wayne Goss
“The thing with matching skintones is that we need to take into consideration our bodies. 90% of the time the chest is darker than our faces, and especially our necks (as the chin blocks the sun on the neck). I prefer to match the face skintone of a client by having them place their chin on their shoulder or by placing their chin down directly (making a double chin). Then I match to whatever colour their shoulder or chest is. Assuming the neck is lighter, that can always be warmed up with bronzer. We need to take into consideration our bodies when picking foundation, which is why having a few shades is great. One for when we are paler, in the winter, and one deeper, for summer and one for in-between.
It’s never, or rarely, as simple as matching our jawline to our necks!
Another point that is also important: if you are going to use shimmer on the face (cheeks, etc…), then make sure you dust some onto exposed parts of the body. A shimmery face and matte body look very odd, especially in photos. The same if you’re using a matte foundation—make sure your body is matte too.”
Tasha Brown
“The best way to match foundation is to first assess what your undertone is. Neutral, yellow-based, or warm pink-based. From there, you can choose the shade that is closest to your skin shade. I like to test foundation directly in the center of the face and not at the jawline. Most faces don't need foundation all over from hairline to jawline. I tend to advise women to apply foundation as needed and work from the center of the face out.
Swipe a shade that is a perfect match, as well as a shade lighter and deeper to see which is a flawless match. Foundation should disappear into the skin. Take care to also try different textures of foundation. While the color may be a right match the texture may be too thick or too pigmented. Pick the foundation that gives your skin a satin texture.”