Choose a foundation shade in two steps: depth, then undertone. Depth is how light or deep your skin is; undertone is the colour beneath it, cool, warm, neutral or olive, and it is the reason a shade of the right depth can still look grey, pink or orange. Find your undertone first, then test two or three shades along your jaw and look in daylight. The one that disappears is yours. After that, choose the coverage and finish you want, and a formula that suits your skin type. Below we set out each step, with the foundations we have chosen for each.
What Is an Undertone?
Your skin's surface colour can change with the seasons, a little sun or a flush of redness. The undertone stays the same. There are four broad families:
- Cool: pink, red or bluish hints. Silver jewellery tends to flatter, and the veins on your inner wrist look blue or purple.
- Warm: golden, peach or yellow hints. Gold tends to flatter, and the veins look greener.
- Neutral: a balance of both. Silver and gold suit you equally, and the veins are hard to call.
- Olive: a soft green or grey cast, usually alongside warm or neutral tones. Olive skin often finds standard shades too pink or too orange.
None of these tests is decisive alone. Look at all three together, and if you are still unsure, start with a neutral shade: it is the most forgiving place to begin.
How Do You Read a Foundation Shade Name?
Many houses write the undertone into the shade itself, usually as a number for depth and a letter, C, N or W, for cool, neutral or warm. Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear Foundation, a long-wear foundation, is shaded this way across its range, from 110C to 540C, so you can move lighter or deeper while keeping the same undertone. Bourjois Healthy Mix Radiant Foundation follows the same pattern, with 50C Rose Ivory beside 50.5N Light Ivory and 51.2W Golden Vanilla; it has a radiant finish and medium, buildable coverage. Artdeco Perfect Teint Foundation names its shades in words instead, from Olive Beige to Cool Cashew and Golden Biscuit, in an oil-free formula with medium to full coverage and a matte finish. If you have an olive undertone, a shade named for it is the place to start.
- Teint Idole Ultra Wear Foundation
- Healthy Mix Radiant Foundation 50C Rose Ivory
- Perfect Teint Foundation
How Do You Test a Foundation Shade?
On your face, and in daylight. The wrist and the back of the hand are a different colour from your face, so they tell you little. Then:
- Start with freshly cleansed, moisturised skin and no other base.
- Choose three shades: the one you think is right, one a step lighter and one a step deeper.
- Stroke a short stripe of each along your jawline, so each one meets both your cheek and your neck.
- Wait a few minutes. Some formulas settle slightly deeper as they dry.
- Step to a window and look in natural light. The right shade vanishes into both face and neck; the wrong ones sit on top as a line.
If two shades seem equally close, choose the one that matches your neck, so there is no line at the jaw. Your skin may be a shade deeper in summer than in winter, and many people keep one of each.
Coverage and Finish
Coverage is how much of your skin shows through. Sheer and light coverage even out tone and let freckles show; medium coverage evens redness and most uneven patches; full coverage conceals almost everything in one layer. Buildable formulas sit at the lighter end and can be layered where you want more.
Finish is how the foundation reflects light. Matte has no shine and looks soft and velvety. Natural, sometimes called satin, looks like skin on a good day. Dewy or radiant gives a fresh sheen across the high points of the face. The finish you choose should follow your skin type as much as your taste, which is where the formula comes in.
Foundation for Oily Skin
If your skin turns shiny by midday, look for a matte or semi-matte finish and a long-wear formula. Guerlain Parure Gold Skin Matte Foundation has a soft matte finish and transfer-resistant wear, is infused with 24-carat gold and white peony, and carries SPF 15. Clarins Everlasting Teint Mat Haute Tenue & Hydratation Matte Foundation pairs high coverage and a matte finish with a hydrating feel, made to wear for up to 18 hours. Bare Minerals Barepro Foundation is a pressed powder with full coverage and a natural matte finish, made to manage oil and to resist creasing, transfer, sweat and humidity. Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup SPF 10 is an oil-free, long-wearing liquid with medium to high coverage and a semi-matte finish.
- Parure Gold Skin Matte Foundation
- Everlasting Teint Mat Haute Tenue & Hydratation Matte Foundation
- Barepro Foundation
- Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup SPF 10
Foundation for Dry Skin
Dry skin is happiest in a hydrating formula with a radiant finish, which reflects light rather than settling into texture. MAC Studio Radiance Serum-Powered Foundation has a radiant finish and a serum-like feel, made for a dewy, comfortable wear. Chanel Les Beiges Touche De Teint Water-Fresh Complexion Touch Foundation is a light, skin-like foundation with a water-fresh texture, buildable coverage and a fresh, naturally radiant finish. Sensilis Skin Glow Luminous Foundation has a luminous, second-skin finish and is made with sensitive skin in mind. Shiseido Synchro Skin Radiant Lifting Foundation has a radiant finish and buildable medium to full coverage, with argan oil and glycerin for comfort.
- Studio Radiance Serum-Powered Foundation
- Les Beiges Touche De Teint Water-Fresh Complexion Touch Foundation
- Skin Glow Luminous Foundation
- Synchro Skin Radiant Lifting Foundation
Moisturise first and give it a few minutes to sink in. Even the most hydrating foundation sits more smoothly on skin that is already comfortable.
Foundation for Combination and Normal Skin
Combination skin is oilier through the forehead, nose and chin and drier on the cheeks, so the answer is a balanced formula with a natural finish. Clinique Superbalanced Makeup Foundation is made to be hydrating yet oil-controlling, balancing dry and oily areas, with medium, buildable coverage and a natural finish. Clarins Skin Illusion Natural Hydrating Foundation SPF 15 has a lightweight serum texture, light to medium coverage and a natural finish. Elizabeth Arden Flawless Finish Skincaring Foundation is a lightweight fluid with a matte-natural, second-skin finish and adaptive coverage, formulated with hyaluronic acid and vitamins C and E.
- Superbalanced Makeup Foundation
- Skin Illusion Natural Hydrating Foundation SPF 15
- Flawless Finish Skincaring Foundation
Two notes on care. If your skin is sensitive, try a new foundation on a small patch along the jaw for a day or two before wearing it all over. And a foundation with SPF is a welcome extra, but a thin layer of make-up gives less protection than the label suggests, so keep your sunscreen as its own step beneath it.
Where to Begin
Begin with your undertone, because it decides which shades are worth testing at all. Then take two or three of them to a window and let the daylight along your jaw make the choice.
