Foundation Selection

Hey guys and gals,

I just wanted to post a quick entry about selecting the appropriate foundation for your complexion, more specifically MAC foundation. As most people are aware, it is greatly important to recognise the undertone of your skin when selecting a shade of foundation. Cool skin tones require pink-based foundations, whereas warm skin tones look best with a yellow-based foundation. If you have ever purchased a foundation that either washed you out or made you look a little off, you will know what I'm talking about when it comes to 'importance'.

Before I dive in, I'll give you a super quick way to identify your natural undertones. This will change your life. I'm not even joking. It will change your shopping game FOREVER.

1. Get yourself in a room with an abundance of natural lighting, artificial lighting will make the identification process a little more difficult. I find that the bathroom at midday is a good time to do this.
2. Take a look at the inside of your wrist. If your veins look blue, you have cool undertones to your skin. If your veins look green, you have warm undertones. It's literally as simple as that. FYI: if you see green veins, that does not mean they are green. You still have blue veins, they simply appear green through your yellow complexion. Blue + yellow = green.

MAC is a super popular, well known brand for cosmetics, amongst professional makeup artists and everyday wearers alike. We like to think that they make foundation selection easy for uneducated makeup wearers by separating them into two categories, NC and NW. However, a big trick has been played on us. We have been lead to believe that NC = cool and NW = warm, how dare us to believe such a thing, right? However, it has all been inverted for professional makeup artists (NC = warm/yellow; NW = cool/pink). The reason behind this is to neutralise the undertones of the individual, creating a blank canvas so to speak.


For everyday makeup wearers, such as myself, it is much simpler to choose foundations that complement our natural undertones instead of neutralising them. Most drugstore foundations are cool/pink toned/based, which is mighty convenient if that's your undertone. However, if you have a warm/yellow undertone you will have to look a bit harder to find a foundation that is right for you. Warm skin tone people should look for key descriptors such as 'honey', 'warm' (duh!), 'toffee', and 'tawny'. For MAC, if you are warm toned buy NC, and if you are cool toned, buy NW. Trust me, you will thank yourself for it in the long run.



Ciao for now,
Jas xox

Photo found at http://www.myskinpharmacy.com.au/faq_post/how-to-know-if-a-foundation-colour-is-perfect-for-you/