Foundation 101

Foundations, one of the basic makeup needs yet most women get it wrong, including me. It took me years to find the right shade for me. I have sometimes been horribly wrong and sometimes my skin has looked perfect. One of the most common mistakes are usually by the application of the foundation rather than the colour itself. That's not what a lot of people know. For example, you can look like a wax figure when you see that a woman's face is an entirely different shade than her neck. Because she has not used the art of blending to apply the foundation all the way down to her neck and include her ears and jawlines properly. It comes with practice.

Choosing a foundation IS difficult and time consuming. I won't even lie about it. Firstly, foundation is not to change the colour of your face. That's the #1 thing everyone needs to know. Therefore, you have to find a foundation that matches your skin. The whole point is to wear a foundation to look seamless, as if your skin is flawless, making the look all the more natural. Choosing the right foundation is not only choosing the right colour but also deciding upon what sort of coverage you need. I usually go for a medium coverage because if I try full coverage, I look like I have dipped my face into cake batter. It is really what suits your skin and you learn what suits you by experimenting things. There is no magical formula to finding the right foundation for you. There's hundreds of cosmetic companies out there with thousands of products. I am not trying to make it sound harder than it already is. This could be a positive thing too, which means it has a wide variety of products for all skin colours.

So, talking about the coverage, there are light, medium and full coverage foundations and you have to figure out what sort of coverage you need. Since, I usually apply moisturizer before I apply my foundation (which helps avoid the cakey look and gets rid of the dryness) I feel medium coverage is perfect.

Once you have decided on the colour and coverage, you need to know the type of foundation. There are a bunch of foundations out there now, powder, cream, liquid and mousse. People use a combination of these. But in my opinion, using a medium coverage liquid foundation and then later setting it with a powder is the best.
In addition to all these points, is another important one, your skin. It is essential to know your skin type before you go shopping for a foundation. Are you oily skin? Dry skin? Or combination? There are oil-free liquid foundations out there, and ultra-matte foundations as well as oil-based foundations for dry skin.

Once we have all this information clear in our head, we can go shopping with everything in mind. Because once you get to the makeup counter, you're gonna have to talk to the cosmetician there. Trust me, I know it seems a bit embarrassing and people are shy and all that stuff. But it really helps because according to your skin, they will tell you things that we don't know about the foundations on those shelves. We might like something, purchase it, apply it, and later find out that it cakes up on you 3 hours later (which you are not able to identify in one trial at the store). The makeup counter staff is there to advise you which line of foundation is perfect for your skin. I usually avoid buying foundations from Wal-Mart because the staff there does not help. I buy Mascaras and other things from there because it's cheap but for skin products, I always go to Shoppers Drug Mart. It is not true that you need high end products for your skin to look flawless. It is not true that people who shop at Sephora and Mac are the only ones who can attain beautiful looking skin. There are a ton of drug store makeup lines at Shoppers and Wal-Mart that make good foundations. My top choice for foundation is Revlon ColourStay and Revlon PhotoReady. I have had both and I love them! The ColourStay gives you a matte finished look and comes with a variety of skin-types (oil based or not).

I know that the above listed information is not helpful as of yet. I am listing some steps below that you can use in picking out the right foundation.

1. Decide the right formulation of your skin. If you have oily skin, look for oil free foundations. If you have dry skin, go for moisturizing or hydrating foundations. For combination skin, determine whether you're more oily or dry. Even though I am combination, my T-zone is oily, so I am more towards the oily on the combination skin spectrum. Cream foundations usually work best for combination skins, but I haven't tried one yet.

2. Decide the type of coverage you want. Light, medium or full. If you have an even skin with a few ruddy areas, go for a light coverage. I do have an uneven skin stone, so I choose to go for a medium coverage.

3. When you go shopping for the foundation, go with a fresh, clean face. Wash your face and do not apply moisturizer (although you can, but I choose not to because of my oily T zone).

4. NEVER and I mean never try a foundation on your hand. Your hand skin colour is not always the same as your face. Always try the foundation on your jawline or neckline where your neck and face sort of meet. Here is when you find out if the colour will give you a seamless or natural look. The key is to see whether it blends out nicely.

5. Select colours that are closer to your natural skin tone. I choose to go for more yellow-based foundations, because they look natural on brown skin. However, a person who is white usually goes for more pinkish cooler under-tones of foundations.

6. Once you have picked out one or two colours that you think match your skin, try them on your jawlines, and stand in a place where there is enough light for you to judge what matches your skin. This is often a problem. You might like it at the store because of the bright/dull light and it might look different later on in natural light. This is what I do to solve this problem. Since, I take this as an investment, I usually test two foundations (one on each jawline) and walk out of the department store. I look at it outside in the natural light with my hand mirror and see which one looks more natural. Then, I go back in and make my choice.

7. When you are unsure of a colour or deciding between two or three colours, go for a colour that is lighter. Going darker is not a good choice. Because you can always add bronzer or mix it with another foundation if it's lighter. But if it's darker, it's probably going to mess up your look.

8. TRY new foundations! You have to try different brands to find out what you like. Some brands that I recommend (as listed earlier) are:

- Revlon ColourStay*
- Revlon PhotoReady
- Maybelline Fit Me (Shade 125)
- Extra Virgin Body Shop Mineral Foundation (Shade: Golden Beige)
- L'Oreal Tru Blend

Other tips:-
If you think, despite all these tips, you have not found a perfect foundation or that it does not suit you, there are other alternatives. Opt for a tinted moisturizer. It is like a foundation (as in it looks like one) but is applied like a moisturizer and gives you minimal coverage. Wearing too much foundation is not good for your skin. If I go through my withdrawal stage from foundation (when I start getting too many breakouts), I quit foundation for a good two to three weeks. In that time, I wear N 7 Tinted Moisturizer and take any basic concealer and cover my blemishes. And that's what foundation is for, to correct your blemishes and make your skin tone more even.

Always go with a hand mirror to the department store and testing it in bright light is essential.

Please do not hesitate for makeup advice at counters. That's what those girls get paid for. Make them do some work. All they do is just stand there, looking pretty. Let them move their muscles a little bit and actually apply some knowledge that they gained in beauty school.

Using a primer under your foundation minimizes pores and evens out skin tone, it gives you a more flawless look. And if you like a foundation that you think does a good job, but quite not as much as you would like it to. Try a primer under it and I can guarantee you that it would give you a flawless look. The best primer I have come across is the one by Rimmel.

These are all the tips I can think of. I hope it helped :)