Tip 1: Identify your skin tone
The best foundation match should mimic your natural skin tone. Skin tone refers to the natural surface colour of your complexion, which can sit somewhere on the spectrum of fair, light, medium or deep tones.
You can use our foundation shade finder quiz to identify your closest skin tone match. If the tone of your skin varies across different areas of your face, try colour-matching to your jawline away from the apple of your cheek – where there is often more of a natural flush or slight discolouration.
Tip 2: Learn how to match foundation colour to your undertone
Once you have identified your surface skin tone, you can reliably find your foundation shade by matching to your skin’s undertone. The ‘undertone’ refers to the colours under the surface of your skin, and they can be cool, warm or neutral. While your skin tone may change with the seasons, your undertone should remain consistent.
The right shade of foundation will melt into your complexion like a second skin. This type of makeup magic is only possible when the undertone of your skin matches the undertone of your foundation shade. Where the undertones don’t align, the foundation will sit obviously on your skin – a cool undertone foundation may look ghostly or ashy on someone with a warm undertone, even if the depth of the shade is right.
Find out if you have a cool, warm or neutral undertone by using our handy three-point checklist below.
Cool undertone
Those with a cool skin undertone may come across as red, pink, or bluish. You are likely a cool undertone if:
- The veins at your wrist appear blue or purple in natural light
- Your skin tends to burn in the sun, but not tan
- You look best in silver jewellery
If you are using a foundation shade finder to help you colour-match, cool undertone shades are often labelled porcelain, rose, sable, and cocoa.
Warm undertone
Those with a warm skin undertone could be described as yellow, peachy, and golden. You probably have a warm undertone if:
- The veins on your wrist appear green in natural light
- Your skin is quick to tan and rarely burns
- Your complexion is most flattered by gold jewellery
The best way to find your foundation shade as a warm undertone is to look for shades named beige, golden, tan, caramel, and chestnut.
Neutral undertone
Those with a neutral skin tone can think of olive tones or a mix of those above. Neutral undertones are a balance of warm and cool tones. You might have a neutral undertone if:
- You have a mix of green and blue veins on your wrist
- Your skin burns and tans
- You suit both gold and silver jewellery
As a neutral undertone, you can find your foundation shade match by looking for shades like ivory, buff, nude, and praline.
Tip 3: Use a foundation finder to pick your formula and shade
Once you know how to find your foundation shade according to your skin tone and undertone, you can use our foundation shade finder quiz to pick your formula and shade.
L’Oreal Paris has a range of sheer to full-coverage foundations for every skin type, with a wealth of colour variants to complement your undertone and surface tone.
- True Match Liquid Foundation: available in 48 shades with skin-matching pigments, each True Match Liquid Foundation includes an easy marker in the shade name to identify their undertone. Look for ‘C’ for cool undertones, ‘W’ for warm undertones, and ‘N’ for neutral undertones.
- Infallible 32hr Freshwear Liquid Foundation: available in 24 shades to cover light, medium and deep skin tones, the Infallible 32hr Freshwear Liquid Foundation offers buildable coverage and a luminous, satin finish.
Tip 4: Always match foundation colour against bare skin
The best way to correctly match your foundation colour is to test on bare skin. This is going to give you the most accurate foundation shade match and help you narrow down your selection without the interference of other products. If you often wear fake tan, our expert tip for how to match foundation colour is to rely on the undertone of your skin after applying self-tanner because the undertone of the product may differ.
Tip 5: Swatch a few shades in natural light
Find three shades that look like a good foundation match and apply them in parallel lines on your jawline, extending the product from your cheek and down to your neck. Avoid swatching shades on your hand or arm. While it might be quick and easy, you should always test your foundation where it will be applied because your skin tone may vary significantly between your arm and your face. Your closest foundation shade match should blend seamlessly into the skin on your neck and cheek.
The right lighting is crucial when finding your foundation shade match; different light types have different tones, and this can influence the appearance of a product’s undertone. As with any type of makeup, foundation colour-matching is best in natural light, so skip the in-store fluorescent lighting and head outdoors for a more accurate view.
Tip 6: Update your shade with the seasons
You skin tone often lightens or darkens through the seasons as your UV exposure increases and decreases. While your summer shade may be a perfect foundation match when you have a glowing tan, it’s probably going to be too dark against your complexion in the middle of winter. Your undertone will remain the same, but the depth of your foundation shade will need to be colour-matched again as your skin tone changes to ensure your complexion is flawless all year.
Now that you have the perfect foundation match, discover how to get glowing skin so your makeup look is immaculate every time.
