Why Are You Wearing The Wrong Foundation?

 The Stripe Test, How to Choose the Right Mineral Makeup Foundation Shade

Let’s face it, nothing looks worse than the wrong foundation shade on your skin.

You just want the perfect match, right?

If you want to get technical, the process of choosing a foundation to match your skin tone looks at undertone (hue) and depth (value) of different foundations against your skin.

But really. Who cares?

Here’s what you do:

Eyeball a few foundation shades:

Choose three that you think look close to your skin tone.

Dip your finger in the minerals (go ahead, minerals are inorganic so will not become contaminated with bacteria, hence a forever shelf life, cool eh?) and swipe a thick stripe of each next to each other on your neck/jaw line.

Let it cook (and click Let it cook to learn more).

Now that you have your three stripes next to each other, stop for a minute.

Call your mom. Sort your underwear drawer.

After a few minutes, take a look in the mirror. The stripes will have changed; one of them should have disappeared.

That is the one you want. You want your foundation to match your skin, avoiding the line that separates your face from you neck.

The goal is one continuous matching skin tone.

A common mistake I see, is when women look for color in their face and attempt  to get it with their foundation.

This leads to the two shade demarcation on the jaw line, the neck being one color and the face another.

Instead, use your bronzer and cheek color for a rosy glow. It will look so much more natural.

Style Minerals Foundations are so easy to get a perfect match with, because they are named with function in mind. Instead of romantic names like “Arabella” or “Caramel” they have names such as “Warm 1″ and “Neutral 2″.

This takes so much of the guess work out!

If I were doing a personal consultation with you, I would first determine what your undertone is. (Here is where it gets more technical)

What is Your Hue?

Are you warm or cool?  If you are a warm, I would pull from the Warm Group. (Note: If you have a lot of redness to your skin, this does not always mean a cool undertone. It can be tricky, so if you need a bit of help let me know.)

And Your Value?

Are you fair, or darker in complexion? If you are darker, I would then pull Warm 3 or 4.

I would then give you your stripes, and to confirm my choice of Warm, I would add a third stripe of Neutral. If, after your stripes cooked, the stripes were too light, I would bump up to Warm 4 or 5. Or, I could bump down to 2 if the stripes were to dark. Easy!

Seasons of Time

Your skin tone will change over time, It is important to retest your foundation every few years to be sure you still have a good match. Just as the seasons bring more (think summer) or less color to our skin, the seasons of life play a role here as well. As we age, our skin tone softens in depth, and you want to be sure you are making the necessary adjustments. Don’t get stuck in a time warp!

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