Foundation Freak-Out: When You Can't Find The Right Makeup Shade

Foundation. We love it and we hate it.

And yes, just about every girl needs some, unless your skin is almost perfect. Foundation helps to balance your complexion and give it a healthy, sheer glow.

But when you can't match the right makeup shade for your skin tone, we call that, foundation freak-out!

Surely, with all the gazillion gallons of foundation makeup out there, you would think, that finding a shade that blends evenly with your skin color would be a piece of cake.

But sadly, that isn't so. Ask any women with olive skin, or a women of color, and they will tell you, that selecting the perfect foundation match is almost impossible. The color is either too light, too dark, too pink, too ashen, and so on. Many women with darker skin color often feel left out by the gigantic cosmetics industry.

Even superstar Jennifer Hudson admits she uses 2 Mac Studio Fix Fluids, NC45 and NC55, to get a beautiful makeup base:

"I blend two together to get the perfect shade," Jennifer says.

But should we all have to work that hard, just to get a decent foundation for our face?!

Apparently, some of us have to. With our own skin tone (Mediterranean background), which falls under the light olive range, we have tossed out many bottles over the years, even after being 'matched' by a dept. store makeup pro to get the so-called right foundation color. Well, the one she gave us, wasn't a great match.

We finally settled upon Revlon's ColorStay Soft-Flex liquid foundation in Nude. For some reason, this one has been our best match, and we picked it out ourself. No, the shade isn't absolutely perfect, but it's the closest we have come to a good makeup base. And that's the key here----don't look for perfection, just a foundation that closely resembles your own unique skin tone

So then, how do we match a foundation to our face?

A famous makeup artist, Sandy Linter gave us this tip a few years ago:

“I apply a swipe of color near the neck. On the face under the cheekbone. It has to blend into the skin, not exactly match it. But it should cover. Apply it on broken capillaries or something you need to tone down, like ruddy cheeks. See how the foundation sits on the skin.”

Most women don’t think about this, but a wonderful aspect about wearing foundation, is its ability to fight the elements like sun, wind and cold, harsh winter air. Wearing foundation, even without an SPF icluded, still provides a protective barrier, especially against sun damage.

If you have to go through a few bottles of foundation just to settle on one, so be it. Our complexions go through changes in tone over the years, and maybe you need a lighter base this time around. Experiment. Don't be afraid to try another brand.