5 Tips for Finding Your Perfect Foundation

Figuring out how to choose a foundation shade can definitely feel overwhelming. Whether you are looking for perfect foundations for oily skin, best foundations for dry skin, powder foundations, or liquid foundations, the list is endless. But here are five important things to keep in mind the next time you’re on the hunt for the perfect foundation.

Tips on How to Choose Foundation Shade

Know Your Undertone: Warm (yellow/golden), Cool (pink/blue), or Neutral (mix); this never changes.
Match Your Skin Type: Oily (matte/powder), Dry (hydrating), Combination (satin), Sensitive (gentle formulas), Normal (most types work).
Pick Your Coverage: Light (natural finish), Medium (buildable everyday look), Full (covers spots, blemishes, pigmentation).
Swatch Correctly: Always test foundation on your jawline, ensuring it blends with both your face and neck.
Check Oxidation: Wait 5–10 minutes after swatching to see if the foundation darkens or turns orange before buying.

Tips on How To Select Foundation Shade

Here are 5 expert-approved tips on how to choose a foundation shade with ease:

Know your Undertone

Determining your undertone is key while searching answers for how to choose a foundation shade that best matches you. Undertones are the colours that come through and add an overall hue to your skin. Undertones have nothing to do with the colour of your skin, your skin colour can change as seasons change or if you get a fake tan, but your undertone will always remain the same. There are three types of undertones:

• Warm Undertones: Extends an overall peachy, yellow, or golden glow to the skin.

• Cool Undertones: Gives your skin hints of pink, reds, and blue.

• Neutral Undertone: It has a balanced mix of both warm and cool tones.

Know your Skin Type

Knowing your skin type is essential to finding the right products. The main skin types are oily, dry, and normal, and combination. It is important to understand how to choose a foundation shade that is meant for your skin type. Here’s how to find foundation for your skin type:

• Oily Skin: Powder foundation, mattifying, oil-control foundations

• Combination Skin: Satin or satin-matte foundations

• Dry Skin: Hydrating foundation

• Sensitive Skin: Foundation with soothing formulas

• Normal Skin: All variants work

Know the Level of Coverage you Desire

Knowing how to select a foundation shade isn’t enough. You must know about the coverage it delivers.

• Light Coverage: If you’re looking to just even out your skin tone without fully covering everything up, go for a sheer or light coverage foundation.

• Medium Coverage: A medium coverage foundation lies somewhere in between and is often buildable to full coverage.

• Full Coverage: To completely cover all your spots, blemishes, and hyperpigmentation, opt for a full coverage foundation.

Read our guide on Tips To Make Your Foundation Coverage Look Flawless and flaunt an airbrushed look with confidence.

Swatch Foundation the Right Way

How many times have you bought a foundation that you swatched on your hand or your cheeks, only to later realise that it does not match your neck at all? The best way to avoid having a stark line and completely different colours on your face and neck is to swatch it along your jawline.

Swatch a foundation on your jawbone so you have a little on both your cheek and your neck. This way, you can check if the foundation matches both these areas, an important step in finding a shade that looks natural on your skin.

Wait to See if Your Foundation Oxidizes or Not

Foundations tend to oxidize after some time because of the heat from the skin, causing it to turn slightly orange. To prevent this from happening, it is important to swatch a foundation and wait for around 5-10 minutes to see how the foundation will truly appear after it has oxidized. The foundation that seemed to match when you first swatched might suddenly turn darker.

So, the next time you’re at the store trying out foundation, swatch some on your jawbone and give it some time to settle in before you make your decision.

Whether you’re going for an everyday, natural makeup or glamming up for an important event, learning how to choose a foundation shade can make or break your look. With various shades, finishes, formulas, and coverage levels available, it is no surprise that finding the perfect foundation is one of the toughest parts of shopping for makeup.

Not sure which foundation shade will suit you the best? Head to the Foundation Shade Finder tool pick the best foundations, concealers, and skin tints virtually before you buy them. Check out the Virtual-Try-On tool to try a variety of face makeup, lip makeup and eye makeup to top off your base. For more tips on how to select the foundation shade for your skin's type and needs, read our Ultimate Foundation Guide.

Frequently Asked Questions on Foundation Finding Tips

There are a number of simple ways in which you can determine your undertone. Check the color of your veins. If your veins appear greenish, it means you have a warm undertone, bluish means cool undertone, and mixed means neutral undertone. You can hold white paper to your face to check your undertone. Yellow glow means warm, pinkish means cool. Try out a bunch of these tests to correctly determine your undertone and use this knowledge when shopping for your next foundation.

Determine your skin tone, undertone, and test foundation shades on your jawline in natural light. The one that disappears into your skin without leaving a line is your perfect match. Finally, select the foundation finish and coverage as per your skin type to achieve the desired results.

You should always match the foundation shade to your skin tone. Selecting too light shades makes your skin appear ashy, while darker shades can look muddy. If unsure, mix two foundation shades (lighter and slightly darker) to achieve the right shade match.