Picking out the right color foundation is imperative to makeup success. This one deed is yet so daunting to women that many choose the wrong color and shy away from going any further. If you have ever applied foundation that after about thirty minutes turned gray, ashy, orange or pink on your face you know what I mean.

Look for Lines with a Wide Range of Colors

If I can seriously urge you to do anything that would be to get your foundation from a line that makes cosmetics especially for women of color like Fashion Fair, Iman, Real Cosmetics,Covergirl’s Queen Collection and MAC Cosmetics.

I’m saying this because the range of shades will usually be a lot larger. They also cover the undertone range a lot better. It’s amazing how you can have the same shades of brown but one shade will have yellow undertone, another red and another brown.

Like with skincare products make sure you pick the right formulation. If your skin tends to be dry all over you wouldn’t want to pick an oil- free foundation but on the other hand if your skin tends to be oily you will want to pick an oil-free or water based foundation. You can even go as far as to pick a fragrance free foundation if have sensitive skin. Once you have figured out what formula to use you can start deciding on the color.

Using Foundation to Change your Color

Now if you don’t mind I would like to step on my soapbox. Black women especially, please stop using foundation to change your color. Nothing is sadder than a attractive dark skin woman who starts to get nervous when I start applying a foundation she thinks is too dark but is absolutely perfect. Foundation is not made to make you lighter it is made to make your skin look the best it can by balancing uneven areas, covering blemishes and giving a more polished look. Using foundation to make your skin appear lighter will only result in you looking like you’re wearing a mask. This is no longer the eighties where the only people you saw in television commercials representing Black America were light-skinned. It is finally “in” to be brown and dark skinned. America has finally discovered what we knew all along “black is beautiful” all shades. Now I can get off my soapbox and on with this article.

How to Find the Right Shade of Foundation

At initial evaluation of foundation pick the color that looks very much like your color as it is in the bottle or compact. If that is more than one color that’s okay because the next step will narrow it down. Apply the foundation to your face, not your hand, in strips on your jawbone. The foundation that dries looking exactly like your skin color and matches your neck is the color for you. What you may want to do is apply the one that matched to a larger part of your face and go outside to see how it looks in natural light, artificial light can, at times, be deceiving. These steps should lead to you finding the right foundation for you.

Foundation Application Tips

1) With liquid foundation apply dots of foundation on your forehead, chin, cheeks and nose. Use a clean makeup sponge or clean fingers to connect the dots while smoothing the foundation in a downward motion. The ultimate method of applying foundation is the foundation brush. It assures an even application of foundation and doesn’t soak up the makeup like sponges so you use much less.

2) When using crème or crème to powder foundations use a slightly wet sponge to collect the foundation then apply to the face. This will thin the makeup out a little ensuring a smoother application.

3) Always remember less is more. If after applying your foundation you feel you need a little more coverage in some areas apply concealer over those areas only.

4) Wash your sponge frequently at the very least weekly with warm water and mild baby shampoo and dry completely. Or better yet replace your sponges often or buy a bag of makeup sponges from you drug, grocery or beauty supply store. I prefer the triangles to the circles and squares because they are better at getting foundation around your nose and under your eyes.

5) If a foundation you have been using for a while with no problem seems to all of a sudden break you out or irritate your skin it’s a good chance it has been contaminated with bacteria from your sponge or fingers so replace it. This rule also applies to mascara and eyeliner.

Photo above is of Iman’s Second to None Creme to Powder Foundation. Find more of Iman’s products.

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