Need Foundation Help? Please post here.......

[namomof3]

I started a thread a minute ago, but thought I should post here! I am tanned-skin Latina oily/acne skinin a humid climate. In the pics I am wearing Lucy minerals toffee which is clearly too light. Olives/yellows make me look jaundiced. Looking for medium/full coverage for light acne scarring.

[JenW]

namomof3-

I think you will be a Warm Gold. Try 1 scoop color to about 3 Ivory.

Warm Gold is a blend of Golden, Peach, and slight Olive. If olive and yellow tones make you look jaundiced, I imagine the color missing was peach.

[zeebs]

Hey Jen, I am wondering if you think I could match better. I was wearing primarily ebony with a little bit of buttery gold thrown into the mix in about a 1:11 ratio depending on the season.

I had also tried the yellow booster but found that it made me look sickly. Warm gold isn't really the right color because it's too orange. I can wear Date Bait and Tempt Tryst but not Liberty.

I have not tried the newer foundation colors and am wondering if they might help me mix a better match?

In the past I have used Clinique and Aveda liquid foundations which, from what I understand, are yellow based but neutral?

I am probably a "spring" if that helps. I am definitely not cool/pink, but I can't decide exactly *what* my skin tone is because I'm so fair-complected. Now that it is summer, I have a tan, and it's mostly freckles with kind of a warm yellow tone to it. It is practically impossible for me to find colors that flatter my skin, especially blushes, and there seems to be no pattern in terms of warm/cool, though I've noted that orange is particularly tragic as a makeup color and that anything too cool looks ashy/muddy, similarly it's easy for reds and yellows to look too warm and therefore feverish.

Do you have any other ideas? I sent you a photo awhile back, but if you need another, let me know, and I'll PM. Yes, that's my eyeball in my avatar, IDK if that is enough to go on.

Thanks.

[JenW]

Zeebs...did you ever try Ebony with Yellow Booster instead of Buttery Gold? I am wondering if it is the golden part that is off (which would explain why Warm Gold is so off, too). Another thing to try (but this is more of a longshot) is Ebony with a bit of Peach or Olive, but just a very small amount of either one.

Fair skintone gets very hard to read, and usually the yellows and browns dilute out more quickly than the reds in the color bases when mixing for fair tones. It does get to be a guessing game at times.

[superwahz]

"Matchmaker, Matchmaker, make me a match!" Sorry Jen, that's all I can think of every time I read this thread!

I was wondering if you could help me figure out a better foundation mix? It's time for a new batch. I was wearing 3/4 ebony, 3/4 buttery gold, 3/4 olive to 3 glow and 18 med. coverage ivory. When I started wearing SN a while back I swatched the bases on my skin and all looked off. Buttery gold seemed to brighten my skin and counteract the ashy pink coloration I get with Ebony (and I was still under the impression I was cool-toned, like makeup counter ladies think all fair skinned women are!). I added the olive later because I know I have olive tones and something about the mix of the other two seemed off still. It looked fine in the winter, but now that summer's here and I have a bit of sun, the blend looks too ashy pink.

Last night I mixed each sample color in a ratio of 1:8 and swatched them on my cheek, forehead, and neck. I meant to take pics but I got distracted helping DH with the grill and by the time I was free, the sun was too low to get a good one. It's cloudy out today, but if it helps I can swatch them again and try to get a pic to show it accurately? My cheeks are really pink, so finding a match is hard. Ebony looked too cool, pinky ashy brown. Buttery Gold looked too mustard yellow on my face, blended in well with my neck. Olive melted into my skin and looked lighter than the rest, which surprised me because I thought it was a darker foundation base? It almost disappeared into my skin in all 3 places, but looked just slightly off, can't describe how though, maybe a bit gray? It reminded me why I hate my natural hair color, it's light ash brown and so ashy it looks gray and makes my skin look very red and irritable all the time...which is why I color it! Warm Gold matched almost as well as Olive in all 3 places, it looked slightly bronze, like I sprinkled a little bronzer in it? I don't know if that will fade out as the mix gets lighter or not? I liked the color but worry it may look too orange if applied all over. Peach was way off, looked like blush!

I'm not sure what my undertones are. I know I have some olive undertones, and I can see yellow in my skin, especially my neck, around my eyes and mouth. I can wear greens in lighter shades, but I usually stick to brighter colors, or darker tones (teal, brown, rust). That peacock teal that's been going around in fashion from last fall? That's one of the best colors ever on me, makes my eyes pop. Whenever I dye my hair red I get comments from people that I should have been born with that hair color, but that happens whether it's a deeper sangria red, or a brighter orange red. You've seen my eyes, they shift blue/green/gray depending on what I wear. I think ivory flatters my skin better than white, but I prefer silver jewelry.

I used to wear liquid foundations but they always were too orange or too pink, even the lightest Clinique liquid turned orange. Powders were too ashy or too orange, I basically stuck to transluscent. My favorite blush is Satisfied, Cider looks like a bronzer on me, it's me with the tan I never get! Most lippies turn pink on me. I freckle easy, even have freckles in my lips! I burn very easily, then tan a golden brown. We have a lot of Native American ascestry...

So...any wonderful insight into what I should try next? Sorry this is so long!

[JenW]

It is so funny to see the veterans here!

superwhaz,
I think Olive sounds like a good avenue to begin.....To brighten it a little you can add some Yellow Booster. The golden component to Buttery Gold (the mustardy part) is a little different, and you will have total control over how much yellow you want to add.) Yellow adds slowly, so start with one scoop in your ratio and go from there. Olive usually is much darker than other bases you tried (except Peach). That one is kind of a head scratcher. Generally, you would be in about the 1:15 range for that one. Olive does not surprise me, actually. Do you know how many of us have been led down the path of thinking we were cool toned by having rosy cheeks? Olive is just a hair on the warmish side of neutral.

Warm Gold might lighten enough for on its own at about 1:10. Yep...nothing really to add, but I wonder if Warm Gold would be a good summer color for you.

[namomof3]

is it best to start with medium coverage and build up coverage or should I go straight to heavy? Sorry about the newbie questions? I definitly would start with a sample kit of warm gold and ivory and keep tweaking right??

[Cupcake]

Yeah, just wanted to add 2c's worth highlighting what Jen said about knowing the difference between a yellow tone and a gold tone. It might seem like micro-fine tuning, but it makes a lot of difference. One will make your skin look "yeah, good, that'll do", the other will be "omg, I look ALIVE!!!".

I was originally cool-fair (pink, argh those rosey cheeks!), then Golden Fair (near Sandy Fair) (not so scared to look in a mirror...), then I came here and Buttery Gold was my new best friend. Dabbing with samples since, I found that I'm a very pale neutral brown with a hint of yellow - not gold, after all - and although the foundation looks terrific, the real bonus is that other blush and eyeshadow colours suddenly distinctly work amazingly, or look awful. Before they were all 'nice', now some look awesome (and some don't). Also, the rosiness of my cheeks can show through and look healthy without looking 'off' like they clash with foundation undertones.

Basic point being, fine tune the undertones and it revolutionises your whole makeup appearance. But start again with a blank mindset, not just what you think you are based upon what you used before. I know a peach who turned into an olive - (there's a mental image!!) Be brave and revamp - it can be an amazing change.

[superwahz]

is it best to start with medium coverage and build up coverage or should I go straight to heavy? Sorry about the newbie questions? I definitly would start with a sample kit of warm gold and ivory and keep tweaking right??

I wear medium coverage to help hide hyperpigmentation, acne scars, and sun damage. It works well, while still allowing my freckles to show through! I don't know exactly how Karen managed to make a foundation base do that, but it works! Once I add the finishing powder on top everything looks natural, yet trouble spots are covered. I'd assume at a darker blend (on deeper toned skin like yours) it would cover even better. So maybe sample both? If you end up loving the medium, you could make a concealer from the heavy!

Oh, and newbie questions are always welcome...after all, we were all once newbies!

[zeebs]

Zeebs...did you ever try Ebony with Yellow Booster instead of Buttery Gold? I am wondering if it is the golden part that is off (which would explain why Warm Gold is so off, too). Another thing to try (but this is more of a longshot) is Ebony with a bit of Peach or Olive, but just a very small amount of either one.

Fair skintone gets very hard to read, and usually the yellows and browns dilute out more quickly than the reds in the color bases when mixing for fair tones. It does get to be a guessing game at times.

The yellow booster was too sallow. Buttery gold was better. Ebony alone looks too cool but is quite close. I had the best results with Ebony + dash of Buttery Gold + Unblush, which made me wonder about using Olive?...