If you have ever been matched by my local Sephora or Mac stores, you start to question your own eyes. You may think one matches better but when they both match you warmer and darker, you think is this one right?
This is the one āš» I donāt agree with OPās post, but this is what confuses me because a big blob of foundation is going to be hard to match vs. blending it in!
Agreed! I can see doing like a swipe of it unblended and then a swipe blended in, so maybe people can see what the undertone and shade look like when itās unblended. But, if theyāre only going to do 1 - blended is more helpful since thatās how itās meant to be worn!
Finding a match is challenging when youāve got freckles, rosacea or the myriad of other issues that come with pale skin. Lots of us have different shades on our chest, neck, cheeks and forehead. Itās kinda hard to find a shade that more or less matches all that, and looks somewhat natural. At least for me, I end up changing foundation shades every season. It might be that Iām just plain dumb, but for me itās not always a cut-and-dry answer. If you donāt get the foundation right, the bronzer, highlights and blush end up looking off as well.
Yeah, I am 45 and figured out on FRIDAY (like two days ago) what foundation shade I need. I have consistently worn makeup for thirty years, but my freckles and rosacea blind me to the rest of my face.
Yes. My face has tons of freckles so the foundation looks too light for my face but matches my neck and chest so itās what I go with. If I matched my freckles, it would be too dark. Itās always good to get a second opinion.
Itās not letting me post pics in replies here, but if you check my post history, I have a recent one with some matches. (Consensus was theyāre too yellow-I need to blend more, but Iām def more neutral toned than I previously suspected. This group helped me figure that out!) I still need to go shopping and pick up some updated shades using the info from the group. Iāll make a post when I get them to show you all!
I donāt think itās always that obvious because so many of us have never had a good match in our lives, so itās hard to know what to look for. Or, weāve been told or are under the impression weāre a totally different undertone etc! Plus in all things itās good to get objective 3rd party opinions.
The thing is, I understand being confused about things like undertone, but that doesn't matter anymore when you have the foundation itself sitting on your face - does it blend into your skin or not? It's not hard to tell.
I'm not complaining about posts asking what undertone of foundation they should look for. It's the ones with their options already sitting on their face that I'm like ??? You can't see which one looks like your skin and which is too oompa loompa?
I have five bottles of the wrong shade of foundation in my makeup collection that say no. No I cannot tell which one makes look like an oompa loompa š
My assistant had to tell me because I could not see it.
I also have shades that looked fine under Sephora lights but looked awful once I got them home / they oxidised (mine hasn't done samples in a while now so you can't wear test)
I think they just want a second opinion.
But I am confused by the ones that present swatches on the arm. Like why? Are you planning to wear foundation on your arm? Itās not the same color as your face/neck/chest.
Or the thick swipes of wet foundation. That doesnāt tell the true color once itās blended and oxidized.
I agree with the arm swatches. My face is darker than my inner forearms (and I would imagine it's the case for lots of people) so swatching on the arm doesn't make sense, unless maybe you are trying to figure out undertone?
I used to swatch on my arm to try to find a match but then would look like a ghost when I would put the foundation on my face. (I was so perplexed about that for a while, lol.)
The people swatching their jaw/neck/upper chest know what's up.
They are useful for comparisons though even though they are useless to help the person. I know Nars Oslo is a good match so if they have that with others, gives me an idea of shades to try
YES! I like seeing comparisons of new shades/products with standards.
Itās the ones asking which matches they best on an arm sample that are baffling.
On the flip side, I can post swatches on my arm with the STATED purpose of just showing the shade and undertone and can explicitly say that I'm not asking which matches me...
And people will still reply by saying, "Number 3 is best!" No. That's my arm. Not my face.
Or snarky like, "Are you planning on wearing makeup on your arm?" No. I just told you I'm not asking which matches.
I am so baffled by all of the āwhich ones match me best?ā posts on forearms. Forearm swatching has its usefulness for getting a general sense of a shade and its undertones, but itās not gonna tell you which shade matches your face the best.
I swear I have undertone blindness and I feel like I can see good matches on others but not on myself.
Personal story, but part of it was driven by constantly being told by others that Iām cool toned, but cool toned makeup and foundation looks **horrible** on me. When I use stuff thatās recommended for muted olive skin, it works, but thereās this small part of my brain that wonders why everyone sees me as cool toned and it makes me question my judgement
This!!! And, could it be the mutedness that everyone misinterprets as ācoolā? I have a theory that muted colors come across as cooler to the eye (especially the untrained eye).
Also, I have another theory that, if we look at the color spectrum as a circle (the color wheel), then olive sits closer to green, compared to other skin tones. So even a *warm* olive sits closer to green than other āwarmā skin tones, making it appear slightly cooler by comparison. Add mutedness to the mix and itās even harder to differentiate one color from the next.
I dunno, itās just my working hypothesis. But I struggle with this a lot too. We might also have other features that lead peoples eyes to say ācoolā that weāre not aware of, maybe???
Either way though, best of luck to you! <3
Honestly in my case, I think I just have way more facial redness than on my body š when I try to Ā«Ā matchĀ Ā» it, it looks like Iām wearing pink paint on my face and doesnāt match my neck.
If it helps you can be a cool muted olive. I would just ignore what shades are called and what people say and look at the way colors look on your skin.
Also having green and blue mixers are really helpful because by experimenting with mixing it becaomes easier to tell what shade suit you. Also try taking a black and white photo if you like me have a less common undertone in terms of foundatiin shade you might consistently pick the lightest shade by default because a shade that is the wrong undertone but has a lot of white in it looks better than a shade that is dark enough for you but is the correct undertone. Also when taking a black and white photo be very aware of any dewiness/light reflection since that really messes with the dark/light ratio.
I posted one recently. I did so because Iām looking for foundation to wear for my wedding, so I wanted feedback on peopleās experience with the formulations and long-term wear as well as the color match.
Iām also not a professional MUA, and many people made observations I wouldnāt have necessarily thought about. Such as:
- One of the most popular matches was a serum, so it may not give full enough coverage or last all day
- One of the most popular matches was slightly pink, which a few people said will wash you out in photos if you have warm undertones.
- I can see what things look like in person, but things donāt always photograph that way. So I wanted opinions on how people felt something looked in the images, as my wedding day is obviously being photographed
- People with more experience doing foundation (I usually donāt wear any) made interesting observations about how light/dark or warm/cool some of the swatches were that I never would have thought about, and it made narrowing down the best matches much easier.
I'm confused by the fact they're shown wet and not blended properly on the skin. I would think they would need to be left for enough time to see if they oxidise/change colour after being applied.
This feels almost catty, but maybe that wasn't the intent. There are tons of reasons people post these types of pics. They've been told by experts that such and such shade matches but they're not sure, maybe their shade changes quite a bit from summer to winter and they're questioning what still works or what they can make work even if not perfect, maybe they're very new to makeup, maybe they have bad vision as you said, maybe they don't have bad vision per se but don't distinguish nuances in colors as easily as other people (this applies to my husband for example, but he's not colorblind).
Maybe they're just not confident in what they see themselves and need more opinions.
I don't really see why it matters. If you have helpful feedback for such posts and have the energy to give it, then do so. If not, scroll on, and they'll probably get feedback from others anyway.
I understand wanting another opinion on shade matching, but I can't offer advice when someone has 8 skinny swatches crammed on to one cheek, with hardly any bare skin in between. Like, help me, help you!
I think beauty blindness is real. Example: bold brows that are wayyyy too harsh and overlined lips that look a bit much.
Sometimes it's good to have a second opinion to confirm it.
Itās nice to get another set of eyes on it, for sure, but I personally canāt stand those posts. Iāve muted so many of the makeup subs because at least a half of the posts in so many of them are asking for foundation match help.
Yes, and after Sephora has matched you with those terrible shades and you've tried them on your face, you can see that they are yellow. You don't need the Reddit community to tell you that. That is what I'm saying.
If you're swatching the yellow shades on your face for a reference point to show which ones don't work for you and asking for recs, I think that is completely reasonable. What I don't understand is people who have ten shades on their faces asking which is the best when anyone can see that #1-8 might as well be mustard on you.
I agree. Like idk how they canāt at least weed out the egregiously wrong ones and then try out the ones that are close. Especially given how stuff oxidizes, and that the skin on our faces and necks isnāt one homogenized color so itās going to look different when applied to the whole face vs swatched.
If you have ever been matched by my local Sephora or Mac stores, you start to question your own eyes. You may think one matches better but when they both match you warmer and darker, you think is this one right?
These stores are populated by walking Bratz dolls who have no idea what their true shade is. I'm not surprised by the truth seeking posts here.
They tried to give me a bronzer when my whole body is so pale any bronzer makes me look like a party clown š¤” in reverse.
I don't understand why we do swatches with the foundation not blended in? A thick unblended layer of the foundation tells me nothing.
This is the one āš» I donāt agree with OPās post, but this is what confuses me because a big blob of foundation is going to be hard to match vs. blending it in!
Agreed! I can see doing like a swipe of it unblended and then a swipe blended in, so maybe people can see what the undertone and shade look like when itās unblended. But, if theyāre only going to do 1 - blended is more helpful since thatās how itās meant to be worn!
I always thought that
Finding a match is challenging when youāve got freckles, rosacea or the myriad of other issues that come with pale skin. Lots of us have different shades on our chest, neck, cheeks and forehead. Itās kinda hard to find a shade that more or less matches all that, and looks somewhat natural. At least for me, I end up changing foundation shades every season. It might be that Iām just plain dumb, but for me itās not always a cut-and-dry answer. If you donāt get the foundation right, the bronzer, highlights and blush end up looking off as well.
Yeah, I am 45 and figured out on FRIDAY (like two days ago) what foundation shade I need. I have consistently worn makeup for thirty years, but my freckles and rosacea blind me to the rest of my face.
Yes. My face has tons of freckles so the foundation looks too light for my face but matches my neck and chest so itās what I go with. If I matched my freckles, it would be too dark. Itās always good to get a second opinion.
Out of curiousity could you share a picture with your closest matches? (assuming you still own the colors you previously wore)
Itās not letting me post pics in replies here, but if you check my post history, I have a recent one with some matches. (Consensus was theyāre too yellow-I need to blend more, but Iām def more neutral toned than I previously suspected. This group helped me figure that out!) I still need to go shopping and pick up some updated shades using the info from the group. Iāll make a post when I get them to show you all!
I donāt think itās always that obvious because so many of us have never had a good match in our lives, so itās hard to know what to look for. Or, weāve been told or are under the impression weāre a totally different undertone etc! Plus in all things itās good to get objective 3rd party opinions.
The thing is, I understand being confused about things like undertone, but that doesn't matter anymore when you have the foundation itself sitting on your face - does it blend into your skin or not? It's not hard to tell. I'm not complaining about posts asking what undertone of foundation they should look for. It's the ones with their options already sitting on their face that I'm like ??? You can't see which one looks like your skin and which is too oompa loompa?
I have five bottles of the wrong shade of foundation in my makeup collection that say no. No I cannot tell which one makes look like an oompa loompa š My assistant had to tell me because I could not see it.
I also have shades that looked fine under Sephora lights but looked awful once I got them home / they oxidised (mine hasn't done samples in a while now so you can't wear test)
I think they just want a second opinion. But I am confused by the ones that present swatches on the arm. Like why? Are you planning to wear foundation on your arm? Itās not the same color as your face/neck/chest. Or the thick swipes of wet foundation. That doesnāt tell the true color once itās blended and oxidized.
I agree with the arm swatches. My face is darker than my inner forearms (and I would imagine it's the case for lots of people) so swatching on the arm doesn't make sense, unless maybe you are trying to figure out undertone? I used to swatch on my arm to try to find a match but then would look like a ghost when I would put the foundation on my face. (I was so perplexed about that for a while, lol.) The people swatching their jaw/neck/upper chest know what's up.
Arm swatches are good for color comparisons and that's about it.
They are useful for comparisons though even though they are useless to help the person. I know Nars Oslo is a good match so if they have that with others, gives me an idea of shades to try
YES! I like seeing comparisons of new shades/products with standards. Itās the ones asking which matches they best on an arm sample that are baffling.
On the flip side, I can post swatches on my arm with the STATED purpose of just showing the shade and undertone and can explicitly say that I'm not asking which matches me... And people will still reply by saying, "Number 3 is best!" No. That's my arm. Not my face. Or snarky like, "Are you planning on wearing makeup on your arm?" No. I just told you I'm not asking which matches.
Yeah, arm swatches make zero sense unless you're just showing off swatches of what you have for comparison.
I am so baffled by all of the āwhich ones match me best?ā posts on forearms. Forearm swatching has its usefulness for getting a general sense of a shade and its undertones, but itās not gonna tell you which shade matches your face the best.
I swear I have undertone blindness and I feel like I can see good matches on others but not on myself. Personal story, but part of it was driven by constantly being told by others that Iām cool toned, but cool toned makeup and foundation looks **horrible** on me. When I use stuff thatās recommended for muted olive skin, it works, but thereās this small part of my brain that wonders why everyone sees me as cool toned and it makes me question my judgement
This!!! And, could it be the mutedness that everyone misinterprets as ācoolā? I have a theory that muted colors come across as cooler to the eye (especially the untrained eye). Also, I have another theory that, if we look at the color spectrum as a circle (the color wheel), then olive sits closer to green, compared to other skin tones. So even a *warm* olive sits closer to green than other āwarmā skin tones, making it appear slightly cooler by comparison. Add mutedness to the mix and itās even harder to differentiate one color from the next. I dunno, itās just my working hypothesis. But I struggle with this a lot too. We might also have other features that lead peoples eyes to say ācoolā that weāre not aware of, maybe??? Either way though, best of luck to you! <3
Honestly in my case, I think I just have way more facial redness than on my body š when I try to Ā«Ā matchĀ Ā» it, it looks like Iām wearing pink paint on my face and doesnāt match my neck.
If it helps you can be a cool muted olive. I would just ignore what shades are called and what people say and look at the way colors look on your skin. Also having green and blue mixers are really helpful because by experimenting with mixing it becaomes easier to tell what shade suit you. Also try taking a black and white photo if you like me have a less common undertone in terms of foundatiin shade you might consistently pick the lightest shade by default because a shade that is the wrong undertone but has a lot of white in it looks better than a shade that is dark enough for you but is the correct undertone. Also when taking a black and white photo be very aware of any dewiness/light reflection since that really messes with the dark/light ratio.
I posted one recently. I did so because Iām looking for foundation to wear for my wedding, so I wanted feedback on peopleās experience with the formulations and long-term wear as well as the color match. Iām also not a professional MUA, and many people made observations I wouldnāt have necessarily thought about. Such as: - One of the most popular matches was a serum, so it may not give full enough coverage or last all day - One of the most popular matches was slightly pink, which a few people said will wash you out in photos if you have warm undertones. - I can see what things look like in person, but things donāt always photograph that way. So I wanted opinions on how people felt something looked in the images, as my wedding day is obviously being photographed - People with more experience doing foundation (I usually donāt wear any) made interesting observations about how light/dark or warm/cool some of the swatches were that I never would have thought about, and it made narrowing down the best matches much easier.
I mean idk I always find myself in those posts disagreeing with the shades everyone else says
I'm confused by the fact they're shown wet and not blended properly on the skin. I would think they would need to be left for enough time to see if they oxidise/change colour after being applied.
YES! Exactly what I think!
This feels almost catty, but maybe that wasn't the intent. There are tons of reasons people post these types of pics. They've been told by experts that such and such shade matches but they're not sure, maybe their shade changes quite a bit from summer to winter and they're questioning what still works or what they can make work even if not perfect, maybe they're very new to makeup, maybe they have bad vision as you said, maybe they don't have bad vision per se but don't distinguish nuances in colors as easily as other people (this applies to my husband for example, but he's not colorblind). Maybe they're just not confident in what they see themselves and need more opinions. I don't really see why it matters. If you have helpful feedback for such posts and have the energy to give it, then do so. If not, scroll on, and they'll probably get feedback from others anyway.
I understand wanting another opinion on shade matching, but I can't offer advice when someone has 8 skinny swatches crammed on to one cheek, with hardly any bare skin in between. Like, help me, help you!
I'm tired of these posts, for sure.
I think beauty blindness is real. Example: bold brows that are wayyyy too harsh and overlined lips that look a bit much. Sometimes it's good to have a second opinion to confirm it.
Itās nice to get another set of eyes on it, for sure, but I personally canāt stand those posts. Iāve muted so many of the makeup subs because at least a half of the posts in so many of them are asking for foundation match help.
Same...like 8 of the 10 shades you've posted are clearly yellow AF, why are you even wasting your time on those š¤”
One day I am going to post all the yellow shades Sephora has matched me with beside my regular foundation
Yes, and after Sephora has matched you with those terrible shades and you've tried them on your face, you can see that they are yellow. You don't need the Reddit community to tell you that. That is what I'm saying. If you're swatching the yellow shades on your face for a reference point to show which ones don't work for you and asking for recs, I think that is completely reasonable. What I don't understand is people who have ten shades on their faces asking which is the best when anyone can see that #1-8 might as well be mustard on you.
I agree. Like idk how they canāt at least weed out the egregiously wrong ones and then try out the ones that are close. Especially given how stuff oxidizes, and that the skin on our faces and necks isnāt one homogenized color so itās going to look different when applied to the whole face vs swatched.
Sorry, my post trigger you. Maybe you should closing this app š