Foundation 101

Foundation is always tricky for most of us. Everybody wants to find the perfect foundation. Some want their skin to look natural while others want to look flawless or both. I find that important part when choosing the right foundation is by looking for a foundation color specifically catering to our undertones. Knowing your color is the first thing in choosing a great foundation for a flawless natural look then what type of coverage and skin type. Everybody will always base their skin color off of Macs color system because Mac has always been the staple for a wide range of colors. Once you know you color in Mac you could base it off other brands of Foundations. So I would recommend for a beginner to start off with Mac which carries all types of foundations.

Mac color system is more easier to understand because of the undertone labels for all colors of their foundation.

A person's undertone is the color underneath ones actual skin color. One could tell by the color of their veins. So check your veins on the lower arm near the palm to determine which undertone you are. Blue veins is cool undertones and Green veins are warm undertones.

Types of undertones in the Mac system are NC and NW. NW means warm undertones such as red and orange. NC means cool under tones such as yellow.

Once you find your undertone, it will be a lot more easier to color match to any foundation and compare to Mac system. Now Coverage is a personal preference. It depends on the specific need of the individual that is why there is not just one type of coverage.

Types of coverage
Full coverage is thick covers more no need for concealer
Medium coverage less thick needs concealer because it doesn't cover all imperfections
Light coverage is the thinnest coverage which allows the skin to show
Types of Foundations cater to coverage
Bb creams beauty balm light to medium coverage
Tint moisture medium coverage
Foundation Light to Full coverage
Air brush

Tools of use with any type of foundation except Air gun which only should be used for water based foundations
Stippling Brush
Beauty Blender
Foundation Brush
Air Gun for Air Brush

Based foundations
Silicone Based
Water based
Wax based
Cream based could contain wax
Liquid based could contain silicone
Powder based

Knowing the base of a foundation is a good idea because it will determine what type of primer to use.

High-end and drug store That I have used with wide color range or specific undertone labels
Mac Studio Tech NC 45 /50 full coverage cream based Matte Finish
Mac Studio Sculpt NC 55 medium to full coverage silicone based Satin Finish
Kat Von D Lock it Tattoo Foundation Full coverage D 70 creamy based Matte Finish
L'Oreal True Match Light to Medium coverage  liquid based Matte Finish
Makeup Forever Face and Body light coverage water based Dewy Finish
Revlon Color-stay in combination mohagony medium to full coverage liquid based Matte Finish
Graftobian warm palette wide range of colors medium to full coverage cream based Satin Finish

Types of Finishes of Foundations
Matte
Satin
Dewy

A little bit of my foundation collection

I have more but this is what I like personally and find it would work for any skin type and tone. I don't like BB creams or tinted moisturizers so I couldn't mention those. It's a lot of information but very useful to know when looking for a right foundation. I have good ones but I'm still in search for a better one as well.

So check some of these tips out before starting your search and I hope this helped some-what in your search for the perfect foundation ...