STYLE BY MELI

MELI’S ANSWER:  

I often explain to people it’s actually more common to be multiple skin tones than to be completely even all over.  It’s especially even more common for the face to be much lighter than the rest of the body.

Ultimately, you want to choose a foundation color that best blends in with your neck so you avoid seeing a drastic contrast between the jawline as it blends into the neck.

I further want to point out that the neck is typically the fairest part of the body being that it gets the least amount of sun exposure.  I understand for many, this proposes a problem because people rather look more tan/darker especially in the summer, but there is a better way to achieve this end result which requires some creative product layering.  As previously mentioned, I find the foundation color (in the medium form of a liquid or cream) NEEDS to match the neck as closely as possible and will serve as the initial base of the makeup application.  Afterwards, you can go ahead and build the color back with powders, both your all-over finishing powder and with the help of a bronzer.  With finishing powder, I usually go up at least a shade or oftentimes a few shades darker to add warmth and give color back to the skin (to more closely match the body if the body is more tan).  It’s okay to do this with a POWDER because powders are much more forgiving in terms of the consistency and product payoff (less concentrated in pigmentation than a liquid or cream product).

I always highly recommend seeking a makeup professional to find the best foundation match and ask them to apply it to the entire face (or simply ask to take home a sample of the foundation so you can test it out yourself).  This not only is the best way to see what it looks in terms of whether the shade matches or not, but also give you a feel for the product itself.

Keep in mind that a foundation may match perfectly but may not be your “perfect” foundation if you find the coverage doesn’t suit your needs or you don’t like the overall finish it leaves your skin.  It is for this reason that I always advise testing out a foundation on the entire face, rather than just a swatch.  

[Do you have any tips to share on choosing the right foundation?]

This entry was posted on July 25, 2012 at 11:36 PM and is filed under FACE, FOUNDATION, MAKE-UP, MAKE-UP QUESTIONS, MAKEUP QUESTIONS, POWDERS . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.