Choosing the right foundation for your skin is one of the most important aspects of your makeup. I automatically think of the woman who’s foundation never matched her neck, and left a hideous line along the jaw! Nowadays there are so many more choices in colour, texture, and formulation. Despite this fact it can still be a daunting task to find one that works for you. The most popular formulations are liquid, cream, and powder. Liquids and creams can be silicone, water, emollient or gel based. Because of major advancements in technology and the multitudes of brands, both prestige and drugstore, there is bound to be more that one foundation that will suit your needs.

Here are a few tips to help narrow the process down:

1. When deciding on colour first look at the undertone of your skin is it warm, with pink or orange undertones? Cool, with gold or olive undertones or neutral, equal amounts of both cool and warm.

2. Look at the depth of colour. Are you light, medium, or dark?

3. Type of coverage. Sheer–minimal coverage skin shows through. Medium–flaws and imperfections are covered but skin looks natural. Full coverage–All flaws are completely covered natural skin does not show through.

4. What type of skin do you have? Normal, oily, dry or combination. This makes a difference as to what formulation you’ll choose. Dry skin would generally go for a hydrating foundation in liquid or cream. Whereas oily skin would probably avoid anything with a lot of moisturizing properties. A semi matte liquid or gel based formula would be more appropriate.

5. Always try colours on your face before committing. Or take samples home and test them out.

6. Try on the jawline to get a good colour match with your neck.

7. Most importantly decide how you want your skin to look. Besides flawless do you want a matte finish, glowy or somewhere in between.

Sometimes it’s quite challenging to find the exact match in a foundation. Either you are in between shades, or your skin is more than one colour (especially if you have a dark skin tone). Buying two foundations can solve both of these problems. If you are in between colours, having two shades gives you the option of mixing a darker and a lighter to create your own custom shade. For those who are darker on the forehead, sides, and chin use the darker colour around the perimeter of your face, and under cheekbones. The lighter shade can then be used through the centre of the face. The end result is an even complexion that’s naturally contoured.