Wait! What?

You don’t buy a foundation that matches your skin tone exactly? Does this mean you get a foundation 4 times lighter than your skin tone and roam around looking like a zombie? Or buy a foundation 4 times darker than your skin tone and look like someone who has been attacked by the sun?

Ermm..well..no! 

Let me take you back to the time when I was new to world of makeup. If there was one advice stated in bold letters after going through more than a dozen of makeup tips, it was to choose a foundation that matches your skin tone exactly. What did I do? I followed the advice.

What were the results?

My foundation used to turn dark after an hour or so, not orange but darker and made my skin look dull. Once, it was so bad (face and neck on completely different shade charts) that I just wanted the earth to swallow me because of how embarrassed I felt. 

I thought it was the humidity and my super oily skin playing a spoilsport. What did I do next? I googled and turns out I was right. I was shocked to find that even celebrities who have their army of makeup artists have gone through the same. Even your sunscreen can be a culprit behind this. This in no way implies that you stop wearing it. You can read more about this foundation process on Vivawoman which is one amazing treasure of well-researched beauty articles.

I again turned to google to find a solution for foundation turning dark problem. The best one was to apply a silicone-based primer to form a barrier between your skin and foundation and stop it from reacting with your skin’s natural oils. I experimented with it. It worked but only for a few hours. After that, the situation was back to square one. Not very helpful when you have a wedding to attend which goes for like 8-9 hours. Another problem I faced was having breakouts due to filling in pores with a primer on a daily basis. So, it was a no.

Other methods involved using setting powders and blotting sheets to keep excess oil at bay. They helped but not entirely. I thought of getting an expensive foundation and be done with it. That didn’t help too. The first time I saw foundations turning orange on me was when I tried formulations from MAC and Clinique. I was horrified by the sight! Even Revlon Colorstay!

What helped me after a lot of trials and experiments was coming to a conclusion that I should get a foundation which is a shade lighter than my skin tone.  In the same undertone. This way, when the foundation oxidizes after an hour or so, it matches my skin tone and doesn’t look bad. Recently, I saw the same thing on makeupgeek site too. I do follow up with a bronzer and blusher to balance things out. On an everyday basis, a cheek tint is enough.

Of course, this involves a lot of head-banging as a shade too light or in the wrong undertone will look bad in person as well as in pictures. If you’re also a victim of every foundation turning darker, you might want to give this method a try.

You can also see this video on how to stop foundation from oxidizing by the amazing MUA Jordan Liberty.

What’s been your experience here?