I have tried it all- from liquid to powder to sticks, every conceivable foundation type has ended up on my face…and with not much success. Sure, I look passable I guess, but I always felt my foundation was a tad too orange/pink/pale or cakey/sheer/shiny.
I mean, every single person out there has a different skin color, and how in the hell are you supposed to match yours to a single makeup product?
I saw a recent photo of myself which was supremely unflattering, so much to the point that I marched myself to Sephora (aka Heaven for beauty junkies like myself) and asked for “that color matchy thingy that you do.” My mom actually did it, and found a foundation that was a perfect match, so I figured I should at least give it a try, right?
So, they sit you down and remove all of your makeup (here is a tip– keep your eye makeup on unless you want to go through a whole eye makeup routine with them as well, which can take a while since there are 5 million eye products). They then take a scanner and snap an image of 3 spots on your face to get an even reading of your skin tone. Voila! Your shade comes up instantly.
Wonder how this works? Sephora worked with Pantone (ya, the color company) to use 110 skin tones to map out the Color IQ Library. They use your surface tone AND undertone to get a perfect match. I turned out to be a 1R06, R standing for Rosy undertones (pink) versus Y for Yellow undertones. The foundation that I matched with was WAY lighter than I would think, but after the gal applied it, it disappeared into my skin (the mark of a truly great match). I also skipped the YSL at $60 and went with Clinique which I haven’t given a passing thought since high school. Remember all those free gifts?? Hmm…I am a sucker for freebies…
Here is another tip– when sitting down, specify exactly what you are looking to do. Are you out to buy a whole new set of makeup? Just foundation? Just browsing? This will help you refrain from purchasing everything they offer you (’cause ya know, it is their job to actually sell you stuff, and if you are like me, you hate to turn them down and end up spilling unlimited excuses if you do).
They then pull up all of the foundation brands that match your color, and yes, some brands won’t have a match. They can save the suggestions to your Beauty Insider profile and/or email the results to you.
So, give it a spin! Since it is free, you have nothing to lose, except that icky mismatch makeup line.
(PS, I didn’t get paid to write this…I just think it is an amazing advancement in technology on par with the iPhone and dry shampoo).
I really love sephora