There are a couple of considerations when it comes to choosing your foundation shade. One would be skin tone and the other is skin undertone. Skin tone refers to how fair or dark your skin color is, while skin undertone is the color underneath the surface of your skin that affects your overall hue. There are three types: warm, which have traces of gold and red; cool, which have hints of pink and blue in the skin; and lastly, neutral, which is an equal mix of cool and warm tones.
Here’s an easy tip on how to determine your skin’s undertone: take a look at the veins on your wrist or the back of your hand--if the veins appear greener in color, your undertone is warm. If they’re more purple or blue, then your undertone is cool. However, if it’s in-between or a mix of the two, your undertone is neutral.
Now that we’ve tackled the difference between skin tone and skin undertone, it’s time to discuss the actual swatching! Avoid swatching on the back of your hand, as your skin color here may be different from that of your face. Always swatch from below your cheek, to the jawline, and down to your neck. If the shade disappears, then that’s the correct foundation shade for you! Otherwise, keep swatching until you find a shade that disappears.
Now you can start any makeup look with a base shade that perfectly complements your skin!