If you ask me what is the most important thing for in a makeup, I would say it’s my foundation or my base makeup. If my base makeup is good, I would be able to carry most kinds of makeup.

Thanks to the technological advancements in makeup, the cosmetic houses have started to manufacture more than three shades of foundation. I think our Indian cosmetic companies are still trying hard to get there but I guess they all, finally. Lakme already has 4 shades, Colorbar-5 , Revlon- many, Inglot and MAC- too many

According to Bobbi Brown: From fair to deep, I find that all complexions have yellow undertones. “

This concept works the best on Indian skin tones. The percentage of women with pink undertone is less as compared to percentage of women with yellow undertones.

How to determine your undertone?
Flip over your arm and look at the veins.If your veins appear greenish, this means you are warm toned. If the veins appear bluish, you are cool toned.

That’s just one of the ways. There are other ways as well but this one is quick and easy and would give you a basic idea.

Foundation types and textures

Foundations come in variety of shades and textures. They should be chosen depending on your skin type and tone.

Liquid Foundations: Liquid foundations hold a special place in women’s makeup kit. Especially most Indian women prefer to wear foundations only on special occasions. These kind of foundations are versatile. They are easy to use, don’t need too much blending ,may offer sheer-light-medium-heavy coverage. Liquid foundations are available on both oil based as well as water based formulas. Oil based formulas work great for people who have dry skin or mature skin while the water based formulas become best friends of people who have oily skin.

Some options for liquid Foundations

• Colorbar Long Stay Makeup -Oil free (broke me out :(, but it might work for you)
• Revlon Colorstay Makeup with souflex – available for both oily and dry skin  types
• The Body Shop Moisture Foundation For dry skin
• The Body Shop Oil Free Balancing Foundation For Oily Skin
• MAC Select SPF-15 Foundation - Water based foundation , great for oily skin
• MAC Face and Body Foundation - Water Based
• MAC Mineralize Satinfinish SPF 15- Oil Based

Cream Foundations: These type of foundations could give you the heaviest  coverage. If you are looking for no blemish, perfect velvety look-go for these. Application of these foundations could be tricky. Since these foundations have heavy texture , they need a lot of blending. If not blended properly, there is a high chance that you might end up looking cakey and too made up. Cream foundations work best for normal to dry skins, but they are way too heavy for oily skins.

Some options for cream foundations:

• MAC Mineralize SPF 15 Foundation
• MAC Studio Tech
• Inglot Cream Foundations

Compact Foundations: These are 3 in one kind of foundations. You have a powder, foundation and concealer all packed in one. They are easy to carry, give you a medium to buildable coverage and great if you know how to apply them.  Some people swear by using a sponge for these kind of foundations , I recommend fingers or a stippling brush. If you are just starting with makeup, these are not the best kind of foundations to choose from.

Some options for compact foundations

• MAC Studio Fix Powder plus Foundation
• The Body Shop All in One Face Base
• Colorbar Triple Act Compact

Mineral Foundations: Mineral foundations are a rage these days.These are fine powder foundations that feel weightless on skin. Mineral foundations are recommended only if you have a good skin texture. The coverage of mineral foundations is not very heavy. They are your best friends during summers and especially look very natural during the day time.These foundations are oil free so they might leave the dry skin flaky and patchy. Tip: Moisturize your skin well before applying foundation.

• Loreal Paris Bare Natural Mineral Foundation
• The Body Shop Natural Mineral Foundation SPF-25
• MAC Mineralize SPF-15 Foundation Loose
• Revlon Colorstay Mineral Foundation

Stick Foundations: These are similar to the cream foundations but a little thicker. They have a capability to give you medium to full coverage depending on how you use them. Stick foundations are also used as concealers. These are the most common foundations used for photo shoots or fashion shows. I personally think they work best as concealers.

• Colorbar Stick Concealer
• Mac Studio Stick SPF 15 Foundation
• Shisiedo Stick Foundation

Tinted Moisturizers: If you are looking for a makeup base that would give you a ‘barely-there’ finish and keeps your skin hydrated, then tinted moisturizers are for you. These foundations are not meant to conceal your imperfections or blemishes, they are great to give just a hint of colour to your skin and even out your skin tone. Use these only if you have good skin.

• Ponds Tinted Moisturizer SPF 15
• Lotus Herbals Tinted Moisturizer
• The legendary Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20
• Bobbi Brown Tinted Moisturizer SPF 15

Airbrush Foundation: These are one of the latest technological inventions. The airbrush equipment needs a professional hand to give you that flawless perfect finish. The closest example of airbrush foundation that recall is the make up done in Avatar. The airbrush equipment is expensive and the companies that provide it have specialists, who train you how to use it. Not recommended until you are a makeup artist and you know what you have to do with the equipment.

• Airbrush Makeup System by Temptu

Types of Coverage you get from foundations

Following are the terminologies that you might come across on your bottle of foundation. Read on to know what they mean.

• Matte Finish: No shine, best for oily skin types.
• Dewy Finish: Glowy finish, light coverage and best for people who are blessed with good skin.
• Sheer Coverage: Light finish. Would just even our your skin texture but would not conceal your blemishes or flaws.
• Full coverage: Would give you an opaque coverage and cover up all those nasty imperfections on your skin.
• Pore minimizing: Would reduce the appearance of pores.

Image Source 1, 2

If I have left anything, do let me know. I will add it in my post. Hope this helps.

I have a very basic question for you all.

How do you select your foundation? What all do you look for before buying foundation? Any Holy Grails?

I take help from Makeup artists and mostly go out with my friends to take their opinion. I also look for dewy finish in a foundation but now I am also liking the matte finish. I tried MAC Studio Fix  a few days back and liked it a lot. I bought the Colorbar’s foundation instead and it has almost the same finish as MAC Studio fix but that Colorbar’s foundation broke me out badly. Also, colorbar does not have my same shade of foundation but Rs 225 didn’t pinch me too mcuh to give it a try. Now I am just gonna throw it away. My HG foundation is MAC Mineralize Satinfish SPF 15 in liquid foundation and The Body Shop’s Loose powder when I am not using liquid foundation.

Someone recommended me Chanel VitaLumiere. Looking forward to try it. Have you tried it?

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