Fizza's Guide to Foundations

When it comes to makeup, we all love it. We love to experiment with it. But it’s all fun and games until you spend your money and time on something that doesn’t suit you or fulfill your demands. To avoid such a disappointment, we suggest you learn the basics. Know more about the product and its uses so you can decide what you want and what to avoid. Today, we start with the base of all your makeup- the foundation.

What are foundations and what are they used for?

As the name suggests, foundations are the base of your makeup. They create a blank, neat canvas for you to work on. They even out your skin tone, hide blemishes and pigmentation and clear your complexion for you to start painting fresh.

What are the different types of foundations?

Foundations are found in different forms and textures. They are 3 types basically:

light coverage
medium coverage
high coverage

When it comes to texture and formulas, you can find light weight foundations known as BB and CC creams as well as powder, mousse and liquid foundations.

So how do you know which ones to buy?

This depends on two things that you need to keep in mind:

Your needs:

The kind of foundation you are looking for depends on your requirements and demands from the product. Do you need it for everyday, light wear, or everyday professional/heavy wear? Do you need it for special occasions or casual makeup? Light formula bb and cc creams and natural looking foundations will be your choice for everyday casual wear.

If you are looking for more heavy wear or makeup for special occasions, or you have a lot of imperfections that you want to hide on a daily basis, go for medium or high coverage foundations.

Your skin type

Is your skin oily? Dry? Combination? Acne prone? Pigmented? The answer to all these questions will decide what kind of foundation you want. If you have oily skin, matte-fying formulas will work nicely for you. These include powder foundations as well as some liquid ones with a matte formula.With dry or combination skin, liquid or mousse foundations with a dewy formula will keep your skin nice and glow-y.

How do you buy the right shade?

This is the tricky part, but it’s rather simple. The colour of foundation you want to wear depends on what part of your body you want your face to match.Let me explain.

If you want your face color to match your neck, you swatch the colors you think are closest to your liking, on your neck and blend them. The one that blends right in is your foundation shade.Let’s say you want your face color to match your hands, you swatch the foundations on your hands and blend. The shade that matches your hand’s skin color is the color you want.

Similarly, if you want your foundation color to match your natural face color, swatch on the side of your jaw. You know the rest of the drill.

Now that we know the basics, let us talk about some of the common issues and how to prevent them.

Some tips to avoid a cakey, grey or ashy foundation:

Always moisturise before putting on foundation.
Use primer.
Choose the right foundation type for your skin.
Choose the right foundation shade.
If you accidentally bought one that is too dark, use a lighter shade of the foundation or a cc or bb cream or even a moisturiser, to lighten the colour.
If you bought one that is too light for you, add a darker colour of the foundation to balance the tone.
Start with lesser product, build it up gradually as needed.
Use a sponge for a natural look and brushes for an airbrushed, professional look.