Foundation For Fair Complexions

For advice on avoiding such pitfalls in favor of looking luminous, we turned to the experts. Chanel celebrity makeup artist Rachel Goodwin, who tends to the porcelain visage of Emma Stone, and Georgie Eisdell, a favorite of fair British beauty Sophie Turner, explain that the secret to finding the appropriate shade is understanding your undertone. Below, Goodwin and Eisdell explain how to find yours—and in turn, compile a flawless foundation arsenal.

Undertone refers to the color that lies beneath the skin (essentially it’s the color of your veins). When you select foundation with your undertone in mind, the makeup will emulate your skin versus acting as a secondary layer. (When improperly matched, makeup may appear too orange or too copper, too pink or too rosy.) And while your complexion can change in response to environmental elements (a rigorous boot camp session, an afternoon at the beach), the undertone never does.

“I typically suggest looking at the underside of the wrist to find your undertone,” says Goodwin. “It’s the best place to test for foundation because you can get a perfect representation of the original skin tone that hasn’t been affected by the sun. I am always careful to make sure the foundation has a nice balance of warm and cool tones because too much yellow on a fair-skinned girl can look sallow, and too much pink can appear rosy.”

When testing face makeup, Eisdell recommends applying it on your nose to help find your shade. “So many people put foundation on their jawline to find the perfect match, and that’s totally fine, but you should put it on your nose,” she notes. “Because it’s in the center of your face, you’ll get the best sense of whether it disappears when blended out—if it does, that’s the right one.”

COOL UNDERTONE
If the base tone of your skin is pink, red, or blue and the veins on the inside of your wrist appear blue...You have cool undertones.

NEUTRAL UNDERTONE
If you have a mix of cool and warm undertones and it’s difficult to tell whether the veins on your inner wrist are blue or green...You have neutral undertones.

WARM UNDERTONE
If the base tone of your skin is yellow or gold and the veins on the inside of your wrist look green...You have warm undertones.

Eisdell recommends stocking your vanity with different shades for different seasons, as most of us tend to be one or two shades darker in the summer. “The only change I would make in the summer is to make sure you have more of a matte formula containing sunscreen, which offers better protection from the sun,” says Goodwin.