Foundation: The Base of War Paint.

I remember when I was about eleven years old, and I discovered foundation for the first time. I was digging through my mother's makeup per usual, and I came across something I wasn't familiar with. It was in this oblong case and it was creamy with a sponge, and without exactly know what it was or the purpose for it my first instinct was to slather it all on my face. Once I did that I realized my blush could be even brighter and streakier! I was such a grown up! I knew the secret to living a full life! Covergirl made me feel like even though my pores were suffocating, that maybe I would get asked out to the Naylor Street Dance.

LOL wrong. I went over to my cousin Whitney's house and she had her friend over, Megan. Megan was super pretty and had super pretty hair and had a super beautiful voice and wore Abercrombie & Fitch and HAD ON FOUNDATION. SO IMMEDIATELY I FELT LIKE I WAS SOMETHING SPECIAL BECAUSE THE COOL GIRL AT MY COUSIN WHITNEY'S HOUSE WAS WEARING FOUNDATION AND I WAS WEARING FOUNDATION SO I WAS COOL, TOO.

Ever since my misguided sense of chill, I have been on a journey with foundation through the ages. I've had my face smell like chemical pencil shavings, I've had too-pink foundation, I've had oxidation all over my face. I've gone through struggles and victories. Learn from my mistakes and discoveries, and if you have any foundation horror stories, let me hear them too. We can start a support group.

Foundation... the base of war paint. People have been using various forms of foundations for years. Ancient Egyptians would coat their faces with various forms of creams,  Romans would use light chalky-creams to give themselves a fair complexion as that was favored beyond a sun-kissed one (my how things have changed.) From Shakespeare to the Hollywood stage and Max-Factor creating the first commercial foundation, called Pan-cake. Foundation has been used to lighten complexion, smooth imperfections, for theatre, the list goes on. Now, a lot of us use it in our day-to-day routine of when we get ready for war (aka life)  and paint ourselves with war paint. With this post, I have broken down some things for those of you that might want more information on how to choose the best foundation for YOU along with some suggestions of good products I have personally tried if not on myself, then on clients.

FIRST THING'S FIRST LETS TALK ABOUT SKIN UNDERTONES. SUPER HUGE FACTOR WHEN CHOOSING A FOUNDATION LIKE OMG. This is going to be the first step in what anyone should do when looking for a base. You are either going to fall in the category of cool, neutral, or warm. There can be such a wide range of undertones, etc. For example, my skin is a strange mix of gold and jaundice. I'm warm, but sit on the side of warm neutral in the winter. To determine this quickly, just look at your veins on our wrist. If your veins are mostly green, you're warm. If you're veins are mostly pink, you're cool. If your veins are a mixture of the both, you're sitting more on the side of neutral. So start with that, and then we can go from there. MELANIN IS CRAZY, MAN.

With warm skin tones, you can have the presence reds, yellows, peach(ish), and golds. With cool skin tones you can have a range pinks, purples, and blues. Neutral tones can have a lot of olive, but olive can also side warm with more of a presence of yellow, or cool with more of a presence of blue (which also appears green.) Sounds overwhelming, because it is! Color theory next to the importance of pH balance are the two things I stress the most in the realm of beauty. Study your skin, or go to Sephora and have them do a match of your skin. It will give more of a breakdown of the presence of what tones are in your skin.

Now that you've determined that, it's time to look at skin type. Dry, Combination, and Oily are your main three. That is pretty self explanatory to figure out. From there, there's an umbrella of issues that you can target. To make it easier on you, I'm going to break everything down one skin type at a time, so you can scroll past the stuff that you don't really care about.

Dry Skin
Dry skin is a lack in presence of oil, and dehydrated skin, which is a lack of presence of water, falls under this umbrella. Mature skin typically is dry or dehydrated, and a lot of times sensitive skin is on the drier side. With dry skin, prep is a huge thing. Moisturize well, and you can always add a drop of non-comedogenic beauty oil to your foundation to help not only give a dewy glow, but that extra kick of hydration to prevent cracking and caking.

I went to an Aveda school and while there I fell in love with the elixir of the gods known as beautifying composition oil. http://www.aveda.com/product/5197/17180/body/beautifying-composition-oil It sides on the line of pricey for a small bottle but this stuff lasts and is so multi-purpose, but the best being when you go to mix ONE DROP of it into your foundation (also works great as a pre-cleanser, makeup remove, and beauty oil if you read my previous post.) I use this on brides with drier skin and the difference it makes is amazing.

Anyway, here's a list of suggestions for dry/dehydrated/sensitive/mature skin types.

-*Makeup Forever Ultra HD Invisible Cover Foundation (the best range of color in my opinion)  http://www.sephora.com/ultra-hd-invisible-cover-foundation-P398321?skuId=1709096&icid2=products grid:p398321

-Edward Bess Black Sea Correcting Mousse Foundation (This stuff will go a long way and last a long time. This is my go-to for mature skin types and the way it settles into the skin is beautiful. It's long wearing and you just need to see for yourself how pretty this foundation will make your skin. I'm not sure of the closest physical place to purchase this, but if you call or visit Hyde Salon in Nashville, they are exclusive to Edward Bess cosmetics and can help guide you on what you would need.) http://edwardbess.com/makeup/face/complexion-correcting-mousse-foundation-with-expert-blending-brush-0

-*Georgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation (WORTH SELLING A KIDNEY FOR THIS STUFF IS OF THE LORD, ALSO GREAT FOR MATURE SKIN TYPES.) http://www.sephora.com/luminous-silk-foundation-P393401?skuId=1359553&icid2=products grid:p393401

-*Too Faced Born This Way Foundation (go-to foundation tbh.)  http://www.ulta.com/born-this-way-absolute-perfection-foundation?productId=xlsImpprod12621017&sku=2290017&CPMID=CSBING&CAWELAID=330000200000329204&catargetid=330000200000874286&CADEVICE=c

-Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue (THE BEST FOR DAY TO DAY WEAR, OR TO USE LIKE THE WEEK AFTER YOU'VE HAD A CHEMICAL PEEL AND FOR SENSITIVE SKIN TIMES. SRSLY THIS STUFF IS GOOD.) http://www.ulta.com/makeup-face-foundation?N=26y5Z1z13p3o

-L'Oreal True Match Lumi Healthy Skin (great dupe for the Armani foundation) http://www.ulta.com/true-match-lumi-healthy-luminous-makeup?productId=xlsImpprod4480167

-L'Oréal Infallible Pro Glow (great product, just has a tendency it oxidize if you don't set it correctly.) http://www.target.com/p/l-or-al-paris-infallible-pro-glow-foundation-buff-beige-206/-/A-50437879

-Maybelline Fit Me Dewy + Smooth (not gonna lie this is a bomb product with a bomb price.) http://edwardbess.com/makeup/face/complexion-correcting-mousse-foundation-with-expert-blending-brush-0

Combination/Oily Skin
Combination skin is TYPICALLY drier skin on the cheeks, with more oil production in the t-zone area, but it can be a combination of a dry t-zone, with breakout prone cheeks, jawline, etc. Oily skin is oily all over, and with that, acne-prone and congested skin can fall into this umbrella. Oil control and longevity of wear is going to be the main goal here, and for that you're going to need oil-free products. SIDE NOTE: PEOPLE WITH OILIER SKIN TEND TO AGE SLOWER SO BE HAPPY WITH YOURSELF RN BECAUSE BY THE TIME WE ARE IN NURSING HOMES YOU ALL WILL BE HOTTER THAN MY DRY SELF.

L'Oréal Pro Matte 24 Hr Foundation (set this with a good powder, and be sure to buff this into your skin well.) http://www.ulta.com/infallible-pro-matte-24hr-foundation?productId=xlsImpprod11861081

Revlon ColorStay Makeup for Combo/Oily Skin http://www.ulta.com/colorstay-makeup-combooily-skin?productId=xlsImpprod1810157

*Tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Foundation (great for those of you who don't feel like putting liquid all on your face.) http://www.ulta.com/amazonian-clay-full-coverage-airbrush-foundation?productId=xlsImpprod5560095

*Kat Von D Lock It Foundation (THIS STUFF WILL NOT MOVE AND WILL MAKE YOU SLAY UNTIL THE APOCALYPSE.) http://www.sephora.com/lock-it-tattoo-foundation-P311138?skuId=1398858&icid2=foundation_lp_mattefoundation_skugrid:p311138

Makeup Forever Duo Mat Powder Foundation (best color range. MUFE is always good at a good color range.) http://www.sephora.com/duo-mat-powder-foundation-P177118?skuId=989103&icid2=products grid:p177118

*Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless (I've honestly been feeling the Fit Me line lately and sad I didn't know about it before.)  http://www.target.com/p/maybelline-fit-me-matte-poreless-foundation-360-mocha/-/A-49098467?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=bing_pla_df&CPNG=PLA_Health%2BBeauty%2BShopping&adgroup=SC_Health%2BBeauty&LID=700000001230728pbs&network=s&device=c&querystring=matte%20and%20poreless%20maybelline&gclid=[*GCLID*]&gclsrc=ds

Neutrogena SkinClearing Oil-Free Foundation (great for acne-prone skin with a BEAUTIFUL finish and amazing wear.) https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/neutrogena-skinclearing-oil-free-liquid-makeup/ID=prod6304088-product?ext=msnPLA_-_Beauty(BSC)&kpid=sku6257253&sst=cf403854-d980-4cb3-866d-eb0fa1f1b1d7

If you are one of those #blessed people in the world that have normal skin types, I marked an asterisk by foundations that are great for normal skin, just depending on the type of finish and coverage you want.

I hope some of these help you in your foundation journey or at least point you in some direction. Remember, a lot of this has to do with body chemistry as well! Everyone's skin makeup is different from the next, and it all boils down to the science of what works best with your skin. There's so many more different avenues of finding a foundation that works for you, and if you ever have any questions, feel free to ask me or any makeup artist or skin care professional. We LOVE to help!  A lot of it is trial and error, and albeit sometimes expensive errors, when you find that Holy Grail Foundation you need for slaying the masses, it makes it all so very worth it.

All hail Michael Westmore,
Rachel
@notkellykapowski