How do I make sure I'm buying the right shade of make up?

[Shufflebumnessie]

I'm 40 next month and I still haven't perfected the art of buying make up in the right shade for my skin.

Is there a fail safe method for testing make-up shades before buying the product? Years ago I was told to test it on the inside of my wrist but I'm not sure if that really works. Any tips?

I need a new face powder and concealer but I'm not looking to spend a fortune so I don't really want to buy from a beauty counter. I'm thinking more along the lines of L'Oreal etc. I know they have testers but I end up with about 5 different shades on my hand and still can't figure out which one suits me best!!

Help.....!

When I decided to get some new make-up after years of not wearing any I booked an appointment at Boots for the No 7 colour match, they scan your face with a thing and it matches the shades that will go with your skin tone.

Its the one thing I spend on and get "fitted for" every time tbh - it just looks so bad if it's wrong.

I've learned that the hard way from some tk maxx bargains

The make up woman in This Morning said to put the testers on your lower cheek. Then go outside in natural light and get the right one.

What @knifeangel said. Put a few stripes on your jawline (swipe downwards so its over your cheek and a bit under your chin). Give it a few minutes to oxidise and then go outside. Try a few different brands to see what kind of formula you like. Different foundations are made for specific undertones (warm, cool, neutral) so it's be useful to work out which you are before you go so you can look for that shade type.

Body shop are very good at colour matching for foundation they usually sit you buy natural light and they give it a few minutes to oxidise, if your new to it I would go there as a starter point

Thanks for the suggestions. I desperately need some new make up. I haven't bought any for quite a while (been using up what I had) and suddenly discovered that a couple of products have been discontinued so I need to start all over again with finding the right shade / coverage etc.

Along your jawline is the best place as you want a unified finish ie not a different coloured face and neck. Ideally ask for samples or some in a pot and take home and try, especially with foundation, as not only can it oxidise and change colour, you also want to see how it sits on your skin over the course of the day. If no samples have it applied by the instore advisor/makeup artist and then see how it wears.

If you go to the make up counters, they can usually give you some samples to take away and test. Just remember to take note of the shade name/number!

Don’t go to Benefit or even worse Bobbi Brown as they will try to make you believe orange is your natural skin colour!

Findation.com is great if you know existing shades that suit you. Input a couple and it will tell you the best match in almost every brand. I've used it blind a few times and it's been spot on.

YY to Boots No 7 colour matching. The foundation and blusher they matched to me is perfect. Go there!

Haha it's easy if you are rather pale/look like some vampire who has never seen daylight! I just always go for the very palest one I can find in the shop and get that. Summer annoys me immensely as all high street stores remove the super pale tones and their ranges start from the next shade up. Which I'm sure is fine if you tan easily and therefore need a darker shade, but I still look stupidly pale even with a tan so spend all of Summer looking orange of face! Also the brand of foundation stuff I get has discontinued its "light" shades all together and now medium is the starting point in all high street stores. So I have to hunt it down online instead which is less than ideal as more expensive. I should probably try another brand but after years of cystic acne my face is actually OK and I really daren't risk putting new products on it.