Is it necessary for foundation to match to skin tone?

[citygirl1961]

I know it might seem obvious but I tend to like some colour to my face yet I am conscious that when I buy a darker foundation I have tide marks, even with a darker colour tinted moisturiser.

I did once have the No7 foundation match thing done and was matched as 'cool ivory', I have never used an ivory foundation before. I had a sample and it did look natural but then I just bought the darker shade anyway.

Also I don't like to bother buying different foundation shades for different times of year so what if the match made one is too pale in summer when I get a bit of colour?

What do you do?

When I last went to the Clinique counter the assistant's face was really, really white, quite eye catching against her dark hair and red lips, unfortunately her neck was noticeably darker, which somewhat spoiled the effect.

Unfortunately this seems to be a habit of many young girls ( under 21) who- for whatever reason- choose a 'tan' shade of foundation which looks so artificial.

Foundation should match your skin tone.

The best way is to choose 3 shades close to each other and apply as 'stripes' to your bare cheek/ jaw line. Whichever one is least obvious is your shade- ie it blends with your skin tone.

If you use sun block on your face- which you ought to all year round- then you ought not to need a summer and winter shade. Many cosmetic counters seem to try to push this 'seasonal shades' yet really they ought to be selling sun block so you don't end up with a tanned face!

Do you still need to match with tinted moisturiser? There isn't as many shades in those usually and they are more sheer.

Yes you do. Eg la Roche Posay tinted Suncream with spf50 is bright orange on me.

I go a shade paler though so reading the thread a bit

I also have pink undertones which I correct by using a yellow toned foundation.

i go for matching my tone and shade. I have no real noticeable difference between my neck and face anyway so never get tide marks. I am very very pale, intensity 0.5 in Double Wear light and I have pink undertones. I was told by another counter I won't name that I should wear yellow toned foundations to counteract the pink but it looked awful, I mean, really awful. I looked orange in natural light like that

Foundation must match your skin tone or it looks off. The role of foundation is to even out your skin tone. If you want a bit more colour, apply bronzer and/or blush.

City if you go to a decent make up counter, they should always offer to match your shade if you haven't purchased the product before - including tinted moisturiser.

If it was healthier for me to wear factor 50 on my face all year round in the UK (on top of the factor 15 in most foundations) then my skin wouldn't be this mutant magnolia colour in the first place; it would still be the colour my distant ancestors came north with.

You need to match your foundation to your neck not your face, especially if you have redness on your face, or blotches etc.

So, your foundation will end up lighter than you would have picked if you matched to your face, but no tide marks as it will be the right shade. If you want to then go a little warmer, use a matt bronzer at top of forehead, temples, top of cheeks, nose and chin.

Watch this video and it shows exactly this.