How do you choose a foundation?

[Pyjamaramadrama]

I've had some vouchers for Xmas and thought I'd invest in some nice new make up.

But how on earth do I choose?

I usually stick to well known brands like Max Factor, Maybelliene. Boots have so many make up counters I don't even know what brand to try let alone what type and then finding the right shade.

The women on the make up counters have sold me some right rubbish before and the lighting in the stores is awful.

Where to start?

Schnitzel I think you have just answered my other question re primer and sunscreen!

Will pop into a space NK next week thanks.

Get them to colour match you too - I got two tester shades, my choice and shop assistant's, and she was right. Whereas Boots girls always recommend something far too dark IME.

Going to read all this later.

If you are super pale I recommend illamasqua skin base- it's the palest shade range I have ever seen. I am super pale but their palest was far too pale for me, I ended up with shade 4.5.

I used to love the golden Clinique City Block. Why was it ever discontinued? Anyone suggest anything similar to that?

I like Stila foundation at the moment. Very light coverage though, but user friendly and pil-free.

I used Chanel Vitalumiere for a while and the foundation itself was really nice but just not pale enough - I don't know if it's changed since I used it (couple years ago) but it was just too much on the yellow/orange side and I had their palest shade.

I used Bobbi Brown (liquid foundation) which was pale enough but even with the lightest use it felt heavy, and I could smell it when I was wearing it which was weird!

I've founded Bare Minerals and Laura Mercier to be the best for me for light feeling, light but sufficient coverage, for pale skin. However I can get really dry skin these days and no amount of moisturising and priming can make the Bare Minerals perfect so I don't use it much now, so if you get dry skin that is one to think about it.

I have used Laura Mercier Silk Creme which is very good for fuller coverage, doesn't feel heavy and doesn't smell, but I prefer light coverage so I use the Tinted Moisturiser in porcelain. It's perfect for me and I use the LM Secret Camouflage for under eye circles/minor blemishes and the Eye Basics on my lids, I get bluey tones around the eyes being so pale. This works for me on a daily basis and looks natural but much better than going bare.

I know a few comments here have said they weren't keen on LM, or LM Tinted Moisturiser, but I would recommend a sample (Space NK, House of Fraser, John Lewis) as I tried quite a lot of different ones before LM and always come back to it as it's just right for me.

There's no substitute for trawling the counters and getting samples to try at home. No sample, no buying

I did this after a bad Nars experience and have settled on Estee Lauder double wear light.

I had lovely skin - only ever wore tinted moisturiser and blusher but over the past 6 months the dreaded pre-menopausal hormones have kicked in and now I have dreadful rosacea and teenage acne! It's a nightmare. I'm 53. Despite 8 weeks of antibiotics cream I'm still getting breakouts. I have some anti-redness concealer from Clinique and Clinique redness foundation and that's not too bad, especially if I use powder over it. But I hate having to layer up. I've always been a less is more kinda gal.

Word - are you using Salicylic acid? That really cleared up my mid forties acne.

I would love some advice on what to put on my face too. I don't mind spending as long as it helps.
My skin is dreadful on my face because I have a very red nose which is often shiny. The rest of my skin is mid-tone I would say. At the moment I try to put foundation over my nose and the rest of my face but it wears off my nose leaving it looking blotchy and horrible. I think I need some sort of concealer for my nose.
I have tried one with a green tint but by lunchtime the foundation had come off the top if it and it looked dreadful.
Please help as I am fed up of my face looking all mismatched.

I'm very pale and always made the mistake of buying the palest shade possible in any given range!

Having been matched at Boots I now buy the No 7 one which is darker than I used to wear!

Just bought touche eclat by ysl... Amazing!!! I hated my skin.. But no more.. Worth every penny.

I used to love the golden Clinique City Block. Why was it ever discontinued? Anyone suggest anything similar to that?

It hasn't been- why do you think it has? I've stopped using it now- my tube has just finished- because it's gone from a pinky tone to a very yellow colour which darkened my foundation.

AleC4 you might find using a yellow-based concealer better for covering redness. Shouldn't look as odd if foundation wears off. (Green colour corrector tends to correct redness but leave a chalky finish IME - is this happening to you?)

I used the palest No. 7 shade for a while, it was good in Summer but still slightly too dark for me in winter when my skin is at its palest.

If you ever fancy a cheapie one, I finally found a cheap foundation which is pale enough for my skin, it's Rimmel's palest one and almost too white even for me...! But it can be warmed up nicely with blusher, bronzer etc and much better than looking like I've been Tangoed. Sometimes I add some Bare Minerals powder afterwards too. I might try a higher end one when the bottle runs out but the cost to quality ratio is pretty good on this one!

Lumpy - thanks for the tip! Will check that out.

It's a beta hydroxy acid (BHA) it will clear the pores out and exfoliate the top layer, meaning less dead skin cells to get mixed in with the sebum. Start with a low percentage then build it up, works a treat!

I also still use Clinique city block - just bought a new tube last week. I don't think it gives much coverage at all though - I really only use it as sun protection under my foundation.

Well after this thread the first thing I did was some reading up on Foundations and skin undertones.

I went and bought a cheap Loreal foundation in a very light shade. Ivory Rose It was a massive improvement. Actually quite a nice foundation, it didn't exactly transform my skin but it lasted all day.

I've since been round the make up counters and got a few samples.

My first to try is the YSL touché eclat in BD10. It looked too dark for my skin to me but it seems to have blended in ok. It's ok but so far I don't really feel any different than I did with the Loreal one. I'll see how it holds up.

This is a great site if you want to sample the Face Atelier foundation, I can't recommend it highly enough.