How to find the right foundation for Asian skin tone

Are you confused by all the different foundation choices available? Hopefully by reading this post, it will give you a good guideline of what to do. Most cosmetic companies carry a wide range of shades suited for white and black women. Have you ever tried shades that turned out to be either too white or too orange? Then you are probably using the shades that were not designed for Asian skin such as the color in this picture. It has a pink tone which would look nice for some Caucasian women. The key is to choose the foundation with yellow skin tone in it. See this article but read on:

It is ironic that the word “yellow” doesn’t sound too appealing to us. There is even a Chinese expression for women who do not take care of themselves after marriage – Huang lian po (yellow mama). But the truth of the matter is that we DO have yellow tone in us. So embrace what you have. Finding a foundation is about finding the perfect shade that fit you like a glove. Only then, you will have that smooth, flawless and natural appearance. And it will make the rest of your makeup look so much better.

Some of the key points mentioned in the article:

• Be careful of the lighting in the store. It could make your shade lighter or darker. I was a victim of this once. I spend almost $100 dollar buying concealer, foundation and bronzer in one store.  And they all end up looking too dark on me. I blame the counter lady for not knowing this when helping me to choose the color. I guess I can use them when I get a tan. :) You should always try to see how it looks in daylight. This applies to lipstick and blush as well.
• The best place to test foundation is at your jaw line, not on your hand. Due to daily exposures, the color on your hand and the color on your face are not the same. The color that seems to disappear into your skin is a good shade. This is not covered in the article: if you want to be even better, note that most people don't have the same color throughout their faces. The trick is to choose a color between the lightest and the darkest area of your face. This is what most makeup artists suggest. If you don't know whether you can trust your eyes, bring a friend along for a second opinion.
• The article also mentioned cosmetic lines specialized for Asian women like Zhen Inc.  If you are an orientelle's member(free to join), you will receive a 10% discount from any product from Zhen. For details on how to get this promotion, be sure to check out your welcome emails and post emails, or simply email us at info@orientelle.ca

Okay now you have the shades down, there is also a whole topic on the different types of foundation such as oil-free foundation, liquid foundation. If you want to read more about it, see this article.

Go straight to the types of foundation section. For me, although it is not included in this article, mineral foundation is the best. It is so light that you feel like you have nothing on. Yet it gives you that natural glow. For brands like Aromaleigh, it offers so many different shades ranging from yellow tone, pink tone to orange tone. Because mineral foundation is in powder form, you can mix them however you want to create that perfect shade.  You can buy a couple of samples to try, each costs only a few dollars. And don't forget to try them under a natural light. Want to learn more about mineral foundation? You can go to my other mineral foundation post.

Lastly, my best advise for applying any types of foundation whether it is liquid, matte, power or mineral, if you want to have a flawless finish, use a foundation primer. You will see the difference. It really fills in lines and reduce pores. So not only your makeup will go on perfect, but also it will last longer. Smashbox photo finish is a really great primer, see my review on this product here.