THE BASICS FOR CHOOSING MINERAL MAKEUP FOUNDATION SHADES
The clear objective for using mineral powders is to even out our skin tone for a more youthful natural appearance. Since mineral makeup is much more versatile and forgiving than liquid chemical makeup, it only takes a single shade or two to create the perfect match to your skin.
No two skin tones are alike in women and it is a perk if you are able to find just one shade to match your skin tone exactly. This is why we offer 21 mineral makeup foundation shades to make it that much easier to do. Other mineral makeup companies may offer a large multitude of shades, but we feel this is unnecessary and can only serve to overwhelm or confuse you further. Using mineral makeup should be simple and fun.
So, is it necessary to own more than one foundation shade?
So, is it necessary to own more than one foundation shade?
In most cases, yes! As many of us know it can require mixing a couple of shades or even up to several shades to create the perfect foundation color especially as the seasons change. Even makeup artists use a palette of colors to achieve the perfect shade for their clients. Also exposure to sun for that perfect tan, aging, sun damage and hormonal changes can alter our skins appearance on a regular basis. A shade you may have once worn for years or even in just the last few months may no longer be suitable for your face today.
Tutorial For Understanding Undertones and Overtones
Choosing Correct Foundation Shade For Dark Ethnic Skin
The Use Of Mineral Makeup Color Correctors and Concealers
Best Advice: Most skin tones can have yellow and red areas combined, but all skin will have a yellow undertone.
You will never find true orange, (which would actually be considered peach undertones), or total pink as a skin tone no matter how many other makeup companies try to convince you through their marketing these unnatural shades to women.
An orange shade will simply turn you orange, and a true pink shade will make you look much older than you actually are and will accentuate flaws, inflammation, acne and any redness already in your skin.
In fact, many women think they have cool undertones due to having red or pink in their face when they actually have warm undertones. Red or pink in the complexion does not necessarily make you a cool, but could stem from years of environmental damage or just simply aging.
You will appear younger and more natural looking with a proper blend of the correct shades which will reduce and correct unwanted redness in the face. You may lean toward a specific stronger undertone, but it should never be the complete face color in your foundation, but a complex blend of many shades typically found in most skin of either, neutral ivory, peach, bronze brown, dark brown, ebony or beige (olive) with a slight yellow undertone or pink overtone.
Your foundation should look natural and be used to either correct or enhance your skin tones. Only women with very dark ethnic skin will possess different levels of red and they would want to use a rich shade that helps to accentuate this undertone for a flawless look. So select several sample shades that appear closest to your natural skin tone.
Most of our shades are formulated with warm yellow undertones from fair to medium shades for most Caucasian and Asian women to our darkest rich, bronzy caramel shades for women of Latin, Indian, and African American descent, since this is the color of what natural melanin tends to be.
Only if you are extremely fair would you lean toward a cooler shade with some pink in it, but you will not find true pink shades in our palette since this skin tone does not exist and can give a gray / blue cast to the face.
All of our fair to medium cool shades have a soft mix of neutral / peach / pink such as for those Caucasian women from Irish and Northern European descent. Women with fair skin that may lean toward a cool tone in their skin will still possess some level of yellow, just to a lesser degree due to lack of melanin.
Our neutral / beige tones can help correct undesirable stronger overtones and our darkest shades contain different complex blends of yellow, red, bronze and dark brown to give a nice variety to women of color from different ethnic backgrounds. Only our darkest shade EBONY is for the deepest cool chocolate skin that will tend to appear more red / blue in tone.
By mixing any shade with another you can literally achieve a perfect match; this includes mixing cool and warm together for a balance in skin tone. You may also wish to correct your skin overtone with our fairest shades of Fiorella or Jennifer when it appears to have light and dark areas due to hyper-pigmentation.
By mixing any shade with another you can literally achieve a perfect match; this includes mixing cool and warm together for a balance in skin tone. You may also wish to correct your skin overtone with our fairest shades of Fiorella or Jennifer when it appears to have light and dark areas due to hyper-pigmentation.
If your face should have too much red, you would choose a shade with more of a yellow undertone to correct the redness. If you have too much yellow, you may wish to correct with a neutral / beige mixed with a warm shade, or neutral / beige mixed with cool depending on what suits you best.
Application is key: It also depends on how much you apply since a sheer application will mirror your skin tone more naturally as the makeup shade adjusts as it melds with your own natural oils allowing for flawless skin with a perfect undertone match. No mask look or line of demarcation. This is another reason why one woman can wear several individual shades of mineral makeup and still look terrific. Yet those same shades for that woman may appear completely different on another. So never select a shade based on how it looks on someone else.
Less is always best for your skin tone match. You cannot achieve these same results with a liquid foundation. Just like with liquid foundation, the heavier the coverage, the more unnatural you will look. This is not the way to use mineral powders, nor is it necessary since coverage is excellent with the gentlest of buffing of our powders onto your skin. In fact, buffing while applying slight pressure will help to blend the minerals with your facial oils or moisturizer to see the natural looking results quickly.
Trade Secret Tips: You can also deepen a shade or alter it a bit since your skins' overtone can change with sun exposure. You can easily adjust your winter shade with either a darker foundation shade or you can use one of our "Bronzer" for achieving a richer color and altering the overtones you may require in summer. For example, your skin may turn either more golden brown or reddish brown as your skin tans. You can also correct certain overtones with some of our blushes which will give your skin a brighter appearance. Last but not least, you may also wish to try one of our several "Rose Bloom Eye Color" in the brown shades for tweaking your favorite foundation for achieving a richer, deeper blend for women with darker skin tones. Or by using one of our softer eye color shades as an all over face color, you can give your face a more luminous glow for that special evening out. Be creative and enjoy using the many variations one can achieve with Mineral Cosmetics.
Application is key: It also depends on how much you apply since a sheer application will mirror your skin tone more naturally as the makeup shade adjusts as it melds with your own natural oils allowing for flawless skin with a perfect undertone match. No mask look or line of demarcation. This is another reason why one woman can wear several individual shades of mineral makeup and still look terrific. Yet those same shades for that woman may appear completely different on another. So never select a shade based on how it looks on someone else.
Less is always best for your skin tone match. You cannot achieve these same results with a liquid foundation. Just like with liquid foundation, the heavier the coverage, the more unnatural you will look. This is not the way to use mineral powders, nor is it necessary since coverage is excellent with the gentlest of buffing of our powders onto your skin. In fact, buffing while applying slight pressure will help to blend the minerals with your facial oils or moisturizer to see the natural looking results quickly.
Trade Secret Tips: You can also deepen a shade or alter it a bit since your skins' overtone can change with sun exposure. You can easily adjust your winter shade with either a darker foundation shade or you can use one of our "Bronzer" for achieving a richer color and altering the overtones you may require in summer. For example, your skin may turn either more golden brown or reddish brown as your skin tans. You can also correct certain overtones with some of our blushes which will give your skin a brighter appearance. Last but not least, you may also wish to try one of our several "Rose Bloom Eye Color" in the brown shades for tweaking your favorite foundation for achieving a richer, deeper blend for women with darker skin tones. Or by using one of our softer eye color shades as an all over face color, you can give your face a more luminous glow for that special evening out. Be creative and enjoy using the many variations one can achieve with Mineral Cosmetics.
You can always deepen, contour or enhance the lighter shade a bit with one of our "Rosebud Blush" for color, or "Bronzer" for a natural sun kissed glow.
Remember, your foundation base is designed to create the canvas for using other shading products to add the natural shading touches of beauty, as no woman's face is all one color.
Always allow your minerals to set and meld to your skins' natural oils before adjusting color since minerals deepen after they warm to your skin. Applying a moisture mist will also set the minerals faster.
Always allow your minerals to set and meld to your skins' natural oils before adjusting color since minerals deepen after they warm to your skin. Applying a moisture mist will also set the minerals faster.
You may use our blending jars (located in Accessories) or mix them together in the lid or on a plate at time of application. We offer our Sterling Rose Clear Mineral Base in order for you to lighten any shade you have created without changing its' undertone.
A concealer is not necessary covering those under eye circles. Just use a shade that is 1-2 shades lighter than your foundation, preferably with a yellow / beige undertone, and perhaps choose a different formula just for concealer to achieve the coverage you prefer. Or use our clear foundation base with any color to achieve the coverage you desire for camouflaging those little imperfections. You can get further assistance with your application if you are new to Sterling Minerals from our "Flawless Face Technique section.
A concealer is not necessary covering those under eye circles. Just use a shade that is 1-2 shades lighter than your foundation, preferably with a yellow / beige undertone, and perhaps choose a different formula just for concealer to achieve the coverage you prefer. Or use our clear foundation base with any color to achieve the coverage you desire for camouflaging those little imperfections. You can get further assistance with your application if you are new to Sterling Minerals from our "Flawless Face Technique section.