I am South Indian. I’ve never had a foundation that really suits me. Every yellow foundation I try looks too yellow or orange. I know I’m not cool. And neutrality washes me away; I look almost flat / gray / muted. I’m not an olive either. I have been to MAC three times in India and each time they said I was NC40. I always thought it was too yellow, but thought they knew better because it was their job and they would match me better than people in the UK (big miss steak). I came across the cult beauty shade matcher and he said my perfect match among all of their foundations was ‘Sahel’ in Nars Radiant Longwear, which is described as a medium with peach undertones. Wtf is peachy? Shouldn’t Peachy be a cool tone because he’s red? How do I even know it’s the shade for me? There are so few on the internet, especially for women of my color. I’ve always avoided fishing because I didn’t even know you could be fish and tan but not cool. Maybe I’m thinking of peach in the stereotypical sense of color and not a real peach 🍑 like this. Anyway, are there other people who didn’t know they were fishing and found out they were? Someone who is Sahel? Or anyone who can help me decide? I look so yellow but not olive, neutral or golden.
While I’m fair skinned white with yellow undertones, I’ve heard of darker skinned people using different shades of foundation and mixing them to get the perfect match; tedious but I suppose it gets the job done. Maybe also look at brands catered to complexions closer to yours, I know Fenty was popular for a while for their shade range.
Wish I could help more!
I think MAC has a lot answer for in terms of promoting the idea that everyone should either be NC or NW. There’s a whole spectrum of undertones to skin, from green/olive through yellow and peach and orange and pink and red along to purpley, blue and grey undertones. And the idea that yellow = warm and pink/red = cool is a massive oversimplifcation, you can have cool shades of yellow and warm shades of pink.
I usually get foundation with a peachy or pink undertone. I am very fair skin with some rosiness and a little pink. The pink undertone I suppose is to balance out the tone of your face, make it all look one color. Golden undertones, yellow undertones look horrible on me. It’s really hard for some to find the correct shade. What is recommended is to mix two together. I used to have to do this before I found my perfect shade with Estee Lauder Porcelain. I would mix white foundation in with my fair skin foundation. It worked okay.
Peachy is when you’re warm but on the orange side as opposed to yellow.
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I wear 2.2 in Smashbox which is described as Light medium warm peach undertone. Silver looks best on my skin but I tan. Cool foundations tend to be be pink and warm ones are too yellow or orange. Neutrals can go either way depending on the brand. My face is lighter than my neck/body and this one seems to even me out. Can be off depending on the lighting but it’s the closest match I’ve found so far. So what does it mean? No clue. Blush and bronzer tend to pull orange with it so I’m on the hunt for shades that work with it.
You should post of picture of your skin tone
Try findation.com
Hey, go to [this site ](https://www.ilmakiage.com/) and check it out. I’ve had amazing luck with it, maybe you will too!
finding people on Youtube whose complexion is similar to mine was how i began the process of figuring out my undertone! needn’t be big time people, either–just anyone who is into makeup and your complexion.