Foundation shade guides
- How to Check Your Skin Depth for Foundation
How to check your skin tone for a foundation shade: compare your bare jaw with real swatches in daylight, find your step on a 10-step chart, then sample.
27 October 2026
- Discontinued Foundation? How to Find the Closest Replacement
How to find a replacement for a discontinued foundation: look up your old shade, compare its measured colour across brands, and sample the closest three.
27 October 2026
- Can ChatGPT Find Your Foundation Shade?
Can ChatGPT find your foundation shade? What any answer needs to be right, how to check one in two minutes, and what to do before you buy.
27 October 2026
- Find Your Undertone for Foundation: Why Veins Mislead
How to identify your undertone for foundation: what the vein and jewellery tests can show, why veins mislead, and the foundation test that tells you more.
27 October 2026
- Foundation Shade Match for Dark Skin: Deepest Ranges
A foundation shade match for dark skin starts with a range that goes deep enough. These 15 ranges have the most very deep shades in our data.
27 October 2026
- Foundation for Very Pale Skin: Ranges That Go Lightest
The best foundation for very pale skin comes from a range that goes light enough. These 15 ranges have the most very light shades in our data.
27 October 2026
- What the Numbers and Letters in Foundation Shades Mean
What the numbers mean in foundation shades, what letters like N, W, C and NC stand for, and how ten brands use them differently.
27 October 2026
- Why Foundation Looks Orange on You, and How to Fix It
What it means if foundation looks too orange: the four likely causes, how to tell which one is yours, and what to change for each.
27 October 2026
- MAC NC and NW Explained, and What They Mean Elsewhere
What the letters NC, NW, C and N mean in MAC foundations, why MAC's warm and cool are the reverse of most brands, and NC and NW matches elsewhere.
27 October 2026
- Should Foundation Match Your Neck or Your Face?
Should foundation be the same colour as your neck? Match it at the jaw, where face and neck meet, and here's what to do when your face is darker than your neck.
27 October 2026
- Maybelline Fit Me Shades: How the Numbers Work
How to find your Fit Me foundation shade, what the 100s, 200s and 300s do in our data, and the closest matches to a Fit Me shade in other brands.
27 October 2026
- Olive Undertone: How to Tell, and Which Ranges List It
How to tell if your undertone is olive, what brands mean by it, and the foundation ranges that list the most olive shades in our data.
27 October 2026
- Why Foundation Oxidises, and How to Stop It
How to stop your foundation from oxidising: what the colour change is, how long it takes, and the routine changes brands recommend to keep your shade true.
27 October 2026
- How Accurate Are the Sephora and Ulta Shade Finders?
How accurate is the Sephora shade finder, and Ulta's? How each one works, why neither gives an accuracy figure, and how to check the shade it suggests.
27 October 2026
- How to Test a Foundation Match at Home, Step by Step
The best way to match foundation at home: narrow it to three shades, swatch them on your jaw in daylight, and wait an hour before you choose.
27 October 2026