#11 - Testers Part 2

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone!!!

I've basically touched on everything I wanted to cover, by accident, in my previous issue.
But I'll try my best to give it more body using this issue! ^^

So... in this issue, I'll cover things about how to choose the right shades, mainly for foundations and concealers.
As well as other products here and there.
So let's start.


#01 - Cool or Warm??
Alright, this is one of the things which confuses the shit out of people.
If you hold 2 different shades of the same color up and ask someone which is warmer or cooler...
well, some people wouldn't have too much of a problem answering you... but then again... some will.

Basically...
Warmer shades will be brighter, more vivid...
And cooler shades tend to be darker, more subdued.

Yes. There is a warm and a cool shade of yellow, I was shocked too...
haha I've always thought yellow was a happy bright color and HAD to be warm.
But no. the cooler shade would be what we mostly call "Mustard Yellow". I just never associated it... well, with yellow for some reason.

Alright loves, but all that junk above ain't going to tell you whether you should pick and NC, NW, C or W shade of foundation.
And frankly, even I'd get confused, time and again.

Well... time to confuse you even more.
In cosmetics... it's the OTHER way around.
Cool shades of foundation are catered for people with more yellow/golden skin tones (warm undertones)
And warm shades of foundations are catered for people with pinky skin tones (cool undertones)

Alright so this is how it goes, skin undertone wise.
Deep yellow to olive (C) - slight yellow (NC) - pinky (NW)

kapiesh?


#02 - Alright... sooo... Am I Cool or Warm???
Good question.
Hard one to answer in words. Next question please.
haha jkjk.

There are a few methods people traditionally use to determine if they have a more pink or more yellow undertone.
They aren't foolproof though... many people get confused over them as well...

a. Take a look at your roots
Well... by roots I mean... your ancestry, by birth or by your actual skin!
Generally... people who are really really fair or sunburn easily (usually Caucasians) have pink undertones.
Whilst people who are get tanned easily or have dark hair (especially Asians) have yellow undertones.

This one is the most... well... old method...
and it's not exactly the best.
Because remember what I said about having cooler and warmer shades of yellow?
Well, when you aren't the palest of pales, and your skin has a slight yellow cast...
it IS possible that for you to have a pinky shade of yellow undertone... so you'd be best off with NW, but then you might mistake your yellow cast to mean you are an NC or a C.

b. Green veins vs Blue veins
Say what?
Another traditional method is to look at your wrist, where your skin is thin and fair enough for the veins to show through.

People claim that... if you see blue veins, you have a cool skin tone and if the veins are green... you have a warm skin tone.
Well... again... there's a bunch of people complaining that they have BOTH green and blue veins, so what do the people who stick with this theory claim?
Well... you lucky buggers are NEUTRAL!

Load of bull crap in my opinion.

c. Colors
Another method that people are telling others about is to see what colors do you look best in.
You have cool undertones if you look better in: Blue, Silver, deep reds... etc
and you have warm undertones if you look better in: orange, golds, bronze... etc

Basically, the theory is... you are what you are and it'll show.
I don't really have much against this method though.

d. Unconventional
Alright, this one ain't much of a method, but still...
For me, I believe that method c, works.
But... as always... it'll fail... on some people.

Nothing works better than the old, put it on and go under a bright light to see.
Basically, if you think your foundation looks grey, pale or orange, you probably are using a foundation of the wrong undertone or you went too light or too dark...
Then again, it's all personal preference. Since my sis says I'm super pale with my foundation on... but I like it because my face is at least a dozen shades darker than my neck and chest... so it matches.


#03 - Color Correctors
well... if you are using an NC foundation, that doesn't mean ya gotta have an NC concealer to match.
A nice tip is an NW concealer can be used as a color corrector for dark circles!!
This is especially because the pink undertones in an NW, makes the concealer slightly orangey, or a salmon color as many people love to call it, and it helps act as a color corrector, neutralizing the blue/purple undertones.

Also if you are severely yellow.
Meaning if you feel like look unhealthily yellow.
Yes, there are people who suffers from a medical condition known as "Jaundice", which causes yellowing of the skin as a symptom.
You can opt to go for a NW foundation to help try to 'neutralize' the yellow undertone.

However, in either case, please note that for some reason or other...
NW shades, tend to be darker than the corresponding NC shade of the same number.
So you might have to end up getting an NW concealer/foundation several shade numbers below the NC shade you match.


Well, it's pretty late...
and in the end... it's largely personal preference...
So... I hope I didn't end up confusing another bunch of people.
haha

Nights!
Tesun