How To: Match Your Foundation to Your Skin

I learned the importance of making sure the foundation color matches the color of the rest of the body while working on set with photographer Walter Chin when I was first working as a makeup artist. At the shoot he said to me, “Bobbi, tomorrow can you please make the body match the face?” So the next day, I took the little glass Prescriptives makeup bottle and started to apply it to the whole body — all 6-feet of it.

It didn’t take me long to realize that this didn’t make any sense. There had to be a foundation out there that matched the skin and didn’t look like a mask—but there wasn’t. That’s when I first started to mix my own foundation shades using yellow and red tints. This experience helped me create my very first foundation and it’s an experience I went back to when developing Jones Road WTF. Unlike traditional foundation, WTF is tinted moisture balm meets foundation. It provides buildable, natural, light-medium coverage that won’t dry you out that leaves skin fresh, healthy, and radiant.

Foundation has come a long way. Today, it’s a lot easier to find a foundation color that truly matches your skin. The easiest way to find your shade is to test. (You try Jones Road IRL at our flagship store in Montclair or at Credo.) The correct shade will disappear into your skin, it won’t look mask-like or leave a harsh line.

If your skin tone gets darker in the summer or on a vacation, you may need to adjust your foundation tone. Keep a deeper shade on hand to accommodate any changes in tone. You can even blend it with your regular shade if you are between the two. I’m a huge fan of mixing foundation shades and I always recommend people purchase two shades when it comes to both WTF and Face Pencils.

Keep in mind that even with the right foundation color, some women have more color on their face and chest and less on their neck, and bronzer is the best way to make sure it blends with the rest of the body. This is where Jones Road Miracle Balm comes in. It’s a great way to add a healthy glow all over the face and to even out any color differences through the neck and body.

Have a question about foundation? Send me a DM at @jonesroadbeauty.