What are FOUNDATIONS and How to choose one

Hey friends! How are you all doing? Sorry for MIA my toddler son was sick last week, he is fine now :) Just wanted to share with you all that I have been nominated 'Versatile Blogger' award by some of my blogger friends. Thank you all for it. I will talk about the award in my coming posts.

This is long pending post. I have received so many requests to do a post of make up essentials. I am starting with Foundation.

What is a Foundation?

Per Wikipedia, Foundation is a skin colored cosmetic applied to the face to create an even, uniform color to the complexion, to cover flaws and sometimes, to change the natural skin tone.

Before you choose a foundation, it is very essential to understand your skin tone and type. Foundation should always be an exact match of your skin tone. While trying out foundation always apply it on your jawline instead of wrist. This would give a better idea on how the product would look on the face. I have observed that many tend to go for a shade lighter than the actual skin tone which makes them look so artificial. Probably coz folks feel this would make them look gori gori (fair skin tone).

These days there are wide variety of foundations available in market; it is difficult to decide which one to go with. Here are some tips that will help you find your match.

     Identifying Skin type:

• DRY SKIN – For people with this skin tone, foundations which are cream based, liquid cream based work the best. These give a much needed dewy look. It is always advised to moisturize skin before applying a foundation. Matte finish/Oil free foundations should be avoided.
• NORMAL/COMBINATION SKIN – I would say people having this skin type are really lucky as their skin is not extremely dry or oily.  They can choose anything from liquid, cream-to powder compact, stick foundations. Matte finish/Oil free foundations should be avoided.
• OILY SKIN – Oil free, matte foundations, pressed powder foundations, mineralized powder/loose powder based foundations work best for this skin type as they soak excess oil from the skin. Cream based foundations should be avoided.

Identifying Coverage:

• If you have clear skin and even tone you would need a foundation with sheer or light coverage.  I would suggest to go for a BB cream or tinted moisturizer.
• If you have light pigmentation/pimple/acne scars, look for something with medium coverage. Note that you can always build up foundation by adding more product.
• If you have really bad acne scars/spots that you want to hide then go for a full coverage foundation. You could also use a good concealer to hide marks.

At the end of the day, make sure you remove make up else this would lead to clogging of pores and you will end up having pimple/rashes. For beginners, I would recommend using products that are not waterproof. You could apply foundation using use either your fingers/foundation brush, make up sponge. I prefer using my fingers.

I have very dry skin and have used Liquid foundation, cream based stick foundation (all through the year) and all in one base foundation too(which I use in summers & rainy seasons). Off all these I really love my stick foundation – Loreal Ideal Balance Quickstick Balancing Foundation – Buff Miel 335.