50 shades of orange foundation

I remember a while ago pointing out that my sister's foundation was quite orange. I thought

it was because she wanted to look tan. But like her I've found that the palest skin tone in the shop is still just as orange as the darker colours. Both my sister and I have 'fair' skin and have to use palest foundation possible. But recently I've noticed something annoying.

I stopped buying foundation on the highstreet about a year ago simply because I thought that makeup companies purposefully made their foundations orange toned to suit girls who wanted skin that 'glowed'. I resorted to Korean BB cremes. They matched my skin tone. But recently I've realised this was not because they were pale to match the pale korean skin, but because they have grey undertones. 

A lot of customers have complained about BB cremes in general being too grey (probably because of the chosen chemicals in them) but it was something I never had a problem with.

And I found out why today.

I have pink undertones in my skin.

Doesn't sound like much but it makes all the difference when buying foundations. Most foundations on the highstreet suit women with yellow undertones in their skin and for them they do not get that orange tang on their skin even if they are pale. 

The grey undertones in the BB creme simply negated some of the pink in my skin and appeared less grey. 

But how can you tell what undertones you have?

Well surely everyone has a mix. You are not either pink, yellow or orange toned, or warm or cool specifically. But there are ways to tell which tones your skin has the most.

They say looking at your veins can determine this.

Image not mine!

Blue = cool (pink)

Green = warm (orange and yellow).

Blue/Green = olive

But if you're like me and have purpley/blue veins that seem to merge into massive green ones then there are easier ways to tell.

Pink toned:

- You blush easily 

- You burn easily

- You are more sceceptible to Acne Rosacae 

- You have blue coloured veins

Yellow Toned/Olive:

- You tan more easily than you burn

- You have green veins

- You have blue/green veins

As soon as I read about the 'you blush easily part' I knew straight away I probably had pink toned skin as I blush so easily. It is the only reason I wear foundation (yes I have lots acne scars but I hate the cakey feeling of skin makeup, I would rather just use concealer).

So why am I writing about this today? Well because if you are a cosplayer you'll long for that seamless foundation that matches your skin tone. So if you have found that every foundation you try is orange on your skin, then maybe you have more pink undertones and should aim for a foundation with a pinker tone. Mac's foundation come in both Cool (for Yellow tones: NC) and Warm (for Pink tones: NW) that come in all shades, and in the shops you can try the foundation that has the pinker tones in it. 

I hope this helped you!

x