Which foundation suits you: coverage, finish and undertone

How much coverage do you want?

Brands roughly sort their base products into three groups.

• Tinted moisturiser and BB cream. Mostly skincare with a little colour, so your skin still shows through. Examples are La Roche-Posay Hydraphase HA BB Cream SPF15, Estée Lauder DayWear Sheer Tint Release and Clinique Moisture Surge Sheertint Hydrator.
• Skin tint. Thinner than foundation, with light to medium coverage. Maybelline describes Super Stay 24H Skin Tint as light to medium coverage, and Estée Lauder calls Futurist Skin Tint a serum foundation.
• Foundation. More pigment, from natural to full coverage. L'Oréal Paris True Match is sold as natural coverage, Maybelline Super Stay Lumi Matte as medium to high.

If you mainly want an even tone and have little to hide, a skin tint is often enough. If you want to cover redness or blemishes, go for a foundation, or a light base with concealer only where you need it.

Matte or radiant?

The finish is how your skin looks once the foundation has set. A matte finish gives less shine, and brands often aim it at skin that gets shiny, like IsaDora No Compromise Lightweight Matte Foundation. A radiant or luminous finish reflects more light, like IsaDora Wake Up the Glow Luminous Foundation. Natural or satin sits in between.

Some names combine both, such as Yves Saint Laurent All Hours Luminous Matte. Read the brand's description to see what it means by that.

Liquid or cushion

Liquid foundation comes in a bottle with a pump or dropper, applied with fingers, a brush or a sponge. A cushion is foundation soaked into a sponge inside a compact, with a puff for patting it on, which makes it easy to carry. Examples are Yves Saint Laurent Skin Affair Cushion, Catrice Invisible Cover Cushion Foundation and essence silky Cushion Foundation. Many cushions sell refills, so you only replace the inside.

Your undertone in the shade name

Besides light or deep, skin has an undertone, and brands put it in the shade code:

• W or warm: a yellow or golden undertone.
• N or neutral: in between.
• C or cool: a pink undertone.

Catrice shows this in shades such as 044 W, 024N and 042C. Estée Lauder uses codes like 1W1 and 2C0, and Yves Saint Laurent spells it out: DN1 is Deep Neutral, DW4 Deep Warm. The number usually tells you how light or deep the shade is. Every brand has its own scale, so compare shades within one brand.

Testing a shade

Test along your jawline, not on your hand, which is often a different colour from your face. Look in daylight and wait a few minutes, as some foundations darken slightly as they dry. The shade that seems to disappear into your skin is the right one.

Ordering online? Use the brand's shade names and undertones. If you fall between two shades, you can mix them.

SPF in foundation

Some foundations include sun protection, such as SPF 16 in True Match or SPF 20 in Futurist Skin Tint. You usually apply far less foundation than sunscreen, though. If you want protection, put sunscreen on first and foundation after. How that fits into a morning routine is in the order of skincare.

Compare every brand and shade under complexion.