“Nobody minds being complimented on a lipstick. But you never want to hear the words ‘I love your foundation’! Base is meant to camouflage imperfections- yet disappear like magic into the skin, delivering instant flawlessness…

Getting foundation just right is a major beauty challenge- the right base takes just moments to apply, but often in the case of olive to darker skin tones, it can take ages to actually find! I have put together some of my 5 top tips for foundation, from finding it to applying it.

Shopping for foundation:

1. Take a hand mirror with you, or a compact, so that you can easily walk to daylight and check the shade.
2. Always remove any existing base before trying foundation. Swipe away from the jaw-line with cleanser or toner, before sampling. Preferably, go foundation shopping bare-faced, so when you’ve pinpointed a potential shade you can apply it all over.
3. If you don’t want to try the foundation out on you face whilst shopping, the next best base is the inside of your forearm, most definitely not the back of your hand (which I see so many people do!). Test for depth of coverage (but not for colour) on the blue vein on the inside of your wrist
4. Never think of using foundation to ‘perk up’ your skin by changing its colour. It’s only supposed to smoothen out your existing shade.
5. The right colour will simply disappear into your skin. Try to match it to your neck- which is always lighter- rather than your face. You can always use blush to add warmth; AND it has been highly recommended by beauty experts and bloggers to shop for foundation in the daytime rather than after dark, as that’s when mistakes are often made!