Foundation Swatchapooloza - Finding a good match

As a self admitted foundation junkie, I love trying new drugstore foundations. The very lenient return policies at CVS, RiteAid and Walgreens makes trying them pretty easy.

Trying to find a good foundation MATCH however, can be a serious pain in the ass. Fluorescent lighting, distortion from packaging and lack of testers make for an Oompa Loompa nightmare of trial and error. Temptalia's foundation matrix makes this a little easier, but you still have the natural variations within a given shade range, oxidation of some colors on oily skin (couWTFMACgh) and sometimes advertised undertones aren't what you expect (I'm looking at you L'Oreal True Match - more yellow and less peach please).  Start with the foundation matrix to get an idea of where to start, then pick up the shade lighter as well to compare.  Save your receipt!

When you are testing out a foundation, shade comparisons to ones you already know look good on you can really help the selection process. Sometimes if I'm feeling particularly ambitious, I will even use two foundation colors, one on my nose, cheeks, forehead and chin, and a darker one on the outer perimeter of my face to give it a little more dimension.  Fancy I KNOW.

Last time I went to the MAC counter at Nordstrom they color matched me to NC30 in the Studio Fix Fluid foundation. I still have a tiny sample of it and since most people know what their MAC shade is I'll use it here for reference.

Foundation Key:

1. Maybelline Super Stay 24hr - Classic Beige, yellow undertone that was closest to the MAC NC30 oxidized color
2. Revlon Colorstay - Warm Golden, yellow/peach undertone that was also a very close match to NC30
3. Revlon Colorstay - Medium beige, pink undertone in this one, not a good match for me
4. Maybelline FIT Me - 220 - medium with strong yellow undertone, this was one of the best matches to my actual skin tone
5. Maybelline FIT Me - 210 - lighter medium with strong yellow undertone, a hair too light for my face but would be good used in conjunction with the 220 if I just used it on the center portion of my face with 220 on the outer
6. L'Oreal True Match LUMI - W4 - a very peach leaning undertone, but can work if you dont forget to blend it down your neck
7.  L'Oreal True Match LUMI W3 - also very peach toned, slightly lighter than W4, another one that would work well in the center of the face with W4 on the perimeter
8. MAC Studio Fluid Fix NC30 - medium with strong yellow undertone, look how dark that puppy gets when it dries!  I was pretty surprised and the color difference and this is why I never bought a bottle of the stuff.  The price tag didnt help sway me either.
9.  Neutrogena Healthy Skin - Natural Beige yellow undertoned but not quite as yellow as either the MAC or FIT Me foundations.

Freshly applied and still slightly damp, natural sunlight on my NC30 skin, the inside of my arm stays pretty light.

20 minutes later, the MAC SFF NC30 was the only one that significantly darkened,  #4-7 seemed to dry lighter

I'd say if the MAC NC30 oxidized color works well for you, the Maybelline Super Stay 24 in Classic Beige, Revlon Colorstay in Warm Golden, and the Neutrogena Healthy Skin in Natural Beige are all good choices.  The Lumi and FIT Me foundations would be a good fit if you found the oxidized NC30 too dark.

Good luck!