I've bought loads of foundations over the years and most of them looked great. in the dressing table drawer. On my face, not so much. Some were the wrong shade; others had no staying power. So they got filed under 'failed'.
In fairness, finding the right foundation isn't straightforward. Sure, there are now a zillion options, which means your perfect partner is definitely out there. But the choice can be daunting, so here's how I streamline the search.
Forget shade (for now): nail why you want a foundation. This will tell you the coverage you need and the texture to seek out. If it's to minimise rosacea, red veins or pigmentation, you'll want coverage with a bit of oomph - not too much though, as a heavy base doesn't flatter older skins, tending to sit in lines and wrinkles and flagging them up more.
Look for a medium-weight option that's buildable. Fenty Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation (£30, fentybeauty.com) covers imperfections without cakiness.
However, if you hanker for dewy radiance to zhuzh up a dull complexion, then hunt for formulations that incorporate humectants (moisturising ingredients) such as glycerin, as well as light-reflectors to add subtle glow - check out Armani Luminous Silk Foundation (£35.60, armanibeauty.co.uk).
Know your type: think about your skin type. If it's dry, don't buy anything with a powdery finish. Go ultra-creamy and test it between your thumb and fingers to suss out the 'slip'. Bobbi Brown Intensive Serum Foundation (£53, bobbi-brown.co.uk) feels like skincare first, make-up second.
Now find the shade: we often choose shade on the basis of what we have long believed our skin tone to be, or even what we'd like it to be, which is why we're drawn to colours that look attractive in the bottle. So first, empty your mind of expectation.
There's a surfeit of advice on how to identify your undertones by assessing whether your veins are green-blue or purple-blue. But, honestly, the easiest way forward, once you've found a range that works, is to pick your best-guess match, plus two that are in a similar family - one that's more yellow or warmer, one that's more pink or cooler.
Test strips: apply your chosen trio as stripes. Not on your wrist, your neck, the back of your hand, or even the oft-suggested jawline. As long as the set-up is hygienic, try it on your cheeks, from the top of the cheekbones through the hollow and down, to see how it works in both light and shadow.
If one stripe looks possible but not perfect, wipe off the two no-nos and try another pair in slightly different gradations of hues. (Your perfect match doesn't need to be an exact replica of your natural complexion, though - it's fine to warm it up or cool it down by a subtle degree if that's what you need.)
Even up: the shade of your neck is often different to your face. Rather than worrying about finding the foundation that matches my neck, I focus on my face first and then bring my neck into line with a tint such as L'Oréal Paris Skin Paradise Tinted Moisturiser (£10.99, boots.com).
Use it all up: rather than slinging it into a drawer never to see the light of day again. Because this one really works.
Read last week's column: Your sleeping position could be ageing you - here's how to fix it
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