If you’re still struggling, don’t be afraid to ask a counter makeup artist for advice and a colour match. Give your foundation 10-20 minutes to settle to get a true feel for the colour.ĭepartment stores often have bright or yellow artificial lighting that will change the appearance of your foundation.įind the best natural lighting that you can to check out your colour match (I’ve often stood in the car park with my compact mirror having a good look at my foundation before committing to buy!) Sometimes foundations can oxidize, which means they can appear darker once they’ve settled into your skin and mixed with your natural oils. Test a small amount on your jawline or just at the top of your neck, and give the foundation time to settle. You can get a good match in three simple steps. The most important thing when colour matching a foundation is to make sure that the foundation matches with your chest and looks natural. It gives me flawless coverage without feeling cakey How to colour match your foundation I love MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC15 (if I’ve got a slight hint of light fake tan) or N5 (if my skin is at its natural colour). I find that with the majority of my clients, an NC foundation always looks more flattering and evens the skin tone beautifully. This is much more flattering to my skin tone and helps to cancel out any unwanted redness over my cheek area. Very few of the foundations in the range now have these strong undertones, it’s mostly the old school formulas like Face and Body, or Studio Fix Powder.” My personal preference These have a stronger yellow or pink undertone than their NC/NW counterparts.

So an NC27 is not as yellow as an NC25 but it is a little bit darker.Ĭonversely there are also plain C’s and plain N’s. These odd numbers have more of a neutral undertone. These colours don’t have quite as strong an undertone as those that end in 5 or 0. For example there is an NC27 or an NW18 in Studio Fix Fluid. “…there are some odd numbers peppered along the way in some of the foundations. The number that follows each NC, NW, N or C is simply the colour of each foundation. I used MAC Studio Fix in NC20 over her face to even out and correct the redness and NW10 concealer to correct the dark circles What do the numbers on MAC foundations mean? Nina has warm undertones (reds in MAC terms) with cool under eye circles (yellow). A person with a beige undertone would be perfectly suited to an N foundation. So a person with yellow, peach or golden undertones would be suited well to an NC foundation whereas a person with red, pink or blue undertones would be better suited to an NW foundation. NW: Neutral Warm – red, pink or blue undertones.Ĭ: Cool – Yellow, golden or olive undertones NC: Neutral Cool – golden beige undertones. Understanding NC, NW, C and N in MAC foundations However, in MAC labelling, the undertones are the opposite.

In colour theory, we’re taught that cool undertones are reds, pinks and blues and that warm undertones are yellow, peaches and golds. Many of my clients ask me about the labelling of foundations, particularly when it comes to MAC! I hope that today’s post will help you in understanding NC, NW, C and N in MAC foundations.* The very basics of Colour Theory

Choosing a foundation can be really daunting, but it’s often a key part to our makeup and can make or break a flawless face.

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