# How to find your foundation shade (without buying three wrong ones)

> To find your foundation shade, first know your skin depth and your undertone. Then swatch two or three shades side by side on your jaw, let them dry for five minutes and check them in daylight. The right one disappears into your skin and your neck; the wrong ones look pink, orange, gray or ashy.

## Five steps
1. **Know your depth**: How light or deep your skin is. The 10-step Monk scale is a good guide; brands usually group shades into light, medium, tan and deep.
2. **Know your undertone**: Cool, warm, neutral or olive. Many brands put it in the shade name or code: C, W, N, sometimes O, or words like rosy, golden and neutral.
3. **Swatch three on your jaw**: Pick the shade you think is right, one lighter and one deeper. Stripe them on your jaw, not your hand: your hand is a different color.
4. **Wait and check in daylight**: Many foundations darken a little as they dry. Wait five minutes, then look by a window. The one that vanishes is your shade.
5. **Match your neck, adjust by season**: If your face and neck differ, match your neck so there is no line. Many women need a slightly deeper shade in summer; mixing two shades is fine.

## Common mistakes
- Testing only under store lights.
- Matching to your hand or wrist instead of your jaw.
- Going lighter to look brighter: it turns gray on deeper skin and mask-like on light skin.
- Ignoring undertone: the right depth in the wrong undertone still looks off.

## Questions
### Should foundation match my face or my neck?
Your neck. Faces are often a little redder or darker than the neck, and matching the neck avoids a line at the jaw. Use concealer, blush and bronzer to adjust your face.

### What if I’m between two shades?
Mix them, or use the lighter one in winter and the deeper one in summer. Being between shades is normal: even ranges with 40 or more shades have gaps.

### Can an app find my foundation shade?
An app can narrow it down if the light is good. Glam Bestie checks your light, reads your depth and undertone from three photos, and gives you two or three shade ranges in plain words to test on your jaw.

Start my free scan: https://glambestie.com/
Source: https://glambestie.com/guides/find-your-foundation-shade