i used to use voile for years and then just decided to change. i have been back and forth with many foundations and just can't find one i love or can afford. i want to come back but something in me feels the color i was wearing 2YL was slightly off. my boyfriend. who may be completely imagining things, said i was still wearing this when i met him and it made me look too pale...

i feel i'm neutral toned, i can never decide if i'm cool or warm (MAC says im NW which i still dont know if that means i'm warm or cool! LOL) i have pink in my skin tone (mild rosacea) but i like peach blush on me not pink..
should i just switch to 2W.. this was my thought, but maybe 2N?

thanks!

Pics are always helpful for suggestions, if there's any way you can post one. Also keep in mind many ladies find their shade changes seasonally. There's also been several posts where women have been wearing one shade for a considerable amount of time, then suddenly looked in the mirror and felt it wasn't quite right. It can be an ongoing process, and can take a little time if you're looking for a spot on match. Just have patience, and we'll all try to help you through it!!!

The pinkness of your rosacea could easily throw you off. Those of us with rosacea (I have a mild case myself) find our faces can be quite different than our necks. Most ladies do try and match their neck, but if the difference between the two is a lot, matching your face & blending it down into your neck or finding a "happy medium" between the two could also work well. All depends on what you're happiest with!

Did you feel overall the level 2 was close? If it was, perhaps just adding a sprinkle of a second shade in the level 2 family to tweak it will work. If you feel it's too light, maybe mixing in a level 3 would do it. Definitely get samples. You'll get several uses out of them, and you can mix & match til you get something that really vanishes right into your skin. Even adding a Coquille powder to help counteract the redness could work well, especially if it's only slightly off.

The other ladies are FAR better with foundation advice than me, so I'm sure you'll get some good suggestions. I'm sure they'll be able to guide you and you'll be in love with your foundation in no time!!

what I know from MAC is that NW stands for "neutral warm" so maybe you are warm and neutral. I don't like MAC foundations myself. I had a makeover several times with different foundations of theirs, and the stuff made my face itch.

I'm still experimenting with which Glissade shade(s) are for me. So far my closest match has been 3CL.

Hi! I'm one of those ladies who's gone back and forth between foundation shades. At different times, I thought that 2yl, 2y and a mix of 2y and 2yl were my perfect matches. And at other times, I thought they (in particular the 2yl by itself) made me look a bit pasty. Lately, I've been using an even mix of 2y, 2yl and 2w and feel great about it. Even though 2n is supposed to be neutral, I find it very pinky/orangey on me - not a pretty look. If you felt 2yl was a close match but perhaps a bit "off" on you, it could have been that the tone was just off and you needed to add in a little 2w to warm it up a bit. I suggest getting a few samples and have fun mixing. Check back here and let us know how your experimenting goes.

thanks ladies. i took a quick pic, please ignore my terrible face and hair.. it's the end of the day! i did put some foundation on this am but its a really light almay one. and btw the color MAC put me in i felt was too dark it was NW25.

i felt that the level 2 was pretty close. i remember back when i was sampling colors i felt 2yl and 2w were close. so i was going to order 2w and then some samples of 2n and 3n and 3w to mix in to adjust if necessary. but any other suggestions are appreciated in terms of what colors/tones you think i am

You are beautiful!

In Mac speak, NW = "neutral warm", which translates as "netural with pinky tones" since Mac calls pinks warm and yellows cool (the oppostie of what most makeup lines, including AL do).

So, the 2YL might have looked "pale" because the Y (yellow) was cancelling out more pink in your skin than you needed it to.

When I look at your neck I see balanced peachy to pink tones - not strong red/pink, or strong golden peach, just balanced. Might be that a 2N gives you the lift you want, matches the neck and blends with your face. I think the 2s are probably the right depth for you, though.

I'd def. try 2N, 2W, 2L and 2C. Do a thick stripe test of each around your jaw and chin, and you'll see immediately which undertones mesh well with your own. If you post pics of your testing, we can offer up opinions, too.

Hth a little for now -
-b.

thanks so much bridget! this helps a TON!! after seeing my pic and the swatches i realized i should start w/2N not 2W. and that sort of corresponds to what i usually buy in drugstore makeup (neutral. nude. etc) and even though i may have some pink in my skin ( which does explain why the 2yl was not dead on).. i dont want my face to "look pink" if that makes sense so getting a N and then adding some W in is prob what i want to be, but we'll see if that actually looks right ! LOL

i think i'm going to get a main jar of 2N and then buy samples of the others you suggested to play and mix! YAY

i appreciate all the help and comments. and will report back (is it better to post updates in the same post? or start a new thread?)

quote:

Originally posted by Osujen25:
i appreciate all the help and comments. and will report back (is it better to post updates in the same post? or start a new thread?)

If you post pics with the various shades "swiped" on your jawline, I'd start a new post. Sometimes we forget to check back, and also anyone who didn't see the original will be able to weigh in for you!!

You have such gorgeous eyes, such a wonderful color!

Bridget beat me to it -- I agree with all of her suggestions

One final thing is that if your foundation cancels out the pink tones (rosacea) so much that you look too pale, even if the foundation matches your neck, a little bit of blush goes a long ways towards livening up your skintone again! I don't think I have true rosacea but I do have a permanent pink flush in my nose/chin/cheeks, so after cancelling out the pink with foundation I do look better with a little blush

Also, the wrong undertone can make you look pale or pasty even if the level is right -- e.g. the peachy-yellow tones of 1W are a perfect match for me, so if I try to wear 1Y or 1YL it can make me look too pale since those foundations are lacking the peachy tones I need.

Good luck and let us know if you have any other questions!

thanks everyone! i ended up ordering samples of all the shades. figured that is better than just assuming 2N would work for me! i can't wait to play!

Let us know how the samples turn out for you.
Matching foundation can be so difficult sometimes!

i havent had time to swatch all the colors on my skin to post here for you girls. but im still feeling that nothing is matching right

i started w/2N and felt it was way wrong, too light and too "pasty". i added 3N in yesterday to it. today i mixed 3N and 3W and again felt it was too "pasty".. does this mean it's too yellow for me?

also i have those natural light bulbs in my bathroom so maybe i just have weird light but after waiting an hour (like when i get to work) it looks fine in the bathroom light here at work (flourescent) so i have no clue..

i know someone mentioned MAC does cool/warm backwards. so if i was NW w/them does that mean i'm actually cool?

First of all, I would check your foundation in natural light (outside) -- that will give you the best indication of whether it matches.

Secondly, yes, Mac is backwards -- NW means cool (pink). I think Mac claims NW stands for "Neutral Warm" or something silly like that, but it's easier if you think of it as NW = "Not Warm"

Foundations that are too light or too yellow may both look pasty on certain skintones. (Foundations with too much beige, i.e. Linen, can also look pasty if you don't have strong beige tones, but that's not an issue here since you're not using any of the L blends.) Did you order any other samples to try? Also, have you tried straight 3N? Finally, do you feel that your samples look too pink, too yellow, etc. or do they simply appear too light? (I know it can be hard to tell sometimes )

When I wore N, it changed colors on me after a couple of hours. When I first put it on, it looked fine, but after a couple of hours it was more "colored" than my face. It turned more orangey from the original more yellow shade as time went on, which means it took on more of a pink tone. I am not sure if this is a result of oxidation, or of the foundation mixing with skin oils. Others have experienced this with the N foundations, but I haven't experienced it with the W, L, or Y colors. Something particular to N I guess.

So you try setting the N with some sort of spray to see if you could get it to change color (get pinker) faster. Or you could try out a mixture of C and N or just straight C.

thanks for the recs.
weird about just the N shades doing that. i have all the other samples except C b/c i didnt think i was that pink to need more blended in! (or i guess wanted to hide my pink)

and i cant tell if it looks too yellow or just pale? it seemed off, but its hard b/c my face doesnt tan but my arms and shoulders are (which i see when i put makeup on)..

i will def have to play more but i guess im not sure if i should start w/the N or just avoid it

quote:

Originally posted by Osujen25:
and i cant tell if it looks too yellow or just pale? it seemed off, but its hard b/c my face doesnt tan but my arms and shoulders are (which i see when i put makeup on)..

If you can't tell, don't worry about it -- sometimes it's hard to pinpoint exactly *why* a foundation doesn't work, you just know it doesn't work Try a few of your other samples, that may help identify your undertones -- even if the others don't work, if you come back and tell us W looked too orange or whatever, that can help us narrow down choices for you

Also, I think most people like to match their foundation to the color of their neck, so there won't be a noticeable line of makeup at the jaw. But if your face is a noticeably different color than your neck (or chest/shoulders!), you may prefer to just match your face or wear a shade that sort of splits the difference between your face and neck. Just something else to think about!