Walk into any beauty or drugstore, and if you're anything like me, you'll get anxious the moment you get near liquid foundations. They're meant to be intimidating: you have to find one that works with your skin concerns, has SPF (or doesn't, if you're planning on taking photographs) and, most importantly, totally matches your skin tone. 

While many BB creams and tinted moisturizers adjust to your exact skin shade, foundations rarely do. And chances are, you won't have the luxury of trying some on your face to see if it will match the rest of your skin.

Here are a couple of tips and tricks I learned to get it right every time.

1. Don't swatch it on the back of your hand.

At some point, someone came along and said that if you can't try foundation on your actual face, your hand is just as good. Not. At. All.

Your hand is a totally different color than your face. In my case, mine are way tanner than the rest of my face because, duh, I use them to apply self-tanner on the rest of my body. Instead, see if you can swatch the foundation on your jawline.

2. Figure out your undertones.

Are you cool-toned? Warm-toned? Neutral? What does that even mean?

Some foundations are going to be too warm or too cool for your skin. Combat making any mistakes by determining your undertone before-hand. You can do that by checking out the veins on the inside of your wrist. If they're more green than blue, you're warm-toned. If they're more blue than green, you're cool-toned. If they're blue-green, you're neutral. 

If you can't figure out whether your veins are blue or green or both, try this trick. Think of whether you look better in silver or gold or equally good in both. Silver translates well with cool tones, while gold tends to favor warm tones.

3. Opt for foundation ranges that cater to a variety of skin tones.

If you have trouble finding a shade that's exactly you, do a bit of research. Not every foundation range is created equal -- some brands offer as little as eight shades, while some go up to 30. Unfortunately, those shades usually skew in favor towards women with light skin.

If you have a darker skin tone, look into brands that cater to women of color, like Iman and Black Up. Also be sure to check out brands with large foundation ranges, like Laura Mercier and Make Up For Ever.

4. Don't be afraid of multiples.

Here's the thing: sometimes, you just won't find an exact match -- and that's ok. If you find a formula that works really well for you, pick up a shade lighter and a shade darker than your actual skin color and blend the two together. If that seems wasteful, think of it this way: you can also use them as contour shades.

Tags: find right foundation skin tone