Foundation Matrix & Comparisons
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
Let’s Work Together: Foundation Matrix
Throughout the years I’ve both toyed with and gotten requests to work on a matrix of what foundation is the equivalent of what foundation. Today’s foundation post only reinforced our need, as a beauty lovin’ community, for such thing. Of course, I am only but an expert on my own shade and the foundations I’ve tried–you can help by contributing your own shade finds (or lack thereof!).
Spreadsheet’s back up for editing! 
If we work together, I think we can really get something incredibly resourceful going — and hopefully helpful to all of us in the end. I hope you’ll contribute however you can — there’s a cool and warm sheet as part of the document, so make sure you’re on the right one! If you have questions, feel free to ask. Thank you in advance
What to do if…
- The brand/formula isn’t on the list? Add it! Go ahead, add it Don’t worry about formatting or the like – I’ll fix up formatting as I see it needs to be and do a major clean-up at the end.
- If you didn’t find a match in the brand? Type in “no match” or “none.”
- You can do high end or drugstore or whatever. Just add it if it isn’t there.
- If someone put something in, but you’re different! Just add yours, too — put a comma or something to signal that there are two options.
Head on over to our Google Spreadsheet and fill-in your foundation shades.
hello! i'm 140 Ivoire n in lancomes new Teint Idole Ultra 24H, what color would i be in makeup forever HD foundation? please help ! thankyou!
I am an nc44 in mac studio fix. Would u happen to know what shade I am in revlon colorstay oily combination formula? Thanks for your help.
Sorry, I'm relatively new to Temptalia so maybe this has been addressed before, but when I go to the matrix and go to the 'cool tones' matrix the top row comparisons are all NW and when I go to the 'warm tones' matrix the top row are all NC?!?! If I am cool toned which one should I be looking at? I'm assuming the NC one even though I'm getting there through the 'warm tones' drop down menu option?
MAC’s system is backwards – NC is for those with yellow undertones, while NW is for those with pink undertones.
christine, help me find my shade please,^^ i used maybelline clear smooth in light. thank u so much!
Check the Matrix for your match!
Ooops made a mistake in my last comment. I meant to write MAC NC55 – Revlon Colourstay Mahogany (not cappuccino as I wrote a moment ago,sorry).
MAC NC55 - Revlon Colourstay Capaccino
WOW this is amazing! Love it!
Why does it seem like there is alot of info missing for NW20. There is alot right at the beginning and then about 1/3 of the way down the column is totally empty.
Because someone (or some people) keep deleting information off of the sheet :/ I have a master copy that is full, but it's not ready to be released yet.
This is awesome! Christine you rock! Thanks a million! =D
Has anyone seen Aaron on YouTube? His user name is "Awoz" but he's done an amazing job at matching the NARS foundation with shades from MAC. He has the list on his sidebar under NARS foundation. He works for NARS and he was swatching the colors with MAC to see which shades matches with what. Truly an amazing and talented guy! Thanks to all those who are contributing...this is really helping me a lot as I'm sure it is with you all.
I'd like to add Clarins Truly matte on the NC-list, but I'm afraid I might ruin something, I don't know how to use it. I'm NC10-NC15 and the shade is 01 Linen
i tried viewing this but the cool chart there is no scroll bar on the side so i can't go past the 4th or 5th row which didn't really help me, but for the warm toned chart there wasn't a problem. am i the only one having this problem?
I don't know what happened, but I fixed it - should work now.
thanks a lot :)
Bloody brilliant! Now I just need to get to a Mac counter and finally get matched so I can contribute.
I must complain... only because I don't like how you've done the MAC shades at the top. I know it's the most common denominator, however, I wish it'd just go Fair, Light, Medium, etc. because not all MAC foundations in NC15 are the same shade. For instance I'm NC15 in SFF but NC25 in MSF Liquid. :-( This spreadsheet will not tell me what shade of Studio Sculpt my NC15 SFF would best match to.
Hey Lindsay, The problem with going with fair, light, etc. is it's very, very subjective. I know ladies who are NC40 but consider themselves light! But all of the boxes are fair game to change - so if you are NC25 in MSF liquid, then please put that!
Hi Christine! This is a brilliant idea, I love it, thank you! I've already contributed, but I wanted to ask if we could add concealers to the chart?
Sure, feel free :)
This really is amazing! You are extremely talented, Christine, with makeup, writing, and everything you do on this site; it all looks so cute! Now that I have this great help finding the right color I could really use a suggestion for formulas. I am relatively new to liquid foundation and I'm not that talented with makeup but I've been applying MUFE HD with a stippling brush and I like that a lot...what MAC foundation is similar in ease of use and application? I'd really appreciate anyone's recommendations.
MAC Studio Fix Fluid!
Oh thank you thank you thank you!!! I'm looking for a foundation myself and at NC 43/44 it's not so easy to find a match. What a perfect timing :).
If I buy an item at a MAC Store, can I return it to a MAC Counter?
Nope, only the MAC store!
I absolutely LOVE YOU FOREVER for doing this!!! This is the best idea ever and it's so helpful. I have always wanted to order some Shu Uemura Face Architect but I have no idea what my shade is... Thanks to this I can feel confident about ordering some online since I can't find it in person anywhere... yes!!!!!
OMG, this is a God send! Thank you! I've added my input in it.. Thanks!!
Nice job putting that together! Thanks :)
As with whether to use NC or NW, here is what I have been told. If you have warm undertones, you can use NW, however if the warm undertones are such that using NW accentuates the warmth to the point where it makes your skin look bad, then you need to neutralise the warmth with a cooler tone. You can use either NC or NW, but it depends on your personal match and how your undertones react to the foundation's undertones.
This is what I've been told too! and judging by the different foundations listed I think other people have been confused about this as well. I find the warm/cool tones confusing because I am yellow toned and prefer a yellow toned foundation, while others prefer to counter-balance the yellow with a pink based. I think this foundation matrix would work 93287492387492387492384 times better if it was separated into yellow based, pink based and neutral instead of tones. That way people can match their tones or counteract their tones... Don't get me wrong, I love that this is available but I think using the MAC shading is very confusing as their are two ways to work it out; matching, or counteracting.
I am yet to use MUFE foundation (it's expensive and is only sold at one place in Australia), but there is one thing that confuses me about its tone values as they aren't clearly defined. According to the spreadsheet (and other sites with reference to this), NC15 AND NW15 match with MUFE HD Foundation #117. How can this be right for 2 different tones? Is this a warmer or cooler tone foundation? Warmer tones make my skin look darker and more pink/red and just overall it isn't a good match for me, so I'm really hesitant to try MUFE.
#117 has yellow undertones and #118 has beige undertones, so depending on the strength of someone's undertones, they could wear either one and still be warm or cool visually speaking.
I know every woman has issues with foundation matching, but as a woman of colour this is even more important, because almost all beauty brands, blogs and magazines tend to forget about us. I am very excited about this project, because every shade over NC/W 40 is in a foundation graveyard. Many brands just offer two or three shades for ALL women of colour and this will help guide us to where our match exists. My search will no longer have to R.I.P. You are a clever lady!
I really hope we can get some ever-so-helpful input from all of the women of color for the NC/NW40+ range. I would love for the quest to be just a little easier for us all, but even more so for some of those who struggle so much because brands don't even make the shade!
I've included a link to your spreadsheet and this post in my newest post. I am so glad that you came up with this idea!
Thanks, Lakish!
NW = warm shades... NW is listed as cool shades. NC = cool shades, not warm.
That's because NW (in MAC) are for those with pinker undertones (who are, in general, cool-toned); NC (in MAC) are for those with yellower undertones (who are, in general, warm-toned).
You can also think of it as someone who matches NW needs more warmth in their skin tone to balance out the coolness. Someone who matches NC needs more coolness in their skin tone to balance out the warmth.
I'm NC45 and I think this is a wonderful idea!!! I've contributed as well.
Was going to put in some lancome shades, im mac nc20, however in Europe lancome as a different shade naming system, do you want european shades in or will that be too confusing???
Just throw it in there - maybe just put (Europe) behind it, but I'll figure it out, lol.
Fantastic idea! I'm finding it fascinating to see the range of shades I use that all seem great on me. Making me rethink a couple of my foundatons that, according to the chart, are outliers that should be too dark. Those may be summer shades without having realized it.
wow it is such a good idea, Thank you Christine :)
Christine, this is brilliant. But now I'm worried I'm wearing the wrong colour. I thought I was cool toned, but Revlon Colorstay Natural Beige is NC30. I guess I better get someone to help me pick a new colour! Thanks so much.
Wow, this is possibly one of the coolest things I have EVER seen online! The communal aspect of this just blows me away . . .
Oooh I just realised I forgot to add Smashbox healthy FX foundation in Fair 0 to my list :)
i'm so excited you finally decided to do this i have been wanting to try a new foundation because my studio fix foundation has sadly decided to break my chin out and i am horrible at picking out the right shade for me. so thank you thank you thank you :)
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