I struggle to get a foundation to match my skin tone.  I have pretty average skin colour, standard caucasian but I find that biege foundation is slightly dark but a porcelain foundation is too light.  Some tones are, despite being mid range are too orangy.  Is there a truely neutral shade out there.

Also, possibly due to stress, I have developed really dark bags under my eyes.  I have tried virtually every eye cream on the market but still have to use tons of concealer and corrector.  Anyone else had this problem (I am a contact lense wearer)?

Help would be appreciated.

Hi! One of the best things you can do for dark under-eyes is to use something with a salmon-hued pigmentation to it. Because of the contrast, the color will help to neutralize the darker blueish black. Hope that helps some!

If you have one shade that is just a little light and one that is just a little dark, try mixing them on the back of you hand and see if that matches better.

Also match a shade to the web of your hand.  It is usually close to the shade for the face.

Depending on your make up routine, you can also try using a liquid foundation and a powder foundation (to set it) of two different shades. It generally works ok and without being too caked on.

Quote from: Pippa on April 01, 2012, 11:10:21 AM
I struggle to get a foundation to match my skin tone.  I have pretty average skin colour, standard caucasian but I find that biege foundation is slightly dark but a porcelain foundation is too light.  Some tones are, despite being mid range are too orangy.  Is there a truely neutral shade out there.

Also, possibly due to stress, I have developed really dark bags under my eyes.  I have tried virtually every eye cream on the market but still have to use tons of concealer and corrector.  Anyone else had this problem (I am a contact lens wearer)?

Help would be appreciated.

Bags or circles?  Bags or puffiness can be reduced with a dab or haemorrhoid cream (strange but true), and if you do a weekly facial masque, ten minutes with cucumber slices really does help out a little.

Dark circles are best treated with a salmon/slightly-orangely-pink concealer applied with a sponge-tip applicator and blended with fingertips.

If you have trouble finding a foundation that matches your skintone, Maybelline Fit Me is available in eighteen shades, and Manic Panic makes a white liquid foundation that you can mix with any other liquid foundation to get a perfect match --I'm naturally very pale, and I swear by this stuff.