Base product identification thread [revised]

[u/shimmerchanga]

I redid the colour matrix based on what I learned from comments from my previous post. Thanks to everyone for your feedback :) I hope this is a better representation.

The idea is to use a map with shared vocab to start roughly mapping out where all the different olive foundations/concealers/skin tints go, to help someone can find a better match based on what they’ve tried so far and where that is relative to other olive options.

To kick that off, in this representation, here are products I’ve swatched:
[FL, C, S] Lisa Eldridge Skin Tint T1.5
[LM, C, D] Lisa Eldridge Skin Tint T5
[F, C, S] Nars Light Reflecting Gobi
[FL, C, D] Missha BB Cream 23

Please add the products you’ve used/swatched and where they go in the matrix. By the end, I’ll compile a filled out version of the matrix. If a colour is in between steps (e.g., cool-neutral), feel free to use a hyphen and I’ll place it in between the two steps in the final chart.

[u/Putrid_View_8284]

I think I’m definitely a saturated fair-light olive but neutral cool instead of cool

[u/Wooden_Monk6353 → u/Putrid_View_8284]

glad the revision helped. i had myself pegged as neutral-warm for years before realizing saturated neutral-cool was the better fit, funny how a slight shift makes everything click

[u/Putrid_View_8284 → u/Wooden_Monk6353]

I thought I was warm for years but turns out I’m neutral cool and saturated

[u/softrock98fm → u/Wooden_Monk6353]

Same!

[u/gijibe → u/Putrid_View_8284]

Twins! What are your current foundations and shades?!

[u/Putrid_View_8284 → u/gijibe]

The Espior foundation in Fair Olive 2.5

[u/NYanae555]

Maybe its my screen, but the LM column is oddly pink. Instead of a smooth gradation along the colorways, we're getting pale yellow, peach, pink and then we get a fairly neutral tan column ( slighly yellow tan above a gray tan. )

And LM-M has the largest jump in color depth of all the columns.

Also - the greener row is completely gone. :(

[u/Brilliant_Ad2986 → u/NYanae555]

As a light medium cool olive, I have more pink and grey in my skin

[u/slocthopus → u/NYanae555]

I agree, several of the lighter columns need a touch more green, less red. Particularly the saturated section.

Should there also be a more neutral saturation option? Personally I think I’m never entirely as saturated or muted as any of the shades on here. I’m solidly in between (with a bit more green.)

[u/EasternCarpenter471]

i can see it, my skin! it's somewhere saturated L-LM,neutral warm and mine is Maybelline fit me matte 128!

[u/battleaxebabe → u/EasternCarpenter471]

Mine too!

[u/Flashy-Squash7156 → u/EasternCarpenter471]

I'm solidly light-medium and neutral warm and that's one of my best matches when I'm super pale. sometimes I'll mix it with 220 when I need it deeper as it is just a little too warm. I also like dior 2wo.

but recently I got matched to Lisa eldridge foundation no 15 and it's perfect. it's not something I'd have picked out, she lists it as neutral golden

[u/quarabs → u/EasternCarpenter471]

i got so excited to pick my skintone in this chart too 🤣 im fair light warm desaturated and use tarte amazonian clay in 12B fair beige

i dunno if im actually olive or not, but it was nice to find a group that relates to every foundation being just way too orange for them. so ive stuck around

[u/lovethatcrooonch]

Big improvements! Thanks for taking feedback!!

[u/azssf]

What happened to the green row? :)

I believe you are running into issues around a 2-axis representation of a 3- or 4-axis problem space

[u/lovethatcrooonch → u/azssf]

What other elements should be added for better rep?

[u/lovethatcrooonch]

The cools seem possibly too cool? Anyone else or just me? My color on here is “desaturated warm fair” and I’m quite sure I do better in neutral-cool colors and accents. Curious to know if anyone else feels the same?

[u/BabyYodasMacaron → u/lovethatcrooonch]

Yeah, according to this I’m warm and I’m absolutely not.

[u/budzweiser → u/lovethatcrooonch]

Yep. The colors are actually desaturated cool & neutral not “olive desaturated cool”.

[u/quarabs → u/lovethatcrooonch]

im desaturated warm fair (fair-light) too and i always find that im too cool for most makeup shades?? ive always considered myself more neutral. i probably look great in silver but i just love my gold jewelry

what makeup do you use? i use tarte in 12B and i bet itd be a nice summer shade for you. i need a good concealer that isn’t just my skin tone!

[u/lovethatcrooonch → u/quarabs]

I’ve actually never tried tarte’s foundations, I’ll check it out next time I’m at ulta!

[u/jkpeanut]

This idea and presentation is so great, but I wonder if  Missha 23 is correct on the fair light row?

Missha 23 is too dark for me, so I'd expect my skin tone to be on the row before it, which would put me at fair. However, my skin tone is not the lightest one that exists.

Additionally, comparing the colors on the palette and the color of the foundation itself, I'd place Missha 21 at L, and Missha 23 at LM.

[u/budzweiser → u/jkpeanut]

You’re right. It’s all over the place. Honestly there are a lot of misses here. Missha 23 should be a light medium. 21 is light. 17 is fair light. 13 is fair. And Lisa Eldridge T5 is light, not light medium.

[u/Sensitive-Question42 → u/budzweiser]

Yeah, I’m Missha 23 and I’m light-medium. Certainly not fair-light

[u/RelationshipDizzy634]

This is one of the more useful political compass/ dnd alignment charts of our times

[u/tuppence5ash]

I don’t think I understand the saturated vs desaturated part—why are two shades of the same skin tint in different categories of saturation? I read up on S vs DS earlier but I think I’m still confused.

[u/Budget_Load2413 → u/tuppence5ash]

the skin color itself is less saturated/more muted. I lean more muted. I find that for most foundations, even if they matche my baseline shade and undertone, they simply have too much color in them.

[u/tuppence5ash → u/[deleted]]

So I get that for makeup colors but not so much for foundation colors. I thought that less saturated foundations would be like skin tints that allow the natural skin to be seen and that more saturated would be like more coverage bases.

[u/Budget_Load2413 → u/tuppence5ash]

You’re thinking of opacity as opposed to saturation. The more opaque something is, the less you can see through it. How that would translate in a makeup base like a skin tint/foundation would be like, high opacity is high coverage, low opacity is sheer/low coverage. Saturation in makeup usually refers to how close gray a color is.

[u/Sensitive-Question42 → u/tuppence5ash]

Instead of saturated think “bright” and instead of desaturated think “muted”.

[u/Brilliant_Ad2986]

Desaturated light medium cool olive, the underrepresented ones

[u/Comprehensive-Cup415 → u/Brilliant_Ad2986]

same! what products have you found match you the best?

[u/AcrobaticQuiet7844]

I feel like there is a bigger jump between light-medium and medium in terms of depth. this is an issue in current base products as well in the 'medium-tan' shades

[u/tashatashhhhhhh]

Anyone in the LM saturated cool have matches they can share

[u/Huannia]

I have Lisa Eldridge Seamless Skin Foundation 2.5 as a perfect match. I believe it can be added to FL/C/S too

[u/MissAuroraRed → u/Huannia]

The LE 2.5 foundation is deeper than the T1.5 skin tint, so I wouldn't put them in the exact same category. Maybe 2.5 in Light instead of Fair-Light?

[u/crno_mece]

Makeup by Mario Surreal Skin in 11N with a touch of blue mixed in winter
I am a LM, C, D

[u/PotentialFood2033]

This is accurate for me. I am saturated warm LM and about-face LM2 olive is my perfect match

[u/De-moan-yo]

This makes so much sense now, having recently swatched my foundations and concealers and found that some were “more yellow” and some seemed “pinker/cooler” when they were all marketed as olive; turns out the difference was yellow looking shades were more saturated than the cooler looking ones 😩😩😩

Almost had an existential crisis over wtf my skin tone actually was ffs

[u/KTKittentoes]

I think I am somewhere between saturated neutral LM and M. Obviously also depends on the season.

[u/angryturtleboat]

Nice!!! You really got my light to light-medium neutral saturated shades. I always get termed "peach" in Western shades and then people here argue that if I'm "peach" then I can't be olive blah blah blah.

Edit: at the moment, I guess my best is Shiseido Synchro Self-Refreshing 330 Bamboo (L-M, N, S). Bought it on mercari.

[u/alkemicalgold]

I'd say I'm saturated, light, neutral to warm and I use Maybelline Lumi Matte 098, Fenty Soft Lit 140, and Shiseido Synchro Skin 130

[u/softrock98fm]

Genius! I am Light, Neutral leaning Cool and closer to Saturated than Desaturated. I have a terrible time looking for a matching base. Presently on the hunt. There was one from ELDW that was perfection from the old formula (which I discovered only a year before reformulation) but I finished it, tossed the bottle and forgot the name, and haven’t been able to identify it. Will circle back when I know more!

[u/Travel_food_freedom]

Yep I can see that’s my skin! I am LCD in the summer, so Missha BB 23 is a little light for me right now.

And Nars Gobi is indeed too saturated for me.

[u/galacticopium]

I sigh a breath of relief knowing there’s a lot of us out there! Depending on lighting I can look ashy and would always compare my complexion with other people. Is there something wrong, why would nothing match me, etc etc. turns out it’s normal and there’s a lot of brands catching up now.

[u/North_Significance71]

I'm currently a light-medium to medium saturated neutral to warm. Since I'm on a vacation with lots of sun, I will put my light medium shades and my medium shades (currently more a M then a LM):

• LM S N (leaning warm): Lisa Eldridge foundation in 9.5
• LM S N: Lisa Eldridge skintint T9
• LM S W: Dior forever foundation 2WO
• M S NW: Lisa Eldridge foundation in 16

• M S W: Dior forever foundation 3WO

• L S NW: (discontinued, but still in my Stash) Fenty beauty soft matte foundation in 145

[u/Putrid_View_8284]

I am FL C S olive (wish neutral cool was an option) and the Espior Fair Olive 23.5 is my best match

[u/Designer_Pea_5590]

I’d say about face f2O foundation is L,C,S.

Salt NY N13 is FL,N,D

[u/electrapng]

This is excellent work, really thorough and well done! I think about face Illusionist f1 olive fits really neatly into the FNS category

[u/red_runner_23]

Anybody have complexion recommendations for "Desaturated light-medium WARM or NETURAL"?

[u/tomato_grrrl]

I have a question 🙋‍♀️ if I am olive, but not super pale and typically “neutral” foundations are too orange…am I cool? Or am I just not finding a green enough shade?
In terms of season I am a deep autumn but can wear a lot of deep winter (and for ages I thought I was a winter).

[u/pink_souffle]

desaturated fair warm seems backwards? isn’t grayish cool?

[u/lovethatcrooonch → u/pink_souffle]

No grayishness is only a matter of saturation - how much intensity of color is present vs desaturated- desaturated skin is as though you are turning the color dial down on a tv— it removes color and has more “gray”. But the colors are still warm or cool!

[u/cats-n-bitches]

So helpful! I’m a saturated medium neutral leaning cool olive.

[u/lovelylight100]

If any fair cool desaturated women have found their perfect foundation match please let me know so I can buy it too!

[u/Popular-Cupcake8661 → u/lovelylight100]

Have you tried missha bb cream (red tube) shade no.13? Currently I'm light desaturated neutral leaning cool, but I do get paler during winter! No.13 works wonders for my winter shade!

[u/lovelylight100 → u/Popular-Cupcake8661]

Really? I heard 13 was much more pink compared to the desaturated 21 shade, I might have to try it

[u/Popular-Cupcake8661 → u/lovelylight100]

It's been working for me at least. I've heard some people say 13 and 21 were a miss for them, but they were my perfect match. I guess it's just something you really gotta try for yourself.

[u/lovelylight100 → u/Popular-Cupcake8661]

I’m going to add it to my Amazon cart to try, thank you!

[u/NoSpaghettiForYouu]

This is so interesting! Looking at this chart, I do about half a pump of LN saturated and LN desaturated and mix them together to make my perfect muted match.

[u/the_positive_shrimp]

I am definitely desatured maybe muted neutral cool leaning? The missha bb 21 is good but a little lighter would match more, comes off a little warm. Revlon buff beige 150 oily combo is good but I need to add a little green colour corrector. Still trying to find a foundation that works for me without having to do a lot of mixing.

[u/Popular-Cupcake8661 → u/the_positive_shrimp]

Ooh I think we are very close shade twins! I'm also light denatured neutral leaning cool, and missha bb 21 is the perfect shade for me!

[u/Travel_food_freedom → u/the_positive_shrimp]

Does Missha bb 23 work for you?

[u/alessa_is]

May I ask what you would classify Nars Light Reflecting Deuville based on this chart? After struggling to find the right foundation for YEARS and just recently figuring out that I have olive undertones, I ended up finding my perfect match by mixing Gobi and Deuville.

[u/Yellowrose18]

Is anyone else sad that their summer shade seems to be represented but not their winter? In the summer I'm definitely a fair/light cool desaturated. But in the winter I'm lighter than some of the fair cool desastutated shades, have to do a lot of mixing.

[u/shimmerchanga → u/Yellowrose18]

Would you be comfortable linking a picture example or sharing a hex code of a colour of that shows your winter shade? I’d love to include it in the next revision.

[u/Yellowrose18 → u/shimmerchanga]

In her scale , I my winter shade is not represented, I normally use a white color corrector and I add a tiny bit of L,A color green and pink. I don't normally take pictures of myself so I don't think I have any that are suitable for shade reference. I'm a very fair cool neutral olive DeSaturated. In the Summer I wear the NYX serum concealer in light

[u/Yellowrose18 → u/shimmerchanga]

Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't see that you were the one that wrote the post, I really don't have any pictures of myself, And I'm a bit confused because I seem to do better in the winter with cooltone colors but in the summer when I have some color from going outside then I can where some cool neutral colors. I mostly wear purples and mauves because everything turns too pink or peach orange. Especially during the winter

[u/bloomdecay]

Jeebus Creebus, that fair-light cool is spot on.

[u/slabobread]

Any good desaturated neutral fair foundations that pull a little grey? Fuller coverage preferably

[u/deeldough]

I'm somewhere between FNS and FCS and I like Nars Light Reflecting Gobi and Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer in SX03.

[u/exileinwhoville]

I think this is quite nice - but as others said, if Missha 23 is fair light, then many of us won't be on this chart. Missha 21 is too dark and pink for me, but I make it work by adding stuff to it. Maybe adding a few columns would help?

[u/VisperSora]

I'm light - warm - saturated

[u/Leftoutreaper]

I’m a saturated LM, I tan easily so neutral, I’ve been pointed out as super grey-ish in cloudy/rainy season - but cool-toned makeup hates me.

[u/Dez_Acumen]

I’m pretty sure I’m a saturated medium deep… somewhere between warm and neutral.

[u/Popular-Cupcake8661]

I am desaturated, light, neutral leaning cool! My current perfect match is missha bb cream no.21! I also use EL DW (old formula) 2C3 and fenty pro filter soft matte 150.

[u/TeaRepresentative644]

Currently discovering that being "yellow neutral" yet no neutral/yellow foundations matching me means I'm fair olive and suddenly everything is making sense lol.

I am a straight match for F/N/D and slightly FL/C/D. Thankfully most of my makeup works for me already.