Makeup School: Foundations 101 Coverages & Finishes

Makeup School: Foundation 101 Coverages and Finishes


Picking a foundation can be so confusing what color? what formula?Now if you know your skin type that's a start! If not you may want to refer to my post about skincare that will help you decide what skin type you are!


Let's say you know your skin type
Now what are your undertones Cool Warm or Neutral?
If you are not sure of your skin tone and need a little help figuring it out before going shopping you may want to look my post Foundation Color Theory.


*If you know your skin type and skin tone the only thing left is to decide is coverage.


Coverage =  the amount of pigment in your foundation
How much of your skin do you want to see through your foundation?


Sheer Coverage- slight coverage almost transparent, you will be enhancing your skin with this formula of foundation
this coverage will blur your minor imperfections and even out your skin


Medium Coverage- this foundation covers most minor imperfections on its own, this type of coverage is most common, the skin still appears natural

Medium to Full Coverage- is a very buildable coverage which means you can apply your foundation in a medium coverage and go back and cover problem areas again making it full coverage in those areas, it offers a natural looking skin with coverage, also if it is stippled it will be full coverage!

Full or Opaque Coverage- you will completely cover your true skin it is the most pigmented foundation, these foundations cover heavy scarring, discolorations,are used in dramatic makeup, or just the Appearance of  Flawless Skin!


Every foundation also has a Finish, a finish in foundation describes the appearance your skin will have once the foundation is set. When reading the descriptions of the different finishes think of paint for your walls, and how its available in Gloss, Semi Gloss, Matte, Satin 


Satin-does not shine but it shimmers best described as a sheen  


Matte- makes your skin powder soft  


Luminous- gives shine almost like an opalescence  


Natural-this is the most common finish,your skin appears to be in its natural state  


Then we have Liquid, Powder, or Cream
You have to decide which one feels the best to you try all 3 types



*Liquid Foundation- is the most popular, it blends easily, and comes in a variety of coverages



*Powder Foundation- can look very natural but has more coverage then liquid and creams

*Creamy Foundation-is very blendable and easily adjusted to any skin type, this type of foundation comes in several different coverages too 


*Mineral Foundations-I consider these powder formula they are not much different than any other foundations, they are typically loose powder foundations, if you are bothered by "Talc" these may be for you, most Mineral Foundations are Talc Free


**Aspiring Makeup Artist's when your building your kit the best foundations to invest in are  medium/buildible coverage, creamy, water based foundations this way you can accommodate all skin types from Oily to Dry and also matching full coverage powder foundations. Look at www.PaintandPowder.com under Graftobian they have palettes of foundation and its actually reasonably priced to get started with them & you will love the quality of the products!  


**You can tweak your Foundations to make them more suited to your needs


If you have a foundation that is too heavy, or thick mix it with a face moisturizer
Pour a little bit of the foundation out and add your favorite face moisturizer
You will make your foundation like a tinted moisturizer.


If your foundation is too sheer add some concealer to it
this I say if you can squirt the concealer right in your foundation bottle its pretty simple directions, if not I just put a little concealer on my hand and a little foundation next to it and mix it with the brush I intend to apply it with.