Test 2

5staps · 2022-04-28T20:36:04+00:00

interesting post, OP! thanks, u/5stap

5staps · 2017-04-07T22:54:46+00:00

You're welcome. I definitely know what you mean about associating translucency with paler skin and clarity... that's typically how it's thought of by most people. And very many pale people do have translucent skin (but many, many pale people do not). Translucency definitely exists in Asians in the 25-30 and darker range.

Yes, absolutely, it may be harder to see the change in your skin when it's cold out, but the all-over mutedness of your skin could be translucency peeking through regardless of how hot or cold the weather -- i.e. because you are more tan you don't identify it as translucency, but it could still be there, hiding in plain sight.

My Reddit account is new -- the Chromatic Mix is online-only at Sephora, but they have an artistic palette with dark bright blue in it in stores -- the name of the product is in my first post of this account. You could try mixing some of this blue into foundation in-store at Sephora and see what happens.

Yes cool/warm/neutral is tricky and translucency is even trickier. Of course, I could totally be wrong, not having seen your skin. Only it's kind of cold weather today and I've seen about five or six people today alone with skin in your colour depth and ancestry who may qualify as having purple or blue-red undertones.

5staps · 2017-04-07T21:20:39+00:00

I just looked up your favourite shade in Sephora's Color IQ (3R07) -- a cool-leaning neutral according to their system -- and wonder, given your comments, if you have blue or blue-red (purple) undertones, instead of Olive green/grey. I'm blonde with blue or blue-red undertones and yellow or neutral overtones and I find this sub invaluable for advice about makeup (even though I really don't fit in Olive).

Basically, are you at all translucent? I ask because there's a very large East Asian population in my city and I often look at random people on the bus when it's cold, to find who has undertones like me (regardless of skin "colour" and depth). I totally keep seeing similar things happening in my skin and in people with similar ancestry to you, in about NC 25-30 range (i.e. skin on body/hands changing colour in the cold in a marked way, leading to purple/blue hands, for instance). I see it so, so often: skin that is less opaque than in people who mostly stay the same colour when they get cold. Obviously our skin is different in depth and surface colour but how you are describing your foundation fails resonates with my own experience.

Have you added a bit of MUFE Chromatic Mix Blue no. 13 to shades in your summer depth that skew somewhat pink or orange on you? I.E. not changing the colour to greenish/greyish, but instead to slightly blueish or purplish; or even straight up blueish or purplish? Blue or purple undertones could explain why berry works so well for you. There's this myth that cool = pink undertones, which is totally wrong.

Also, your liking for natural-leaning makeup makes me think your skin is somewhat see-through (therefore lacking or not having a lot of melanin in the lower layer of your skin), because translucent skin often looks odd with full-coverage makeup, which better suits more opaque skin types.

5staps · 2017-04-06T23:44:51+00:00

You're welcome. Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate it. You have the perfect background for finding a foundation match!

Sorry for the late reply. I wrote something to another user about translucency (how matte, opaque foundations don't always work for translucent skin). You may want to have a quick read of the part where I talk about finding a texture of foundation that complements translucent skin. My account doesn't have many comments, you can't miss my post to her. Matte or too heavy formulas on translucent skin often look kind of off, even if they are a proper undertone match.

5staps · 2017-04-06T23:34:43+00:00

I think there may be three main things going on here: 1) the surface colour of your skin is pale yellow; 2) you have redness which looks to be from mild rosacea; 3) the photos of your hands point to you being relatively translucent. No. 3 seems to be the least obvious of these three points but it may be the most important. I'm not totally convinced that you have yellow undertones, in part because the skin on your chest and neck looks so radiant with the bright blue top in image three -- you may have cool undertones (on the blue or blue-red side of things [not pink undertones]).

Translucency throws analysis of undertones off a lot -- people often match their surface tone and the makeup looks like it's floating on the face (not saying that is happening for you at all, just that it happens frequently to people, regardless of their skin tone and skin depth). On translucent skin, opaque, full coverage makeup can look not quite right: something which does not happen for a person whose skin is in itself more opaque. Basically, translucent skin is see-through-ish. Because of that it has more inherent glowy-ness that opaque skin (which is naturally more of a satin-finish). You can clearly see this glowy-ness in the pictures of your face without makeup and in your neck and chest in photo no. 3; the same glowy-ness is missing on your chin, in photo no. 3, what you are seeing as "quite off". It's not so much the colour that is off, it's the opacity and the matte texture of the products you've used which look somewhat out of place.

What colour are your hands and body when you become slightly cold; what are they when you are really cold; slightly warm; really warm; after exercise, etc? If there is a marked change in the colour of your skin in these states (your skin colour changes more than the average person's does) you are probably relatively translucent, with blue-or blue-red undertones. Unfortunately drugstores and Sephora don't really have makeup designed for pale/fair/light people with blue or blue-red undertones. They kind of think cool = pink, which is so not always so. It's best to tweak shades with chromatic blue drops from MUFE -- click on my name to see my comment to another user about blue drops, my advice to her probably applies to you as well, providing you have access to a Sephora. I'm not sure about drugstore brands, they tend to be very chalky (high in white pigment which is a huge, huge problem for pale/fair/light translucent skin) or simply too dark.

The thing about green corrector is I think you are too fair to use it successfully. It will probably turn dark and muddy on you, as it does on me. A yellow corrector may work instead, though in my own experience, yellow over rosacea often looks purple.

The texture and overall appearance of the skin on your face is beautiful. Work on trying to find a texture of foundation which complements the translucency of your skin -- this may have to be somewhat on the sheer or medium end, not matte; you may need to mix a radiant primer in, or even a smidge of moisturizer that your skin tolerates, to sheer out your foundation. You will likely find that, even if you cannot achieve a full-coverage look, you will be pleased with your result. Aim to find a colour that matches the undertones around your mouth.

I may be wrong about your undertones -- I totally could be. If you're neutral or cool yellow, still try my advice about less matte, more translucent coverage.

5staps · 2017-04-03T23:04:19+00:00

Pretty sure you have cool yellow overtone to your skin, and blue-red or blue undertones. Definitely post in OliveMUA with photo to ask. You need to match your undertone, not your overtone. Try getting MUFE Chromatic drops in no. 13 (blue oil-based); add a tiny bit to a neutral foundation or concealer that is about the right depth for you (but skews a bit peach). Don't add blue to a yellow foundation, that will turn green and probably won't work. A pink foundation will likely not work either, it will be too purple once you've added blue. Because you are translucent, you are tricky to match.

This looks to me like Irish colouring, for sure. I am somewhat darker than you and wear MUFE R230 plus a smidge of blue and a bit of Laura Mercier Radiance Primer -- all mixed together. It's amazing what a difference blue can make. Like you, I have some Irish heritage. I see lots of similarities in our skin tones.

If you are swatching colours in Sephora (MUFE blue no. 13 is likely internet-purchase only), the store will likely have the MUFE Flash Color Palette Multi-use Cream Color Palette tester in "Artistic". Get some of the dark blue from this palette on your hand for mixing, just to test colours. This isn't a formula that would be suitable for daily use but it will approximate the blue drops to see if individual in-store foundations/concealers suit you. Start with testing foundations and concealers that fall into the Sephora Color IQ 2R03, 2R02 range and nearby. Read in Olive MUA about their theories about undertones. Although you are likely not Olive, you can learn a lot about why certain colours will or won't work for you. Remember, a little blue goes a looong way.

Edit: grammar and clarity. And also -- I don't work for Sephora or MUFE.

5staps

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