I have another Beauty Find for you today!
Have you heard about Christine’s foundation matrix over at Temptalia.com?
It’s GENIUS! I love the idea and I’m amazed that no one else has come up with something similar? Or is there something similar. I’d love to hear about it.
Anyway, Christina has created a Google Spreadsheet using MAC foundation shades (like NW35, NW40, NC45 etc.) as the reference point. MAC Cosmetics foundation shades are pretty common with anyone who regularly buys make up. Picking this brand as a starting point would indeed seem like a logical thing to do. Christina then encourags visitors of her site to help fill out this matrix.
The goal is to work on this matrix together and find other brand equivalents of the popular MAC shades. There are a lot of good brands out there that make foundation (liquid and powder), but unfortunately none of them use the same shade names.
So this is how it works:
1. You will have to find out what shade you are in MAC. Each MAC shade name is a combination of letters followed by numbers (ie: NC 35 or NW 15). The shades range in depth from 15 (very pale) to 55 (very dark). The C, NC, N, NW or W distinguish between different skin tones.
I am a NC45 in MAC: NC stands for ‘Neutral Cool’. This does not mean that I have a cool skin tone. It actually means the opposite (‘Not Cool’). It means that my skin tone ‘needs cool’ in order to looks its best. If you don’t know what your MAC shade is, just go to a MAC store or counter. They are happy to tell you what your shade is!
2. Then you go to Christine’s foundation matrix HERE and look up your shade on the list. There’s a cool and warm sheet as part of the document, so make sure you’re on the right one.
3. The last step is simple: you find your shade in any other brand by looking on the list of brands on the left!
Possible match for me (NC45): ‘Cadiz’ in Nars’ Sheer Matte foundation.
Pretty handy, right?
The next time I need a new foundation, I don’t need to test every shade in the store anymore!
Don’t forget to contribute to the matrix if you know of a match in a brand!
