Hey everyone!
So today I wanted to do a more informative post on understanding the concept of the foundation shades at Mac.
I know they can be a little confusing especially at first, What’s Nc? Nw? What’s the difference? Well I actually did some research as I was looking into Mac foundations the other day and here’s what I discovered…
Mac use 5 different shade catogories when it comes to foundation.
- Nc- Neutral Cool (the most common and known).
- Nw- Neutral Warm.
- C- Cool
- W- warm
- N- Neutral
All of these categories are based on the different undertones in the foundation.
Nw- Pinky Beige Undertone
Nc- Golden Beige Undertone
C- Golden/ Olive Undertone
N- Beige (only available in studio fix foundation)
W- Pink
As you may have already noticed the names have either Warm, Neutral Or Cool in them. This is basically part of the undertoned in your skin.
I will briefly go into them..
Warm tones are ones with a more yellow/ caramel undertone
Cool tones have more of a pink undertones.
To find out more about finding your personal undertone go to Makeup Geeks Website.
The confusing thing with Mac is that they have swapped the tones around. So for instance W and NW have more pink undertones to them and Nc and C have more golden undertones. Generally most people do have warmer skin that is why Nc is well known. Plus most people do not want to be pink which is why they have less selection in the W range.
Back to the catogories then..
C is more for an olive undertones skin, it’s the coolest tone they sell.
Nc is a little more beige but still has very strong underlying yellow tones.
N has neither yellow or pink undertones and is just simply beige.
Nw is the first one that creeps into the pink tones. It has a pink time with a bit of orange for a cool tone.
W has the most pink undertones. This catogorie isn’t usually carried in most foundations as it is least popular and not many want to have a pink base.
Now onto the very confusing numbers that come after the Nw or Nc for instance you would have Nc15. The main thing about these numbers is quite obvious the higher the number the darker the shade.
There are a few numbers that do not end in a 5 or 0 these tend to be more neutral toned.
In some of their foundations such as face and body they use a different system which just ranges from 1-9. The tone is either N or C. Or you could take match master which just has a number system.
Something you need to remember between each different formula of foundation is that the shade numbers do not translate. You might be Nc15 in one foundation and C2 in another. It all depends on the formula. Some oxidise that is the reason you might have a different shade.
Also your concealer shade will genuinely be lighter than your matched foundation.
The only last thing I have to say about choosing your foundation is to match it to your neck. As Jaclyn Hill always says, you don’t want a tanned neck and a stark white face!
Also if you have trouble finding the right shade try Findation.com it lets you put in your current foundations and the shades and matches you to different foundations. It is usually spot on!
Thanks for reading this very long and in depth post!
BlondeBeautyBomb
❤
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