Being rather pale, I’ve often struggled to find foundation that’s pale enough for me.
Over the years I’ve got much better at swatching formulas in stores and waiting to see if they oxidise, but every now and again I still come home with something too dark to use. Because of that, foundation mixers are an essential for me. I get a pump of the foundation on the back of my hand, and then mix in a drop of a white foundation mixer to get the perfect shade. Up until recently it was hard to find white foundation on the high street, so I was pleasantly surprised to find the MUA Pro Custom Colour Foundation Mixers for a very reasonable £4 each.
There are four shades avalible: Lightening Cool, Lightening Warm, Deepening Medium and Deepening Dark. I’ve picked up Lightening Warm and Deepening Medium.
Unlike my white foundation, the Lightening Warm mixer has a tint of yellow, meaning it will not only lighten a foundation but help correct the undertone and make it a smidge warmer. This is great for my foundations that are a little too dark and a little too pink (looking at you, Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation in 010 Porcelain).
You might be wondering why I also picked up the Deepening Medium mixer which is designed to make your foundations darker, given that I so rarely find a base that’s too light for me. Well, it's for contouring. Using a foundation, concealer, or even a face powder two or three shades darker than my skintone looks much more natural than a dedicated contour product. I've been mixing the Deepening Warm shade with whatever foundation is left on the back of my hand and sculpting my cheekbones with it, and I love how it looks.
You can see on the pictures above just how easy it is to use. There's a pump of the Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation straight out of the bottle, which is a little too dark and pink for me. When it's mixed with the MUA Foundation Mixer in Lightening Warm, it's the perfect shade and disappears into my skin. When mixed with the Deepening Medium shade, it's a lovely contour colour.
If you have a foundation that you love but the shade isn’t quite right, I’d highly recommend these mixers to adjust the colour. It could even come in handy when you get a tan in the summer and then get paler in the winter (not that I would know anything about that personally, as I just stay the same shade of Moonface all year round).
Have you ever tried foundation mixers? Are there any you recommend?
