The top image is in natural light and the bottom image is with flash. You can click on the images to expand them. Please keep in mind that, because I'm quite fair and have some cool yellow undertones, a lot of these swatches will look very stark or orange against my skin. My hope is that you'll be able to compare the colors to each other and potentially find a match.
From left to right:
- Becca Aqua Luminous Perfecting Concealer in Fair. This is the second lightest shade in the range.
- Dermablend Cover Creme in Rose Beige. This is the third lightest shade in the range.
- Smashbox Studio Skin Concealer in Fair. This is the lightest shade in the range.
- Smashbox Studio Skin Foundation in 1.1. This is the third lightest shade in the range.
- Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in Siberia. This is the lightest yellow shade in most NARS ranges.
- Koh Gen Do Moisture Foundation in 112 and 001. These are the two lightest shades in the range.
From left to right:
- Becca Aqua Luminous Perfecting Foundation in Dark Golden. This is the second darkest shade in the range.
- Dermablend Cover Creme in Chocolate Brown. This is the second darkest shade in the range.
- Smashbox Studio Skin Concealer in Deep. This is the darkest shade in the range.
- Smashbox Studio Skin Foundation in 4.3. This is the second darkest shade in the range.
- Lancome Teint Idole Ultra in 500 Suede W and 470 Suede C. There is an entire set of shades darker than these in the 500 range.
- Koh Gen Do Moisture Foundation in 302 and 303. These are the darkest shades in the range.
Yet again, let me stress how frustrating it is that darker skin tones are not well represented in the beauty world. I figured, when I swatched most of these products, that these shades were in no way the absolute darkest the range had to offer. (I knew there were darker shades for the Lancome Teint Idole Ultra.) I mean, look at this! That's the second darkest shade in the Smashbox foundation? What? And am I going crazy, or do some of the undertones in these shades look quite extreme? Koh Gen Do 303 seems balanced and reasonably deep, but 302 looks so orange to me.
Mad props to Lancome, though, because that shade range is incredible.
A lot of darker foundations seem to have extreme orange undertones. There are plenty of cool-toned women of colour and very few foundations reflect this. A lot of ranges might go fairly deep but unfortunately if you break it down they still offer way more light to medium options but only a few deeper ones. A range with 20 shades might have 15 light to medium shades which increase incrementally and have multiple undertones, and then 5 dark shades (if that) with large gaps in between. Higher end brands seem to be stepping up more, but drugstore brands are definitely guilty of generally having like 1 or 2 dark shades if any at all. Looking at the Rimmel display is really disheartening.
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