Foundation Match

[kensikade]

I’ve never used foundation before so i was wondering what’s the best way to match a foundation to my skin color

[CattyT3]

I always get directed astray from what my skin color and tone actually is when I've tried to have store assistance help me find out my shade in store. I got directed to way too dark, orangey or yellow tones shades that just look bad on me - but I didn't know better that the time so dedicated to some questionable looking concealers. The online shade match feature also made me get a wrong foundation shade for a now discontinued foundation - but the formula is so beautiful I mix it with foundation pigments to correct the color. So I would very much caution from using the online matching tool.
I did try out the ULTA face scanning one to see how it does and it was not far off, impressive, but it definitely was not perfect since it couldn't detect my golden olive tone rather than just the dull neutral it was showing me options for.
Do not trust skin tone names and labels at face value, they are not helpful when you don't know what you are looking for, and even when you do, you realize it's very wrong a lot of times. Look at that the actual color and tone descriptions, and see how it looks on you.
The only way I even got to finding shades close to my color was by swatching in store (make sure to be extra careful about hygiene using testers ect. And using the samples Sephora actually sends with online orders sometimes - I have heard you can request for these samples in store, so that's an option if it isn't available online when you want to try a specific foundation out.
Sephora is great about letting you take a reasonable sample size home for you to use a few products you find to be promising in store lighting for you to do your own wear testing for several days.
If you haven't been able to find out your personal skin undertone, play around with shades that look close to your color when you swatch, and check for the different undertone neighbors for your close match shades. Subtle tone differences make a world of difference when spread on the face and you see in your own home lighting and in natural light. 
I know there are websites and web posts dedicated to the art of finding out your skin tone, but I only get left more confused by those things as I kept being told about the vein color rule, but that never worked for me, but I have an olive skin tone despite not having green looking veins because of my actual skin color depth.
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So to find a true match, it will take a bit of effort testing stuff on your skin & maybe needing to wipe stuff off several times in one trip to check more shades and then what formula type you want to go with as well. The coverage and texture will also impact how a shade looks on you in full face makeup VS just a single test swipe.
Good luck on the shade match journey - it's tough, but not impossible like a few years ago as there is much more skin tone and color range available for many formulas.

[CorgiMommy]

@kensikade the best way is to go in store and ask for assistance.  If you can't go to Sephora, a department store, Ulta and even done Targets can help.

Google foundation match to get some tips on foundation, there are things to think about , coverage, type, etc.  It seems overwhelming but it really isn't once you know what you want 

[lmaster]

@kensikade are you able to go in store to swatch different shades?