Confused about my skin-tone. Olive?

[hollyl72628201]

I’ve spent tons of money on foundations trying to find my skin tone for the past few years. I don’t have a Sephora in my town so it’s been hard having to order online all the time! Finding an undertone feels impossible. The veins in my arms are green, blue, and purple. In the winter I’m very light, and in the summer I’m very tan. I don’t burn often. Cool-toned foundations look way too pink, warm-toned foundations are too yellow. Neutral-toned foundations make me look orange. My skin sometimes even looks blue, green, or yellow in some lighting. Does this make me olive then? I just really wanted to get a good look into how others would see my skin colour!! I’m confused! I attached a picture from when I was the lightest last winter and bare-skinned. I honestly couldn’t find a photo from the summer but imagine my skin being very tan and orange. If anyone has a similar skin-tone drop your foundation recommendations down below and what you consider your skin tone to be.

[Anonymous]

Hi, Holly. I just wanna tell you that my skin has the same problem.  It's really pale during Winter and in summer it becomes something else.
Btw, I'm 20

[Ispend2much6]

Hi @hollyl72628201 !  I can really empathize with your foundation predicament. From your picture, and the fact that you tan well, I would tend to agree with you that you have olive skin, with neutral undertones.

I learned a few things online that might be useful info for you.  I don't know if you use a primer, but using one is recommended to keep the foundation color more true to its shade while wearing it. 

A foundation formula that contains a lot of "oxide" ingredients will tend to oxidize, or turn darker and frequently more orange during wear.  This also happens when the oils from your skin or excess moisturizers mix with the foundation. Other causes can be a primer doesn't mix well with your foundation (oil based foundations do best with oil based primers versus water-based)  or an spf doesn't mix well. I thought I'd mention that in case you find a lot of foundations turning orange on you, even if they match your skin tone.

According to the makeup artist Lisa Eldridge, the best place to look to check your vein color is your upper chest.  I've found that advice to be very helpful for myself.

There are a couple of foundation ranges that I think would have a good shade for you; Smashbox's Studio Skin and Bobbi Brown's Skin foundation and Skin Long-Wear Weightless foundation.  Bobbi Brown's site has a service where you can upload a picture of yourself and a makeup artist can assist you in finding a shade.  They were pretty accurate with me. 

My guess for the Smashbox Studio Skin would be shade 1.1 and used with one of their primers, whichever formula suits you best. 

I ran across a website that looks helpful- oliveskinbeauty dot com.  I hope you find your perfect match!

[hollyl72628201]

Wow!! This was really helpful. Thank you!

[Ispend2much6]

@hollyl72628201   You're welcome!  I'm super curious about what you find that works for you; please let me know!