Choose Your Foundation Color
Yes, we do offer a wide range of colors.
And it may seem overwhelming in the beginning. Once you know your skin tone, choosing your mineral foundation will become much easier. The first thing to do is figure out your color range. Look at the little patch of skin in front of your ear lobe. It’s back behind your rosy cheeks. Compare it to the descriptors below.
Step 1 - choose your tone:
Cool: Your skin tends to be pinkish, and you burn, rather than tan in the sun. If your skin is a bit deeper your tan tends to be reddish rather than brown.
Neutral: Your tone is peachy, without obvious yellow or pink tones. You either burn immediately, or burn and then tan slightly.
Beige: Your coloring is beige-peach with a touch of yellow, and you may tan a bit.
Warm: You have noticeable peach to yellow undertones and tend to tan easily. If you are very pale you may still burn a bit at first. Your tan tends to be warm golden brown.
Golden: You have a rich yellow skin tone, without a hint of pink or beige. You tend to tan easily, unless you are very pale.
Olive: Your skin tone is beige without a hint of pink or yellow (like café au lait). You probably tan easily even if you are pale. (Our Olive shades tend to run a little deeper than our other foundation lines).
Double check by looking at your inner wrist. Cool skin tones will have blue looking veins, Warm, Beige and Golden skin tones will have greenish veins, and Neutral and Olive skin tones can have either.
Step 2 - choose your depth of color:
0 level shades appear almost white on the skin, and are suitable for people who seem to burn when they merely think about the sun. People this pale are relatively rare, and have difficulty finding foundations pale enough for their skin.
1 level shades are extremely pale, but with a bit of color. Level 1s actually have to go into the sun to burn - for about 3 minutes. People with this coloring usually wear the palest shade of foundation available - but not in Alima!
2 level shades are basically pale. If you wear the palest (or next-to-palest) shade in a conventional line then level 2 may be perfect for you.
3 level shades would be considered ‘light to medium’ skin tones. You can take a little sun, carefully (though it’s better not to).
4 level shades are right there in the middle. You might not burn very easily, but it’s still possible. Pastel colors are probably not your favorites.
5 level shades have caramel skin tones with any undertone.
6 level shades are right on the border of medium and deep. Even if you have a cooler skin tone you probably tan easily.
7 level shades work well for those with with Bronze skin tones.
8 level shades are for those with dark brown skin tones.
9 level shades work for those with the deepest skin tones - often considered Ebony.
Need a little extra help? Ask the artist - we love hearing from you.