SHADE
MATCH LIKE
A PRO
March 4th, 2025
How to find your perfect foundation and concealer shades
The first step to beautiful makeup, according to Founder & Creative Director François Nars, is beautiful skin. For coverage that enhances, but never masks, finding the right shade match is essential.
Ahead, we share how to find your ideal foundation and concealer shades to achieve an iconic NARS complexion. Learn to identify your shade intensity, undertones, and more, featuring Light Reflecting™ Foundation and Radiant Creamy Concealer.
HOW TO
SHADE
MATCH
FIND YOUR SHADE INTENSITY
The first step to accurate shade matching is knowing your shade intensity. As an artistry brand, NARS is consistently evaluating shade assortments to ensure inclusive representation for the full spectrum of skin tones.
First, ask yourself a few questions: Do you consider yourself light, medium, medium-deep, or deep? Within that shade range, do you consider yourself towards the lighter or deeper end of the spectrum?
IDENTIFY YOUR UNDERTONES
Once you know your shade family, you’ll need to identify your skin’s natural undertone. You’re going to be either cool, warm, or neutral.
When wearing a white shirt, if rose, red, and blue tones are more pronounced, you have cool undertones. If yellow, peachy, and golden tones are more pronounced, you have warm undertones. If you see no change and your skin looks the same, you have neutral undertones.
Another way to identify your undertones is by looking at your veins. Your undertone is cool if your veins appear blue or purple, warm if your veins appear green, and neutral if your veins appear blue-green.
Additionally, when skin is exposed to sun, those with cool undertones tend to burn easily, those with warm undertones tend to tan easily, and those with neutral undertones can burn or tan.
ADDRESS SKIN CONCERNS
Once you know your undertone, you can find a foundation that provides a seamless match. If you’d like your foundation to correct any skin issues, you may want to choose a foundation with a different undertone than your natural one.
If you want to neutralize redness or correct hyperpigmentation and have a warm or neutral undertone, go with a warm shade of foundation. If you have a cool undertone, use a neutral shade. If you want to counteract sallowness and have a warm or neutral undertone, go with a cool shade of foundation.
Concealer can be used to help ensure your base is well-balanced. Finding the right concealer shade for your complexion allows you to target your concerns, whether you’re looking to conceal undereye circles, dark spots, and blemishes or highlight, contour, and color correct.
If you’re looking to brighten the undereye area or highlight different parts of the face, choose a concealer that is one or two shades lighter than your foundation. If you want to cover dark spots or breakouts, use a shade that matches your foundation.
LIGHT
REFLECTING™
FOUNDATION
SEE SKIN IN ITS BEST LIGHT
“Foundation is the key to modern makeup. By balancing color without masking, skin looks flawless and healthy.” —François Nars, Founder & Creative Director
Light Reflecting™ Foundation, our award-winning formula, effortlessly encapsulates François Nars’ philosophy of naturally luminous, lit-from-within skin. For a perfected base, choose from 46 shades across tone and intensity to find your ideal match.
SELECT YOUR SHADE
Combine shade family with undertone to narrow down options and discover your ideal match across our complexion products. You can also get matched with our virtual Matchmaker Shade Finder.
SKIN-FIRST FORMULA
This makeup-skincare hybrid foundation instantly blurs imperfections and smooths the look of textured skin while visibly improving skin’s clarity over time. Powered by advanced skincare ingredients that help defend against environmental aggressors and blue light, it immediately strengthens skin’s barrier to help maintain its moisture.
Discover medium, buildable coverage with breathable, all-day wear that ensures a skin-like finish that is enhanced, never masked.
SHOP LIGHT REFLECTING™ FOUNDATION
