Tinded base - difference in color? +Zinc question

[carro]

Really don´t mean to complain but I think the description on the main site, of the tinted bases, is a bit poor. I know I´ve read it once in the forum but I couldn´t find it. Would like a breakdown on the tinted bases. If I try one in the sample kit and feel that it needs something more, maybe more red, maybe more yellow etc. it´s really hard to read from the decription on the main site whiche has whiche color in it. So someone like to fill in?:

Ebony: slightly pink + ???
Deep Ebony: same as ebony but darker
Warm Gold: yellow + red + ???
Olive: Yellow + green + ???
Buttery Gold: Yellow
Peach: red + ???

Understand that both BG and Olive is quite yellow, but is BG more yellow than olive or the opposite?

The sheer zinc-powder:
Does it dry out the skin some? Hear it´t a wonderful primer but for us dry ladies a bad choice? Those that use it as a primer do you tint it?
If you tint it with some of the base colors, can You use it as a base instead of foundation base? What will the ratio be compaired to the original formula? Thinking if this would be a good idea with the summer-sun comming up. Also like a more sheer foundation in the summer to show of my freckles But if it´s more drying than the original base that´s probably a bad idea, since I tend to be very dry.

[Silverfern]

Really don´t mean to complain but I think the description on the main site, of the tinted bases, is a bit poor. I know I´ve read it once in the forum but I couldn´t find it. Would like a breakdown on the tinted bases. If I try one in the sample kit and feel that it needs something more, maybe more red, maybe more yellow etc. it´s really hard to read from the decription on the main site whiche has whiche color in it. So someone like to fill in?:

Ebony: slightly pink + ???
Deep Ebony: same as ebony but darker
Warm Gold: yellow + red + ???
Olive: Yellow + green + ???
Buttery Gold: Yellow
Peach: red + ???

Understand that both BG and Olive is quite yellow, but is BG more yellow than olive or the opposite?

The sheer zinc-powder:
Does it dry out the skin some? Hear it´t a wonderful primer but for us dry ladies a bad choice? Those that use it as a primer do you tint it?
If you tint it with some of the base colors, can You use it as a base instead of foundation base? What will the ratio be compaired to the original formula? Thinking if this would be a good idea with the summer-sun comming up. Also like a more sheer foundation in the summer to show of my freckles But if it´s more drying than the original base that´s probably a bad idea, since I tend to be very dry.

Hi carro,

I can't answer the tinted base question because I haven't tried SN's foundation yet. But my understanding is that the best way to figure out your perfect formula is to email their customer service a picture (or post it to the forum). From the feedback I've read, they are amazing at matching people.

But I can answer the zinc question. I have dry skin in the winter and I actually powdered my face every morning with the sheer zinc powder this winter as a primer/finishing powder. It would sink into my skin and not look powdery or make me look dry. And it seemed to make my skin calm down, and not be so red. I'm pretty pale tho, so it might show up light on others. But I think it is a good primer.

[Oxana124]

Don't know the colored base answer either, but agree on the Zinc, not drying on me and I did not need to tint it.

[Xarata]

Ebony: slightly pink + ???
Deep Ebony: same as ebony but darker
Warm Gold: yellow + red + ???
Olive: Yellow + green + ???
Buttery Gold: Yellow
Peach: red + ???

Most of the foundations are near the neutral spectrum leaning in one direction or another.
ebony leans cool/pink. It's probably the closest to neutral, but if you're warm at all you'll probably find it looks dull on your skin.
deep ebony is generally just a more intense version meant for the darker complected ladies
warm gold is mostly neutral leaning warm
olive leans green
buttery leans yellow (if you're warm complected, you would want this one)
peach is a peaches and cream complexion. Similar to neutral but more...well...peachy...

with the sample kit, what you'll want to do is swatch all the bases side by side somewhere (your cheek, your chest, your inner arm) and see which one is closest to your natural coloring. Mine varies between warm gold and olive. (I'm mostly light neutral leaning warm with a touch of olive. It can be hard for me to get a perfect match). Once you find the base that's closest, you mix it with the ivory to get the right depth. Test it. If it's turning orange- add a little lavender corrector. If it's dull- you chose too cool and can either warm it up with yellow corrector or one of the warmer bases. If it looks "yellow" on you, you chose too warm and should cool it down with ebony or start over. I think most people probably fall into ebony or warm gold unless you're very warm complected or very peachy.

[carro]

Thanks for the answers so far. The zinc sound like a good choice!

I have all the tinted basecolors and I´ve tried them all. I´ve postet quite a few pictures on the "need foundation help-thread", You can find me on page 42, 48 & 49 But I´m a tricky one, not fitting a base quite right and is left with mixing... So when I experiment I end up with a lot of questions of whiche undertone is in whiche. For example if You think the warm gold is to peache it´s probably a bad idea to mix it with ebony cause the ebony has some red/pink in it, whiche will make the blend even more red. Nowing that the BG is lacking red that would be a better choice and so on. But the knowledge of the underlying tones are quite hard to find.
I think I´m probably a blend of ebony and BG but I haven´t found the perfect ratio. Thinking maybe the olive instead cause it´s also a bit yellow, but is it more yellow or less yellow than the BG? , green ofcourse but something else?...

I am a perfectionist, I must add

[JenW]

I am not really sure what is missing in the color descriptions, because the colors you have posted are not quite what we have on site. The main one is there is no visible yellow in Olive.
Really, the descriptions are pretty spot on if you break the colors down into what makes them, and all the base color have some blend of brown, green, red, and yellow. I agree it is confusing if you don't know much about what makes up a color. Generally, Golden = yellow + brown + green; Warm = red + slight yellow....enough yellow to make it so that it is more on the orange side than the pink/red side, as red plus yellow is orange and pink is red plus white; Neutral = colors are in balance.
Black type is copied and pasted from the website:
Ebony has neutral to slightly cool or slightly pink undertones. I am not sure what more I can tell you about this. It is mostly neutral, but leans slightly pink. In summary, brown and slight pink. It is not so cool toned that true cool toned complexions can wear it....they usually need more pink
Deep Ebony has undertones similar to Ebony but runs nearly twice as dark.
Warm Gold has warm golden undertones. This means there is a golden component to it which is brown, green, and yellow mixed. The warm is kind of peachy and more yellow than red. Adding it all up, this one is, in order, brown, peach/red, yellow, and green.
Buttery Gold has yellow golden undertones. This one has the golden which is brown, green, and yellow, plus more yellow. There is not very much red/peachy to this one, so lots of yellow, brown, and green.
Olive has slight olive undertones with no yellow or golden tones. If you are very olive we recommend the addition of the Green Color Booster. If you have olive and yellow tones we recommend Warm Gold or Buttery Gold plus the Green Color Booster. This one has NO visible yellow as is stated. It is basically brown (on the warmer side than Ebony) and slightly green. The description also directs you which bases to use if you need evident yellow. I honestly find Olive to be kind of a mix of Ebony and Warm Gold, but greener and less red...again, very little yellow.
Peach has peachy and reddish undertones minus the golden in Warm Gold. This means basically peachy pink, or just enough red and yellow to make it so. The yellow is kind of on the low side making it more of a pink/peach than a orange/peach.

I still recommend to most to purchase the kit and try them out. The reason for this is many don't really know how to describe their coloring, and photographs only show so much.

[JenW]

On the color matching, things that have an effect:

-Lighting has a huge effect on the look of foundation color. It is difficult to get a match in all types of lighting. Even with bare skin, some lighting makes us look washed out, others make our skin look more pink. I really recommend finding a match that is close in all lighting, but it might be a very long process to get a match in all lighting.

-I think most people have days where their skin is more flushed and reactive than others.....try to make sure you are matching on a day where you skin is not reactive.

-Also, there are some of us who use the foundation for slight color correction, so the foundation will not be an exact match. Sometimes the exact match makes the complexion look kind of dull. I looking back at your photos, I thought the Ebony was a good match, but I understand that you think it needs something. Sometimes it is better to match your skintone and liven it up with bronzers and finishers, than it is to liven up your foundation.

On the Zinc.....I don't find it drying, but we all have different skin. My skin is on the dry side of combination.

[ladycattat]

HI...just wanted to jump in a little. I love the Zinc Powder and wear it every day. It is my HG(holy grail) product and I cannot say how wonderful it makes my skin look and feel. I am 48 years old, very fair skinned...warm toned, combination skin.
That said....you said you wanted a sheer foundation formula to show off your freckles.
Freckles are caused by sun exposure.
If you use the Zinc Powder, you very likely will not get more freckles, since the Zinc Powder will prevent them. That's what happened to me. I used to freckle madly every time I went in the sun, but since I started using the Zinc powder, I don't freckle and I don't burn.
I miss my freckles, but I know my skin is healthier without them.
I know that Karen cannot legally issue an SPF for the Zinc Powder for all kinds of complicated reasons, but I just wanted to put this out there.

HTH,
Laurie

[carro]

JenW: Thank You so much for Your time explaining the bases! Really didn´t mean to complain, really just needed a dummie expaination! For exemple golden: to me just sounds like the color on my weddingring, could never have guest it to be green in it from that description, warm is also a word that can be confusing, what is in "warm" that makes it warm except red? You know what I mean? So I understand brown, green, yellow, red and can relate the colors to eachother with the amount compaired to eachother, Your explaination was exactly what I needed!

Think that maybe ebony is a quite a good match but it tends a bit pink, and my skin tends to go pink anyway so another blend might correct this better. Have been using a blend with mainly buttery gold but in some lightings when I look in the mirror when I am somewhere, or at home, I suddenly think I look kinda greenich-yellow sickish, so then I started wondering if I really ought to go back to the base-blend experiment again.
True that foundationbase is only one component. I´m currantly experimenting with some perfecting powders and glows; tempt tryst, splendit & dait bait. Same thing here, which way are they leaning in color? Thinking if I have a blend of mostly BG as base, then dait bait would probably be a good idea to boost it up a bit beeing a bit pink and all. If I have ebony as base maybe dait bait will be a bit too pinky if I already feel that ebony turns a bit too pink, then maybe tempt trust would be a better choice? Don´t know where to place splendid colorwise? Simply splendid I gues Don´t suppuse there is a "dummie-explaination" of the glows and perfecting powders outthere, organising them from little glowy to the most glowy and the colors they lean towards?
Still having a lot of fun experimenting and everytime a package arrives I have some truble concentrating on my studies, keep sneeking into the bathroom for a new idea
Anyway thanks!

Ladycatte: Good point about the freckles! Didn´t think it would be that blocking so that you don´t get them - the freckles I mean. But I burn easily, specially in spring, before I get a tan and that´s good to avoid!

[JenW]

No problem on the colors.....I will eventually try to put a few more details in with the descriptions to make them clearer. I agree that it is a bit confusing.

I know you had a few more questions on the Zinc Powder that I missed.....

Those that use it as a primer do you tint it?
If you tint it with some of the base colors, can You use it as a base instead of foundation base? What will the ratio be compaired to the original formula?

I use mine as a primer, and I do tint it. It can be tinted with your color base. I know some tint with yellow and green for color correction.

It can be used in place of your foundation, but it is very sheer and will not offer much in the way of visible coverage. It will likely not show up much even when tinted. And if you are gradually adding color base to it to make it match your skin, there will come a point where you will start to just see full on color base when you apply. At that point it is definitely too dark. I recommend tinting it only if it looks pasty on you. I would use a similar ratio to your foundation, just so that you add only a hint of color to it. There really is no white that shows in an amount to lighten the base color much. It becomes more of the color base suspended in a colorless base.

In the finishers you mentioned...Date Bait is pink, Tempt Tryst is yellow, Splendid is kind of peachy.