Hmm, ok. Looking at your pic, I know your skin is lighter than mine. I ended up with a really good Silk Naturals mix of 32 scoops (which = 1 tsp; the 1/32 tsp scoop comes with the foundation intro kit) Medium Coverage : 2 scoops Ebony : 1 scoop Buttery Gold : 1 scoop Olive. (I then add a few scoops of other things in too; they have a slight lightening effect.) This means I'm at a ratio of about 8-9 scoops white (Medium) to 1 scoop colour. With Alima foundations, I was on colour depth 2 or 3 out of a range of 0 to 9, so it's clear my skin is darker than yours from that also, if you tend to be at or near the lightest.
Now, in my case I first bought the Intro Foundation Samples kit with All Purpose Foundation. I mixed 1 scoop Ebony to about 10/11 scoops All Purpose White... my 'ebony mix' and found the depth of colour was alright, but that the Ebony gives me a mix that is actually a bit -too- pink on me. So then I mixed a second batch (I wasn't sure of the ratios for the combination of the two colour bases, so did each of them separately) of 1 scoop Buttery Gold to about 11 scoops All Purpose White... my 'yellow mix'. I certainly knew the yellow alone would be terrible on me, but as an additive.. hopeful. I then mixed the 'yellow' mix in initially a 1:2 ratio with the 'ebony' mix. It was better, but I thought I could do better. I tried the 1:1 mix of the two but then it seemed too yellow and more wrong. I started wondering about the Olive colour just as more pink or more yellow didn't seem to be the right solution. Note: I have quite a bit of redness in my facial skin, so as that would have been distracting in trying to create a good colour match, I worked on matching to the skin by my collar bone. This made it easy to look clearly at the colour undertones too, as I could apply foundation to a specific rectangular area of skin and compare the apparent colour to my clean skin. Now at this point, if you've been doing any calculating, I'd already used up about 22 scoops of the 1 tsp
sample of the All Purpose White, though, even in my case, barely any of the pigmented bases. It didn't look like I had much White left (since the 1 tsp = 32 scoops, it should have been about 10 scoops left). I ended up waiting to proceed further after ordering a Full All Purpose Ivory starter kit with the Ebony base (as I knew I'd need more of that eventually too), but at the same time I also ordered some of the Medium White, as I suspected I'd like more coverage. The bonus with a similar amount of the Medium vs the All Purpose White is that if you are fair, you get more white density in the medium vs the all purpose, specifically for me: I need 11 scoops white to 1 ebony with all purpose, but only 8/9 scoops white to 1 ebony for medium white. In any case, I managed to figure out that adding some olive did the trick for me.
I I were you, I would order one set of the Intro Foundation Samples sets so you get the 1 tsp of white base plus 1/2 tsp of most of the coloured bases (of which I suspect you'll need the ebony and maybe a bit of buttery gold?? based on apparent skin tone), and the sifter jar and scoop, but I'd also order the Full Size Starter kit, where you get a full tablespoon of the white base, plus a full tbsp of a coloured base (Ebony), and another sifter jar and scoop, plus a great sample). That way you have enough white and an extra container to mess around with a bit more.
If you like more coverage, get the Medium White at first so mixing might be a bit easier and less white-intensive. If you prefer lighter coverage, get one of the lighter mixes. Due to my redness, I really like the medium. If you have a lot of empty containers at home and are comfortable with only one measuring scoop, you could also choose to get your appropriate White tbsp baggie from the Foundation and Booster Refills page. Notice that page also has some colour boosters and a few extra tinted base shades, if you thought you needed them. The Deep Ebony, for example, is for women with more pigmentation in their skin for whom the standard Ebony is too light. Some of us need a lot of white; some need a mix of the different tinted bases with no white at all. The bonus with the refills is you don't get a bunch of tinted base you will not need all that soon due to your lighter complexion. Comment: Apparently it's harder to create a good initial match with the Heavy White, so even if you like very heavy coverage, I'd start with the Medium for finding the initial match; then move to the Heavy later with the same colour ratio, but just less of the white component in Heavy vs. Medium. I haven't actually tried Heavy White yet. I've read many do like it.
As you start mixing and trying things (a
really good shake is needed! some even suggest a blender, but I don't think that's necessary), write down exactly what you are measuring and putting into a sifter container. That way you will know later what to add or how to salvage the mix, if you moved on at the time, by adding something to create more of your perfect ratio from the leftovers and in-progress rejects. E.g. I have some 'yellow' mix left' I know was mixed at about 11:1 all purpose white to gold, if I measure it and find I have 6 scoops of the mix left, I could add another 6 scoops of a similar mix, 1 Olive, 2 Ebony, and around 24 scoops Medium white to get a good match. Writing everything down and labeling what you did makes things easy to salvage.
I'd suspect in your case, maybe 14 scoops White or 12 Medium White with the 1 scoop Ebony to start, and maybe a bit more white needed. But since it's harder to add in small quantities of Ebony than it is to add a scoop of White, just in case, I'd back off on the White and keep adding until it was light enough rather than risking going too light first. If I'm about 8.5 Medium White to colour, I suspect you'd be safe starting around 11 Medium or 13 White anyway. I mentioned the Buttery Gold earlier because I wonder whether you also might have some golden undertones. So, if the Ebony-White mix at the right colour depth does seem too pink, you would need to mix with a bit of Buttery Gold. Since you do notice (and I agree) you're mainly pink-cool, I'd try the straight Ebony first, though. If the straight Ebony-White mix looks too orange/yellow/green/beige on you from the start (when it is at the right depth of colour), then I'll be wrong about the yellow undertone.
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[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> In that case, it would seem you need more pink tone. That is also doable by adding some pink booster. (As I mentioned, the boosters are available in the Foundation Refills and Color Boosters page.) I don't know your skin tone as well as you do, so if you think you're quite pink-toned, this might be a good idea to have available to start too!
A lot of babbling, but it is a process, and best done with your own skin and the powders in front of you with good lighting.
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[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> The folks (Karen) on the Silk Naturals forum are far better than I am at giving advice on a likely mix to match a photo, so you could also check with them. But in summary, I would probably get
If you are wondering if you might have a touch of yellow or green undertone in your skin [set A]:
1 Intro Foundation Samples kit with an Ivory or Medium Ivory aka White Foundation (so you have the Ebony but have the other color bases just in case, and a directions sheet)
and
1 Foundation Refill in 'X' Coverage Ivory Refill (so you have lots of white to work with)
or
1 'X' Coverage Ivory (full-size) Starter Kit with Ebony (so you have the white, an extra scoop and container, and the Perfector sample, and more Ebony for the future)
OR
If you are confident you are super-pink undertoned only [set B]:
1 'X' Coverage Ivory (full-size) Starter Kit with Ebony (so you have lots of the white, ebony, the scoop and container, and the awesome Perfector sample)
and
1 Pink Color Booster (so you can add more pink to make your foundation even more cool than what you get with Ebony and White)
OR
If you are not sure, but want to cover all the bases in one order only [set C]:
1 Set A
and
1 Pink Color Booster
I use 'X' to represent whichever weight and variation of foundation you choose. There are the options for the white base of Original, All Purpose, Vegan, Medium, Heavy (maybe not to start?), and there is also a Glow base for people who like a more ethereal look (I haven't tried it alone). Taken straight from the Silk Naturals site, "We recommend starting with the All Purpose Ivory for drier skin types, Original Ivory for light coverage and good oil control, or Vegan Ivory for light to moderate coverage in a vegan formula." Further up on the description for the Intro Sample sets:
"
Original Ivory has light coverage, good oil control, and an airbrushed look.
Vegan Ivory has a bit more coverage, and nice oil control.
All Purpose Ivory has creamy coverage and no oil control- it also looks great applied wet or dry, or mixed with moisturizer. It's great for dry skin.
Medium Coverage provides fairly full coverage in one coat.
Heavy Coverage is very heavy, thick coverage that may be a bit "too much" for most skin."
I got All Purpose initially most for the potential flexibility, but I've not mixed myself any cream foundation out of it! I liked applying it with my brush, but decided I'd prefer a bit more coverage, so moved to Medium, and enjoy that. I put on my serum, moisturizer, a bit of concealer, then my match of Medium Coverage foundation, then if I want a polished look that day, I add Sleep In A Jar, Blush, (maybe contour), and Perfecting Powder (sometimes highlighter), plus do my eyes and lips.
I hope this epic description will help (and not overwhelm), and give you the idea that the process really isn't that daunting. It takes a bit to play with, and wear, the options, write down what you're doing if you know you might not remember, find the best mixture, and then reproduce it!
Also, don't bother trying to match your powder color to another powder/cream color because due to different mixing methods, this foundation, in my experience, will seem lighter than a decent match in another product (more mixing can apparently make it start to look darker). Match it to your face or collarbone area, against clean skin, directly. Check in different lighting and after an hour to be confident. Have fun playing!
