Ever been matched to the wrong shade by a MUA?

[portofmorrow]

As the title reads: Have you ever been matched to a completely wrong shade by a makeup artist?

[hotwatermusic]

YES! People at makeup counters always seem to match me to a shade that's too dark for me.

[DarthCassie]

Yes at MAC too orange and dark and caked on three full pumps!

[Llama]

Yup, they usually match me too dark. Had some girl match me at the Guerlain counter with the same colour foundation she had on, and it was obvious she was waaaayyy darker than me. Then some other girl matched me to NC25 for MAC, when in reality I am closer to NC20 or even NC17.

Don't know if it's just me but are SA's just matching me darker because I'm Asian? Or am I being delusional? @_@ Bah. Seems like everyone gets matched darker though.

[nicheee]

I'm a black girl so I frequently get mismatched. At this point, I don't even bother asking for help when looking for foundation.

[BellaJane]

Always. Funny, though...when I was darker I would constantly get matched FAR too light, but now that I've stopped tanning I get matched too dark. I remember about a year ago my HG was MUFE HD in #153, but one MAC lady insisted that I was very pink and no darker than an NW30. Even after she put it on and every single person in a 3 mile radius could see how dreadful it looked on me, she was adamant that NW30 was my "perfect shade." I wanted to strangle her. I ended up going to a different counter and finding a SA who would give me samples. I ended up being an NC45.

@nicheee
I'll never understand why the SAs at counters can't get black skin right. I actually find darker skin much easier to match than lighter skin! I think the true undertones are much clearer on darker skin (less muddled by veins and redness and the like) so finding that "perfect match" is so much simpler!

[smiley]

In the past, the makeup artists I have encountered tended to match my medium beige complexion with something pink toned and it ALWAYS leaves an ashy cast. However, I don't wear a lot of make-up to begin with, but when I do, I go with Shiseido because they're usually yellow based.

[jean101]

Yep, at a makeup counter. She insisted that this foundation was the right shade because it matched my neck, it also happened to make my face look like a ghost.

[artlovemoney]

I'll admit, I've matched the wrong shade twice.

Wrong lighting is a bitch. I bring my own lights to jobs now.

[portofmorrow]

About a year ago I got matched to NW20 at MAC, at TWO different stores. Not only was it the wrong SHADE, it was the wrong TONE. Unfortunately, I didn't know this before buying it and then using it for a few months.

I went into Sephora, got matched to neutral-yellow foundation which suits me PERFECTLY. Kinda embarrassing that I spent months using the wrong foundation colour.

I'm not angry about it, because I do have a lot of both tones in my skin, but a warm-toned foundation (or NC at MAC) obviously suits me a lot better.

[Forever Eccentric]

Yes and it happens all the time at my local MAC stores. They always put shades on me that too orange and dark. I feel more comfortable swatching myself on my neck and face. Also, I don't like it when the girls at counter put on foundation on you because, they put on too much.

[nicheee]

@nicheee
I'll never understand why the SAs at counters can't get black skin right. I actually find darker skin much easier to match than lighter skin! I think the true undertones are much clearer on darker skin (less muddled by veins and redness and the like) so finding that "perfect match" is so much simpler!

I think it's pretty simple too but it seems to be a big thing.. I always get matched too light and end up looking ashy. I think it's a combo of way too bright lighting in stores like sephora and just not an extensive range of colors unless you want to end up spending almost $40 on it, like MUFE for example. I have no problem spending that much but that adds up when you use it often and have to replace a lot. I try to also ask like deeper skinned employees for assistance and it still doesn't really work out too much..

[Angie V]

I usually don't trust the people who work at makeup stores like mac or sephora or ulta or whatever. I don't think they're qualified enough to actually apply makeup or match anyone. Sorry if you work at any of those, but this is the impression I get from my personal experience. The people who work at those types of stores usually have on too much mismatched makeup on their own faces, so there is no way in hell I'm letting them match me. I usually ask them for other type of help, like finding a product or recommending a brand.

I've had two positive experiences, one at Origins and the other at Chanel. I only give makeup counters at more upscale places a chance (nothing against other stores and I'm not at all rich, I have just had good experiences with matching and such at those places rather than the others).

[Uhlizubeth]

I have very fair nc5-10 skin so it's rare to even have my shade. Before I knew this I spent at least $200 dollars on shades that were shades that are way too dark for me.
However, there was one time that I went to Macy's that the ladies were awesome! They brought me to every counter until two finally matched me well. Lancôme Teint idole ivory 1 and Bare Minerals fair. I wasn't comfortable paying $42 dollars on Lancôme which I lost respect for so I got BM, it wasn't that good but I was pleased with their honesty and effort.

[Maiden]

Ugh, yes. So many times. Honestly, I think most of them don't know what they're doing and the godawful dept. store lighting doesn't help things. They ALWAYS want to match me with pink undertones, no matter how many times I tell them I have true yellow undertones with zilch pink. I've pretty much given up on asking for help now, I just do research online. Way more accurate, we all know our own skin the best!

[MagicianGirl22]

I got a wrong shade at a MAC Store...the girl matched me a NW20 while I'm pretty sure I'm around NC20. NW just looks PINK
I the Girls at Sephora are the WORST!!! once a girl actually tried to match my face to her arm.....that is ridiculous she just put the foundation on her hand and told me its a perfect color

[lacrymosa]

I got matched for the first time the other day.. to my surprise they matched me at least 3 shades lighter than i am. I was pretty horrified by the result but they insisted it was "blending perfectly"... i only took a sample, glad i didnt waste £15 on that rubbish. I was surprised because i was convinced they were going to match me darker than i am. I'll find the perfect shade one day...

[ikeepitrealok]

when i got the naked foundation she matched me shade number 9 which is SO dark like the color of mud and then MAC matched me nc35 which is like an ashy sickly color on me

[Pixiepink]

Every time. In their defence the lighting in department stores is horrendous for colour matching. However I don't think MUAs at counters take into account your chest,neck, body tones when matching.

[SpaceJunkie]

Eeeeveryone never fails to match me around 3 shades too dark, at the very least.
Worst I got was around 5 shades too dark at Sephora.

My main issue is my neck; no matter how much I exfoliate, my neck is much more neutral-leaning-warm and maybe 2 shades darker than my face,ears,and chest.
I match myself more to my natural facial shade(like I will cover my redness with foundation, and if it matches the non-red areas of my face then it tends to look the most natural) and my chest and match my neck to my face and chest.
Otherwise I look like I'm imitating ganguro style (basically I look unnaturally dark-because when wearing 3 shades too dark, I AM too dark and it looks off).

Nearly every MUA matches to my neck, which for me is just bad. It doesn't work for everyone. I think if I were to match people, I would match them for whatever shade looks most natural(not necessarily your neck) and straight up ask what they usually match to if they already wear makeup.

I have had people at Sephora match to my forearm, which is generally what I do, and that tends to work somewhat better for me(though my forearms are again, a tiny bit more tanned and yellow toned than my upper arms,chest,and face, which are straight up pink).

In MAC I found a perfect shade match in Prolongwear Foundation in NW15 last summer. In their pressed powders, NW20 seems to be a pretty good match, but I could possibly go for NW25 (I have not tried it). In almost all of their other foundations, I match NW20 or NW15.

I was browsing foundations last night and the MUA matched me NC35. That's a pretty big difference?
And I had heavy, Kat Von D Light 46 (my most perfect match of any foundation) on. It doesn't oxidize much at all, and it's very thick, so to still get matched NC35 is kinda ridic to me.

I am half hispanic and half white--which some people pick up on, others just think I'm white, a lot of hispanics think I am just hispanic, so this complicates things, but I am light skinned.

Someone at Sephora said KVD Light 46 or 45 would be perfect for me, I've had people at ULTA give me light shades with warm undertones (and then I look at it outside and there is always a huge dark brown streak on my face where they tested), I've also gotten KVD 58 at Sephora (don't ask me how, and the employee said it was a good match), and now NC35. Every time I've tried warm foundations, I look sickly and washed out or like I'm straight up imitating ganguro style(no offense to anyone who might like that, but it is a bit flamboyant and not for me personally).

Seems to me that since a lot of foundations don't carry super pale shades, maybe MUA's/beauty store employees think someone "light" but not fair skinned can't be the lightest or near lightest shade. Maybe? I've also seen that a lot of Asian and hispanic/halfsies have this issue of being matched far too dark.

I don't even want to get help anymore. I don't want to waste my time or money on a foundation that makes me look like an oompa loompa. I'd rather not wear makeup at all at that rate lol.