Buying foundation is such a hit or miss thing for me. Somehow I always end up with a shade that’s completely wrong for me. And then I discovered this fantastic megathread at r/MakeupAddiction where the makeup aficionados there listed all the popular foundation shades that matched their skin tones.
I wanted to make that super useful resource easier to use, so I’ve extracted the shade info from the thread and sorted it by MAC shade.
The full list contains all the MAC shades.
Enjoy!
true medium beige with golden undertone for medium skin
Try these foundation shades if you are matched to NC42.
| Armani Luminous Silk | 8.0 | |
| Becca | Bamboo | |
| Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick | Golden Honey or Warm Honey | |
| Estee Lauder Double Wear | Spiced Sand | |
| KVD Lock It | Medium 62 | |
| Laura Mercier Moisturizing Silk Creme | Cashew Beige | |
| MAC Mineralize Moisture | NC 42 | |
| Marc Jacobs Re(marc)able | Honey Deep 58 | |
| MUFE Ultra HD | Y385 | |
| MUFE Ultra HD | Y415 | |
| MUFE Ultra HD Stick | Y415 | |
| NARS Luminous Weightless | Tahoe, Cadiz or Syracuse | |
| NARS Radiant Cream Foundation | Barcelona | |
| NARS Sheer Glow | Tahoe, Cadiz or Syracuse | |
| Sephora | 1Y09 or 2Y09 | |
| Sephora Collection 10Hr foundation | Walnut | |
| Sephora Color IQ | 2Y09 | |
| Too Faced Born This Way | Sand | |
| Too Faced Born This Way | Honey or Sand | |
| UD Naked | 6 | |
| Urban Decay Naked Skin | 6 or 7 | |
| YSL Touche Eclat | Beige 60 |