Finding a good foundation that matches your skin tone well can be tough, especially if you’re confined to looking at the drugstore where you often can’t test the different shades. In general, I find it tough to find foundations and concealers that work with my fair, yellow undertoned skin. The light shades always seem to have pink undertones, and the more yellow undertoned shades are always too dark. Luckily, L’Oreal has saved the day for us all! Their True Match line offers 33 shades of foundation that are made to match most anyone. I’ve been addicted to this foundation for over a year, but I’ve recently come to realize that the rest of the line is pretty darn amazing as well.
Before I jump in to my review, let me back up for just a moment. How does one go about finding their “true match”?
1. Start by determining your skin tone. This is the natural tone of your skin, and is best determined by looking at the skin along your jawline. If you do have a chance to swatch foundations, this is where you should test them rather than on your cheek or forehead as these areas tend to be a little darker than the rest of your face.
2. Determine your undertone. It’s simple. You’ve either got warm, cool, or neutral undertones. People with warm (or yellow) undertones tend to look better in earth tones like browns, dark greens, and orange, and look better in gold jewelry. People with cool (or pink) undertones tend to look better in pinks, pastels, and silver jewelry. People with neutral undertones just look freaking awesome in everything. Lucky them. If you don’t know what colors or metals look best on you (because really…who does?), take a peek at the veins in your wrist. If they look green, you’ve got warm undertones; if they look blue, you’ve got cool undertones; and if they look like a mixture or like a nice blue-green, you’re neutral.
Just so you have a frame of reference, I’m shade W3 or Warm 3 or Nude Beige.
Let’s start with my long-time favorite, the foundation itself. It’s designed to have great light to medium coverage, but I think it the magic of the True Match Foundation is how it builds. Wear only the slightest amount like I do in my Spring/Summer Foundation routine for a really fresh faced “your skin but better” look, or build it up for nearly full coverage like I do in my Full Coverage Foundation routine if you’ve got a little more to hide. True Match foundation doesn’t contain oils, fragrances, or pore-clogging fillers, so it works well for all skin types and doesn’t break me out. In addition to being free of all the gunk that can clog your pores, it also contains Vitamins A and C, wheat germ and grape fruit extract to nourish and protect your skin. Plus it has SPF 17, which the OCD in me feels is a totally random number, but hey, SPF is always a good thing! Unless you’re planning to be photographed, but that’s a whole other issue. This can be applied with your fingers, a sponge, or a foundation brush, but I prefer my synthetic flat top kabuki for a truly flawless finish. Literally my only issue with it is the packaging. I really wish this came in a pump container because they’re easier to use and much more hygienic, but clearly it’s not stopping me from continually repurchasing this foundation.
On a side note, I’ve tried out the True Match Lumi foundation, which is meant to give you a dewier finish and it totally broke me out. I had the same issue with the Benefit Hello Oxygen Wow foundation, so I think my skin just isn’t a fan of whatever they put in these foundations to make them “dewy.”
I don’t know what my issue has been lately, but it’s been nearly impossible to find a concealer that works well for me. My skin has consistently been a W3, but concealers that used to work just seem to look “off” now. And when you’re already battling acne and hyper pigmentation, the last thing you want to deal with is concealer that doesn’t quite match and therefore highlights the problems rather than concealing them. Again it was like the attack of pink concealers. WHY DO SO MANY FAIR/LIGHT CONCEALERS HAVE PINK UNDERTONES?! Not helpful people. Not helpful at all. At last I decided to turn to L’Oreal because I was like, “Ah ha! This concealer was made to match this foundation!” Alas, I found a winner. Pictured above is the True Match Super-Blendable Crayon Concealer in shade W1-2-3 that I use to conceal all my issues, and another in shade W6-7-8 that I use for contouring (see this tutorial for more details). It provides excellent coverage and is not too dry or too liquidy. It is ideal for covering up hyper pigmentation, but fares well against pimples too. I would recommend blending this in with your fingers just to warm up the product a touch and achieve a perfect blend.
I’ve never been big on powders, but I have really been enjoying this one. The True Match Powder also comes in 33 shades to correspond with the foundation. This micro-fine powder is also oil free and can be used over foundation or on its own. You can dust on just a bit to minimize shine, or layer it to add coverage. It doesn’t take a lot of work to get the product on my brush, but it also stays compact so I’m not left with a bunch of extra loose powder strewn all over the compact, my bathroom, and myself. It comes with a sponge that actually has its own little compartment in the bottom of the compact, but I prefer to apply it with my powder brush.
Be sure to check out my acne covering foundation routine to see just how I put these products to work. Overall, the L’Oreal True Match line is a huge win in my book. They also offer the aforementioned Lumi Foundation, a cream foundation, a mineral foundation, a mineral concealer, a cream concealer, blush, mineral blush, a mineral bronzer, and a mineral setting powder. I definitely look forward to trying some of the other products from this line! If you’ve tried any products from the True Match line, let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Best & Blessings,
Rachel
Rachel Weiland 
I think the breaking out you got from Lumi was just a result of the high alcohol content it has, not the “dewy”. There are several dewy finishes out there that have a dewy sheen but also absorb oil; however, there are plenty that do not absorb much oil(may be intended for people with dry skin) and the already dewy-ness just magnifies and exaggerates the natural oil. I think all the other true match products are excellent, but the ones that you own are definitely winners. I do have to say that the true match powder doesn’t absorb as much oil as very oily people will need, but it seems even dry or sensitive people can use it. I also think that the liquid and mineral concealers for this line are also winners and great for many skin types. I know you asked about true match, but I think L’Oreal Paris’s(or heck– LÓreal, the largest make-up company’s) true hidden treasure are the L’Oreal Paris Visible Lift Absolute Smooth. The shades are great and, I suspect, the most bought of their line. A great thing about L’Oreal Paris is that if you can find a shade that fits you in True Match, the name of that shade could be in other foundation lines(depending of how rare the shade is). Anyway, that foundation has perfect skin coverage(like you’re a baby again) from medium to opaque(can be sheered out of course). It’s great for all sensitive or nonsensitive skin types, too! The only so-so part is the built-in brush. The brush is actually quite good for applying and the amount of product wasted is minimal. However, it could get pretty unhygienic since you can’t properly clean it. I’ve loved this foundation for the longest time, though, and owned many bottles of it. I eventually cleaned it with baby wipes that I added with a bit of my favorite makeup remover and some anti-bacterial soap and found it to work pretty well. Then I learned how to take off the brush and took it off, but for travel I still keep the brush since it does work so well. Anyway, I thought I might share with you the greatness of this foundation because I fear it’s getting discontinued(not easy to find much anymore) but at least the prices on amazon and stuff are dropping. I suggest you stock up and experience it’s greatness for yourself.
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It might be. Most foundations actually break me out, but I’ll totally have to try that one you recommended! And I’m actually dying to try their cream concealers. Now that my skin is all dry again, the crayon isn’t hydrating enough for me.
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