Buying Makeup Online: Shade Matching, Formulas and Avoiding Waste

Makeup is the hardest cosmetic category to buy online, because the two things that decide whether it works — shade and finish on your own skin — are the two things a screen cannot show. A few habits reduce the failure rate considerably.

Shade matching

• Screens are unreliable. Product photography is colour-corrected and your display is not calibrated. Never choose on a product image alone.
• Use swatches on skin like yours. Reviews with photographs are far more useful than the brand's own imagery.
• Learn your undertone. Whether your skin leans warm, cool or neutral matters more than depth for whether a shade looks natural. Once you know it, shade names across brands become far easier to navigate.
• Use shade-finding tools as a starting point, not an answer — particularly the ones that let you match against a product you already own and know works.
• Buy the closest two shades if the retailer accepts returns, and send one back. Where they do not, buy one and accept the risk.

Skin depth changes through the year for many people. A shade that matched in winter may not in summer.

Formulas and finish

Finish is described inconsistently between brands, but the general logic holds:

• Matte — controls shine, emphasises dry patches and texture.
• Dewy or radiant — looks fresher, can slide on oily skin.
• Natural or satin — the middle ground, and the safest online purchase.

Coverage and finish are separate. High coverage does not have to mean matte, and light coverage does not have to mean dewy.

If your skin is dry, a matte long-wear formula will emphasise that. If it is oily, a dewy formula will need setting. Choosing against your skin type is the most common reason an expensive product goes unused.

Buy small first

Where a brand offers a smaller size, take it. Makeup that does not suit you is a total loss, since opened cosmetics are almost never returnable and cannot safely be passed on. A smaller size at a higher unit price is cheaper than a full size in a drawer.

Sets and bundles look like value and frequently are not, because they include shades and products you did not choose.

Hygiene and shelf life

Check the period-after-opening symbol. Anything used near the eyes has a short life and should be replaced on schedule regardless of how much remains. Do not share applicators. Keep products out of hot places such as cars, since heat separates emulsions permanently.

Before you order

Check the retailer's return policy on opened cosmetics before assuming you can send a wrong shade back. Check for user swatch photographs rather than brand images. Check whether a smaller size exists. And check the period-after-opening figure against how quickly you will realistically use it.