Trust no one, especially not makeup counter assistants.
Rebecca Hendin / BuzzFeed
OK, trying to find the right foundation is a never-ending, awful task. With each new purchase you think, "Yes, this is the one. This will make me perfect and I will never think about my skin again." But it isn't, and it's discarded to the beige and brown foundation graveyard.
To help customers with this mammoth quest, lots of higher-end brands have assistants that can help you find a match, either just by using their own judgement or some sort of scanner contraption. Obviously, there are many, many brands that offer this service, but because we are mere mortals with time constraints, we decided to test out four brands at different pricepoints to see if it's worth putting your hopes, dreams, and faith into the hands/scanner of a stranger.
We tested out Nars, Benefit, No. 7, and Bare Minerals, and ranked them both on the service they offer and the foundations we were matched to.
1. We had to go to the counters barefaced.
2. We could tell the assistants about our preferences in foundation.
3. BUT we couldn't give any indication of what we think our shade is unless they asked us, so the assistants had to use their own judgement.
4. We had to try to get the most complete base: foundation all over, and any other products if they were available.
5. We had to wear the foundation for at least four hours.
