I find that with the majority of my clients, an NC foundation always looks more flattering and evens the skin tone beautifully. This is much more flattering to my skin tone and helps to cancel out any unwanted redness over my cheek area.

Very few of the foundations in the range now have these strong undertones, it’s mostly the old school formulas like Face and Body, or Studio Fix Powder.” My personal preference These have a stronger yellow or pink undertone than their NC/NW counterparts. So an NC27 is not as yellow as an NC25 but it is a little bit darker.Ĭonversely there are also plain C’s and plain N’s.

These odd numbers have more of a neutral undertone. These colours don’t have quite as strong an undertone as those that end in 5 or 0. For example there is an NC27 or an NW18 in Studio Fix Fluid. “…there are some odd numbers peppered along the way in some of the foundations. The number that follows each NC, NW, N or C is simply the colour of each foundation. I used MAC Studio Fix in NC20 over her face to even out and correct the redness and NW10 concealer to correct the dark circles What do the numbers on MAC foundations mean? Nina has warm undertones (reds in MAC terms) with cool under eye circles (yellow). A person with a beige undertone would be perfectly suited to an N foundation. So a person with yellow, peach or golden undertones would be suited well to an NC foundation whereas a person with red, pink or blue undertones would be better suited to an NW foundation. NW: Neutral Warm – red, pink or blue undertones.Ĭ: Cool – Yellow, golden or olive undertones NC: Neutral Cool – golden beige undertones. Understanding NC, NW, C and N in MAC foundations However, in MAC labelling, the undertones are the opposite. In colour theory, we’re taught that cool undertones are reds, pinks and blues and that warm undertones are yellow, peaches and golds. Many of my clients ask me about the labelling of foundations, particularly when it comes to MAC! I hope that today’s post will help you in understanding NC, NW, C and N in MAC foundations.* The very basics of Colour Theory Choosing a foundation can be really daunting, but it’s often a key part to our makeup and can make or break a flawless face.

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