Foundation shades for cool undertone, medium skin
If your skin is cool-toned and medium in depth, these 13 shades across 7 brands sit in your range by swatch colour. Depth is the primary match; undertone decides whether it looks like skin or a mask.
Skin Tone Finder
Your skin depth and undertone from a selfie — for foundation and concealer matching. Nothing is uploaded.
A guide for fun & self-improvement based on your photo — not a professional colour-matching service.
Shades in this range
- Annabelle SkinTrue Foundation - Sun Beige ($10.99)
- Clinique BIY™ Blend It Yourself Pigment Drops - BIY Bronze ($33)
- Clinique Superbalanced™ Makeup - 12 Honeyed Beige ($26)
- Clinique Line Smoothing Concealer - Moderately Fair ($20)
- Clinique Beyond Perfecting™ Super Concealer Camouflage + 24-Hour Wear - Apricot Corrector ($19.50)
- Colourpop No Filter Foundation - Dark 180 ($12)
- Milani Cream-To-Powder Makeup - Sand ($10.99)
- Nyx #NOFILTER Finishing Powder - Mahogany ($12)
- Nyx Hydra Touch Powder Foundation - Nutmeg ($10)
- Nyx Tinted Moisturizer - Natural Beige ($10)
- Revlon Photoready Airbrush Effect Makeup - Rich Ginger ($19.99)
- Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream SPF 35 - MEDIUM ($39)
- Smashbox Camera Ready CC Cream - MEDIUM ($42)
How to pick between them
- Cool undertone: look for C, R (rosy), P (pink) or 'cool'; yellow-based shades will look orange.
- Medium depth: if a shade is right in undertone but a touch off in depth, choose the lighter of two and warm it with bronzer - it reads more natural than going darker.
Not sure of your own undertone or depth? Run the free undertone test or the skin tone finder - it reads them from a selfie in your browser (nothing is uploaded) - then come back to the matching shades.
How this works: shade colours are the brands' published swatches, converted to CIE Lab and compared with ΔE (colour distance). Swatches are approximations - lighting, formula finish, oxidation and skin chemistry all shift how a foundation reads. Use these as a shortlist and verify on your jawline in daylight.
Let the free AI analyzer read your undertone and depth from a selfie - in your browser, never uploaded.
Try Makeup Check AIFAQ
Which foundation is best for cool undertone medium skin?
Any of the 13 shades listed sit in the cool medium range by swatch colour; popular picks include Annabelle Sun Beige, Clinique BIY Bronze, Clinique 12 Honeyed Beige. Verify on your jawline in daylight.
How do I know if I'm cool and medium?
The free Makeup Check AI analyzer reads undertone and depth from a selfie in your browser (nothing uploaded); the vein test and jewellery test are quick manual checks.