Thursday, September 17, 2009

Shu Uemura Face Architect Smoothing Fluid Foundation Color Chart (kinda sorta)

I've been intrigued about Shu Uemura's Face Architect Smoothing Fluid Foundation for a super l-o-n-g time. I've even gone to get my shade matched at the Shu counter but that's a story for another post. Lately I've been staring at the foundation shades offered online (again) but I've never been able to make any sense of it. I'm sure there are also Asia-only shades not shown online which annoys me to no end.

With all that said - Please don't be alarmed by what you are about to see next. I just had to do it to ease my troubled mind and to finally make some sense of those cryptic shade numbers! You can click on the pics to expand the diagrams and get a closer look.


Color Chart from Shu's USA website. Mine got flipped(sorry) - as the rows go from top to bottom they simultaneously progress from
dark
medium-dark
medium
light-medium
light


Color Chart modifed by yours truly. I ignored the number assigned to the shades, kept all the colors in their respective row but moved them around by the color I perceived.

Here's what I could sort out of the 3-digit numbers XYZ from the color charts:

Left digit X indicates how warm/pink or cool/yellow the shade is.
1 = warmest shade (most pink)
9 = coolest shade (most yellow)

Middle digit Y indicates how light or dark the shade is.
0 = darkest shade
8 = lightest shade

Right digit Z - I can't figure out. If you figure it out please let me know! There's only 4 or 5 and that's the extent of the range. Shade #164 and #165 are the only two shades that have the same XY digits and only the Z digit differs. They do appear to be different but I can't describe the distinction.

***** Update ***** Thanks to Anonymous for this extra confirmation! *****

"I have been to Shu counter,
It is correct that left digit X indicates how warm or cool the shade is. But the higher the number the warmer it will be. So no.9 is the warmest, most yellow of all. I have not seen no.1-3 but no. 5 is pinkish (in my opinion). No. 7 is equivalent to NC range in MAC. No. 9 is very yellow. 754 is a bit darker than NC35(I tried in the shop's light)."

***** 2nd Update *****

A fellow reader that is MAC NC20 was matched to shade #564 by an SA at the Shu Counter.

8 comments:

Julie said...

thanks for the chart! i've never been able to figure them out either and there's no Shu Uemura counter near me to try them out. thanks again!

Didi said...

Hi Julie - I hope it helps you find a matching shade :)

Petitte Poupee said...

Do you use the shu uemura foundation?
I want to try the nobara cream foundation but i don't know my color.
I use NC 25 from MAC. Any suggestion? =))

Didi said...

Hi Petite Poupee - I was NC25 too! I say was cause I got burnt to a crisp in Cali and now I'm NC30-35?? but I LOVE Shu's foundation (it's a lot of coverage but NO caking)!

I've only tried the Face Architect Smoothing Fluid but the nobara foundation looks interesting for sure!

For NC25 - #764 worked well for me. I'm neutral toned and it made me a bit yellow but I could counter it with blush/bronzer. I apply it with the MAC 187 brush and it works great!

Petitte Poupee said...

Didi,

Do you live in California? I am in San Diego right now. What a coincidence, we have the same skin tone color and lives in the same state. I am so excited.
Did your skin break out from it?
I have acne prone skin. It is weird since i have a normal skin type, however, most of the product makes my skin break out.
The sad part is my acne tend to be the cystic one (the gigantic) that's hard to remove once it is there.
Thanks for the quick and informative reply =))

Anonymous said...

I have been to Shu counter,
It is correct that left digit X indicates how warm or cool the shade is. But the higher the number the warmer it will be. So no.9 is the warmest, most yellow of all. I have not seen no.1-3 but no. 5 is pinkish (in my opinion). No. 7 is equivalent to NC range in MAC. No. 9 is very yellow. 754 is a bit darker than NC35(I tried in the shop's light).

Didi said...

Hi Petite Poupee - sorry for the long delay. I've been super duper busy with work and I'm wy behind on blogging.

I don't live in California (I wish I did tho!). I was visiting Santa Monica and Malibu for a friend's wedding. I'm actually in Texas so we get a fair amount of sun here too! I usually stay out of it because when it gets hot, it literally feels like you are sitting in an oven. LOL!

I have the same type of problem skin. I always get 1 giant zit - the cystic kind and it really sucks because no amount of makeup can cover it up. The shu foundation does not make me break out at all. I really like that it doesn't cake and you can build coverage.

Have you ever tried microdermabrasion? I highly highly recommemd it! It really does help to control breakouts. It not a cure but breakouts aren't as red or severe and they heal quicker. I found the purple-ish scars faded quicker too.

Didi said...

Hi Anonymous - Thanks for the extra info! I'm sure there's a reason behind the madness but it's so darn confusing when you can't really "match" the color to your skintone online.