And guess what? In the end, I was an NC after all – NC15 in Studio Fix Fluid, to be exact. I went through this routine many times – getting an almost match, and then going back again (NW15 was workable, but had a somewhat dulling effect). Back it went, which is just as well, because as it turns out, I hate the finish of Mineralize Moisture Foundation (too dewy). Then I tried it on again at home, and it was wrong. I was so ecstatic to have finally found my match, I told everyone I knew the exciting (* cough* boring * cough*) news! I posted it on Facebook, on Instagram, I messaged my friends, I told my sister about it – really, any captive audience I could find. The first MAC employee I met with matched me as NW20 in MAC Mineralize Moisture Foundation. I did not, and have never, brawled with a MAC employee. Determined to know my true match was, I went back to MAC and asked for a rematch. Not long after that epiphany, I went through the arduous process of finding my match in Kat Von D’s Lock-it Tattoo foundation, and it was this process that helped realize that I was definitely not NC25. A lot of them were neutral, and some of them were actually cool.

And then one day it occurred to me: most of my foundations were not straightforwardly warm. Over the years, I amassed quite the foundation collection, and I’d found my perfect match for nearly all of them. My skin did have plenty of visible yellow in it, after all. But the girl who matched me told me my skin tone was straightforwardly warm, and I believed her. I couldn’t quite pinpoint it at the time, and assumed that I must just not like MAC’s foundation formula.

I was not as knowledgeable about foundation back then, but I do remember feeling that it looked off. Years ago, I was matched as an NC25 in MAC’s Studio Fix Fluid Foundation. On the left is NC15, right is NW13 in MAC Studio Fix Fluid.

Mac nc20 skin tone