“We really don’t have enough room,” says a laughing Skadi Langer as she whirls through the Kryolan shop located at the Berlin Headquarters. The make-up artist is holding an overview in her hand that has all the foundations listed and sorted in a diagram. It ranges from sheer to highly opaque, and from extremely light to viscous textures. Having been looking through various cabinets, drawers, displays and shelves, she now brings these products to light and arranges them on the sales counter. And just like that, there are countless pump bottles, cans, tubes, jars, and small, large, and even bigger palettes from five different product lines in front of her. “I’ve set this up in an order where the opacity increases – it goes from very sheer to fully opaque,” she explains. And this is where we start our make-up tour...

Tinted Moisturizer is the lightest foundation, and as the name suggests, it’s like a tinted day cream and only contains light pigmentation. The next in line is Ultra Fluid Foundation: this light fluid is perfect for make-up applications that require light to medium coverage. Dry skin is grateful for Ultra Fluid Foundation thanks to its moisturizing properties. Ultra Cream Powder and Dual Finish provide light to medium opacity and are also perfect touch-up and male grooming products. Both powders bring shine under control and give the skin a slightly matte appearance with a natural look. Dual Finish is also called “Dual” because it can be applied in two ways: dry as powder, and slightly damped as cream. Dermacolor Light Fluid Foundation is a very sheer yet medium-opacity fluid containing more pigments than a conventional fluid. It can achieve full opacity when applied in layers. The mousse HD Micro Foundation Sheer Tan is especially designed for oily skin. Here too, an opaque, matte finish can be created when applied in layers. From the HD product line, which was specially developed for highly revealing HD recording technology, the HD Micro Foundation Cream is characterized by its high pigmentation, which, nevertheless, features a very sheer consistency. The cream foundation neutralizes the film light that projects a glow onto the skin. The HD make-up technology is very flattering and optically reduces fine lines. Yousef Atapour, developer of the product line, says: “The pigments of the HD foundations have been micronized, and that’s why they are extra fine.” Cake Make-up is also special, but no less brilliant. The foundation is activated with water and develops a creamy consistency when applied. Afterwards, it dries into a powder. The product is suitable for those who want to create a matte, medium opacity make-up. And the Kryolan “all-rounder” is Ultra Foundation. The medium opacity cream make-up creates a natural dew with a slightly matte finish. It is truly the perfect product for every type of make-up application – be it for beauty, film and camera work, everyday make-up, or bridal events.
Third place on the cover charts is shared by Vitacolor and TV Paint Stick. TV Paint Stick is the classic for theater and drag queens. The stick foundation creates a high coverage and has a creamy, easy-to-apply consistency that dries into a satin, matte finish. The creamy Vitacolor creates an even, perfectly opaque luminosity. Supracolor, another star product with decades of history and number two in opacity strength, has a very high pigmentation with an extremely sheer consistency. The foundation, which gives the skin a dewy freshness, must be powdered because of its special durability. With about 40-50% pigmentation, depending on the color, Dermacolor is untouchable.

“The best thing is that you can variously apply all the foundations – from sheer to highly opaque – because you can build them up layer by layer, or you can add Make-up Blend to make the consistency softer,” explains Paul Merchant, Global Head of Make-up. “In general, no matter which product you work with, you should always prepare the skin and apply a suitable care product or primer.” If you also want to refine the skin’s appearance, HD Micro Primer is also an option. Ultra Underbase, on the other hand, is the perfect primer for moisturizing the skin. It gives the complexion a natural shine. And for oily skin, Perfect Matt is recommended as an option to naturally contain strong shine.

“Ultimately, the foundation you choose depends on the occasion and circumstances,” says Paul Merchant. “Like if you’re being photographed, filmed, getting married, or walking on the red carpet. The skin type and individual requirements are of course also very important...”
Customer requests – that’s the key term for Yousef Atapour, one of Kryolan’s product developers. He’s responsible for ensuring that make-up artists all over the world can rely on their foundations in every situation. He is tireless in his quest to find the right tone. “We have 500 to 600 skin colors in our range, yet sometimes we receive a sample because the customer wants us to work out a special tone that we don’t have,” he states. This individual service enables the range to grow by about twenty nuances every year; each one is a special pigment mixture in its own right. “Oils and fat phases form the base of a classic grease-based make-up,” says the recipe specialist. “This base cannot be too solid or too fluid – you have to adjust the ingredients very precisely. It’s like mixing dough. – You can’t just add water and flour. – And then pigments are added. The amount of pigments depends on the different nuances; within a series, this can differ by two to four percent. It depends on whether we need to add more blue, red, yellow, black, or white pigments.” If the sample formula has passed the color and consistency test, it is then tested on different skin types. Especially with combination or oily skin, it becomes tricky again: “In this case, you have to reduce the oil content in the base and work with slowly melting waxes that become soft due to the warmth of the skin. Too much oil on the skin does not compensate for too little oil in the make-up. In addition, fillers are used that are able to absorb the excess fat from the skin.” This, for example, is what happens in the HD Micro Foundation Matifying Liquid, which is specially formulated for this skin type.

Apart from the skin type and the desired covering effect, a preference for a foundation is largely a matter of taste. Thanks to modern technology, all nuances from white to black are available in every cream and fluid version. “The ground pigments can receive a hydrophilic or hydrophobic – i.e. water-loving or water-repellent – coat. This makes them more accountable,” explains chemist Dr. Jochen Gottfriedsen. “With hydrophobically coated pigments, I immediately have a water-repellent reaction – and that’s completely independent of the remaining base of waxes and oils. If I make a water-loving layer around it, I can easily spread the pigments as an aqueous base. This makes for nicer layers and better texture.”
And to finish things off, we can’t forget about the setting process. “We also have make-ups that are self-setting, such as Cake Make-up, Dermacolor Camouflage Fluid or HD Sheer Tan; they contain a relatively high powder content,” says Skadi Langer. “Otherwise, classic powdering by working from the inside out so that fine facial hairs are not emphasized is required. You can also apply a light layer over top with one of our fixing sprays. However, it must go along with the make-up. Creativity aside, product knowledge is essential when it comes to making make-up ‘work’. You can either experiment yourself or get advice in one of our numerous shops around the world.”