We all have had problems applying foundation. Our biggest mistakes sometimes while trying to apply foundation is the wrong color, looking too “cakey”, sometimes we even accentuate the flaws we were trying to cover. Lets be honest the days of the foundation mask that ends at your jawline is long gone.
How to apply foundation for the best results? We need to learn how to pick the perfect color and apply and set it correctly.
Tips to getting the right color:
The key to flawless coverage is not to look like you are wearing a mask. Don’t we wish we could just pick up a bottle of foundation, hold it up to our face and get the correct color, not possible. Honestly, you should sit down with a makeup consultant and test the color to find the right color for you. It is best to test foundation color with sunlight. The worst light is florescent. No one looks good in florescent lighting. NEVER test foundation on your hand or wrist. If you are ivory/beige skin tone you will need to check your foundation on your neck and jaw line. The neck is a little different color than the face, usually a little darker and more yellow undertone. Because you will blend your foundation at your jaw line, you will want it to match where it stops at the neck. If you are bronze skin tone, you will want to match your foundation on your cheek and jaw line. There sometime is an unevenness of color and this will help even out your skin tone.
Step 1: Primer
After you wash, tone and moisturize your face apply a primer.
Primers give the makeup something to grab onto and helps your makeup last longer. Most of them are oil and fragrance-free and have a gel formula that allows an even and precise application. They work especially well for people with oily and combination skin as they control both excess shine and absorb the oil.
If you choose to use a makeup primer it should be applied after your moisturizer and before your foundation. It’s essential to let it absorb for a few minutes before you start to apply the foundation. Apply it with your finger or brush to the areas where your makeup doesn’t last /usually chin, lips, eyelids and or the whole face.
Foundation to me is the most essential cosmetic, why? Like an artist, who begins painting on a flawless canvas, a makeup artist begins with the perfect foundation application to create a flawless look to enhance one’s beauty.
Tools and tips on how to apply Foundation
Three tools you can choose from are sponge, brush or your fingers.
• Sponge: A sponge is great to give you a light, sheer layer of foundation. It makes foundation very easy to blend. I bounce back and forth between this one and the brush. The downside to the sponge is a lot of foundation can get absorbed in the sponge so it tends to waste product. It is a pain to clean the sponges after every use so what I do is purchase a bag full of inexpensive sponges and trash them after every use.
• Brush: Love the brush. I just love the way my skin looks when using the brush. Trust me, use a foundation brush for a couple of days and it will be hard to go back to what you were using before. The brush I use is the 190 brush by MAC. Make sure you clean your brush after every application or you will ruin it! If you have to reapply throughout the day, a brush is the way to go!
• Fingers: Fingers are good, we all have them, and they are inexpensive. Can be hard to blend with so just be careful!
Set the foundation
Not setting your foundation to me is a makeup faux pa! Here are three easy ways to set your foundation.
• Loose powder: This is my favorite but can get very messy so just be careful. Loose powder does not set into fine lines as easily as pressed powder does. It will set the foundation with a little more coverage but not be as heavy as a pressed powder can be. Perfect choice if you tend to be oily!
• Pressed powder: This is very convenient, that is why we love it. Great for touch ups throughout the day because it does give more coverage then a loose powder does. You do need to be careful because too much can make you look...well like you’re wearing powder. Not exactly flawless.
• Blotting: Tissues are good if you don’t have oily skin. This will work great for you. You can purchase blotting tissues to keep handy or a facial tissue will work great too. Press to your face and blot softly with the tissue. It will take off the excess make up but will not mess up your makeup.
Stay tune as I will have a video blog demonstrating the foundation application and my favorite products I use.
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