Have you seen a couple of people out there that wear foundation and then it drips right off of their faces, and others that just look pale or unnatural, or has all that happened to you?
Honestly, foundation is one product that is hard for many people to perfect, and it takes a lot of practice to finally do it like a pro. But that’s if you practice correctly.
If you happen to master all the steps right from preparation to the finishing touches, you’ll have a good experience with foundation.
Step 1: Preparation.
i) Wash your face.
Of course, looking good with makeup starts off with ridding your face of all the previous day's makeup, grime, sweat and/or other impurities.
Anything you apply on fresh skin will always give you a shiny impression and won't cause issues like itching and side effects like skin irritation depending on how your skin reacts.
So, washing your face will always be the first step if you want to wear foundation. Here are some ways you can clean your skin.
• Cleansing water will reduce redness as it contains anti inflammatory agents.
• Dry skins need cleansing balms, that contain emollients.
• High capillarity substances like clay and charcoal are contained in the cleansing mud, that works well for oily skins.
• Cleansing gel works best for combination skin while cleansing milk works for sensitive skin.
ii). Flake-off.
Having a flaky skin is absolutely bad for makeup, so just after washing your skin, it's time to exfoliate it so you can clear it up and give it a perfectly smooth texture.
To maintain your skin in a perfectly smooth state, you need to use the exfoliating scrub twice or thrice a week.
iii). Moisturize.
Whether your skin is dry or oily, you don't just have to dive right into the foundation without applying the moisturizer on your skin.
Squeeze or pump the moisturizer into your palms, after which you gently pat it onto your face, from the sides to the center.
Make sure all parts of your face are covered, because you'll surely spread the foundation on all parts of your face, so you don't want it to get where you didn't moisturize.
iv). Primer.
The primer gets your skin ready for the application of foundation.
Apply the primer immediately after applying the moisturizer and following the same gentle steps of applying the moisturizer.
Wait for it to dry before you apply the foundation on your skin.
To dry faster, you can gently fan it with your hands or a real fan. Once it dries, you're ready for the foundation.
Step 2; Picking The Right Foundation.
Now, the reason some people might look like their complexions have changed, and the color of their face is different from their neck or palm is, they miss this step.
It is absolutely important that you select the right foundation that fits your shade and won’t change your complexion or make you look cold.
i). Your complexion.
Your skin complexion will be the first determinant of what kind of foundation you'll use and how much you'll tan yourself.
Now, if you've looked in the dressing mirror, you might have noticed a slight difference between your face and neck, or face and lower body.
This will be a solid basis for the selection of the shade you'll want to apply onto your skin, so that your face and neck are similar to the rest of your body in complexion.
There are different shades for any color, so you have to be careful not to choose the wrong one.
ii). Your undertone.
Now, we have three undertones and your skin either shall always have one of them. The neutral, the cool and the warm undertone.
• If you have a warm undertone, the veins under your arm are green, so you'll use a foundation with a yellow/brown undertone that matches your skin.
• If your undertone is cool, the veins on your arm are blue, and the right foundation for you is that with a pink undertone.
• If you're neutral, you'll use any foundation and it will just resonate with your skin.
This is why you need to have a variety of products because once in a while, your undertone will change, depending on the weather condition and you'll have to pick what will harmonize with it.
iii). Your skin type.
Now, you probably don't know much about your skin, and you're not ready to dive into the complicated science that surrounds it, but there's one secret nobody has told you that I have to say.
Knowing your skin type is the master key to taking perfect care of your skin, and if you don't know it, you'll make a lot of mistakes, some of which might be irreversible.
There's a lot of simple ways that you can identify your skin type, or consult the specialists and they'll let you know.
Step 3; Application.
i) Start with small amounts.
•The moment you're done picking the foundation of your choice, you have to pump it out onto a surface from which you'll pick and apply.
•Depending on what's easy for you, you can pump on the back of your hand, from which you'll pick using a brush, or you can use a palette to keep things a little more professional.
•Don't pump directly into your face because this way, you won't be able to regulate the amount you're applying, and so it's easy to end up having a cakey face.
ii) Spread outward.
• Spread first spread your foundation over the sides of your face before you start to spread in the centre. This will help you prevent unevenness.
After spreading outward, you then have to start spreading in the middle so that you can match the appearance of the sides of your face.
iii) Cover blemishes.
• Of course you don't want to leave any blemishes uncovered. Do you? With this therefore, you should go step by step, covering blemish by blemish so that you can give your face that flawless look.
• Remember, one of the main intentions of wearing foundation is to have those blemishes covered.
iv) Blend.
Now, it's time for you to make that foundation look all natural and not different from your face nor making you look so made-up. Remember, it's about your face, not your foundation.
Blend the edges of your foundation too, so that you don't create a difference between your face and the hairlines or your face and neck.
With this, you can use a beauty blender or a brush, depending on what works best for you.
v) Translucent powder
Now, I guess you didn’t think we were done at just the foundation. There are a whole lot of other products that go with the foundation, and powder is one of them.
First off, powder will help to make certain that your foundation doesn’t go along with your sweat, especially when you’re going to have a long day.
So, apply the powder over your face, especially those parts that need to be highlighted a bit.
Applying powder will also add a good shiny touch to your foundation as long as it isn't excessive to make you look pale.
With these you're good to go.
Step 4; Finishing.
Now that you’ve already applied your foundation and all that goes along with, you can always add these other products if you feel the need to, but you can as well do without them.
Setting spray.
Now, you’re done with everything else and you would want to go out with assurance that everything is going to set right on your skin.
The setting spray will first of all melt all your makeup into itself and set it as it dries.
This actually works better than bronzing because you’re not going to worry whether it’s the summer and you’re going for Coachella.
This should be the last step, and if you’re still going to apply anymore products onto your face, don’t use it yet.
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Bonus tip.
Your goal whenever you start applying makeup, is to make sure you look more gorgeous, not show everyone out there that you wore makeup.
If nobody notices that you wore foundation, but appreciates your beauty, that means you’re really good at this.