Whether you’re a full-face, contour-loving foundation fan, or a ‘swipe of BB Cream and you’re done’ kinda gal, there are still some simple rules that you should be following to make sure you get your foundation completely right. Read on to find out five of the most common foundation mistakes to help you to avoid making them in the future:
Forgetting Primer
If foundation is the base for your make-up then primer is the base for the whole shebang! Prepping your face with a good primer before putting your foundation on is really important if you want your make-up to sit correctly on your face. Using a primer which is specific to your needs can help with dryness, redness, excess oil and even reflecting light and distracting from dark spots, and will give you an overall flawless look with minimal effort.
Using the Wrong Foundation
Just like with skincare, foundation is usually suitable for different skin types and choosing the right one is the key to getting your make-up to last. An oil-based foundation will slide right off of an already oily complexion and something without oil will likely dry out faces which already suffer with dehydration. Choose the right foundation for you if you want the best coverage possible.
Testing it on Your Hand
It’s a simple fact that, although most of us have used the back of our hands for colour-matching our foundation, it’s very unlikely to give you a good match as it’s rarely the same skin tone. The best place to test make-up is along your jawline or under your eyes, so go along to a proper beauty counter with a bare face and ask them to help you to find your match if you want something as close as possible.
Being Too Hasty
Putting your make-up on in a hurry can be problematic for more than one reason. If you’ve just got out of the bath or shower, the chances are that your skin hasn’t had adequate time to cool down and you may perspire your perfectly-applied make-up off within minutes! Also, if you moisturise before you apply foundation (and you SHOULD be moisturising before you apply foundation!) then giving it proper time to soak in is a must, or this will also interfere with the setting power of your foundation.
Applying Concealer First
I’m pretty sure that every make-up guide in every magazine that I read as a teen instructed us to apply concealer and then foundation, but the current wisdom is that concealer is far more effective when applied over the top of our foundation and will help you to achieve both better coverage and a more natural look when applied in that order. Use a beauty blender to blend it all in perfectly for a flawless look.
Last updated on 18/07/2017.