Always start your day with cleansing the face. You might
think why is this important? I cleaned before I went to sleep last night?
At night this is when our skin is most active. The skin
cells are turning over and regenerating, reproducing. Whatever we put on the
skin at night is breathed in by the skin. This is also why we don’t apply a
cream with an SPF, the more obvious reason is because we are inside sleeping and
not out in the sun. But that at night when we sleep with our skin regenerating
and breathing in what is on it, an SPF will clog the pores, just as makeup will
do the same.
Even though we cleansed and applied our night cream the
night before whilst the skin is turning over and breathing in the goodness of
our night cream, it is also releasing toxins, dirts and excess oils. We don’t want this sitting on the skin and
seeping back into our pores during the day. After cleansing you would follow
your basic skincare routine [referring back to my previous post; Consistency and TLC]. As detailed in Consistency and TLC, your skin
care is your base canvas. Your makeup is only as good as the canvas you start
with.
The first step in starting your makeup is a Primer (or a
Base). What is Primer? The main purpose of a primer in makeup is to increase
the longevity of your foundation. That is make it last longer throughout the
day, to help stop the foundation moving, smearing and going patchy. That is the
basic function of a primer. These days primers come with added benefits! There are primers that having smoothing
benefits, radiance; luminizing or brightening, hydrating, mattifying , pore
minimizing and refining , colour correcting for redness and some now come with
anti-aging factors such as lifting, firming and anti-wrinkle. The best way to shop for you primer is first
by what is suitable for your skin type and then by the finish you are looking
for. There are a lot of primers you can get which are oil-free which is good
news for those with an oilier complexion or prone to break outs.
After researching primers to get photos to show you, it
might be safe to say Smashbox are the masters in it! Their range of just
primers alone is astounding and caters for just about every need including those
listed. Smashbox only receive praise and outstanding reviews and received
copious awards for their primers. Below
is a matrix grid made to demonstrate what the benefits for each primer are. Receiving
1 heart for what the primer does cosmetically, in other words the makeup
purpose. Two hearts denote results through the skin care ingredients as listed
through the Smashbox website.
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Listed
Primers from Top-Bottom: Camera Ready BB Cream SPF35, Photo Finsh More Than
Just Primer Dark Spot Correcting, Photo Finish Hydrating Foundation Primer,
Photo Finish Foundation Primer, Photo Finish Foundation Primer Light, Photo
Finish Foundation Primer SPF15 with Dermaxyl Complex, Photo Finish Colour
Correct Foundation Primer Blend, Photo Finish Colour Correct Foundation Primer
Adjust, Photo Finish Colour Correct Foundation Primer Balance, Photo Finish
Luminizing Foundation Primer, Photo Finish Targets Pore & Line Primer,
Anti-Shine, Photo Finish Hydrating Under Eye Primer and Photo Finish Lid
Primer.
Disclaimer: All information for Primers was gathered from the offical Smashbox website, from descriptions and pictures displayed.
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Application of your products is always best with a brush. A
sponge is good but half of the product will end up being absorbed by it.
Fingertips can be good for certain purposes but usually when applying your
foundation and products fingertips and hands will not give the same result as a
brush. Even in clean hands, the oils in our palms can lead to blemishes on the
face, change the colour and the finishing texturing of the foundation. Not only
that it creates a mess on your hands! A basic guide to brushes coming soon, but
for now a synthetic foundation brush is best for foundation application.
Most products come in pump bottles of squeezable tubes for
easy delivery of the product, though there are still some that come in jars.
Majority of foundations come in pumps or tubes as in jars the product will
oxidize a lot quicker and as the products oxidize they change colour (go
darker). This is why sometimes when you take your empty bottle into the store
to match the colour up, the colour doesn’t look the same, although in a pump or
squeeze tube they product still oxidizes as more product is used. There isn’t
anything wrong with this, unless it is left too long and still used.
The easiest palette
is the back of your hand otherwise some stores sell metal/plastic palettes shaped
much like an artist’s painting palette or if you’re looking to save some money
you can designate a plastic plate for makeup.
This way is a lot cleaner than using your hands. If you run out and need
to pump out more you’re not going to have hands and fingertips covered in
foundation getting your foundation bottle/tube dirty and covered in foundation.
Foundation! So many different types to choose from, so where
do you start? As with most products you first need to consider your skin type.
Foundations come in different types, some whilst usable by most skin types some
are better than others.
Liquids:
Liquid foundations suit most skin types depending on the
base ingredient.
Oil based: These are more suitable for dryer skin types and
mature skins. Which usually provide medium coverage, but easily blendable down
to sheer and buildable to full. The trick to building your coverage with your
foundation comes down to your brush. Finish for these foundations will usually
be moist and dewy.
Oil free & Matte: Best for normal, combination to oily
complexions. There are different types for these foundations, some are sheer
whilst others come in medium to full coverages. So these foundations are no
shine, no dew, no radiance.
Creams: Cream foundations are best suited for very dry to
normal skin types and most mature skin types, majority of cream foundations are
hydrating. Most finished will be semi matte or radiant, but there are some
formulas which are cream to powder so it finishes powder-like.
Powder foundations: Suitable for normal to oily complexions. Dry and
combinations skins will not always sit well with these types of foundations as
they can look cakey at times, accentuating dry areas with that can age and make
fine lines appear more. Most of these foundations have a sheer finish buildable
to medium.
There are some others
such as cream-to-powder, liquid-to-powder and stick foundation but these
foundations are not as widely used today.
Many foundations on the market have added benefits just like
primers. Some of these benefits are hydrating, balancing, oil absorbing and
anti aging such as lifting and firming.
Once your foundation is applied to personal preference the
next step is Finishing (Setting) Powders. Why do you need a finishing or
setting powder after your foundation when you have already applied a primer? A
Primer is the starting point to steps of longevity of your foundation. A Finishing
or Setting powder sets or finishes the foundation to help improve the finish,
to lessen transfer, to mattify. Just as the name of these powders suggest it is
finishing off the foundation. Have you ever noticed after applying primer and
foundation and foundation is lasting all day but sometimes it moves or
transfers or you get shine during the day? This is your purpose of Finishing
/Setting powder.
Just like primers and foundations some finishing/setting
powders have added benefits. Some are hydrating, smoothing and pore refining,
some are mattifying or contain antioxidants for healthy glowing skin benefits. Again
when choosing you finishing/setting powder your first consideration should be
your skin type then followed by what finish you desire.
For dryer skin types a finishing/setting powder is not
always recommended as it can make the skin look dryer and show fine lines and
dryness up more. There are hydrating setting sprays which can be used for dry
skins or using the finishing/setting powder sparingly mainly on t-zone area.
There is a range of finishing/setting powders. First there
are pressed and there are loose. For this it all comes down to personal
preference. You may like a pressed one because of the convenience for everyday
use in your handbag. Or you may like loose because in some cases it spreads
easier.
Second, some are translucent, which usually come as a white
powder, but melt away into the skin to an invisible finish and should not look
chalky. Others come in coloured formulas to match to your foundation, some of
these still come under names with translucent attached. It all comes down again to personal choice in
whether you wish to have a colourless or coloured finishing/setting powder. Application for a fine light finish is best
achieved with a powder brush or kabuki brush (Brush guide coming soon!).
Many people are looking for more natural products for their
skin and makeup range. Mineral foundations and powders at times can be quite
popular. Mineral products are best for light and natural coverage, the more you
blend the finer the results looks. As you blend more the mineral pigments crush
and blend away, this is why majority of mineral makeup products are classed as
light coverage products. The best example to try this out is with a mineral
bronzer, since it is darker you can see better as the more you blend it the
finer and more natural it looks, the ruddiness and patchiness smoothes away.
This concludes Part 1 of Makeup Basics three part series. If you would like
more details on the foundations that have not been detailed please request.
<3 MJH
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