Five Of The BEST Foundation Tips!

by BR Amelia

Anyone else feel like it's beginning to get easier and easier to apply foundation wrong? Like there are so many formulations and coverage options that if you make a misstep you'll end up with a dry and patchy mess or an oil slick on your face, or looking like you've stepped out wearing a skin-ish coloured mask?

Yes, finding the right foundation and then applying it in a way that works can make the most fearless of us quiver in our beauty-loving boots, which is why we've put together our top five foundation tips to make it so you never have to worry or overthink the process again.

1. Give your foundation a fighting chance. This means creating the best base you can. Before applying foundation, cleanse and gently exfoliate the skin, then apply a serum, followed by moisturiser and primer (making sure you're using products that suit your skin type), and let all the products sink in so as to avoid pilling or the foundation breaking up.

2. Choose your foundation based on your skin type, rather than the skin you want. If you have dry skin then avoid a matte foundation. If you have oily skin then a foundation designed to hydrate or give a dewy look will only end up with your skin looking oilier.

Tone choice is also important. A foundation with warm undertones on a skin with cool undertones will never look as natural and as seamless as a warm-undertoned foundation on skin with warm-undertones or a cool-undertoned foundation on skin with cool undertones. Thankfully many brands are now stating who each shade will suit (eg: light with warm undertones) to help take the guesswork out for you. Not sure of your undertone? Check out this article. 

3. When applying foundation don't go all in all at once. It's tempting to dot foundation all over your face and then start blending it in, but it's better to work from the inside of your face out, concentrating on the areas where coverage is most needed. Not only will this save product, but it will create a more natural, less mask-like look.

4. Brush then bounce. I love the idea of going straight in to blend out my foundation with a damp sponge, but it results in loads of product being sucked up and the areas that actually need the product not being as covered as I'd like, and therefore more product ends up being used than necessary. For best results I brush/buff the foundation onto my face with a foundation brush using the method stated in the above point, then, once that's done, I bounce the product into the skin to remove any streaks while creating a seamless look.

5. Set, then don't forget. No matter your skin type, setting your makeup will help keep it in place for longer. However, much like choosing a foundation, how you set it comes down to your skin type. Oily skin loves to be set with powder, perhaps even followed by a mattifying setting spray. Dry skin might only need a hydrating setting spray to fuse all the products together, or, if you know you're prone to getting a touch oily in certain areas, dusting a little setting powder in those spots will help keep things looking better longer. 

As the day wears on, don't forget to check the state of your skin. If you find it looking more oily than you'd like, blot then re-dust with powder. Skin looking on the dry side? Then spritz with a hydrating spray and bounce it in with a sponge if it's looking broken up or cakey.

So, will you be trying our tips and tricks? Are you already all over them? And what are your favourite foundation hacks to getting your face base on point? Chat below!