Hey my lovelies! My last post was talking about all the steps that you should take for achieving that lovely finish on your foundation and obtain THAT base. I decided I’d show you what products help me get that out of my foundation base. I hope that this post helps you out so you could feel on point with your base.
Moisturize
Before oiling, I would like to share my moisturizers. I have combination skin, which means my T-zone is oily, my chin and cheeks are dry, and the rest of my skin is normal. Yes, it’s super complicated. That is why I have three different moisturizers. Each one gets used only when my skin is feeling that way for that particular day. The Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream is a very heavy and thick based moisturizer. I grab this when my skin is feeling super dry and then I use this all over. Some days it may just be dry at a certain patch or on a certain area, so I just dab a little there. This cream is super expensive but I received a sample sized in a Sephora Favorites I grabbed earlier. I have been using this on and off for a few months and I still have more than half left because you really need a very small amount of this.
The Origins Ginseng Energy Boosting Gel Moisturizer is for those dull days. Sometimes I skimp on my water intake or am just feeling sick, and this bad boy seems to rejuvenate the skin. Its gel consistency absorbs into my skin but will not make it oily. It balances the hydration levels of the skin. The ginseng in this will make your skin tingle a slight bit. It’s nothing painful or intense. I think this is when it wakes your skin up. It’s as if this brings coffee to your tired skin and makes it super awake.
The Clinique MoistureSurge 72 hour Auto-Replenishing Hydrator is a miracle in jar. I use this moisturizer more often than the others because it is amazing. It does not make my skin oily at all and the gel consistency makes it sink into my skin. It hydrates the dry areas and balances the oily ones. I also love this for my under eye area which is super dry for me. It will not make it sticky or anything, and actually gives it a silky feel to the skin.
Oil
I never thought I would use an oil because of my acne prone/combination skin. I always believed that it was more for the oily skinned people and not for anyone else. Whenever I would apply powders, I would notice even the oily areas seemed flakey and just not smooth. I then realized that the oil is what keeps the moisture on top of the skin. The moisturizer sinks in and the oil acts as a door that locks that in and then sits on top to assure everything is hydrated. Crazy thought? I believe that this is the case for my skin.
I tried many oils and these two are ones that really worked. The Sonoma Naturals Tea Tree Oil is one that I have used as part of my skin care as well but never used it under makeup, but rather on my no makeup days. I decided one day to give it a shot and it really made a difference. The same would be said about the Pearlessence Coconut Rose Hydrating Facial Oil. This oil smells amazing and it really is a thicker oil, so I use only a few drops on the tips of my fingers and press this in all over. I then wait for a few minutes to make sure it has locked and sunk into my skin.
Primer
I had a very hard time with this step. I wanted to fill in my large pores around my nose and cheek area, yet I wanted to smooth out certain denser acne scars, while having the dewyness without making it super oily. You feel me?! I realized that I can’t have all of that but can switch it up once in a while according to the look I’m wanting.
For those natural days, I reach for the Wet n Wild Photo Focus Dewy Lumineux Primer. This will make your skin glow with health. It really gives off a beautiful dew that doesn’t look oily but rather healthy. For the days where I’m out and about and in the sun, I grab the Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Primer. This will mattify the oiliest of you all. TRUST ME! At first I thought it would make my skin dry, but when you place your foundation on top, it doesn’t look dry or caked, but rather just matte. When I know I’ll be going hard glam I either use my Tarte Timeless Smoothing Primer or my MUFE Step 1 Skin Equalizer Smoothing Primer. The Tarte one I use only where my pores are large and the MUFE one to fill in the dense acne scars. I believe these two are lethal together so I do mix them from time to time.
Foundation
So here is where it comes down to: foundation. I have these four which are the only ones I have been using for the past few months and that have not let me down.
The L’Oreal Paris True Match Lumi Cushion Foundation is amazing for an everyday foundation when you don’t wanna cover much but just want to even everything out. I love this because it makes your skin look so luminous and healthy. The Maybelline Matte+Poreless Liquid Foundation is my favorite for a daytime medium to full coverage look. I love to use this when I am out with the girls or a school meeting or anywhere where I want to cover certain things but let my beauty marks shine through. The Too Faced Born This Way is my love. I am in love with this foundation for quite some time. This is the full coverage without the cake face real deal. This will make it your skin but 10000% better. I love this for the winter time weddings or functions or whatever because it is a magnificent foundation. The Maybelline Super Stay Full Coverage Foundation, which I reviewed in an earlier post (Maybelline SuperStay Foundation), is also amazing but for the summer time. My skin tended to grab at dry patches with this. however, I tried to pair it with more oil for the winter, and it was not as dry. It is full coverage and long-lasting, so for those summer barbeques, this would be ideal.
Application
I always used a blender and forgot about my foundation brushes for quite sometime. I just wanted to switch it up so I thought I’d try to use both. TA-DA! Amazing-ness happened! The base stayed on longer and looked flawless.
The Japonesque Foundation Brush is good for packing it in since it has slight dense yet fluffy bristles. So this is good for everyday or the natural days. The Morhpe M439 Deluxe Buffer Brush is more for those glam full coverage days because its bristles are packed in tight and less fluffed so it will pack on more product. Then the blender comes in. I recently picked up the Morphe Highlight & Contour Beauty Sponge and have not been using anything else for the past few months. It is the right amount of soft and hard. It is squishy enough to give that airbrushed look and pick up the excess, yet the hardness of this sponge will make sure not all of the product gets absorbed. This is when we do not get that coverage, and seems as if the foundation is gone. This is why I’m in love with this particular beauty sponge.
So basically you would pack on the foundation with the brush and then use a beauty blender sponge to pick up all the excess and further push in the foundation in to your skin.
Setting Spray
These three are my final verdicts for the best setting sprays. The Wet n Wild Photo Focus Matte Finish Setting Spray is for those oilier and muggy days since it will lock it all in but keep the shine at bay. Then, when you want to shine to the heavens and above, like in the winter dry days, you spray the NYX Professional Makeup Dewy Finish Setting Spray and it will take you there. For those natural days when you just want a smooth and natural finish, the Too Faced Hangover Rx 3-in-1 is your perfect choice. It smells soooo good and melts into your skin giving it the perfect natural look.
I hope you all enjoyed this post and try these products out. Let me know how they work for you and always feel free to share your tips and tricks, as well as favorites.
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