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| Skin prep |
I think most girls have the foundation game down, right? But what about primer or setting spray and would you buy a setting powder or a finishing powder to blur your pores? If you've ever watched a YouTube make-up tutorial and felt perplexed as to why the foundation routine alone takes 5 minutes, the following layers of make-up may be responsible.
Preparation
Priming
Choosing the right primer for your skin can be quite daunting but if you know what kind of effect you want it to have on your skin, you already know which primer to look for.
Preparation
- Moisturiser - Applying your moisturiser about 15 minutes before starting with your make-up, replenishes the moisture that you might have lost overnight. It plumps out your skin to make wrinkles less obvious and clears dry patches to which your make-up will cling.
- Sunscreen - If your daily moisturiser contains an SPF, bonus but if your favourite day cream that you cannot live without has no sun protection factor, you need to invest in a good sunscreen which does not make your skin feel oily or interfere with your make-up. It is non-negotiable. I've been reading posts about having to wear sunscreen for years while thinking yeah, yeah, whatever but I couldn't really appreciate the age reversing effect of wearing sunscreen daily until I've tried it. Even if you do sit in an office all day, even if you barely ever see the sun, even if it is -4'C or raining outside, you have to protect your skin against the sun's UV rays if you want to tap into the secret of eternal youth (or at least looking youthful for longer).
Priming
Choosing the right primer for your skin can be quite daunting but if you know what kind of effect you want it to have on your skin, you already know which primer to look for.
- Colour correcting primer - These primers come in pastel colours. It is meant to neutralise any skin problems that you might have like rosacea or dull skin. A green primer will neutralise redness, a yellow primer corrects bluish discolourations and a lavender primer brightens the skin.
- Blurring primer - A blur cream or primer is intended to give you a smooth finish with minimal texture on you skin. It creates a porcelain airbrush effect.
- Pore smoothing primer - Much like a blurring primer, pore smoothing or minimising primers make your skin look a little bit doll-like by filling out your pores. The difference though is that a blurring primer can be applied all over your face while it is best to apply a pore minimising primer to the areas of your face you want to smooth out due to the slippery consistency of most of these primers. It tends to make oily skin look very shiny.
- Lasting effect primer - Foundations are often unreliable in the long lasting department especially on oily skin but a long lasting primer will fix that. It acts like glue between your skin and foundation.
- Illuminating primer - To give your matt finish foundation a bit more versatility, an illuminating primer will give your skin a dewy, healthy finish by bouncing light off your skin. These primers usually works great as a highlighter over your foundation too.
- Mattifying primer - Mattifying primers do exactly that - mattify. Oily skin benefits greatly from these primers.
- Priming waters - High end make-up brands like Smashbox have priming waters for dry skin. It rehydrates skin and creates a dewy finish but generally these priming waters are very versatile and does not interfere with your foundation once it has dried on your skin.
Beauty insiders are also fond of using other non-conventional face primers like milk of magnesia and men's Nivea aftershave balm (I've tried it, it works!) so if you don't feel like spending on a primer, you can look into some alternative products to prime.
If you like going bare faced the extent of the face products in your collection can end here and a primer is always optional even if you are going full face make-up but if you are wondering whether you should go with a cream or liquid foundation, keep an eye out for part 2 of this topic.
Which primers do you use and what is your take on daily sunscreen?
