How To Get The Perfect Make up Base – My Secrets

With the rise of trends like ‘glass skin’ and ‘natural makeup‘, one can only dream of being asked if they’re actually wearing any make up these days. To the untrained eye, ‘well-done’ makeup can look exactly like skin. But to the make up wearer, they know exactly how much time, effort and product goes into a ‘no-makeup look’. However, with skincare being the foundation – no pun intended – of a natural make up look, it makes sense to start there. Look no further, because I’m divulging all my secrets on how to get the most perfect make up base.

The Perfect Base Starts With The Right Skin

No amount of make up can hide texture. It’s just not possible. So, we need to start at the beginning. Having a perfected skincare routine can seriously make all the difference. First you need to figure out your skin type. That’s a non negotiable. Make sure you’re using the right product for your skin, no matter whether you’re dry, normal, sensitive, combo or oily. For dry skin types, opt for products containing oil to help create a more hydrated base. For oilier or acne-prone skin types, you must always stick to water-based products.

You’ll start seeing some great improvements to your skin after figuring out your perfect skincare routine. This will help drastically in the application of your makeup, which I have some tips about later on. Make sure you keep reading!

A perfect base is one that’s hydrated and ready for make up. I always wait about 15 minutes after applying my skin care to allow it to absorb as much as possible. Too many layers can make your makeup pill and come apart. Especially if you aren’t combining the right ingredients.

Your Ingredients Matter…

As a rule of thumb, don’t mix oil and water based products. You can find out what your products contain by looking at the ingredients list. Usually, they don’t contain both, but if one of the first ingredients is ‘aqua’, it’s most likely a water based product.

For oily or acne-prone skin

Water-based products are highly recommended for oily or acne prone skin. These are usually in the form of gels or liquids. Most, if not all of your skin care products and make up should be water-based, or else you risk your make up not setting properly. This can cause it to separate later in the day and looking patchy. Oily skin sufferes should also use a silicone-based primer to help with this, too.

Look for the ingredients that end in ‘-cone’, ‘conol’, ‘-silane’ or ‘-siloxane’ as these are usually your silicone products.

For dry skin

It’s recommended to use oil-based products at the end of your skincare routine. These are usually slippery or thicker in texture. Mixing and layering an oil-based product with either silicone or water-based products can cause them to separate, so it’s not recommended to use both together.

For normal skin

As lucky as you are for your skin type, it’s much harder to pick which type of product is best for you. But, with that, means you can experiment and see what your skin prefers. Ultimately, water-based products are the safest and most versatile choice and make hydrating your skin much easier. However, oil-based products are known for stopping the production of oil on your skin (confusing, right?) which can be an issue for dry skin types as they lack moisture.

Hydration Is Key For A Perfect Base

If you follow the blog post linked above, you will find that it’s highly recommended to mist your skin, use hyaluronic acid and double moisturise. These three steps make a huge difference in the hydration and plumpness of your skin. However, do note that this improvement doesn’t happen in one day. You do need to keep this up in your routine for at least 1-3 months before you see a noticable difference.

Likewise, keeping your under eyes as hydrated as possible will massively help when it comes to the make up application part. The under eyes are the biggest giveaway for ‘too much’ makeup. Since they’re mostly forgotten about when it comes to skin care. Because of this, they can end up lacking moisture and the fine lines around the eyes become more pronounced. To combat this, I would highly recommend an eye cream. Again the same rule applies and oily skin types should opt for a gel-like or water-based product, and dry skin types can opt for a more ‘creamy’ product.

Your Under Eyes Are Letting You Down…

I’ve been using – and loving! – the PIXI Collagen Eye Serum each night. After about one month, i’ve definitely noticed the creases under my eyes don’t look as pronounced as before and my skin is so hydrated. I wasn’t a big believer in eye creams or eye products at first, but this product has changed my mind! The texture is like a subtly sticky gel and I apply this after my moisturiser (sometimes before) and yes, it’s safe to layer that product over Retinol and HA’s.

I would highly recommend introducing some sort of hydrating eye serum or product to help the thickness and hydration of your under eyes to ensure your makeup applies flawlessly.

How To Improve Skin Texture For A Perfect Base

One of the biggest giveaways for cake-y makeup is your skin texture. Now, I know this is a sensitive subject, but sometimes covering a pimple with lots of makeup doesn’t help. And it definitely doesn’t make the pimple go away or disappear. Sometimes, it can enhance it, especially if you apply lots of powder and product over the top. I know pimples are annoying, trust me, I have my fair share of them. So take it from me, your skincare if your first priority and your make up is to help with everything else.

If you haven’t introduced a gentle, liquid exfoliating product into your routine, I’d highly suggest it. Any abrasive, scratchy exfoliating product can go directly in the trash. Now. Uneven or bumpy skin texture is essentially clogged pores and the best way to reduce that is to introduce a product that breaks up the dead skin cells and removes the debris that is clogging your pores. You can use this blog post to help you figure out which product you can introduce into your skincare routine to help improve your skin texture.

Make up Application Tips For A Perfect Base

My biggest tip is blotting. I do this every single time I apply makeup. I always mix my foundation in with my SPF and then once I’ve applied it, I gently blot my skin to remove the excess foundation in places where my skin usually breaks out or becomes oily. This step will remove a tiny bit of foundation, but you can then go in with concealer and pin point the parts you wish to conceal. I think I learnt this tip from a Lisa Eldridge video years ago. She emphasises that concealer is best used to pin-point exactly the bits you want to conceal and she also suggests opting for using less foundation in the process.

Setting Spray Is Your BFF

Likewise, after applying all the powders to my base, I love drenching my face in a setting spray. I usually use the classic Urban Decay All-nighter. This product does a great job at eliminating the dryness powder gives to my skin whilst bringing back that glowy, skin-like texture.

Ease Up On Powder Products

One of the best tips I can give you is to try and reduce powder products all together. If this is completely out of your comfort zone, try to use it as your last step for your base. Opt for liquid highlighters, bronzer, and blushers, instead. They really do help with that natural skin-like glow and texture.

Try The Demi-Method

I rarely see anyone talking about the demi-method. This method is essentially all about using colour correcting products as well as dark tones to balance out your overall skin tone. You don’t use foundation or concealer for the demi-method, but instead work from a palette of different colours to remove distractions from your face whilst giving you that ‘no-makeup’ look. The demi-method is not about creating a blank canvas like foundation does, but using the tiniest amount of product to enhance your natural features and disguise imperfections. In real life, this type of makeup application is basically undetectable.

Unlike full coverage make up which looks great on camera and in photos, it’s not known for being so subtle in real life. This is why people opt for the demi-method. You should definitely look into this style of make up if you aren’t a fan of the typical, full-coverage makeup of today.

Final Thoughts…

No matter what your skin currently looks like, please don’t get too obsessive over your appearance. I’ve been in both the shoes of a girl covered in acne and the shoes of a girl with perfect skin. Obviously, I felt a lot more confident with clearer skin, but that confidence was only on the exterior. Underneath all of that, is a girl who is still building her confidence and the love she has for herself. ‘Good’ skin never fixed that, it just made the goal temporarily easier to reach. I’ll always be the girl experiencing a break out or a bout of uneven skin texture. Once I – and you – accept that, we’ll soon realise that many, many others are in the same place as us.

Being a woman is hard enough without having to hold ourselves to perfect standards. So sometimes is easier to accept it. Likewise, a big factor to our ever-changing skin is our hormones and diet. Those are two things we don’t always have control over. So it’s really best not to get too stressed about it.

I hope these tips and tricks helped you and please remember, no one’s skin is actually perfect.