Regardless of your foundation preferences, there are ways and means of applying your base to ensure your skin still looks like skin. “No makeup” makeup really requires a number of different products, however there’s a big difference between a lot of products and a lot of makeup. Opt for creamy consistencies that melt into the skin and embrace light and shade to mimic the texture of your natural complexion.
Your tool kit:
– Your favourite foundation (I love Ellis Faas Skin Veil)
– An illuminating primer (Kevyn Aucoin Celestial Skin Liquid Lighting in Candlelight is my favourite)
– A brightening concealer (concealers in a pen form are ideal- I use YSL Touche Éclat)
– A traditional cream concealer (Nars Soft Matte Concealer)
– Cream highlighter and cream bronzer (the cream texture is key, so I opted for the RMS Luminizer X Quad and Contour Bronze)
Start by applying a highlighting primer. This will give your foundation something to blend with (rather than clinging to any dry patches) and will give your base a “lit from within” glow even if you’re using a matte foundation. Dot foundation onto your skin with your fingers, then spend as much time as you can afford buffing it into the skin using a large buffing brush. This will “sheer out” your foundation and is key to ensuring the product really sinks into the skin, rather than creating a heavy film on top of it. Think of your foundation as a way of evening out your skin tone with a wash of colour, while your concealer is used for coverage. To brighten under the eyes, apply your brightening concealer by gently patting it in with your ring finger (your ring finger isn’t capable of applying as much pressure as any of your other fingers), then apply a concealer only where you feel you need it. Natural skin has light and shade to it, so apply bronzer where the sun would naturally hit and highlighter to the high planes of the face- the brow bone, tops of the cheek bones and cupid’s bow. This is where a creamy consistency is really important- you can press cream products into the skin using your finger, the warmth of which will allow the products to really melt into your foundation to mimic the texture of real skin.
Photographer: Melissa Cowan
Model: Helena at Vivien’s
Makeup: Gemma Watts
