Beauty,  Beauty Advice,  Beauty Product Reviews,  Boscia,  How-to,  Laura Geller,  Laura Mercier,  Lorac,  Sephora Brand,  Smashbox

No More Bad Foundation — 3 Foundation Fixes

christina-aI have lots of pet peeves as a makeup artist. Most of them pertain to foundation bad foundation. I get worked up every time I see a foundation faux-pas.  Even stars with an entourage of makeup artists are not immune to bad foundation days.  Check out Fergie, Jessica Simpson, Terri Hatcher and the ultimate drag queen herself, Christina Aguilera.

The top foundation blunders:

1. The Heavy Weight
You have seen her. You could use a putty knife to scrape the foundation off her face. (or his face if we include the the drag population). Lighten up! Believe it or not, less truly is more.

Ways to improve:

Try a tinted moisturizer.  Your skin will glow and you get triple duty benefits — coverage of a lightweight foundation, moisturizer and SPF protection.  My favorites, Laura Mercier of course.  Also Smashbox and Lorac.  If you are budget strapped as most of us these days, take a bit of moisturizer and mix it with your foundation, and voila — tinted moisturizer.

Sephora Platinum Foundation Brush
Sephora Platinum Foundation Brush

Use a foundation brush.  Foundation brushes give you an smooth finish, almost air brushed if you will.  And you jessicause less product!  The savings in using less foundation will pay for your new tool in no time.  Most foundation brushes are synthetic which helps hold the foundation and disperse it more evenly.  I have found efficient economy priced foundation brushes at Walgreens, Eco Tools as well as upper-end brushes at Sephora.

Apply foundation only where you need it.  For the average person this is in the triangle of the forehead, nose, and cheek area.  Feather out (with your new foundation brush of course) along the jaw area.  No one really looks at you there anyway.  Remember, less is more.

terri-hatcher2.  Joker Face

I’m talking foundtion that is too light.  You know, Michael Jackson.  Gross.  Give it up. 

Ways to improve:

Get matched!  I love Sephora for this very reason — you can get matched for foundation, get samples from several brands and no pressure to buy.  When you try a foundation color, apply along your chin/jaw line.  It should disappear into your skin.  I have heard so many women say, “I can’t see it.”  Duh, yea.  That’s the whole point.  We don’t want to see your foundation.  We just want to see that you look fabu.

Seasonal shift.  I get a little lighter in winter and get my bronze glow in summer.   If you tend to tan in summer, either add a dab of liquid bronzer to your foundation or invest in a summer color. 

3. Patchwork

Ohhh, I just hate seeing splotchy makeup.  Either this is a woman who has oily skin and her makeup is fading and sliding.  Or she has dry, dehydrated skin and she hasn’t prepped well.  Or she is using the wrong formulation of foundation for her skin type. fergie

Ways to improve:

Prime time.  Primers prep the skin for foundtion.  You use less foundation, fill in pores and uneven texture and your foundation lasts and lasts.  Primers correct dry and oily skin so that makeup adheres and does not appear splotchy. There are a plethora of primers on the market.  Smashbox has a primer for every occasion — oil free, tinted, liminizing, color correcting and more.  Laura Geller has the best price point on primers in the market.  For $23 you get 2 ounces of Spackle (the grand daddy of primers), which now comes a gorgeous tinted version as well as the original colorless.  If you are into organic, Boscia and Lorac offer efficatious primers without unnecessary additives.

These few tips should give get you on the road to skin that foundation faux-pas free!  And that my friends, is Blinging Beauty!

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