Beauty Q and A: Why Is My Foundation Patchy?

Patchy foundationΒ is a makeup lover’s worst nightmare β€” especially if you’ve spent a significant amount of timeΒ perfecting your beat. As it turns out, there are ways to completely avoid patchy makeup and foundation, and all it takes is hydration andΒ the right makeup base. Ahead,Β we broke down how to keep patchy foundation at bay, plus how to fix it if it happens to you.

What Causes Patchy Foundation?

There are many reasons why your foundation might be patchy. The wrong formula of foundation, mixing products with ingredients that don’t match or dehydrated skin are all culprits. For example, mixing a silicone-based primer with a water-based foundation is going to separate on the skin because the ingredients don’t mesh well. How to know if your foundation or primer is silicone based? It can be tricky, but the most commonly listed silicones (you’ll nearly always find them at the top of the ingredients list) include cyclopentasiloxane,Β siloxane and dimethicone. Also, most people are not as oily as they think they are, and using ultra matte foundation on already dry skin is another recipe for a patchy face.

How to Avoid Patchy Foundation

When it comes to avoiding the patchy foundation phenomena, we suggest that you want to pay extra attention to the products you use, and make sure your skin is well hydrated and prepped for makeup. A good moisturizer, a primer that mixes well with foundation and setting the foundation will all help to make sure your makeup stays where you want it.

For this, we recommend beginning your routine with a hydrating moisturizer like theΒ NYX Professional Makeup Bare With Me Cannabis Sativa Seed Oil Moisturizing Primer SPF 30. Next, apply a hydrating, gripping primer like theΒ Tula Brighten Up Smoothing Gel PrimerΒ that will not only moisturize your skin, but it will also lock in foundation. Apply a water-based foundation on top, like theΒ Urban Decay Stay Naked Lightweight Liquid Foundation.Β 

How to Fix Patchy Foundation

If the skin isn’t properly hydrated, it will draw the moisture from any product you apply on top of it; hence, your poor dehydrated skin will suck up all the water and emollients from your foundation, leaving you with small and unevenly dispersed splodges of color pigment. The moral of the story? Always make sure to apply an even layer of moisturizer over the skin before reaching for the foundation bottle.

Prepping the skin correctly before foundation is the true way to eradicate patchiness before it starts, but if your foundation is already patchy, here is another trick that can help, take a damp sponge and blend out the patchy spots.

More Primp Tips

If we neglect the exfoliation step within our skincare routines, it will likely result in our foundation applying unevenly, and gripping on to (and exaggerating) our dry patches and textural issues. Using a mild liquid exfoliator will help to keep dry patches at bay, and will keep the skin looking even and smooth.

Will you be taking any of these tips on board, or do you have any methods or tricks you’ve found helpful? Let us know!

Discovered a New Way to Use a Cult Classic Eye Cream and Makeup Has Never Looked Smoother

The perfect eye cream is hard to find. It has to have the right consistency, a formula that won’t give you milia or cause irritation and a blend of ingredients that actually delivers noticeable results. So once that holy grail is in your possession, there’s really no turning back. For many, that eye cream is the Kiehl’s Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado β€” it’s a bona fide classic. 

As its name suggests, the formula is creamy and emollient, yet is fast-absorbing and non-greasy. The star ingredient is avocado oil, which is packed with fatty acids to moisturize and soften skin, plus beta-carotene for a dose of antioxidants and shea butter to hydrate and make skin supple. Plus, a little goes a long way, so you get plenty of mileage out of a small tub. As if we needed another reason to love this eye cream, we recently discovered a new way to use it: as a primer for eye makeup. Trust and believe, it’s a game-changer. 

When we typically apply eye cream, we use a finger to lightly tap it (never pull or tug at the skin!) along the orbital bone, starting at the edge of the nose and outwards, and then up to brow bone. To try the primer hack, take another fingertip-full and gently apply it over the eyelid before going in with your concealer or eyeshadow. 

Unlike so many other eye creams, the Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado doesn’t slide all over the place or make your skin oily or sticky. Instead, skin is smooth and hydrated, i.e. the perfect base for crease-free, long-lasting makeup. 

In addition to your shadow, your under-eye concealer will get the same red-carpet treatment. You’ll find that when applied after the Kiehl’s eye cream, your product glides on evenly without flaking and never settles into your fine lines which can make them look more pronounced. 

Excuse us as we add another tub – or three – to our carts.Β 

Did You Try Kiehl’s Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado? YAY OR NAY? COMMENT BELOW.

6 Places You Never Thought to Apply Concealer

Here at Makeup.com, we have a very special bond with our concealer stash. It’s one of our most trusted makeup products that’s always there for us, even when it seems like our skin isn’t. Whether that means dark under-eye circles or a spontaneous blemishconcealer can help make our skin woes disappear with each swipe from its magical wand. That’s not all it does, though. In fact, your concealer can do so much more than simply camouflage imperfections, depending on where it’s placed. Find out six places to apply concealer, ahead.

Above and Below the Brow

Blend a thin line of concealer on top of and underneath the brows to make eyebrows pop and open up the eyes. This also helps with reshaping your brows or defining your arches. Be sure to use a full-coverage formula like the Maybelline New York Superstay Concealer to really clean up those edges and give you precise-looking brows. 

maybelline-super-stay-concealer

The Inner Corners and Under the Eyes

To get rid of dark circles, conceal only the blue or purple tint beneath your eyes. To brighten up the eyes even more, tap a little concealer in the inner corners of your eye to really disguise any late nights with no sleep. We love using the Maybelline New York Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser for this area. The sponge tip applicator makes it extremely easy to tap on just the right amount of product you need.

Across the Bridge and Down the Center of the Nose

Apply concealer on the bridge and down the center of your nose to bring light to the center of your face and help make the nose appear slender. This is also a great contouring trick, making your face catch more light on the high points.

Around Each Nostril

This area is commonly plagued by redness and broken capillaries. Brightening around the nose will help skin tone appear more even all over β€” and we love the Urban Decay Full Coverage All Nighter Concealer because it’s incredible at canceling out that excess discoloration.

Corners of the Mouth

Unfortunately, as we age, the more our skin begins to lose elasticity, which results in loose skin. Conceal the outer corners of the mouth to lift up downturned lips and show off your smile.

Center of the Chin

Combat redness or darkness by blending a small semicircle of concealer right at the crease in the chin. This is also a great spot to place concealer because not only will it catch light to bring more attention to the center of your face, but it’ll also help to further accentuate a great lip color β€” thank us later. 

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POND’S: Cleansing Dry Skin

I’ve been using POND’S for about 4 years now. Pond’s has great products for people that have dry skin. Anytime I have used their products, I always end up with a soft, glowing healthy skin. POND’S has been a trusted brand in the beauty realm for over 50 years, so it’s easy to see how they’ve nailed down great quality products that are available at drugstores nationwide.

Since POND’S seems to mesh well with my skin, I was excited to give the POND’S Cold Cream Cleanser and POND’S Evening Soothe Wet Cleansing Towelettes a try. The aroma of the Evening Soothe towelettes alone is reason enough to use them. It felt like such a luxurious experience to remove my makeup and cleanse my skin. A little tip I have for removing extra stubborn eye makeup is to run one end of the cloth under the faucet to create a little bit more of a β€œsuds” and press that on your eyes to soften the makeup. I wear a lot of mascara, so I’ve found that pressing an extra-moistened towelette on my eyes before attempting to work the makeup off is much kinder on my lashes.

The POND’S Cold Cream Cleanser is perfect for these dry winter months. And it’s both gentle and effective.

The last thing I want to spend time on in the morning is covering up any blemishes, and these products have helped me maintain blemish-free skin while also keeping it nice and hydrated.

My skin is prone to dryness in the first place, but especially in the winter I find that dry patches and irritation is common. Here are a few tips on cleansing dry or sensitive skin in the winter months:

1. Don’t use piping hot water. I know it’s much more relaxing to use hot water when you are washing your face, but the hot water can end up being a little bit too harsh and cause extra dryness in the end. Luke warm is best!

2. Don’t rub your skin with a washcloth afterwards. Pat it dry instead or let your face air dry! This motion will be a little bit more gentle on fragile parts of the face.

3. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Drink plenty of water AND use a good moisturizer. Both will contribute greatly to well-hydrated skin throughout dryer months.

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