Let’s say goodbye to the likes of blotchy foundation once and for all, by prepping your skin the right way! It’s a tale as old as time – you spend hours perfecting your makeup and you leave your house feeling totally confident, only to discover your once flawless makeup has now smudged, creased or worse yet... separated.
Truth is, even if you invest in high quality makeup products, it all comes down to how you prep and prime your skin before you apply your makeup. This is where the magic starts.
And because we want you to feel confident no matter how you choose to express your creativity, we're sharing our very own step-by-step routine to prep and prime! Great skin and flawless makeup? It’s a match.
1. Cleanse
Just like a piece of art, you want to start on a clean, dry canvas. Wash away any sebum, daily dirt, SPF or leftover remnants of makeup (last night’s mascara still, anyone?!) to not only clean your face, but regulate oil production for the day too.
We double cleanse with:
2. Exfoliate
Now it’s time to polish away dead skin cell build up for a smooth, even texture of skin. Not only will your skin feel great, but applying makeup without exfoliating will only enhance and draw the eye to uneven texture, flakiness and dryness as the foundation clings on.
We use: Polished: Refining Exfoliant
3. Tone and facial serum
Toner not only balances the skin (assisting to regulate oil production throughout the day), but it also prepares the skin to absorb moisture. And the more moisture retained in our skin – the more even our texture with the likes of fine lines being plumped. Speaking of fine lines being plumped, we love to boost our skin with a little collagen serum while we’re at it (for obvious skin smoothing reasons!). Not only will your skin be adequately hydrated and plumped, but the more moisture in your skin, the better your makeup will absorb and stay put, too.
Just spritz your toner and apply your serum while your skin is still damp. Wait at least 60 seconds before doing anything else – because we don’t want our skin to pill up!
We use:
4. Eye serum
An eye serum is a must to prep the skin for concealers and eye makeup. Concealer, foundation and chalky eye makeup can often exaggerate fine lines and creases around the eye area, so outside of the usual eye serum skincare benefits (e.g. skin brightening and assisting fine lines), an eye serum can assist in the makeup world too by lightly filling visible creases while assisting to plump any fine lines – aka helping to improve the way makeup sits and stays in this fragile area.
We use: Epiphany: Firming Caffeine Eye Serum
5. Moisturise
As we’ve been hinting away at, moisture really is the holy grail for plumping fine lines to create your best base, while assisting to absorb makeup too. So, no matter what your makeup product promises, applying a moisturiser is a non-negotiable! Opt for a light, oil-free moisturiser (because using an oil-based moisturiser will make it harder for your skincare products to absorb).
We use:
- Sol: Hydrating Gel Moisturiser (Sol is light and oil-free)
- The Limelight: Brightening Probiotic Lotion (The Limelight has a medium weight and just the right amount of oil)
6. Lips
Last but not least – prep your lips with a nourishing lip treatment to ensure flawless, lasting lipstick! Because dry lips can make your lipstick appear flaky, uneven and cause the product to ‘bleed’. Just be sure to let the product dry and completely absorb before adding in lipstick – it's the last step in the skin prep routine and the last step in the makeup routine so that should cover it!
We use: Luscious: Conditioning Lip Treatment
Skincare + Makeup Hacks
Who doesn’t love a good hack?
- Setting spray: Use Harmony: Radiance Boosting Toner as a setting spray to seal the deal. Not only will the delivery of moisture boost makeup absorption, but it’ll contribute to a dewy makeup finish too!
- Combat dryness: If you’re noticing dryness throughout the day, apply a few spritzes of Harmony: Radiance Boosting Toner to lightly refresh your hydration levels without affecting your makeup
- Dewy make-up look: Wanting to perfect the illustrious dewy makeup look? Try mixing Yester Youth: Regenerating Facial Oil with your favourite foundation – blend together and apply as one for a natural, sheer and glowing finish (note: this only works if you blend and apply the products together! Don’t apply Yester Youth: Regenerating Facial Oil before your foundation as this will create a barrier to absorption for your foundation)
And look at that – flawless makeup days ahead! It’s all in the skin prep.
