The importance of prepping your face for make-up
Make-up artists often liken the face to a canvas which needs prepping. Even if you are doing a quick ten minute routine in the morning, preparing your skin correctly will give you a professional finish and longer lasting make-up.
Make-up will always look better on clean and hydrated skin. Using a make-up primer can help product go on smoothly, minimise shine and give skin much needed hydration.
Quick Prep for the entire face:
Use a gentle alcohol-free toner on two cotton pads and very gently wipe the face (including the eye area) one pad at a time. This will help remove traces of old make-up and surface dead skin cells.
While your skin is still damp, pat on your moisturiser and / or your primer of choice. Apply under the eyes but not on the eyelids, and let the product settle into the skin for ten minutes before starting foundation application.
Extended Face Prep:
Cleanse your face with your choice of cleanser, rinsing with lukewarm water. Pat face dry, and apply your toner with a cotton pad (as above).
Apply a very light layer of moisturiser, and let this settle into the skin. Massaging in your moisturiser gently will increase blood flow to the face and help to achieve a healthy glow.
Here’s the fun part. For a luminous look, apply MAC Strobe Cream over the forehead, cheekbones and under the eyes.
If you prefer a satin finish, opt for Smashbox Photo Finish Primer applied all over. These products (or your chosen primer) can be applied with fingers or a foundation brush. Complete eye and lip prep below before starting make-up application.
Eye Prep:
The eyelids are surprisingly oily and need special care. If eye make-up is applied without correct preparation, it will nearly always crease or look blotchy.
Eyelids also have a reddish-purple tinge due to veins under the thin skin; concealing this will allow your eye shadow colour to remain true and look flawless.
Prep under the eyes with a thin layer of eye cream, or a specialist eye primer like MAC Prep and Prime eye. Always wait for at least ten minutes before applying concealer or foundation.
Remove surface eyelid oil with your toner on a cotton pad and allow this to dry. MAC Paint Pots to create a beautiful base colour that will set with no creasing (try the shade “Groundwork” as a base for any eye make-up look). Simply pat on a tiny amount with your finger or buff the product on with a blending brush. You can then apply shadow and liner on top if you wish.
Another very effective method to prep the eyes is to buff or pat a tiny amount of foundation or concealer over the lids, and set with a translucent powder. The powder works well to prevent creasing, and again provides a lovely smooth base for shadows and liners.
Lip Prep:
Apply a thick layer of nourishing lip balm and leave on to absorb while you are applying make-up to the rest of the face. Buff off excess with a cotton bud, and apply your lip colour or gloss.
To prep for a bold lipstick, apply a very thin layer of concealer over the edge of the lips and set with a tiny amount of translucent powder. This will give lip colour something to adhere to, helps to prevent colour bleeding and will keep your lipstick on much longer.
Related posts:
