While the use of foundation make-up is pretty straightforward, some women have a difficult time achieving an application that looks natural. They often select shades of foundation make-up that are in a tone that they “want” to have rather than trying to carefully blend with their real skin color. Some think that by going slightly darker than their natural shade they can create a “tanned” appearance or cover up minor discolorations or blemishes.
There is also the matter of selecting the right foundation formulation for your skin. This means choosing a type of foundation coverage that will work with oily, dry or normal skin. The goal is to help it look healthy and soft and create an even canvas from which to form your make-up look. Let’s talk about these options in formula and who they work best for.
Foundation Formulae:
Liquid or Cream Foundations include many of the formulas you may have used for years. It also includes things like tinted moisturizers. Liquid and cream foundations are perfect for those who have problems with dry skin, or who need to keep their skin hydrated and protect against wind damage and chapping. For best results, invest in disposable cosmetic sponges so that you can apply the foundation evenly with a dabbing motion and avoid streaking the make-up during application.
Pressed Powder or Liquid-to-Powder Foundations are generally compact and easy to carry with you for touch ups throughout the day when you need them, and they have the benefit of leaving a matte, powdery finish. In the case of liquid-to-powder formulas, the application tends to be smooth and more even which is a benefit. These are good for those with normal skin but who want a matte finish in order to mask signs of aging. The Pressed Powder formulas are ideal for oily skin types.
Whipped and Mousse-type Foundation Make-Up is fairly new to the marketplace and is meant to help bridge the needs of several skin types. The thicker formulas are meant to sit on the surface of the skin and smooth-out specific skin problems, such as large pores, and fine lines and wrinkles. Many of these can help to mask the appearance of acne scars and pockmarks in the face.
Mineral Make-up and Powder Foundation are the perfect choices for those who have oily or problem skin. They go on light with an adjustable level of coverage – from sheer to more opaque – enabling the wearer to adjust the amount of coverage to suit the individual need. These foundations are terrific to help keep oily skin looking matte, being more hypoallergenic and noncomedogenic and are truly effective at making the skin look younger by hiding the fine lines and wrinkles common in an aging face.
Matching the Skin Tone:
When you are looking for foundation coverage, you want a make-up that once it is applied is virtually invisible on the skin. If you can see the difference between the color of your skin and the make-up you just applied, so will everyone else. And it won’t look natural.
The only foundation product you want to have that is NOT an exact match for your skin tone is concealer. Your concealer should be slightly lighter in color than your skin tone since it is designed to counter the darker appearance of blemishes and other skin discolorations and be rebalanced by your regular foundation.
If for some reason you don’t feel you can get a good match on your face due to discolorations, etc. feel free to use your neck, forearm, or any other area where you can get an accurate skin reading.
Dealing with Specific Problems:
The two most common problems women want to combat using foundation is discolorations and/or blemishes and marks. Discolorations, commonly freckles, are generally lighter in color though usually significantly darker than the normal level of the skin tone. It’s important to remember that the object isn’t to cover-up the freckles, but to make them (or any discoloration) appear less prominent. If you attempt to completely obscure the appearance of freckles, you’re going to end up with a very unnatural look.
Simply apply your foundation over the face as you would normally, using the tools appropriate to the specific formulation of foundation (sponges, brushes, etc.). The application should be somewhat sheer, as you don’t want to look as though you’ve “painted” on your face. It is okay that your freckles are still visible after the cosmetic is applied, they should, however, be less prominent.
The other major consideration when using foundation is to cover and camouflage blemishes and marks such as acne and moles. These tend to be darker and harder to “blend” into the background with foundation alone. This is where concealer comes in to play. Concealer, being lighter than foundation in color, will help to counter the darkness of the blemish and is subsequently blended away by the foundation.
Apply concealer sparingly in small daubs to cover only the dark marks of the blemishes or spots. If you need to cover larger areas of darkness, use a stippling (dotting) effect and apply the foundation over the concealer gently to blend in the color without revealing the blemishes again.
If the coverage results seem lacking to you after you’ve used the foundation, you can add an additional translucency by using a finishing powder. This will also enforce a matte finish of the foundation, regardless of the formulation used.
The one area of women’s cosmetics that has and hasn’t changed dramatically is lip color. It hasn’t changed in that today, as in eras past, the colors available are many and varied and can be as vibrant or as subdued as you would want. It HAS changed, though, in the areas of formulation. In ages past, lipstick application took precision and repeated touch-ups to keep your mouth looking perfect.
The purpose of lip color is to mimic the blush response in the face and provide the impression of youthfulness. At least, this is the origin of using lip color. You see, when a person blushes, the blood-flow increases to the face, and the soft spongy tissue of the lips – which is translucent – grows darker from the blood seen through the skin of the lips. Lipstick is meant to mimic this response so that the person appears younger and more innocent, and thereby more appealing.
These days, lipsticks come in three main categories – lipstick, lip stain, and lip gloss. Of course there are ancillary products: lip balms, lip liners, lip filler, and plumping formulas. These all serve specific purposes and will be discussed in turn. But for the time being let’s look at the main categories of lip color and the needs they fulfill:
Lipstick
This is probably the product that comes to mind whenever most people think of lip color. Generally, it’s found as a wax-based “stick” that is applied to the lip surface the way one would use a crayon. Its shape is generally intended to make applying the product easier, though it can often wear down or become distorted by heat and other factors. (My mom was forever finding pools of waxy color in the bottoms of her purses or on car upholstery from leaving her lipsticks in the hot car while shopping or visiting away from home.
Lipstick’s specific formula is designed to serve two purposes: moisturize & protect the lips and add enhancing color to the lips. The original formulas of lipstick used things like wax and whale blubber to accomplish this, and modern formulas have developed all-natural and animal-friendly versions. Other lipstick formulas were more of a cream or paste that is dispensed by a sponge-tipped or brush-tipped wand applicator to give an easily-applied, smooth finish. The benefits of this formula are that the color is – generally - more-evenly applied, while the finish is typically shinier and gives a wetter look.
The drawback to these more liquid lipsticks is that they tended to wear off more easily. Since this means more-frequent re-applying, it also means more cost in the long-term because the product gets used up faster. In spite of this, the liquid/creamy lip color products are still very popular because of the silky, smooth, and light feel.
There are also long-wear versions of lipsticks, that usually come with a “sealant” product to try to lock the lipstick in place – either by creating a barrier to prevent the lipstick from rubbing off when eating, drinking, kissing or talking, or by solidifying the texture of the lipstick in order to make it harder to wear off. These generally get mixed reviews – some like the long-wear aspect enough to put up with what they deem are “minor” inconveniences in texture and feel, while others think the whole process is too unwieldy and the feel is too inhibiting. They deem it easier to simply re-apply their normal lipstick.
Lip Stain
The second category of lip color is generally called “lip stain”. These products can be just as viscous as the creamier lipstick formulas or they may simply appear like darkly-colored water. The purpose of lip stain is in the name. They are simply designed to impart color to the skin of the lips. As the name implies, they do in fact, stain the skin, and therefore offer long-lasting color. The longevity of the color imparted by lip stain is significantly greater than that of regular lip color.
Many women love lip stains for the simple reason that they allow you to have long lasting color, and allow you to enjoy normal activities without having to fear losing the color or re-apply to keep it looking fresh (at least, not as often). They also love the fact these products are generally much lighter on the lips and typically feel most like wearing nothing at all. Even the heavier formulas are generally no heavier than lip gloss.
The drawback to lip stains is that they don’t afford the wearer the kind of protection and moisturizing that many traditional lipsticks and glosses offer. In fact, some alcohol-based lip stains can leave the lips feeling dry and tacky. They also don’t offer the kind of “smoothing” and “filling” that some lipstick offers. If your lips tend to be heavily textured with grooves and lines (a not-uncommon occurrence) lip stains won’t usually leave the surface looking smooth the way many lipsticks can.
Because of this, lip stains are generally preferred by those with smoother, plumper lips, or else are paired with a secondary product like a clear or lightly-tinted gloss to add shine, smoothness and a plumper appearance to the lips.
Lip Gloss
Lip Glosses are usually thick liquids or gels that have a high level of emollient and moisturizing agents and are designed specifically to give the lips a glossy, wet look. Most lip glosses are clear, though many can be found that are tinted, flavored and fragranced. In fact, among most tinted lip glosses, the color is just dark enough to impart a very little color to the lips along with the high level of shine.
Lip gloss is great for giving the lips a shiny, plumped look. However, they can be at cross purposes when used on thin, or heavily-wrinkled and lined lips. In these cases, the use of lip gloss can make the lines and wrinkles appear more pronounced.
Other Lip Products
Lip Balms are usually colorless, or lightly-tinted wax-based emollients that are designed protect the lips against exposure to sun, wind and other environmental effects. Often seen advertised in Fall and Winter months, lip balms are nothing more or less than good lip care. In practical use, lip balms are good for giving the lips a smooth finish, and can be paired with lip gloss when a high-shine effect is sought (with a hint of color), and can be used in place of lip filler in a pinch (though it doesn’t work quite as well with some other lip products).
Lip Liners are lip color products that are intended to give definition to the shape of the lips. Lip liner can be found as a slim crayon or pencil of wax-based color in a range of shades slightly darker than the normal lip color palette. In rare cases, you may find a liquid lip liner, applied with a brush tipped wand applicator. Lip liner is intended to be applied to the perimeter of the lips (the vermilion) and provide a border for the lip color. Most lip liner is meant to help prevent “bleed” of the lip color in lips that are rimmed by fine lines and wrinkles.
Lip Filler is a specialized product that often appears like a colorless lipstick. Other lip filler products use a neutral color and their primary purpose is to fill-in the lines and ridges that may be present on the lips, leaving a smooth canvas upon which to apply your lip color. It can also help to prevent lip color bleed in older women with many fine lines and wrinkles around the mouth.
Lip Plumpers are usually found as a two stage product containing a serum that is intended to stimulate the lip’s tissues and cause them to plump and appear fuller. The second stage is generally a glossy color that is then used to give the tint that is desired and add shine to enhance the plumped appearance. There are several of these products on the markets and most have gotten mixed reviews. It is certain that some work better than others, so this is a case where you should do your homework. If you are planning to use a lip plumping product, research them online and check customer reviews on different retailing sites. You’ll be happy to have spent the time instead of the money if you find the product you were planning to buy is considered a waste of money by the majority of its purchasers.
Fine Lines and Wrinkles (mild to moderate)
When dealing with lips that have a few to medium-levels of fine lines and wrinkles, you can use a limp pluper product – if you’ve found one that works for you – or you can use a lip filler along with a lip color. Be sure to line the lips carefully, then apply your lip filler. Your top coat will be your lip color product. In these cases, I recommend using a satin finish product so that you can have some shine without risk of enhancing the lines and making the lips look older.
Severe Lines and Wrinkles
When the lines and wrinkles are heavier than average, you want to use your lip filler first and then apply the lip liner carefully. Once these steps are complete, apply your lip color using a matte formula product. The lack of gloss will help the lines and wrinkles fade beneath the surface of the color and give a more youthful look to the mouth.
Thin Lips
With thin lips, the secret is to apply your lip liner carefully along the outer edge of the lips in order to make them appear larger. Next apply a dual colored application of lip color in the same tone but one shade lighter than the other. Use the darker tone on the exterior of the lip and then apply the lighter shade to the interior body of the lips (both shades should still be lighter than the shade of your lip liner). This will make the lips look fuller and enhance the overall appearance of the mouth. If you have only one lip that seems thin, you can use this technique on the lip that needs it.
Thick Lips
In today’s society and with today’s attitudes there is almost no such thing as lips that are too thick. However, balance in the face is important and thick lips can sometimes be overpowering and you need to tone them down a touch. The trick is to apply your lip liner just inside the perimeter of the lips. Follow this with a lip color in a satin finish that closely matches the shade of your lip liner. Keeping the liner and color as close as possible will help to make the lips appear thinner.
As with most cosmetics, the key to making your lips look their best is to practice. Some women won’t feel the need for more than a simple tube of lip color, but when you want to give your look a little punch, take the time to try out some of the different products meant to help you enhance your lips’ appearance. You may find a more kissable you.
It’s been said that “great make-up application starts with great skin care” and while I can’t fault the general idea behind this statement, I personally think that it’s more a matter of “great skin care can eliminate the need for make-up” – at least, in some regards. But before you get into the specifics of skin care, you have to recognize that there are different skin types and the needs each has and the challenges they present.
Traditionally, skin types have been broken down into 4 basic groups: Normal, Dry, Oily and Combination skin. However I’ve always felt that there should be two other types that must be considered: Sensitive skin, and Problem skin. Here’s how these skin types are defined:
Normal SkinProblem Skin
Normal skin is just that – normal. It’s not too oily, not too dry, not too sensitive, has very little the way of problems. It generally does its job of protecting the body from infection by various bacterial and viral organisms as well as regulating the body’s temperature. Normal skin is smooth and has a clear tone and consistency. It’s blemish-free and has healthy glow.
Normal skin types can use most cosmetics on the market, though they rarely need much coverage. Clean healthy normal skin can employ tinted moisturizer or a lightweight liquid foundation as a ‘base’ for any other cosmetics and usually would do so only to provide a hint of color. Even though normal skin is usually resilient, you should develop habits that can help you to avoid problems, such as twice-daily cleansing and moisturizing, and never leaving your make-up on overnight.
When caring for your normal skin, you should select a cleanser that is gentle, but that leaves your skin feeling clean and refreshed. Wet your face with warm water and apply the cleanser and gently massage it over and around the face using the tips of the fingers without pressing down. You can also use a cotton puff to do this and provide a soft “scrub”. Rinse the face using warm water. This can be most easily done in the shower, but if you’re working over your sink, simply soak a face cloth on warm water and completely saturate it. Take the dripping cloth and use it to wash away the cleanser from top to bottom, leaning over the sink to prevent the water from dripping all over you.
Afterward, gently pat the face with a clean, dry towel, and use a mild astringent to remove any residual cleanser. You can use the product you like best, but for an inexpensive and simple product, try Witch Hazel which can be purchased from your local drug store. After the astringent has been applied and allowed to dry, use a nice fast-absorbing moisturizer to keep the skin’s moisture balance optimal.
{Note: with any skin care routine, you can test your cleanser to see if it’s doing the right job for you. After using your cleanser, rinse the skin and pat it dry then let the skin finish drying on its own. As the skin dries, it should feel firm and slightly taut, and clean. If the skin feels too tight, or even a little itchy, your cleanser may be too harsh for your needs. If the skin feels s lick and begins to feel oily within an hour of cleansing, then you may need a stronger cleanser.}
Oily Skin
Oily skin is probably the type most commonly named among women who try to assess their own skin. There are a lot of women with Oily skin, but there are many women who incorrectly think that their skin is abnormally oily. Oily skin is typically identified by being ‘shiny’ which can mean a slight sheen on the skin where light strikes it and can be as serious as to result in disrupting the coverage of make-up products being worn. The problems are often worse in warmer months and these times of year often necessitate some serious adjustment in the skin care routine.
Those with oily skin should pay careful attention to avoid purchasing and using cosmetics that contain oils in their ingredients list. An oil-based foundation applied to oily skin is simply a recipe for creating a clumpy-looking finish in a few hours of wear. Look for pressed-powder foundations and make-ups, or investigate the many “mineral make-ups” that are becoming widely available. These provide light coverage, and help to absorb the excess oil from the skin, to give you a fresher, healthier glow and control the shine. (Regardless of the specific product you go with, aim for a matte finish, which will help your skin look healthier and will help you know when oil is resurfacing as a problem. With oily skin, you will want to cleanse the skin at least twice a day (morning and night), adding a third cleansing in whenever possible (perhaps when you come home from work), and like with normal skin, never sleep in your make-up.
Cleansing and caring for oily skin requires the same kinds of care given to normal skin, but using slightly different products. In most cases, you can simply use a gentle cleanser, much like the kind you’d use with normal skin, but feel free to use ‘stronger’ cleanser formulas if you don’t feel that the cleanser is getting your skin clean enough (if it feels oily again within a few hours of cleansing). Rinse the skin initially using warm water, but follow up using a cool water rinse, which helps to close the pores and can slow the oil production. After cleansing, use a good, skin freshening astringent, either store-bought or you can make your own, to complete the pore-tightening process.
After applying the astringent, allow the skin to dry and use a very light moisturizer. I actually recommend using a “hydrating spray” which contains a suspension of very light emollients and is designed to offer some SPF protection and light moisture coverage.
Dry Skin
Dry skin is the type that seems to always feel tight and itchy, and absorb moisturizers readily and greedily. In some cases, the dryness is severe enough to result in flaking and shedding of skin in tiny flakes. This can sometimes be confused with more serious conditions like psoriasis and eczema as it is often accompanied by some redness and irritation. The true differences lie in the severity of the symptoms and the fact that simply “dry skin” is easily treated and soothed by moisturizing.
When it comes to cosmetics and dry skin, the key is moisture. Prior to applying a foundation, apply a base layer of moisture cream to help hydrate the skin. If you need a foundation color, use a liquid or cream foundation that has light fruit oils that will both smooth the skin and seal in moisture. If you aren’t a fan of traditional foundations, look at the tinted moisturizers which can serve dual purposes of evening skin tone and hydrating and soothing the skin.
Cleansing and caring for dry skin means being very gentle. Use a rich, hydrating cleansing cream to remove make-up and cleanse the skin, followed by a warm water rinse and a pat dry. Remove any residue from the cleanser using a mild astringent such as those containing rosewater, or the do-it-yourself astringent for dry skin in the graphic. Follow up with a creamy moisturizer containing fruit oils and emollients that will not only add moisture, but help lock-in the moisture already there.
Combination Skin
Combination skin is pretty self-explanatory: the skin has areas that are dry and some that are oily. Commonly this results in a T-zone of oily skin across the forehead or the tops of the cheeks and straight down the nose and chin, accompanied by dry patches along the jaw or other peripheral areas of the face and body.
With combination skin, you can look for those hybrid cosmetics such as the “liquid/powder” make-ups which have hydrating emollients that absorb into the skin and dry to become oil absorbing finishes thanks to the cosmetic clays that are incorporated. In this case, mineral cosmetics are also beneficial since you can use moisturizer in areas where you need the extra softness, while the mineral powder cosmetics will help to absorb and control oiliness in those places where it’s important. Again, NEVER sleep in your cosmetics.
Caring for combination skin is also a matter of using what is needed where it’s needed. Start with a good, gentle cleanser, and repeat the cleansing step in the “T-zone” if you need it. After rinsing the face with warm water, use a good astringent in your T-zone and perhaps a milder one in the other facial areas. Finally, use a light moisturizer and reapply after a few minutes in your traditionally dry zones.
Sensitive Skin
The final two classifications of skin types I use overlap with the common skin types in most cases. With sensitive skin, I find that it is also often dry skin as well. In sensitive skin, the skin often reacts negatively to relatively minor irritants and may have specific allergens that cause reactions. It often is not only dry and itchy, but becomes blotchy and shows inflammation and irritation when exposed to allergens and harsher products.
Those with sensitive skin need to look for cosmetics that are hypo-allergenic and are specifically lacking the ingredients that most often cause irritation for that person. The new mineral make-ups are often good choices because the base products and pigments tend to be very stable when it comes to whether or not they react with certain skin types. Even more than other groups, it is very important to avoid prolonged exposure to cosmetics for those who have sensitive skin. Very often, some cosmetics that may not irritate when applied fresh can undergo minor chemical changes as the age on the skin or combine with biological or environmental contaminants, resulting in irritation over longer periods of exposure. In some cases, it’s simply that the make-up may make an irritant adhere to the skin and facilitate irritation. Removing the make-up when it’s not necessary is always the best course of action.
Cleansing sensitive skin requires using gentle products and literally handling the skin with care. Use light cleanser that are hypo-allergenic and formulated to rinse clean. Use a very mild astringent and a soothing moisturizer (like Eucerin and others) to help salve irritation while moisturizing the skin.
Problem Skin
Just as sensitive skin most often is an overlap of dry skin, what I refer to as “Problem Skin” is usually also oily or combination skin. The excess oil products often results in clogged pores and then inflammation and eruptions in the skin because of the impacted pores. As a child it was widely held that “acne” was caused by eating chocolate, drinking sodas and eating fried or greasy foods. The implication behind this was often that those whose skin was problematic were responsible for the condition.
Fortunately, I encountered a dermatologist my senior year of high school who diagnosed my cystic acne condition and explained to me that the root cause had no connection to what you ate or how often you washed your face. He explained that while a diet high in junk food, combined with a lackluster cleansing routine can result in acne breakouts, in most cases, the cause was more involved – ranging from hormonal shifts to low-grade systemic infections. To really understand the cause of your particular problem skin, you should always see a doctor.
For problem skin sufferers, make-up is a double-edged sword. It often seems necessary in order to conceal and camouflage the blemishes and breakouts, but the very products that hide the flaws can make them worse. If you have problem skin, you MUST make sure that any cosmetic you use is tested to be non-comedogenic. That means that it won’t clog your pores and create more problems for you. It is also MOST imperative that those who have problem skin always remove their make-up as soon as possible and NEVER, EVER sleep in their make-up.
Cleansing problem skin should usually include a medicated cleanser. If you aren’t under a doctor’s care and using a specific medicated cleanser, you can find mild skin cleansers that contain salicylic acid to help cleanse the skin, open the pores, and remove bacteria and dirt. Any astringent used should be formulated to really pull the residue and oils out of the pores. Getting the skin as clean as possible may not resolve the root cause, but it will get you on your best footing – minimizing your breakouts as much as possible.
