No pun intended.. well kinda. By request of a lovely client, here is how I prep skin in order to get my foundation application to appear so "smooth, even toned and cover blemishes"
Believe it or not, your makeup will only ever look as good as the skin underneath it! That means the foundation of your makeup really isn't your foundation at all. It's your SKIN CARE! Please please please invest in your skin. And believe me, i'm am the biggest culprit of neglecting my skin.
For years and years i'd come home late and go to sleep with my makeup on, not drink enough water, and use whatever cheap face wash was in the shower. These things absolutely destroyed my skin! It's taken me years of a dedicated regimen to get my skin back to somewhat healthy. I still break out.. ALL the time. I have incredibly sensitive skin so this has been a journey. Everyone has different skin, and it is so important to get to know your skin and find out what works and doesn't work for you. If you can, make an appointment with an Esthetician. And once you find something that works.. STICK to it.
Within the last year, I've started using Curology (which is a company that provides customizable treatment plan for your specific skin care needs - acne, dark spots, aging, etc. as well as 24/7 access to a licensed and certified skin care physician). I was skeptical about this at first because i've tried everything in the world to get my acne under control and nothing has ever worked. But since Curology offers a 1 month trial for just the cost of shipping, I thought I had nothing to lose. YA'LL when I tell you this nightly cream started to clear my face up in less than 10 days i am NOT kidding. If you're struggling and have tried everything I highly recommend Curology. I pay $39.95 bimonthly. That's less than $20 a month. And the best part is I still use my regular skin care products (face wash, toners, moisturizers etc.) and they can even let you know if the products your using have ingredients in them that may be causing you to break out.
The left photo was taken on July 17, 2018 right before I started using Curology. The photo on the right was taken on July 28, 2018. This is how fast my skin cleared
up. If you are thinking about trying this out, here is a link for a free one month trial!
As far as the rest of my skin care goes, I've absolutely fallen in love with Sonia Roselli's line of products. Sonia is a professional makeup artist, and after years of not being able to find products that worked the way she wanted them to, she finally took the leap and started formulating her own products, with Makeup Artists in mind. https://www.soniaroselli.com/
I use her "Japanese Cleansing Oil" $39 as my cleanser. I usually only use a cleanser at night to take off my makeup, and then I just use water in the morning. This product literally MELTS your makeup off. It is so gentle and moisturizing. Oily peeps - DO NOT FEAR oil based products. I know that companies are constantly trying to get you to buy OIL FREE products, but so often if you are oily on the surface, it is actually because your skin is dehydrated and is overproducing oil to compensate. Also - while we're on the topic of taking our makeup off - I also really like "The Makeup Eraser", $20 (can be found at Sephora and most other cosmetic retailers). "The Makeup Eraser" is some sort of magical microfiber towel that takes pretty much all your makeup off with just water. You can wash it in the laundry and use it over and over so not only is it helping save you money it's helping save the planet too! I find that makeup removing wipes are always filled with drying chemicals like alcohol and in turn they end up breaking me out even worse.
For a moisturizer, I use Sonia's "Waterbalm" $49 which is also just like magic. It is super hydrating and when you put it on your skin you can literally see it plump up, so it helps a lot to make large pores and fine lines less visible. It also doubles as a "primer" (which is a whole other blogpost in itself).. i'll get to that. Waterbalm creates the perfect canvas for makeup.
I also use Sonia's "Sexapeel Exfoliation Spray" $42 twice a week to exfoliate my skin, and my face literally feels like baby skin afterwards. I always use this right before I have to do my makeup for a big event, because my makeup looks best right after my face has been exfoliated! This product is also great for extra dry skin all over your body in the winter, and also right before you get a spray tan or when you want to remove the remnants of a spray tan!
Sonia also just added 2 newer products to her line which I have yet to try "Water Elixir Skin Prep" $49 which is a lightweight serum like moisturizer meant to repair a damaged skin barrier, help with dryness, redness, dehydration and malnourishment, and "Water Oil Skin Prep" $54 which is a facial oil that is needed when your skin feels tight and moisturizer isn't helping. It can also be mixed with your foundation to give it a more hydrating glow.
She offers bundles of products which is awesome because it offers a discount on certain sets, which makes it very affordable!
Well, since this post ended up being a lot longer than I anticipated, I will do my next post on foundations and application techniques! But let me leave you with this.. stop using coconut oil on your face it's highly comedogenic (THIS WILL BE A WHOLE OTHER BLOG POST AS WELL).