(Great for *coughcough* mature skin.) How I played around with concealer, face oils and face primers and found a very flattering foundation hack/concealer combo. You need this if you’ve got either a) mature skin, b) dehydrated skin and c) concealers you want to use up.
Concealer
I’ve shared how to achieve bright, youthful eyes in another post, and now it’s time to update that. I still use all the products mentioned in that one – BUT the concealer itself. And I can only say whyyyyyyyyyy did I only try that one so late?! Because: forget NARS or Maybelline Fit Me, move over Bye Bye Under Eye:
Maybelline’s Instant Age Rewind ACTUALLY does what it says. It erases dark circles, and stays fresh and smooth the whole day. (How I apply it to do that – please check the old post, nothing changed.) I use ‘Light’, and never want to use something else. This is easily my favourite concealer, and everything else I’ve tried doesn’t even come close.
What I’m doing right now with my old concealers, though?! Read on…
Foundation
Ok, look: even without using scary words like pre-menopause and so on, there’s no way around it: growing older takes a toll on my skin. I usually don’t realise it, until I apply a formerly beloved foundation and realise there’s something strange going on: it clings to patches I haven’t realised that were dry, and pooling in formerly unknown lines and pores.
What I want
My favourite foundations are skin-like, medium coverage and slightly glowy (I can’t stand how much matte foundations seem to highlight every bit of texture my skin has, and it has some to start with anyways). The greatest ones are easily L’Oreal’s Nude Magique cushion (discon), and Sulwhasoo’s Perfecting Cushion Intense (review).
And maybe it’s a cushion’s inherent added properties to smooth and nourish that’s why today’s hack works so well for me.
Backstory
I went to the Arctic Circle recently, and was trying to find a foundation that would fit the rather harsh climate there. Online suggestions seemed to suggest that foundations rich in oil and with little water content would be best, but my collection didn’t yield any that would fit the bill. Oh, how I wanted to buy Hourglass’ stick foundation (because stick=no water), but my consciousness won: why buy another foundation when I maybe could DIY one?
What I did: flattering foundation hack
I wanted to make a concoction rich in oil and use silicone as the medium in which pigments are suspended. I came up with Squalane Oil (really easy to add to foundation, because it sinks in quickly and leaves a nice, velvety finish). And what’s already high in silicone? A regular face primer, and I chose my favourite one: Estée Lauder’s Genuine Glow (old review). I then looked for something high in pigment, and obviously landed on concealer. I used a mix of it cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye in Light (too light for me on its own) and Maybelline Fit Me concealer in 20 that’s too dark. If you want to recreate my little experiment, you might want to look for a very high coverage concealer.
The effect
I tapped that concoction on my face with a beauty blender, and was honestly stunned. This was better than ANY foundation I’ve used lately. Medium coverage, slightly glowy, with a totally non-tacky finish?! Yup. On top of that, everything looked smooth, natural and in general like the best skin day ever.
Although I wouldn’t classify my skin as dry (I’d rather say combination with a tendency to dehydrated), I think my mixture worked that well because of the following reasons: Primer is supposed to smooth and make your foundation look pristine. Oil, especially squalane, is touted to be great to lock in moisture and also replenishes both fatty acids and antioxidants – thus keeping skin looking fresh throughout the day.
And this is different why?
My DIY mix is a bit different to most foundations that are water-based nowadays. Silicone, of course, will enable a foundation to blend and adhere to the skin excellently, and cutting out water as the main ingredient seem – at least to my skin – work better. I also assume that most foundations will add crowd pleasers like fragrance or skincare properties that might not work with some skin types and add to potential irritation.
I’m very happy to have found a way to use up concealers I don’t use anymore, and also, I just love to play with makeup and experiment. Would you try something like my franken-foundation?
Please note that this post is not sponsored in any way. We buy products ourselves, with our own money, and don’t accept exchanging goods or money for reviews. We are completely independent, and our reviews reflect that.
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