The Secret To Smooth Foundation Every Time!

I know you've all experienced this at some point because so have I. You know when you put your makeup on and you really want to get the coverage that you need, maybe you just want to build the coverage just a little bit, but then the problem with that is you get the coverage, you get the like extra coverage that you need, but then at the same time you're also gaining cakiness and that's not what you want. That isn't what you want your face to look like. Well today I'm going to be showing you exactly how you can create the perfect base with building coverage but without building cakiness. If you end up building coverage and get the cakiness then it means you're building up wrong. I'm going to show you how to build up the layers in the correct way. If you're new here, my name is Nina, I'm a celebrity makeup artist and a beauty educator and I've been doing this for over 20 years and I have seen people struggle with all sorts of things. Texture, redness, cakiness, everything you can imagine. The trick with building more coverage and not cakiness is actually building the layers in the correct way. It's not necessarily always the products that you're using. It's a bit of everything to be fair. It's using the right products but it's also making sure that you layer correctly and you get your application right. Before we even talk about technique, we need to talk about why your skin ends up looking cakey when you're trying to build coverage. A lot of it, like I mentioned, is to do with the layering and how you actually apply your makeup. It can also have to do with the type of product you're using but as I said it is a bit of everything. It can be that certain layers that you're creating and the products that you're using all in combination are not interacting in the best way so you end up with, unfortunately, quite a cakey finish that you don't want. If you add too much product too fast, that can end up making your skin look cakey because what you're doing is you're trying to go all in with getting that coverage initially and you're not actually breaking it down into layers and creating really nice thin skin-like layers on your skin. The wrong prep can make a huge difference so if you're not prepping your skin in the right way beforehand, it can do all sorts of things. It can cause pilling, it can cause makeup to cling to dry patches, a bit of everything. Mismatched formulas can also make a difference so it may not even be the layering or the application, it could be the formulas that are not interacting well with your skin or each other. Some people can get away with mixing kind of oil-based formulas with water-based formulas, sometimes it works for them, but with some people and with majority I would say, mixing those type of formulas don't always end up like looking great or lasting well on the skin. It could be that you've missed out a very crucial step which isn't necessarily the answer to the big issue here but it can make a big difference, the no-melting step. So this is where you apply everything but you're not allowing anything to really melt into the skin. What ends up happening is everything is sitting on top and that sitting on top of the skin and everything sitting on top of that and on top of that ends up making everything look cakey. What you really want is for things to just melt into the skin so it looks like skin, so you have a skin-like finish. Once you tackle all of these issues, even a full coverage foundation can end up looking skin-like and not cakey. Don't forget if you like this so far, because we're about to get into the demo side of things now, but if you do like it please do hit the like button, subscribe to this channel and hit the bell button because it really means the world to this channel, it really does help us with this channel and it doesn't cost you a thing. Let's talk about skin prep because I need to do that right now. Now I have already got a layer of SPF on that I put on this morning because I needed to take Nico out for a walk. So I've already got SPF on, I washed my face this morning, I put SPF on, but that was several hours ago so I am going to put my moisturiser on top. I'm using my Pecan Keto Cream. Now the trick is here to get a pea-sized amount. My hands are really cold so I don't want to touch my skin, but we are going to really get this all over. We're going to let that settle down. Now this is the important part, let that settle down, let it melt into the skin. The next step is eye cream because we're not applying this in the same area that we've applied moisturiser. So we're actually applying this around the eye area and nothing is there. The moisturiser has had enough time to settle down. I'm going to put some more SPF on. Now this is my 111 Skin Repair Sunscreen which is SPF 50. I've been using this recently and I do really like it. See how we've given each layer time to settle down. Now you really want to let this last layer settle down for a little bit longer than usual because your next step is obviously going into the primer and then the makeup side of things. Now everything I've already applied is really focusing on hydration and protection. Always moisturise. If you're not doing that, that is just probably one of the biggest things that's probably causing a problem for you and it can definitely end up making skin look cakey because it just clings to everything dry and there's a lot of dryness if you haven't got moisturiser on. Obviously if you have oily skin you need to use a lotion, use something which is going to help to mattify as well. That doesn't mean you skip moisturiser. Hydrated skin grips hold of product. Dry skin will literally repel the product. It will just not want to have anything to do with the product so it just ends up lifting off and just looking very cakey and making everything look even drier than it actually even is. Don't overload the amount of product you're putting on. As I mentioned I've put a pea-sized amount. I'm just looking at my baby hairs. I have so many here. It's crazy. Sorry about that guys. I know it's not exactly very attractive but I mean I guess it's good. I've got new hair growing, right? I don't know. There's a lot actually. Wow, I didn't realise there was so much. That's good. That's good. New hair growing. Yeah, as I said, don't overload the product. So I added a pea-sized amount of everything other than the eye cream which was a tiny, tiny amount. Like a very tiny lentil-sized amount. But if you apply too much product then everything is just going to slide off of it. Your foundation isn't even going to stay on, let alone be cakey. It's just not going to stay on. Right, use primer only if you need it. I am not someone who necessarily believes that you need primer for the primer reason, right? But what I do like to do is add primer just so that it's a gap, like not a gap, just so that it's a barrier between my skincare and my makeup. So if you are going to use a primer and you don't need it for the primer reasons, use a thin primer, right? Something that isn't necessarily overloading your with a lot of product. Maybe something gel-like, like something that fits your skin type quite well, right? So I like to use primer to lock everything in. It isn't so much because I need to adjust the smoothness of my skin or anything. I am going to use my Milk Makeup Primer and I'm giving my skin enough time for all of this to settle down. So I am just going to smooth this over. There you go. I don't rub it in, I just get a nice thin layer everywhere. Let me go through the primers in case you are stuck about what primer you should be using if you want to go for primers. If you've got dry skin, go for something which is hydrating or radiance boosting. So either one of those two is going to be really good for your skin because it's boosting the radiance, boosting the hydration, exactly what you need on dry skin. If you have oily skin, you do want to go for like a mattifying primer. So oily or textured skin, mattifying, blurring, those are going to really do the job for you and help you with that. So not only is it going to end up working as a barrier for your skin, the reason I like to use primer, but it's also going to address some skin needs that you have. Now let's talk about building coverage strategically. This is where I feel like if you can start doing it this way, it's really going to help you out and I feel like you're going to get a better understanding of makeup and the layering and how it works and just, it's just a good way to educate yourself on how these formulas really work well on the skin. Now I know that it can be tempting because of the speed, because of how quick it can be, to apply one thick layer of a full coverage foundation because that's what you need. You instant flawless finish, right? I get it. If you're happy doing that, fine, but then you're also going to get the cakiness and if you're happy with the cakiness, good for you, great, I'm happy for you. But if that isn't what you want, which is probably the reason you're watching this video, then that isn't something that you're going to want to do, right? Because you're getting the full coverage finish that you want, but you're getting so many other things that you really didn't want to buy into. So let's talk about how you can get that really nice skin-like finish. Now the trick is here, I think a lot of people go all over and even finish all over. It really is about starting in the middle and then working your way out because you'll find most of the time when you do it this way, you'll find that you actually end up using less on the perimeter of the face because that's usually the area that we need less. And secondly, it is better if you do it this way because the less you have on the perimeter of the face, the less mask-like it's going to look. And what I mean by that is because if you apply a thick layer through the middle and you apply all the way to the edge, you're basically creating a mask, right? So you're creating a mask all over and it's going to be really obvious because, you know, unless you're spending ages blending it into the hairline, which really who has the time, then it's just not going to look right. So the aim is, and this is how every professional makeup artist works, we start from the middle and we work our way out lightly. So we don't go in with more application on the perimeter of the face. We go in with the application through the center and then we blend it outwards. And that way you're getting most of the coverage on the center and then it's slowly fading out and it gives you the best finish. So we want to start sheer. So what I mean by that is you want to add a thin layer. Now I'm going to use my Dior Forever Foundation in 3W and I'm going to put just a little bit and then I've got my BK Beauty 106 brush and then I've got a little bit of that from my hand, taking it to the side and really buffed it into the brush. Really make sure you get it into the brush. The aim here is not to just go in with a load of product. You want it really blended into the brush first. Now this is where we're going to buff it onto the skin. And because we've buffed it so far into the brush, we're going to get a really nice sheer finish on the skin. And I'm going to show you one side done so you can really see. Otherwise you won't see the difference. Okay, see that? We've got a sheer finish on this side of the face. So this is a very thin layer and I haven't even used all the foundation. That is not even half of that pump. By the way, that wasn't a full pump. So that was like half a pump and I've used half of half a pump, right? So there's still a lot left on my hand. So this is a very sheer finish. Look at the finish here. This is nothing on my skin here. And here we've got a very thin layer of foundation. So do you see what I mean where we buffed it into the skin? We go mainly on the center first and then we gradually move out. There you go. Thin, sheer layer done. Now at this point, I would personally suggest going into your concealer. But if you feel that you want more coverage from your concealer, then go in with another layer, but very, very thin, if anything thinner than your previous layer. So you can go in with another layer on top of this. Now what I will do is do this so that you can see. I personally don't think I need it, but I want to show you. Half a pump on the back of my hand. We've let this dry down for a little bit, so make sure you do let it dry down. Take a little bit to the side, buff it into the brush. So even less than before. Make sure you start from the center. And I wouldn't actually go all the way out this time because I feel like you're not going to really need it. Do you see how now we've gone in with a little bit more coverage, but we've been so strategic with it. There you go. We've got really good coverage there now. This is where you want to add concealer, but only where you need it. I've got my Tarte Shape Tape here and I genuinely feel I need it mainly around my eye area, but I'm going to show you what I do first because I like to just kind of like get the lids out of the way, which you've probably seen me do a million times. Spray my sponge, go into this concealer on the back of my hand. Very thin amount, not a lot. Again, buffing it into the sponge before I buff it into my eyelids. And I go a touch on one side and then I go on the other side just so that I'm getting an even amount. Next step is get your powder and just press the powder in so that we can then set this. So I've got my Real Techniques brush ready. I just want to get rid of any creasing there. Make sure there's no creasing. I just kind of like moved my eyes around a bit. There you go. Get into our Vidya Easy Bake. Press it on and dust it off immediately. Okay, next you want to add the concealer to the other areas that you need it. Now for me, that will be the undry area. So this is where, again, you're only adding it where you need it because I think the biggest mistake that people make is they end up adding it to areas that they don't necessarily need it. Just around here, around here, because maybe they're trying to brighten the area but they don't necessarily need all that coverage. And then what happens is you've got the brightness but then with that you've got a lot more coverage and a lot more cakiness. So if you just add this here, I'm going to show you how you can brighten the areas up without it necessarily caking up and being so heavy. So what I want to do is just get my sponge again, spray this and we're going to just buff this area. We're keeping it in the same place, you're not spreading it around anywhere because then it's just unnecessary coverage that leads to cakiness. Coverage is done there. That's enough. It's a thin layer, it's not too much and we've kept it in the same place. I think where people sometimes go wrong is they spread it out everywhere when they don't actually need it. I know that you would go in with your usual concealer, like for example I have used my Tarte Shape Tape, amazing for coverage but at the same time I really don't want to put it where I don't need it. Now if I want a little bit of brightness anywhere, what I tend to do is use a much lighter coverage concealer and in a lighter colour. So I use the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard and I apply this to the back of my hand, get a really thin layer. So I kind of like paint it, so I've got a thin layer on the back of my hand, not a lot, and then what I do is I go into this very lightly, not a lot of product there, and then I touch the centre, you know, wherever I want to brighten it and that way I'm not really getting the coverage but I am getting that brightness because it's such a light coverage concealer but it's more to do with the brightness that I'm getting. Now we want to let this sit for a little bit so wait around 20 to 30 seconds and again you do that with each layer which is what we did. You want to let that like kind of like settle down before you move on with the next layer because otherwise everything starts to get a little bit too kind of cakey and mixed together and everything just doesn't sit that right. You're allowing each layer to set so that when you apply your next layer it's already set, it's not going to slide around. And have you noticed that we blended differently for each layer? So for the first layout of the foundation we blended with a brush and buffed it into the skin. With the concealer we used a sponge and it was damp, right? So because the concealer is a much thicker consistency than a foundation we want to wet the sponge so it's damp with a really nice hydrating spray or like the Charlotte Tilbury setting spray and that's going to basically allow you to be able to move that product around a bit more freely so it's not going to be so thick and gunky, right? With the foundation it's already fluid, we used a dry brush and buffed it into the skin on very well hydrated skin. With the concealer we used a damp sponge and really that allowed us to really get to work with the concealer and just make it become a little bit more flexible on the skin. So that's what we did with each layer, very different type of kind of like blending. So never dragging, always buffing, but think about the instrument, the tool that you're using and is it kind of, have you changed it according to the product you're using? So like I said, foundation just required a brush to buff in, concealer is a little bit thicker and it's a Tarte Shape Tape one so it is definitely a bit thicker. So we wanted a damp sponge to really allow us to get a bit more free movement with that concealer and blend it in so it doesn't look so heavy. Now if you love seeing videos like this I think you're really going to love my other channel which is the Beauty and Fashion channel which covers obviously beauty and fashion but it also does cover a lot of kind of like reviews of products so like the top 10 concealers or like all sorts of things like that so you might want to head on over there and check it out and see what you think. If you look in the mirror and you think okay I need more coverage, zoom out a bit and what I mean by that is just don't look so closely at your skin, zoom out, look from like far away into the mirror, analyse your face all over and just say right do I really need full coverage everywhere? Because I can tell you now like majority of the time it's not that you need full coverage everywhere, it's probably a specific area that is annoying you and you're finding it difficult to differentiate from the rest of your face. So really have a look from further away and say well actually my face looks okay so I don't know what that is. Figure it out what it is because then you can correct that area and move on. Now the next step I love doing which really does help cakiness is using a setting spray such as the Charlotte Tilbury Ever After Aura setting spray. So I basically spray that all over and I'm going to let that sit again so I let it dry for 20 to 30 seconds and then I spray this spray and then I let it dry again. I call this the sandwiching technique, there are different variations of it and I have talked about this in a recent video but you might want to head on over to thebeauty breakfast club.com because that's where I really go in depth and plus it's much easier for you to refer back to those type of newsletters because it's just going to like, it's just easier to refer back to them. But yeah I have loads of stuff on there, it's an online magazine which I write for, well it is mine but I write it, I write it all myself and there's a new newsletter every other day so every two days you'll get something new and it's all about beauty, health, fashion, style, everything you can think of like wellness, a bit of everything. So I think you're going to love it, make sure you subscribe to it, it is free but that free version gives you access to some of the site if you want to unlock the entire site and join the group chat where you can ask me direct questions and I answer you and I'm in that group chat then you want to go for the paid version which literally costs you the same as getting yourself one coffee a month so I will see you there. Now that this is kind of like dried right, I know it's dried because we've left it more than enough time, I can 100% see that my Botox is due because I've got lines on my foreheads right, my foreheads on my forehead right now so I'm just getting rid of that. Before I set I do want to add a bit of a liquid blush so what do I want to apply today? I'm gonna add this, this is my Duo Forever Blush Soft Filter in Lily, this is like a real kind of pink, pink, I don't know what this is gonna look like, well I have actually used it before but for some reason I can't remember. This is a really nice matte finish and I do really like it so I've got my Hourglass 15 brush and I've got some on the back of my hand there, I'm just gonna get into that blush, just get some on my cheeks here, it's really subtle, such a nice blush isn't it? There you go. Okay so next step is setting and this is where you want to be clever with your setting as well, again very strategic because you don't want to kind of like get that kind of heavy finish and this can definitely be the one step that takes you from natural through to full-on cakey so this is where you want to be really strategic. So we've sprayed the setting spray once, that's really going to help to like hydrate the skin a little bit more as well and just soften all of the formula on your skin but you want to let it dry down a bit. Now then you want to get your sponge and you want to take out any product that's sitting in any lines like I've just done so, you want to make sure you use an ultra-fine setting powder. Now it really is personal I think this next bit because it depends what your skin can get away with. I can get away with the Huda Easy Bake, a lot of people find that too heavy for them and I totally agree it's not necessarily the most fine milled powder but it works for me. What I would suggest if you want a really fine milled powder, go for the Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder in Ultra Blur or you might want to go for the Makeup by Mario Mario Cerule Skin Soft Blur Setting Powder, that's also a really good one. Now for me, the Huda Beauty one works really well but like I said, go for what works for you. But I'm just going to get rid of any product that's sitting in these lines and then right, I'm going to go into this powder like this, I then go into the palm of my hand, I then press on my under eyes, that's the first place that I'm really concerned about and I pat on the back of my hand so that it takes off all the excess and it kind of like really pushes the powder into the puff, same way that I was pushing the foundation into the brush, pushing the concealer into the sponge, I'm pushing the powder into the puff. I then push this into my skin, right? Now I'm going to take this off immediately, I've got my Real Techniques brush, I haven't applied powder anywhere else and because I'm going to show you. Right, this is where you want to think about, where do you generally get very kind of oily through the day or shiny? Those are the areas you want to use the puff to press the powder in. For me, it's going to be through the centre of the face, definitely the nose and definitely the centre forehead area but the perimeter generally I feel like isn't that bad for me. So let's get the other brush, I've got my Veil brush and there's nothing on here, very lightly dust that away. Then what I do is I get this brush and I dip into the powder, I make sure there's not a lot on there so when I first go onto my skin you're not going to see a whole load of powder and then I just use this to press it in and this is a great way to get that skin-like finish without getting that cakey finish that powder generally gives you. Now quick thing here that I want you to do which is really going to help to stop that cakeyness and actually reverse it if you end up do getting that, like if you end up do getting that, if you end up getting cakeyness, that didn't even make sense, it's a great thing that you can do to kind of like just solve the cakeyness issue immediately. You're going to mist the Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Fuller Setting Spray all over, not so much that it's leaving droplets on your skin or that it makes your skin look wet but enough that it melts the powder into the skin. If you want you can use the back of a sponge to really push it in, like you can spray this and press this on top and that will get rid of that cakey kind of look for you. Okay I am just going to quickly do my brows just so that I look like normal, semi-normal. This is my Urban Decay Slick Day Brow Wax, so I just like to press it so that it kind of stays put. There you go. Okay I'm just going to add a bit of Dior Lip Maximizer and then while I'm waiting for my brow wax to dry let's add a little bit of bronzer. So this is my Sunstalk Bronzer and I just like to warm up the perimeter of my face a little bit. Okay so I've got my Mighty Fine Brow Pen, I'm just going to do some brow strokes just lightly so we can get a bit of a nice finish. So I'm just using my brow pencil to add in some more hairs. I want to very quickly go through with you just, I cannot get over the baby hairs, I mean I don't know if I've just blow-dried my hair weird or what, I can't figure it out but anyway it's messing with my head. So I want to go through some foundations with you which are really good foundations that give you good coverage, don't look cakey but are really good at layering up as well. MAC Studio Radiant Foundation is absolutely amazing. It's flexible, it's skin-like, very blendable, very easy to layer. The Dior Forever Foundation that I've used today is also a really good one, you can go for the glow or you can go for the matte. I went for the matte because it works well for my skin. It's amazing for textured skin by the way, the matte one. The Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer, great way to get skin-like finish but basically use your concealer for the coverage so that you're kind of not pairing heavy with heavy, you're kind of pairing ultra light with heavy and then you get that really nice kind of like good coverage but skin-like finish. I would say one more that I would recommend is the NARS Light Reflecting Foundation. It's a very fluid formula that is very easy to build up, very easy to blend, very flexible. If you want high coverage and you want to kind of like use a high coverage foundation but you also want it to kind of like almost be watered down a little bit, mix a couple of drops of serum into it or a moisturizer because that way you don't lose the pigment but you do kind of like lose the cakiness, the heaviness of it. I would recommend that there are a few things that you can do through the day to really help because sometimes what happens is maybe your skin looks okay after putting your foundation on but then later on the day it starts to look cakey when you start touching it up. Now if you're going to touch up your foundation or your base in general, I would highly recommend staying away from powder. Even the Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Finish Powder, I don't think that is a great powder to touch up with more than once because I feel like it worked great for maybe oily skin or, you know, skin like that but I do feel like it's not actually the greatest avoiding cakiness. It actually can very quickly make you look cakey. So yeah, I would personally stay away from that as a touch up. I would rather recommend that to someone who is either mature skin or oily skin to use that as your setting powder rather than a loose powder if you want but I wouldn't recommend that for touch ups. It's okay for touch ups but only if you're going to do it once. Now the other one that I would recommend is the Dior Forever Nude Radiant Filter. It's an ultra fine powder that is even more ultra fine than the Charlotte Tilbury one. That's a really good one to block, to powder down if you want touch ups but ultimately I would say the best way to remove shine and touch up your skin through the day is to actually just use blotting tissues. Just use a normal soft tissue. It's honestly what most makeup artists use. It is amazing. It's going to work well for you. It's going to get rid of the shine. It's going to get rid of any build up and it's not adding anything which is the most important thing. So that is how you build coverage without having to actually get the cakiness and still get that skin-like finish but you've got that really nice kind of like coverage that you want too so it doesn't look cakey at all on the skin. I really hope you've enjoyed it today. If you have any questions let me know. Don't forget everything is listed in my description along with discount codes and I'll see you on the next video.