Starting Off: Foundation

Welcome back beauties ...

Can you believe it’s week 3 already, where does the time go? This week it’s time to talk about foundation :) if you missed previous posts, please see links below:

The Starting Off Project: Introduction

Week 1: Skincare

Week 2: Concealer

Foundation, until recently was my number one product. Throughout my teenage years, there was no way on this earth I would leave the house without a coat of my foundation. These days I’m way more laid back and a little lazy, but for work and special occasions, you can’t beat the flawless finish given by foundation.

So most of you probably know the purpose of foundation, but for those that don’t, lets quickly run over it: Foundation is a skin coloured cosmetic applied to the face to create an even, uniform colour to the complexion, to cover flaws, and, sometimes, to change the natural skin tone. You can purchase foundation in different consistency’s including; liquid, cream, mouse and powder. Personally my favourite to use is liquid. I just find it nicer to work with and I can always layer it, and apply powder for a matter finish if I wish.

I did contemplate going for a similar structure to my last post with this one, but to be honest, I own loads of foundations, but reach for the same one every day now. So with that said, today I’m going to talk about how to find the right foundation for you and applying it :)

So where do you start with foundation? This is something I knew absolutely nothing about and over the past 5 years have experimented with. But based on what I’ve learned here are the questions I think it’s important to ask yourself when trying to find the perfect foundation.

Consistency? - What do you find easier to work with? Liquid, Mousse, powder etc. it’s important to experiment with different types, to see what works best for you.

Skin type? - This kind of goes hand in hand with the above. If you have dry skin your best option probably wouldn’t be powder as it will emphasize dry patches just the same as an oil based foundation on oily skin will not sit well and most likely come off after a few hours.

Converage? - Do you have pretty clear skin, or need a little more coverage than most? Maybe you just prefer that flawless skin finish that full coverage gives. Either way, it’s definitely something you need to look into when picking you foundation.

Finish? - Do you prefer a Matte or Dewy Finish?

Once you have pondered over the above, it’s time to go try out some foundations to find the perfect one.

Depending on your budget you can either go into your nearest boots and try some out for yourself, or go to Debenhams and have somebody do it for you. What I do like about going into the department stores and testing higher branded foundations is that you can take a sample home with you to test out for a few days which really helps.

If however you’re sticking to the drugstore, make sure you go in with no makeup on your face (eye make-up is fine). If you’re stuck between a few foundations, apply a thin stroke of each to your cheek. The one that disappears is the right one. If you are just testing one, use your jawline and try to check it in a well-lit area if possible.

I have gone through endless amounts of foundation over the years, and to be honest I used to just go grab the closest I could find to my skin from Tesco and didn’t really take much notice of the above things. That was until my sister introduced me to Lancôme. I tried a little and absolutely loved it. As soon as my next pay day came around I went and purchased some.

When I first purchased it I just went with what the lady said and went away, really chuffed with my first high end foundation purchase :) but I must admit over the past 6 months I started to notice how half way through the day my forehead was super oily and the foundation was looking a little patchy. That was when a friend told me about Estee lauder double wear light.

I went in about 6 weeks ago and picked up a sample. Like I’ve mentioned before, my skin isn’t too bad with breakouts so I'm more than happy with medium coverage. I am honestly in love with this foundation; of all the ones I’ve tried this is the best for my skin. I won’t go too much into it as I’ll be doing a full review, but it really is a great product.

So let’s get into how I apply foundation.

Once I have completed all my skincare and applied my primer (L’Oreal Studio secrets) I put about a 5 pence piece sized blob of my foundation on the back of my hand.

Using my Real techniques buffing brush I dab it into the blog and distribute it across sections of my face before buffing it in, in circular motions. I tend to be very careful around the eyes and eyebrows, to avoid creasing and clogging :) and I also like to apply a small amount to my neck.
 

Finally I like to use my Beauty Blender and dab it all over my face to really press the foundation into my skin, before applying my Stay matte powder.

So there you have my tips on finding the perfect foundation for you, what I like and how I prefer to apply my foundation :)

Below is a picture of me when my foundation was first applied and then again at 5 pm after hard day at the office :)

In my opinion the staying power of this foundation is just brilliant :)

I hope you have enjoyed this post. What foundation do you use? And how do you like to apply it?

Thanks for reading!!

See you next week for a post all about bronzer :-)

Lots of love

Sophie

xxx