Do you see what I did there with that title? Hilarious. That incredibly irritating song inspired a blog post, amazing. Anyway, what this post is going to be about is my perfect "base" which essentially means how to get your skin looking as immaculate as possible. I personally don't like very full coverage as I think I look a bit more "normal" with some of my natural skin showing through - so all the products I use will give you a fairly natural looking medium coverage finish. Of course you don't need all of these products specifically but these are my personal favourite for this look. I think having a good base sets you up for any sort of eye/lip colour and will make it stand out more and look more polished. Apologies for the slightly abused looking products - I like to think it just means you can tell they're well loved.
Step one: Foundation.
As you all know, I love Nars and Sheer Glow is like my soul mate foundation. I use the shade Gobi in winter/spring. The coverage is very natural, slightly glowy and lasts a while. I have oily skin but this doesn't make me too dewy/shiny. It glides on with a smoothness akin to moisturiser and feels like skin once it has settled. This gives a nice base, evens out skin tone and is a good canvas for your other base products.
Step two: Concealer.
Again, another Nars product but this is the best concealer I've ever used and I've used a fair few. I apply this under my eyes with the doe-foot applicator then blend out with a brush. This concealer doesn't crease and lasts all day without a worry, even through a gym workout. Sorely tempted to get this in a pink toned shade specifically for my under-eyes...
Step three: Contour.
I use two products for this, the Nars Laguna bronzer and MAC blush in Honesty. I start by bronzing my face in the "3" configuration, temple, under the cheek bone and under the jawline. Then I go in with a more precise brush to contour with Honesty just under my cheek bones. This gives some dimension to your face as foundation alone can make you look a bit "flat" as such. This blush in particular I find good for this as it's very cool/taupe toned so doesn't have an orange cast to it so it looks like a natural shadow.
Step four: Blush.
I love a bit of blush, I used to use almost exclusively coral shades but with my skin colouring I'm now finding that more orangey and peachy shades look far better and a lot more natural on me. My latest blush to join the family is MAC Mineralise Warm Soul. It's a gorgeous peachy kind of shade and it's not "glittery" (which I can't stand...) but a pearly kind of finish that makes you look dewy and very healthy. It's also a very subtle option if you're just getting into cheek colour.
Step five: Highlight.
I love highlight. Pearly brightness on the tops of cheekbones makes anyone look healthy and more awake. My favourite highlight is Watts Up! by Benefit. It's a glow more than a sparkle and is great to apply straight from the stick. It's a cream to powder kind of finish and lasts all day. I use my fingers to blend this out as I think it looks more natural and doesn't wipe the product off like the sponge can.
Step six: Eye primer.
I think this step is actually quite important, it primes your eye for any eyeshadow you might be using and covers up the redness/veins you can see on your eyelids. I like MAC Paintpot in Painterly. I apply with my middle finger and apply directly under the brow and blend down. Not only does this highlight the brow bone and tidy it up but it makes you appear more awake - which when you have to work for 8+ hours is always a good thing! Aside from that it means your eyeshadows will last all day and won't crease.
The next post in this series will be the brushes I use to accompany my base application and how I use them. All these products are on my daily makeup regimen - I love having a tidy looking base as you can get away with very little else e.g. just brows and mascara on top.
Claire x
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