Hey Everyone!
I have to say that I’m a foundation buff and just as there are so many varieties of foundation, there are just as many varieties of methods to apply them. Today in this post, I thought it would be handy to point out the five main methods of applying your foundation, the tools involved, what kind of foundations work best with what and the finishes that you’ll eventually receive. In no time, you’ll be able to figure out how to get the most flawless face out of the foundation that you’ve recently purchased at the store.
1. Use a Foundation Paddle Brush!
Probably the most basic brush that comes to mind is the foundation paddle brush. This brush is characterised by its synthetic fibers and paddle shape with a relatively long handle. The best kind of foundation for the paddle brush is a liquid foundation because the paddle brush is able to smooth and blend over a wide surface area without the need for applying pressure. That’s the key thought here. A paddle brush cannot apply much pressure and thus an easily manipulated texture is the only thing that would be most suitable for the paddle brush. Pressing down hard can clump your bristles.
The key to finding a good paddle brush is one that keeps its shape and isn’t too fluffy. Synthetic paddle brushes should be evenly shaped, meaning that they shouldn’t be spiky, and it’s bristles shouldn’t disperse extensively when pressure is applied or when you press down on the brush. That way, you’ll find that the liquid foundation won’t cause the bristles of the brush to clump together making it unusable to spread your liquid foundation flawlessly and evenly.
To apply your foundation with a paddle brush, simply pour your liquid foundation onto the back of your hand. Use the brush and dab a little bit onto the foundation as if you’re using a painter’s palette and then apply in short strokes onto the face. Once the area is covered, proceed to longer strokes and then finish with a smooth over with your hands.
My favourite foundation paddle brush is the Smashbox Foundation Brush in #13!
2. Smear with a Sponge
A sponge, whether of a decent quality or disposable, can make it easy to blend your foundation on the skin. Sponges come in all shapes and sizes, but the most common form of sponge for foundation is the wedge sponge. The wedge sponge is so popular because the lower end of the sponge makes it easier to reach into hard to reach places like the crevices of the edges of your nose or the nook of your eye.
Sponges are best for liquid or cream products. Although sponges can pick up too much product at times, almost soaking up the foundation like a sponge that can make it hard to clean and may even waste your product, the ease of the application and the finish it creates offsets this. Getting a pack of disposable sponges are great or if you haven’t checked out the beauty blender, you seriously need to. Absolute flawlessness but also an absolute pain to clean up. If you are in Singapore and you’re looking for a great sponge cleaner, the one Daiso has at only 2 bucks is worth much more.
3. Dab with Clean Fingers
Sometimes the best thing to do is to use what your mama gave you. Using clean fingers allows you lots of control and lots of blending power. Even if I use a tool beforehand, I alway smooth it over with my hands anyway just to make sure I didn’t miss any spots. Plus, the application suits any foundation except powder foundations because that would take you forever. You can also vary the amount of coverage easier with your fingers.
The products that I use my fingers almost 100% of the time include BB creams, makeup bases, sunscreens and skincare products of course. I do also use my fingers if it’s a light to medium coverage foundation. I think it’s too much to handle if it’s a high coverage foundation like the Revlon Colorstay which is a foundation you’ll be best off using a sponge or brush with.
4. Stipple and Swirl with a Stippling Brush
A stippling brush is commonly referred to as a skunk brush. Forget about smelling a bit “unique”, a stippling brush has a more dense black haired body connected to the ferrule with a more sparse set of white synthetic bristles coming out of the dense set of black animal hair. This brush helps you achieve a flawless, less than full coverage foundation finish by moving the white bristles independently of the black bristles onto your skin. It can also be used for powder blushes and bronzers for a more sheer application. The best foundations to use the stippling brush are liquid foundations, balm like cream products and powder.
The reason why a stippling brush is called a stippling brush is because of the application process. Simply pour some of the foundation on the back of your hand and taking the brush, get some foundation onto the bristles and in light dabbing motions, stipple the foundation onto your face in quick dabbing motions. Once you have covered the majority of the face, lightly swirl the brush to blend and create a smooth finish. Be careful not to push down on the brush when you are swirlling as the effect can be quite disastrous. Always move the white bristles independently of the black bristles.
5. Buff it out with a Kabuki
Whether it’s your favourite fluffy kabuki brush or a kabuki stuck on a long handle, there’s only one thing the kaubki does better than any other brush can and that’s buffing. The foundation that needs the most buffing into the skin? Mineral foundation. To make mineral foundation absolutley flawless, you need to buff the powder into the skin so it really is worked into the skin. Litle do we know that long handle kabukis also make great companions when it comes to buffing foundation, liquid or powder, for that even complexion.
And there we have it! 5 Different Ways to Apply Your Foundation!
How do you apply your foundation?
Much Love,
Roseanne