Hey Everyone,
I believe make-up has a tendency to fall in love with people. On some, it stays on all day long and on others like me, it’s quick to disappear. You’d think that after so many years of being immersed in it – it would love me back – but honey, it looks like it’s going to be a one sided love affair. I’ve tried a lot of things to make it stay but it just has places to go and things to do. That’s why I’ve had to resort to these methods to lure it on and make it stick. Here are my favourite ways to make my make-up last and I thought that I’d list out the most “effective” ones and share it with you. They can be used by themselves or in a powerful combination.
Primer Please
Primer is probably your first step and probably the least effective out of all the methods to be honest. It’s basically because primer is so inconsistent with results and there are so many types of them. Primers that help to smooth out pores look strong but are usually heavy on the face and when oil hits it, it will help your make-up to slip and slide rather than stay. On the other end of the spectrum, there’s primers that feel like lotions. They’re so thin, they hardly do anything except give you a nice glow. Possibly the only primer with long lasting potential that I’ve tried so far is the Shu Uemura UV mousse stuff. I did notice a slight difference in the longevity of my make-up as opposed to not using it at all. It’s kind of a love/hate relationship.
Sweep or Press the Powder
This is one of the most effective methods to keeping your make-up on. The idea is that make-up is usually a cream or liquid based product – take your liquid foundation or bb cream for example. When powder hits the cream, it fills it with a substance that it can latch on to and stay. Therefore the substance or make-up on your face has a more substantial weight. Take a paste for example. If you add more flour, it thickens and holds. Kind of the same theory. There’s two ways to set your make-up with a powder. The first is to lightly sweep the powder over with large powder brush or stippling brush to set your make-up. I call this a light set and it’s great for everyday. For theatre productions, you can do a heavy set which is when you go full out with the powder. As a make-up artist, when you apply face paint makeup for a theatre production, you have to set it by using a huge powder puff and LOTS of powder and hitting the face literally with it until the entire face is white with powder. Then you would use a fan brush to sweep away any excess. What’s left is a face that feels like paper and none of that make-up is coming off easily – you can be sure of that. To meet in the middle especially for a big event, I actually press the powder in with a flat top kabuki – it’s the in between of a light and heavy set. Setting with a powder did make a huge difference for me.
Use a setting spray
I have been really liking using a setting spray recently. They’re not doing a whole lot for me in the long lasting department but boy do they make your make-up look so much better after a few spritz. They are supposed to help make your make-up last longer though. I’m not sure and I’ve tried researching how they work but I haven’t found a good explanation yet but I will share it with you when I do. I think in theory I would assume that because your face would have had powder on it – spraying a binding liquid should help the powder merge into one – thus making your face flawless and more “intact”. That’s my theory. Powder setting is more effective for me but I love spraying this on after anyway because it looks so good.
Use a long lasting foundation
Long lasting foundations are actually designed differently than normal or regular foundations. They contain more polymer in it that helps the foundation hold and stick onto the face. The more of this component in the foundation, the longer it will stay. Knowing that, you should try a foundation that says it lasts longer than others because it really may contain this additional ingredient. My favourite foundation that lasts really long is the – Revlon ColorStay foundation – amazing coverage and lasts a good day or so. No joke.
Airbrushing
What’s the most effective long lasting make-up product? One word – airbrushing. Unfortunately it’s not the most accessible method – there’s probably a handful of us that actually own a commercial airbrush makeup machine. I don’t but I did learn it in school and I have a certificate! Ah-hah! We learned that this is the most hardcore makeup method ever. As you should know, airbrush machines do not use regular makeup. They use airbrush make-up and they usually come in bottles and the liquid is extremely thin. There are water based airbrush makeup, silicone based and the last one being alcohol based. Usually consumers only use water based or silicone based max and these hold longer than conventional makeup but not as crazy as you can go. For max (and I mean unnecessarily max), you gotta have the alcohol based airbrush makeup. Seriously, alcohol based airbrush makeup is usually only used for special effects, movie sets, and the like and guess how long they last. Maybe um, FIVE days or so! Yep, it’s crazy. It’s not something your skin will like at all, in fact it will hate you. So don’t use it unless you are Jennifer Lawrence in X-Men.
So there you have it! A few ways to make your make-up last longer. For me, powder works best as well as the occasional setting spray. Hope this helps!
Love, Roseanne