While we love the freshness of going bare-faced, sometimes a little pop of colour is necessary to create a more refined look. Yet the makeup woes that plague most women are numerous! Cakey foundation, cracked lips, oiliness – it’s hard not to look like a melting mess by the end of the day, but it doesn’t have to happen to you! Fresh long-lasting makeup is built upon good skin prep.
Here are some ways to use your skin care products smartly to help makeup looking on fleek even after a long day.
Cleanse
Start with a clean, fresh face. Remove all the impurities and grime from your face so that our makeup can set evenly on your skin.
Exfoliate
Exfoliating clears out your pores and removes the dull layer of dead skin cells. Doing this up to twice a week helps to smoothen your complexion and brightens skin tone. This allows for a smoother makeup application and prevents your foundation from clumping onto dry flaky skin.
Hydrate
If you have the luxury of time, spoil yourself with a hydrating mask. Getting your skin properly hydrated will prevent the overproduction of sebum for oily skin and smoothen dry rough patches on dry skin.
If masking takes too much time, a hydrating toner or essence works well too.
Tip:
If you’d rather go foundation-free, try the Korean 7-Skin Method, which is essentially applying seven layers of toner onto skin. Pat in the first layer with your hands or swipe with a cotton pad. Continue to pat pat pat the remaining layers into your skin using the same amount each time. Your skin will look glowingly dewy, au naturel!
Note: This method will only work with alcohol-free, hydrating toners. Those with sensitive skin might need to adjust and lower amount accordingly.
Seal in the hydration with a thin layer of lightweight moisturising lotion. Avoid heavier textures unless you have very dry skin as those can result in a slippery base, making it difficult for makeup to stay on.
Eye cream
This is one step that many people miss. Eye creams are not just for night time routines, they work well in the day too. Applying a thin layer of lightweight eye cream or gel before makeup can prevent creasing around the eye area. Give it a minute or two for your eye cream to be fully absorbed before going on to apply eye shadow.
Sun protection
Many like to have multiple layers such as moisturiser, sunscreen, primer, foundation, concealer, setting powder… But if you would prefer breathable skin with a more natural look, we recommend cutting down on the layers. Having too many layers can also cause your makeup to turn cakey quickly.
Many primers contain moisturising benefits and some come with SPF. There are also various tinted sunscreens that provide adequate coverage. To avoid over-cakey makeup, we suggest choosing just two products between your moisturiser, sunscreen and primer.
If your primer contains SPF: apply a light moisturiser followed by primer.
If your primer doesn’t contain SPF: apply sunscreen followed by primer.
If you are someone who prefer to go foundation-free with a little coverage, you can also choose to only apply primer and leave the foundation out.
Lip care
Nothing spells distracting like vibrant-coloured lipstick on dry chapped lips. Run a layer of lip balm underneath your lipstick for moist, luscious lips. You can also reapply throughout the day to refresh matte lip colours.
Summary: how to achieve different looks
Normal Everyday Makeup:
Cleanse >> Hydrating toner/serums >> Moisturiser >> Sunscreen/Primer >> Foundation >> Concealer >> Face Powder >> Eye Makeup >> Lip Colour
Foundation-Free Days:
Cleanse >> Hydrating toner/serums >> Moisturiser >> Sunscreen/Primer >> Concealer >> Face Powder >> Eye Makeup >> Lip Colour
DR’s Secret Light & Breathable Look:
Cleanser 1 >> Hydro Mask/Toner T2 >> Emulsion A6 >> Eye Cream >> Refining Serum 9 >> Sunscreen 5 >> Total Base A5 >> Face Powder >> Eye Makeup >> Lip Colour
DR’s Secret Foundation-free Glow:
Cleanser 1 >> Hydro Mask/Toner T2 >> Emulsion A6 >> Eye Cream >> Refining Serum 9 >> Sunscreen 5 (3 layers) >> Eye Makeup >> Lip Colour
Remove
Finally, always remember to remove them all at the end of the day and freshen your pores with a gentle makeup remover.