Embarrassingly clueless about foundation

[numpylicious]

OK so I'm totally clueless about foundations..

First of all, my neck is super pale, but my face gets red easily (I guess because I'm so pale!) so I find it hard to get a foundation that looks good and not too pale. I've bought Estee Lauder Double Wear but I can't decide if I like it :S

Every time I put it on, it just looks funny. I have large pores around my nose and it makes them look horrible. I have spots but in the areas that my skin is drier, and even though I moisturise before I put my foundation on it looks streaky and makes my skin look kinda crusty and dry. I thought I had combination skin (oily t zone) but even on my forehead and especially my nose it looks vile with foundation on!

I'm not really sure what to do, clearly I'm a make up retard lol, I swear I've never had this problem before.. :S

Advice? Thanks guys

 

[ilexica]

I have similar colouring to you (and horribly dry skin) and I use DW in shell. I know this probably sounds counter intuitive, but have you tried applying with fingers? I find if I use a brush it looks very heavy, but I apply with fingers (often with a bit of oil free moisturiser mixed in), apply very quickly and rub in well and it looks pretty flawless (and I have been known to buff with a kabuki brush too). You're right to moisturise well, I use a really powerful day cream and leave it to soak in for 10 minutes first, and I wash my face in the morning with argan oil which helps lock moisture in.

I hope this helps

 

[Babylard]

for good foundation application, youve got to deal with the skin first. it sounds like you have combo skin.

you should start off by exfoliating your skin to get rid of the dead flakey skin and scrub them away. personally, i've been using the apricot st. ives my sister bought and it works pretty well! if your skin is sensitive, maybe do it every other or few days, depending on how your skin reacts. st. ives is quite gentle, so i use it almost every morning.

you should look into moisturizing toners (i.e. those without alcohol). personally, i've been loving the lush toners. eu roma? is for sensitive dry skin and ive been using breath of fresh air which has been great and ive noticed im not as oily. with a cotton pad, wipe your face with it. i think these toners are trial and error. i have acne prone skin and i did not like their tea tree toner. it made me go really oily. i've yet to try eu roma.

and then use your daily moisturizer. now, if you find it that you still have very dry skin in certain spots, i would use 2 moisturizers. a light one for your oily T-zone. and a richer one for your dry spots (cheeks?) now i am not sure about rich moisturizers as i use a lighter one (Pur minerals moisture complex) let your moisturizer skin in for a few minutes. if you still see dry patches, either put more lush toner on a cotton pad and pat the dry areas or apply a tiny dab of more moisturizer.

On to foundation!

Primers primers primers. They are so essential to getting makeup glide on your face smoothly. since you have combo skin, it is ideal to use an oily control primer on your T zone and then a silicon based to fill in your pores and smooth the dry skin out. i highly rec sephora's oil control primer for just the T zone. and then i really love monitstat anti chaffing powder gel as my silicon primer for my cheeks and other bad areas. or you could use the smashbox photofinish primer which costs more and works the same.

foundation tools. i think you should consider buying everyday minerals flattop brush. its my staple HG for liquid foundations and even bb creams. my mac 187 is collecting dust. great for buffing and stippling and its super soft! <3 <3

the foundation itself does make a difference. for example, i loathhhhh mac select foundation, its blotchy no matter what i do. i dont have any HG foundations that i could rec for you, but i just bought revlon colorstay! lol mac studio fix is just too yellow for me. i might have to do another colormatch down the line.

redness concealer. depending on what foundation you use, consider green concealers to counter the redness. ive been using everyday minerals green concealer either under my mineral foundation or very very lightly over my liquid (if i need it) i think MUFE and smashbox have a cream formula you can try. it might not completely get rid of redness, but it helps. cuz if you use too much you'll look really weird. lol

well i hope that helps! i know its a lot, but once you get the hang of it, its not a big deal. let us know how it works out for you =)