Thursday 2 April 2015

What difference does foundation make?

What difference does foundation make?
What difference does foundation make?

Foundation is a big deal.  The chances are if someone only ever wears one or two make up products they'll be mascara and/or foundation.  Foundation can come in various formulas with varying degrees of coverage.  Coverage ranges from sheer/light to full/heavy.  You may never ever need medium to full, or maybe you'll just want to use it at certain times of the month.  Foundations can also be luminous and dewy, satin or matte finish.  

I tend to go for medium to full coverage as I have blemishes and scarring and also get flushed really easily.  Sometime I will opt for sheer foundation with a full-coverage concealer if there are only a few spots to hide.  I also prefer matte finishes to my foundation as I'm naturally oily and a dewy base would make me an oil-slick by lunchtime.

There's no right or wrong coverage or finish for you; it all depends what you feel most comfortable in and what you feel makes you look your best.  The most important thing to get right is the shade.  Two tips: swipe a few shades of foundation vertically down your jaw line as this is usually the most true-to-colour part of your face; and always check how the foundation looks in day-light rather than just indoors.

Read on to see the differences between light coverage, full coverage plus doubling up.

First off, I apologise for all the squinting.  It was super bright outside when I took these.

This is me without foundation.  I have plenty of blemishes plus scarring from past ones.  I have blotchy cheeks with some broken capillaries.  As a whole my skin looks very uneven.

What difference does foundation make?
No foundation
Here I am wearing a BB cream which provides light/sheer coverage.  A BB cream is like a tinted moisturiser but with added SPF.  BB creams have the down side of usually only being available in one shade...and usually that shade is far too dark for me.  This one, Dr Jart+ Water Fuse Beauty Balm Cream SPF20 is my favourite.  This one actually suits me and I love it for good skin days.  My over all skin tone looks more even.  My spots do still show through and not all of the redness in my cheeks is covered.  
A traditional sheer foundation would be available in more shades.  I don't have any as I normally want more coverage.

Dr Jart+ Water Fuse BB Cream
Dr Jart+ Water Fuse BB Cream
 Here I am wearing one of my heaviest-coverage bases, Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation.  It is great for my oily skin, very little shine comes though during the day, and it doesn't smudge at all.  The redness in my cheeks is covered and although some of my spots still show, I won't have to use very much concealer to cover them.
Other full coverage foundations I love are Illamasqua Rich Liquid and MAC Studio Fix Fluid.

Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation
Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation
 This shows the fullest of full coverage (still without any concealer).  Here I applied MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus foundation in NW15 over the top of Double Wear.  It is a mattifying medium coverage powder foundation which comes in a huge range of shades.  It contains lots of silica to absorb oil, so for me is just an extra protection from that.  Although you can use this powder foundation on its own, I only ever use a light coating of it on top of something else.  
Although my spots are still visible a tiny bit, the redness has gone from them and so I probably wouldn't bother with extra concealer.

MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus foundation
MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus foundation

By no means do you have to wear foundation.  As I don't have great skin, foundation just provides a good even base so that the rest of my make up looks the best that it can.  I wear foundation because if I wore all the other parts but my skin was still red and patchy it would detract from everything else.

If you don't have uneven skin you might wear a light foundation to target specific concerns. As well as serums, moisturisers and primers, your foundation can be another layer that is hydrating, mattifying or anti-ageing.

I hope this post helps to show why some people wear foundation and what the benefits can be.  I think I've shown that by wearing foundation you don't automatically become a 'cake-face'.  The coverage and finish is up to you!

If you liked this post see my other posts in this series below:

Rachel

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