Pressed powder is one of the most convenient makeup products, but it can be frustrating in two ways. In the compact, it can crack, develop a hard, shiny surface or run out faster than expected. On the face, it can fade, turn patchy or disappear by midday on oily skin. To make pressed powder last…
Cream blushes, bronzers, contours and highlighters give a natural, skin-like finish, while powders set makeup and help it last. Using both can give the best of each, but only if they are layered in the right order. Get it wrong and cream products drag, lift foundation or turn patchy. The basic rule is cream before…
A round face has soft curves, full cheeks and a similar width and length, which many people find youthful and approachable. Blush placement can either enhance that softness or add a little lift and definition, depending on the look you want. To apply blush on a round face, place it slightly above the apples of…
Dark eyeshadows such as black, deep brown, navy and plum create dramatic smoky eyes, but they are also the worst for fallout. Tiny particles drop onto the under-eyes and cheeks, leaving grey smudges that are hard to remove without ruining your concealer and foundation. You can avoid fallout from dark eyeshadow by giving the powder…
The T-zone, the forehead, nose and chin, has more oil glands than the rest of the face. For many people that means foundation that looks perfect in the morning is shiny, patchy or sliding off the nose by lunchtime, while the cheeks still look fine. The key to makeup on an oily T-zone is to…
Most people keep makeup in the bathroom, a bag or a car without thinking about temperature. Yet heat, cold and humidity can change how products look and feel, shorten their life and in some cases make them less safe to use. Makeup keeps best at a steady room temperature, roughly 15 to 25 degrees Celsius…
Look closely at almost any face and you will notice that the two sides are not identical. One brow sits a little higher, one eye looks slightly larger, the lips tilt a touch to one side or one cheekbone is more prominent. This is completely normal, and it is part of what makes a face…
Open a lipstick, a foundation or a setting spray and there is often a faint scent: vanilla, roses, fruit or just something clean. Makeup is not perfume, so why do so many products smell of anything at all? Fragrance is added to makeup for a few main reasons. Many raw ingredients such as oils, waxes,…
You smooth on moisturiser, then sunscreen, and as you rub it in, tiny flakes or balls start rolling across your skin. Or your foundation goes on patchy and crumbles into little specks. This is pilling, and it is one of the most annoying problems in any routine because it wastes product and makes makeup look…
Contour is meant to look like a soft, natural shadow. When it goes wrong, it looks like a muddy stripe, a blotchy patch or a streak that sits on top of the foundation rather than melting into it. Patchy contour is one of the most common makeup frustrations, and it can happen with both cream…
Makeup tools touch your skin every day, then sit in a warm bathroom or bag between uses. Brushes collect oil, dead skin and old product; sponges stay damp; lash curlers and tweezers touch the delicate eye area. Without regular cleaning, they can harbour bacteria and fungi and spread them back to your face. To sanitize…
On a hot day, makeup that looked perfect in the morning can slide, streak and fade within an hour. Foundation separates around the nose, eyeliner transfers to the lids, mascara smudges under the eyes and lipstick bleeds into the fine lines around the lips. Makeup melts and bleeds in the heat because warmth softens oils…
Paraben-free is one of the most common claims on skincare and makeup. For many shoppers it has become shorthand for safer or gentler, and some people avoid parabens entirely. But what does the label actually tell you, and is a paraben-free product always the better choice? Paraben-free means a product does not contain parabens, a…
Two foundations in the same shade can look completely different on the skin. One looks velvety and blurred, another looks flat and heavy, and a third looks glowing or even slightly sparkly. Much of that difference comes down to something you cannot see on the label: the size and shape of the particles in the…
You open a moisturiser and find a layer of oil on top, or shake a foundation that has settled into a thick paste at the bottom and a clear liquid above. Is the product ruined, or is this just what happens to creams over time? Most creams, lotions and liquid foundations are emulsions: tiny droplets…
Soft focus, blurring and airbrushed are some of the most common claims on primers, powders and foundations. They promise the smooth, slightly hazy look of a flattering photo filter, with pores, fine lines and uneven texture looking less obvious. The soft-focus effect is an optical trick. Soft-focus products contain spherical or finely milled particles, such…
Why does a lip stain leave colour on your lips long after the gloss has gone, while a pressed eyeshadow wipes away with a cotton pad? The answer usually comes down to whether the colour comes from a dye or a pigment. Dyes are colourants that dissolve in water, oil or alcohol. Because they dissolve,…
When people say a makeup product is highly pigmented, they usually mean it gives strong colour in one swipe. When they call something chalky or patchy, they often blame fillers. Both words get used loosely, and fillers in particular have picked up a bad reputation they do not entirely deserve. Pigments are the ingredients that…
Almost every highlighter, shimmer eyeshadow, glowy foundation and lip gloss that catches the light owes its effect to one ingredient: mica. It appears on labels as mica, CI 77019 or sometimes as part of a coated pigment, and it is one of the oldest ingredients used in cosmetics. Mica creates shimmer because it forms extremely…
Clumpy mascara is one of the most common makeup frustrations. Instead of long, fluttery lashes, you end up with spiky clusters, blobs at the tips or lashes stuck together in groups. It can happen with an expensive mascara as easily as with a budget one. Mascara clumps when too much product builds up on the…
If your foundation pills, streaks or slides off by lunchtime, the problem may not be the foundation itself. It may be the combination of products underneath it. One of the most common reasons makeup layers badly is mixing products with different bases, especially silicone-based and water-based formulas. Silicone-based cosmetics list a silicone such as dimethicone,…