Get Your Glow On

Hello Lovely People,

I recently did a little tutorial over on my IGTV about how to make your powder foundation glowy, healthy and more natural looking (skin-like).

Click to view the tutorial:

In reference to that tutorial I thought it would be a great idea to suggested some great products to help give you an idea of what you can use to achieve the look at home for yourself. I will also add tool suggestions as well as the best techniques to applying your products so that the end result is flawless and natural.

Just before we explore primers, it is always a good idea to apply any makeup to freshly cleansed and moisturized skin. The makeup lays better and looks its best when you have taken the time to pre-prep your skin. When it comes to primers, just like cleansing and moisturizing your skin, it is in good practice that you spend quite a bit of time prepping and priming your skin. You want to take the time to really massage your moisturizers and primers in so that you awaken the skin, get the blood pumping and circulating and this is what creates an amazing canvas for the rest of the makeup to sit upon.

I like looking for primers that have keywords like: radiance, luminosity, moisturizing and most importantly blurring.

Finding a primer that gives you these sorts of finishes is what will build the base for the dimension that we will be expanding on with our other products. The reason why I added blurring as a keyword is because this will help diffuse any lines, imperfections or discolouration in the skin, which eliminates you having to use too many products. We want to keep this skin look simple and fast.

My favourite primers:

1. Strobecream - MAC Cosmetics

2. Magic Lumi - L'Oreal Paris

3. Backlight Priming Filter - Becca

4. Spotlight - Physician's Formula

The variety is vast (everything from affordable to splurging) All these primers give the skin a natural luminosity without looking oily or too metallic.

The best tool for this, in my opinion, is your hands. Working in products like these with your hands means that the heat of your body helps to warm up the product, making it easier to apply, but also it allows you to feel out your skin and either apply more product in certain areas where you need it, or not. You won't be able to do that with a brush or sponge so that's why I think your hands are great tools for primers.

In my tutorial I used a powder foundation, so the type of foundation you use is limitless. it does not matter what kind of foundation you use because you can always manipulate the product to do what you want it to do. Normally, for myself, I do prefer a foundation that gives off a very dewy finish as I like to layer types of luminous finishes. I also prefer to wear foundations that are quite sheer for this type of skin look because then you are allowing all the products under your foundation, to shine through. If you prefer your full coverage foundations there is absolutely nothing wrong with that - you can easily mix your foundations with other radiant products to create a dewy, full coverage foundation for yourself. I love mixing Strobecream into my Studio Fix Fluid Foundation - for example? It gives the matte foundation a "glow from within" radiance that looks amazing on skin.

The keywords to look for is: sheer, lightweight, glow, dewy finish and long-wearing of course.

We want the foundations to last of course. These keywords refer to the foundations I like to shop for, if you want to use a dewy foundation as well.

You can manipulate matte products if you have an oily skin - just be sure to balance your dewy products with your mattifying products, or focus your dewy products on the areas of your face that aren't oily.

My favourite foundations:

1. Studio Face+Body - MAC Cosmetics

2. Photoready Candid Glow Foundation - Revlon

3. Skin Active BB Cream - Garnier

4. Prolongwear Nourishing Waterproof - MAC Cosmetics

I tried to get a good mix of affordable to splurge - but again the list of foundations I have in mind is endless, I just picked my top favourite foundations. Studio Fix Powder Foundation is definitely one of them but that is part of my tutorial.

The tools that work best for this is a damp sponge or a Stipling brush.

I love using a damp sponge because it really sheers out product and gives an overall dewy natural finish.

The stipling brush I am referring to, are duo fiber brushes that have long bristles, basically any brush that is not a kabuki or dense packing brush? These brushes blend and distribute product evenly and flawlessly. There is minimal streaking and the two types of fibers really help spread out the product on the skin rather than steal your product.

At the end of the day, concealer is concealer. We all like the coverage and magic that comes with concealers. That being said you can use whatever concealer you prefer, this step literally comes down to technique and choice of tool. I am lucky enough to be able to say that I don't have problematic skin, in terms of pigmentation, blemishes, acne or uneven skin tone. I only really use concealer to brighten up under my eyes (and conceal the dark circles if I had a rough night) and dim down the redness in my nose. That is it! I really like it when I can see the few freckles and beauty marks I do have on my skin, peeking through all the product because it gives the makeup a more realistic look rather than plastering up everything so that you look porcelain perfect. Granted, if you do have problematic skin and prefer full coverage then it is obviously understandable.

The type of concealers that I go for are lightweight, sheer-medium coverage and most importantly liquid. The choice in the texture of your concealer is what can make or break the look. I only use liquid concealers on delicate areas like under the eyes. if you put something heavy down like a cream concealer, that is when you will experience creasing and cakiness. Liquid is lighter and will less likely cause this issues. reserve your cream concealers for blemishes and scarring on the face.

My favourite concealers:

1. Mineralize Concealer - MAC Cosmetics

2. Photoready Candid Concealer - Revlon

3. Naked Weightless Concealer - Urban Decay

4. Prep + prime Highlightening Pens - MAC Cosmetics

5. Instant Age Rewind Eraser - Maybelline

When it comes to applying and blending out concealer I don't have a particular preference when it comes to a tool other than suggesting what will work best depending on the finish that you are after. Applying and blending out a concealer with your fingers is great because your fingers are warm, so that helps to melt the product into the skin and also your finger can get up into those hard to reach places like the inner corner of your eyes.

If you are looking at using a brush - you can go one of two ways. if you want to really pack on and blend out concealer then a small packing brush or small kabuki brush would work for this. These brushes are dense so they will aid you in building up coverage.

A sponge, preferably damp, for me at least. A damp sponge is definitely the option that gives the most natural finish. It sheers out product an soaks up and excess product that you may have laid down. A damp sponge also emphasizes the dewiness of the product.

Some of us do like using powders, even though the look in general is pretty dewy, using a powder to still set certain areas of your face will enhance the appearance of the look as you are now adding other textures and that is what makes the skin dimensional. You do get powders out there that have a sheen through them or give off a non-matte finish. These are the powders that will work the best because you can still set in place whats needs to be set in place - but it won't bring down the look and mattify everything down. It still gives the skin a bit of life. The best powders, honestly, are the powders that have the word "Mineralize" in them. Mineral powders are great because they are light and keep the skin looking as natural as possible.

I do prefer the Mineral powders for myself and also the best texture of powder is a loose powder. A pressed powder is great but it can be a tiny bit heavy compared to a loose powder.

My favourite powders:

1. Fit Me Loose Powder - Maybelline

2. Translucent Powder - Laura Mercier

3. Mineralize Skinfinish Natural - MAC Cosmetics

4. Absolue Powder - Lancome

Since we won't be baking in this look, a sponge is out of the question. All we are going to be doing is hot-spotting the skin which means a brush is the ideal tool for this.

Hot-spotting means: to just mattify the areas of the skin that get oily. The areas that majority tend to get oily in is the nose, sides of the nose, fore head and chin.

My favourite brush to use for this is a medium blending brush or a small blush brush. You want a brush that is fluffy and has long bristles to blend a small amount of powder in without having to pack it on the skin. You should also be able to blend away any excess powder that you have applied and long bristles brushes work well to do this.

All you have to do is load your brush up with the powder, tap off the excess and then pat the powder into the skin. As the powder begins to leave the brush you can begin blending the powder into the skin and then swipe off an excess there may be.

You can do one or the other, or even both - either one you choose the best texture is to use a cream. The reason I say a cream, or even a liquid, is better is because it adds to the skin like texture of the makeup. It also adds to the radiance of the overall look. It will bring back the natural tones to the skin in a subtle way without looking overly made up, if you were to powder everything down.

If you are going for a blush choose shades that naturally occur in your skin when you do flush. generally very fair ladies go a cool pink, medium toned ladies have a corally pink flush and darker toned ladies have a deep flush (almost a deep red).

If you are looking for a bronzer, again look for a tone that works with your skin tone. The ladies that are quite fair, need a bronzer that is slightly more cool-toned so that they don't look muddy. Medium toned girls a lucky, they can use any bronzer that has a warm or golden undertone. The dark ladies need something quite deep but also something super warm. Sometimes dark bronzers or contours come off ashy on the skin and then you appear chalky.

My favourite cream/liquid bronzers are:

1. Soleil De Tan - Chanel

2. Studio Fix Soft Matte foundation Sticks - MAC Cosmetics

3. Hoola Quickie Contour Stick - Benefit

4. Hoola Zero Tanlines - Benefit

My favourite blushers are:

1. Bare With Me Cheek Tint - NYX

2. Glow Play Blushers - MAC Cosmetics

3. Cloud Paint Seamless Cheek Colour - Glossier

4. Powder Kiss Lipstick - MAC Cosmetics

Let's start with the bronzer. I prefer to use a brush to apply my bronzer, whether it is a cream or not, only because I just want to get the product on as I am not super particular as to the placement of the bronzer - I am just there to warm up my skin.

Since we are working with a cream product, a great brush for this is a kabuki brush or a stipling foundation brush. These brushes are both great for applying and blending out the product. Load your brush with the bronzer, push it into the skin and then work the product in using circular motions. Alternatively you can apply the product with your fingers and then buff it in with your brush - that works well as well.

For bronzers you will see that I have a foundation stick and a body tanning gel in the list. You can always use a darker foundation/concealer to bronze or contour your skin - it work in your favour because it is a skin tone shade so the results will be more natural. The tanning gel is my own discovery - it sounds weird but it has worked for me in the passed because again it is made for the body so it gives a natural finish and colour for your skin.

Moving onto blushes, it will be the same recommendation except that I would encourage you to use your fingers more. You are working on a much smaller area because you are concentrating colour. If you are going to use a brush then I would keep in with a stipling brush but keep the head small. You will want to control the placement of this product as it can get out hand pretty quickly.

If you are going to use your fingers then I would warm up the product with your fingers first and then pat the colour into the cheek. Keep patting and pressing the colour in until it is blended in and you have the desired intensity you want.

I like to apply my blusher to the apples of my cheeks and then blend it back into my contour slightly. Keep in mind where you naturally flush in your face and use that as a guide to apply your blush.

Highlighters will really emphasize the overall dewiness and glowy aspect of the look. I like using a mixture of textures for this step specifically as it adds a lot of dimension to the face. I like to use a cream/liquid highlighter under my foundation and then use a powder highlighter over top once I have completed my makeup look.

By doing this you intensify the highlighter or you can pull it back and keep the look very ethereal.

To get the best shade for fair ladies would be a silvery or fair pink highlight, medium toned ladies can explore white gold, peachy golds and champagne shade highlighters, for the deeper toned girls, bronzes and orange golds look amazing.

My favourite cream/liquid highlighters:

1. Custom Enhancer Drops - Cover FX

2. Liquid Highlighter - Makeup Revolution

3. Master Strobing Cream - Maybelline

4. High Beam - Benefit

My favourite powder highlighters are:

1. Mineralize Skinfinish - MAC Cosmetics

2. Extra Dimension Skinfinish - MAC Cosmetics

3. Hyper Real Glow Palettes - MAC Cosmetics

4. Master Chrome - Maybelline

5. Gold Bar - Charlotte Tilbury

6. Shimmering Skin Perfector - Becca

7. Jaclyn Hill Cosmetics

Starting with the liquid highlighters, I like to apply them with my fingers and then buff them out with a brush. If I am using a cream highlighter then I will only use my fingers because again, your fingers are warm so it will help to melt the product in and blend it out seamlessly.

The brushes that I like to use for my liquid highlighters are the small to medium stipling brushes because they blend and distribute the product out nicely and evenly.

When it comes to the powder highighters I love using a super long bristled brush or a super soft fluffy brush to apply this - I personally hate fan brushes, it is just a preference but if you like fan brushes then that's great.

I have tried to get a range of highlighters here for you - I have everything from ethereal highlighters to popping, beaming highlighters. The Jaclyn Hill Cosmetics collection has everything from soft to beaming highlighters with the appropriate brushes even if you want to look into that.

We are almost there. It is time to lock in that look. The best setting spray is one that gives your skin a dewy finish. You will also want to get a setting spray that has a long-wearing property to it too.

This is pretty easy to explain, you don't need any tools for this of course - just mist your skin at arm's length and then allow your skin to dry by either fanning it or just allowing it to settle into your skin for a few minutes.

A setting spray helps to marry all your products together so that you get the most natural and flawless finish without any chalkiness or powdery finishes.

My favourite setting sprays are:

1. Fix + (All Variants except Matte) - MAC Cosmetics

2. Luminous Dewy Skin Mist - Tatcha

3. Bare With Me - NYX

4. Illuminating Fixing Spray -Pro Fix - Makeup Revolution

Time to finish off the look! Complete the look however you want to - I personally just brush up my brows with a brow set, pop on loads of mascara and then I add a bright lipgloss or creamy lipstick.

That is is for this blog - I hope you found this useful and that you now have an idea of what products to look for when you do get the chance to go shopping.

Don't forget to check out our other blogs!

Until then have a great day further and I will see you in my next blog!