The Perfect Foundation for the Holiday Season

Hello Beautistas! Holiday season is upon us, and with that comes cozy cable knit sweaters, hot cocoa, mistletoe, and holiday parties!  In this insta-gratification culture, you will probably be showcasing that cozy cable knit sweater while holding a cup of cocoa under mistletoe at a holiday party on Instagram...am I right?  So how do you make sure you look like your glowing, confident, fabulous self in all of these #selfies and other pictures that crop up on social media? A good foundation is really what is necessary for a good, solid foundation.  Pun intended. But how to choose?! So many to choose from!  I'm here to give you my opinion from a cosmetic chemistry standpoint and a makeup artistry standpoint.  I spent so much time in a color lab putting patches of different foundations all over my arms.  Clinique, Bobbi Brown, MAC, Aveda, Tom Ford, Estee Lauder, you name it.  This taught me a lot about what makes a good foundation!  The most IMPORTANT thing that I learned - do NOT use a foundation that has SPF when you think people will be taking pictures with flash photography.  Ever taken a picture and your face looks lighter then the rest of you? It looked great in the mirror, but for some reason the flash made it all funky. This is called flashback, and it’s because the product contains Titanium dioxide.  Titanium dioxide is one of the ingredients that is used for SPF, but it is also what is used as a base color pigment when mixing colors.  Foundations are mixed with red, black, yellow and white pigment.   What's the white one? You guessed it, Titanium Dioxide.  It’s fine to have some in the foundation you are using, but just make sure the product does not say SPF.  If you have a favorite foundation that you love that has SPF,  it might mean switching it up to another on the days that you know a lot of pictures will be taken.  With that said, this shows up more on some people's skin than others, depending on complexion.  But at least now you know where the eerie white glow comes from! No room for that at holiday parties! There are so many good ones out there, but one of my foundation favorites is MAC Face and Body.  Some people have a hard time getting used to the texture, but I love this for all faces because it has a wide color range, is water resistant, you can use a little bit to get a natural look or add more for medium coverage, and it really lets your beauty shine through.   It’s really like your own skin...but better.   How to apply? You can use this technique to apply any foundation….no fancy brushes needed. Step 1: Apply Foundation Make sure you have moisturized your face (+neck) if your face is dry to normal.  For application, you can do the whole dot & blend thing that they teach you in makeup artistry school, but I just use my hands, put some on my fingers, and blend into my face. Face and Body in general is very unusually thin, so a little goes a long way.  For foundation, always blend downwards (not upwards like moisturizer).  Rub it in until it your fingers do not slide easily over the product anymore...you will feel it almost "binding" to your face.  This takes longer for some foundations versus others...(Face & Body takes longer).  Then, important step - press the skin from your hands to your face.  Bobbi (as in Bobbi Brown) is a big advocate of this….they say that this skin on skin contact helps fuse the foundation to your face to make it look more natural.  Step 2: Apply your concealer to the places that need it.  Notice I am saying to put on your concealer AFTER your foundation.  I always like this, I feel it glides on better. Step 3: Dust a loose powder on top of your foundation with a large fluffy brush to set your foundation/concealer.  Viola! Hope that helped Beautistas!  Apologies for my long hiatus...somehow, Instagram has become my personal life, Twitter has become my professional life, and Facebook has fallen somewhere along the wayside!  I will try to keep updating here and there, even if it's sporadic.  I know I have some requests - and I will get to them I promise!  But for now, enjoy those holiday parties ladies!