My Updated Foundation Routine. Pic Heavy Step by Step

This is something which I think I will keep changing as I try new products & brushes but it's always nice to have an established base routine. Last year I posted this and while most of the products & techniques are the same but I like the results better.(wow I didn't realize how many things are *actually* the same! Most of the things used today are from my Project Empty.)
Please note: I had my eyebrows tinted the day before although one of them looks filled in :S I also pretty much always do my eye makeup first but because I was doing a neutral eye today I decided to do foundation first so you can see the effect properly.

 

(not my pic.. forgot to take my own.)

1. Start with your primer. I use Face of Australia Face Base. It makes everything go on so smoothly!

Eek naked! Yuck! So much more redness than usual.

2.As I have pigmentation rather than dark circles under my eyes, I use mainly a lilac concealer with a touch of yellow mixed in. I apply & blend with my ring finger. Also blend onto the eyelids (as mentioned I normally do my eyes first so I don't need to do this.)

3. I don't normally go this extreme, but since I had so much redness this day I applied the green concealer from the same palette to any discoloration.

4. Blend out with the Sigma f82. Don't I look lovely & pale! You may not want to do this if you only plan on wearing concealer on top haha.

5. Using your skin-toned concealer & brush, apply to any blemishes. If you have light blemishes you can skip this step. However if you have really bad scarring or cystic acne I'd recommend to do this now, it's also good for if your concealer doesn't exactly match your skintone. Use a heavier concealer in stick or cream form for better coverage, save liquids for after foundation.

The concealer is so light on first glance it blends into everything else, sort of. Don't forget around your nose!

6. Blend really well into the skin with the Sigma f82 brush or any flat top brush. To blend mainly push the concealer into the skin to avoid rubbing it away. My trick is to do as many layers as you need - remember that foundation counts as one-but be careful to use little product each time & blend well to avoid cakey-ness. Chucking one big pile of coverup will just turn cakey once powder is applied.

 7. If you like a matte finish/ have oily skin, skip this step. I pour some liquid illuminator into my fingers & pat all over the skin, not rubbing to avoid moving the concealer.

8. Once that's been patted into the skin, dot your foundation onto each area of your face to ensure you don't use too much. You can always add more if needed.

Haha I've just gone back to using what I used in last years routine! :P However that is only until these finally run out. I mix 2 different colours to match my skin tone.

 9. To buff my foundation in I still use my E.L.F Flat Top Powder brush. Don't forget to blend into the jaw & hair line. If needed add a tiny bit more of foundation to the areas that need it only. Also blend onto the eyes even if you're doing eyeshadow to fix colouration as a base for your primer. I tend to get it on my lips anyway but it also acts as a base for your lipsticks. (You don't want much otherwise the L/S will blend in with it & tone down!)

Yay I have colour again!

10. For under eye concealer I like something a little bit lighter, or you can match it to your skin tone. I use Nyx Concealer Wand in Light. Apply in a triangle shape under your eyes straight from the tube. Then I blend with a foundation brush from Essence of Beauty taking it out past my eye for a triangle highlighting effect to "pull" my eyes up & out.

11. Only if needed add a little bit of a light reflecting concealer, I applied mine right in the hollow part only & blended with the same foundation brush.

There's an obvious change between no-makeup to now, so I wanted to compare my under eyes to colour correction/ foundation only to under eye concealer. I hope you can notice a difference!

12. Using the same concealer wand but mixed light & medium together, I apply to any blemishes that may be showing still. Blend with f82 brush again, but also go all over the face to ensure foundation is pushed in.

13. Especially if I use cream blushes/ highlighters/bronzers, I will do my powder at the very last step to avoid applying cream over powder. I also save it because I may need to use concealer around the brows or lips again. So here I have applied my other face stuff (I may be doing a tut when I get my newly ordered brushes, yay!) I also apply lip balm to prepare my lips.

14. Lets pretend my eyes are done. It's time to apply powder, I still like the Palladio Rice Powder in Translucent to lightly set everything. I lightly dust with the E.L.F complexion brush all over but use the fan brush for lighter application under the eyes & around the nose & lips.

& Here I am with my eyes & lips done (more on this to come in another post)

Thanks so much for looking, even if you are happy with your routine I hope you can take some tips & tricks off of mine :) Everybody has different skin so this may not work for you & visa versa but I am happy with this for the minute. :D