Let’s be honest.

When applying foundation to your face, the ultimate goal is to ensure you look like an ethereal, glowing slab of marble without any blemishes or scars. However, despite your best application, the result is typically a visible, slightly chalky mask that is evident of a sub-par foundation job.

But, don’t worry. We at Cosmetics Now can help by simplifying your approach with a couple of easy steps.

Clean Your Face First and Foremost

First of all, we’re assuming that you wash your face every night and clean your makeup. This means that you shouldn’t really need to clean your face in the morning.

If you do have some leftover makeup on your face, swab your face with a small cotton pad soaked in cleansing water to ensure you can start your makeup routine with a clean slate (isn’t that what we all want!?)

Get Your Skin Ready

Foundations can sometimes get a bad rap for making skin look flaky and dry, but sometimes it’s due to the error of the person applying it. Even the heaviest of matte products can look soft and natural, as long as you sufficiently hydrate and prep your skin with an effective moisturiser.

After you’ve cleansed, be sure to massage a thin layer of the moisturiser all over your face, and allow the cream to set in for 5-10 minutes before applying your foundation. Quick tip: be sure to avoid the eyelids.

Dab on the Foundation 

Step 1 – that bottle of too-dark foundation you have in your bathroom cabinet or makeup box and put it in the bin.

Go buy some foundation that’s creamy, is a medium-coverage, and ACTUALLY matches the shade of your skin and your skin type. Think of any NARS foundation that you can get your hands on.

Step 2 – put a few pumps of your product onto your palm and then use a foundation brush to dab onto your skin.

Be sure to start at the centre of your face and begin to blend outward for maximum effect.

If it doesn’t look perfect – don’t panic. We’ll get to that shortly.

Blending the Foundation

Get yourself a damp makeup sponge and gently dab this side of your sponge over your face to melt the foundation seamlessly into your skin.

Then use the pointed tip of the makeup sponge to blend out any coverage around your eyes and nose.

Top Off Your Foundation

Got some acne or pimples? Apply some concealer with your ring finger and be sure to let it set for five minutes.

From there, lightly apply the tip of your sponge over the concealer to blend it out with completely smudging it off.

Let’s Start Fine-Tuning Your Foundation

To keep your foundation going all day, you need to dust a bit of translucent powder over just over the T-zone of your face with a fluffy brush.

Next dip the brush in the powder, tap off any excess that’s built up and apply it over your forehead, chin and nose in concentric circles.

Once you’ve done all these steps as described you’ll be able to look in the mirror at a perfect application of foundation.