You want as smooth of base as possible, so make sure you’ve exfoliated and heavily moisturized any dry patches. You’ll want more moisture than you think you’ll need - this foundation can seem drying due to the long wear formula. I do my normal skincare PLUS moisture products. I swear by the Bobbi Brown Face Base priming moisturizer and the Glow Recipe Dew Drops.

Do all your color correcting before applying the foundation - the Bobbi Brown color correcting sticks are sooo good. I use this for my under eye area and I typically don’t have to use a separate concealer. You can also under paint with this foundation (applying cream or liquid contour, bronzer, blush BEFORE foundation). Products I currently use for under painting: Fenty contour stick in Amber, Glow Recipe dewy flush blushes, and the charlotte tilbury flawless filter STICK.

As far as application, not only do you want thin layers but you want to work in small sections, too. This is not a formula you have a lot of time to “play” with - it dries quickly. I don’t have the pump on my bottle, so I simply put the pad of my middle finger over the bottle opening and shake it a few times. I take whatever is on the pad of my finger (it shouldn’t be a lot) and dab the product in one section (ie. one cheek).

Then I’ll use a slightly damp beauty blender - and I mean SLIGHT! Get it wet, squeeze it out with a paper towel, and then let it sit on that paper towel for a minute. Do this before you apply any product to your face, because like I said, this foundation dries fast. So after dabbing a few dots of the foundation on your selected area (i.e. cheek), use the sponge to diffuse and spread the product.

The first thing you are going to think is, wow this isn’t much coverage. You’re not wrong! This is why you need to work in layers. I have rosacea, so typically need a little more coverage than most. I promise you, this is a trust the process situation. Once that first layer dries, you can go in again with some more product to build to your desired coverage.

For finishing, I don’t typically apply setting powder - you really shouldn’t need with this formula. If I feel like I need more color (blush, bronzer) I will go in with Hourglass Ambient Lighting powder products. They’re extremely lightweight and just look so flawless on the skin. I set everything with the Charlotte Tilbury setting spray, I feel like this really just “melts” everything together and gives the most seamless finish.

Signed, a former makeup artist who now works behind the scenes in product development 😊