Replay! Are You Applying Your Foundation The Right Way? How-to Find the Perfect Shade, Formula, Layering Tips and More With Beyonce’s Makeup Artist Sir John

22:27Which one has been challenging for you? What's the first one that comes to mind when you think of primer? I feel like it's probably... This is a game show, guys. Yeah, right? I was wearing the... I was using the milk makeup one for a long time. I think it's when I... It is when I try to use probably oilier ones with like a water base. I think that's where I'm getting them confused. And it's like, I'll use the wrong thing and it just won't spread evenly the same way. Okay. Okay. Well, I'm going to give you my number. So if you happen to, I can't jump out of your medicine cabinet, but we can text back and forth and I can help you get through that situation.

23:01I feel like maybe the part of the answer to that is like, I'm a big cherry picker. I definitely go from brand to brand, but I probably should be like looking at the labels more closely and like maybe using the primer that goes with the foundation instead of, do you know what I mean? I don't think you, I don't want you to do that because I don't want you to be so, I I don't want any company to have you in a prescriptive. Choke hold. Yeah. Yeah. I like that. I like that. Usually it's, I think too much skincare is what it is versus the wrong primer and foundation. That's a really good point. What you're onto right now.

23:33And I'll tell you why. Is because, you know, even when I see people, I had a question yesterday in yesterday's masterclass. Shout out to Toronto's masterclass was so dope. A company that good, put this beautiful thing on at this amazing theater. And it just was so, so dope. I can't even begin to describe. I would say that one of the questions was, does my mascara actually comes off often? And it's why does it flake or why does it actually start to go underneath my eyes? And I think that your concealer is probably too emollient. So if your skincare is too emollient, if your eye cream is too rich, even though we love rich skincare, you have to find a way to keep some of that emollient nature at bay.

24:11So I either say shearing it out a bit more, you know, understanding how to tap it in instead of lathering it. but it doesn't lathering on your skincare doesn't do anything more for the skin it actually might congest your pores yeah 100 % I think that's it's like that versus the primer not working with the foundation because if you're thinking about it from a development point of view there's no company out there that doesn't want their primer to work with every foundation that's on the market basically that's a material flaw yeah right so I don't think that they're trying to make it like a stumbling block it's just the user error in a way with the skincare and the layers and too many things going on yeah Yeah.

24:47How many steps? Yeah.

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26:26Once again, you can visit lovelyskin.com slash HCBB15 and use code HCBB15 at checkout for 15 % off your HelioCare purchase. We'll link to this offer in our show notes and on our website. Now back to the show.

26:47Okay, then we're going to get into it. What is the right way to apply your foundation? So maybe Maybe we could just start with like how you apply it. Brushes, fingers, blending sponges. What do you use the most? I love egg sponges. I love Beauty Blender. Shout out to Rianne, who I'm the head of Beauty Blender. She's a great friend. But I think that whenever you go in and start to stipple on these foundations or tints, even if you wanted to use something a bit more sheer, using these egg sponges, all of the foundation is not going into the sponge as we always thought. That's why we dampen it first.

27:18Yes. And then you get a chance to give yourself a beautiful veil of complexion and then add more if you need more. If I'm using something as a cream, if I'm using a cream stick or something in a pot, I'll use a brush and then I'll just buff it into the complexion. So for example, if I was going to do an editorial, I would use, I would go the novel direction with liquid and a sponge. If I'm going to do a concert or a Coachella or something like a Super Bowl where I need something to stay anchored and not move or prom or a wedding, it would be something with a brush and a stick or some kind of cream.

27:47Okay. And then also take a powder and then buffing a powder with a fluffy brush into the skin too. So I don't bake, guys. I cook. And I don't like to bake because I just don't love that much powder on anyone. If you're 88, it's aging and it's not always flattering. Like beautiful skin, healthy skin has a luster. It's light reflective, you know? So don't minimize so much of the shine, ladies. You're taking the life away from your complexion. Yeah, I agree. I appreciate that. Do you have your favorite brush for applying foundation? Yeah. So check it out. I was going to use a brush for foundation.

28:24I happen to have a few here. Let's go through brush 101. Let me see. Let me see. Oh, my God. Okay. I see art store brushes here. And he's got like seven in his hand. Well, I'll tell you. So brushes are my thing. I went to school for art since I was six. Right. And so I love brushes. It makes me feel some of the brushes I've had. I have there maybe in there somewhere. I've had since 2000, 2001. Incredible. Since my first day at MAC. So if I was going to use a foundation and a liquid or a foundation and a cream, something like this. Okay. It's like a dome shaped everybody. It's like really kind of like denser at the bottom and goes up to being fluffier at the top.

29:04Be Dallium tools. Yeah. Either one of these guys would be, but feel the bristle. And so if you see that there's enough, they're not dense. Right. Yeah, they're softer. They're like fluffier. They're fluffier. Yeah, than I thought. You mean something like this? Ooh, yes. They're definitely softer than like the foundation brush I have at home, which is that denser. Is it a different synthetic or something? It's a different. I feel like that was me back in like 2005. Yeah. But if you look at, you know, some of the great makeup artists, if you look at Pat, if you look at, you know, Val Garland, Cheryl Tilbury, they've all kind of taught me how to use buffing in foundations.

29:41It's something like this. It's just softer. you don't see lines you don't see and it also you hold a lot more bacteria in a brush that looks like the one you're talking about right the flatter more like paint up now we need a picture of those i know we will when we get our cameras back absolutely but thank you for sharing this because i'm always so curious what actual pros are using on their famous faces yeah so let's talk about mistakes to avoid we get asked these questions all the time what about patchiness like makeup starting to break up and separate throughout the day what's happening there Okay, first of all, I have to say, I just love this duo.

30:16You guys remind me of like, like either like, I'm trying to feel like, like, is it like the Romy and Michelle or like sisters of beauty? And it's good. I love it. You guys should take this on the road. Seriously. Okay, so patchiness. I would say that patchiness, when we talk about patchiness, are we talking about the complexion, the skin or? Yeah, like the complexion in the skin. I find there are certain areas where, yeah, well, the product starts to break up by the end of the day. That's what I think of when it's at your list. Yeah, or like if you do have like parts of your skin that are a little drier, it's like got the clinging going on.

30:54And then you feel like you don't have the evenness, that gorgeous buffed in look. It's like clinging, you know, or it separates. The number one ground zero for what you're talking about is the fact that you. So I would say you need a glycolic toner or some kind of some, not even a salicylic, a glycolic or alpha hydroxy or beta hydroxy. It can even be a papaya enzyme. So what you need is cell turnover because dead skin, you know, dead skin cells, they actually attach themselves to our face. And so this might be a patch of dry skin where everywhere else is able to ingest moisture or hydration in a different way.

31:27So a little bit more cell turnover, I would say, but you don't have to be aggressive with it. if you're going to use a manual scrub use something that is not like natural almond or anything like that where you use something synthetic like a bead that'll roll over the complexion so yeah it's not about the foundation it goes all the way back to the skincare level yeah i actually find for myself where it's breaking up tends to be i think where i'm accumulating oil it's like in the corner crevice of my nose and like on my chin so would it same thing exfoliation yeah exfoliation is always the answer and it kind of is it's weird and it doesn't have to be every day you know as we get more as we become more mature yeah we don't want to strip our skin we don't want to overdo it yeah a chemical exfoliator would be the name of the game yeah what's your fave yeah oh man or retinol i'm not sure if you guys are doing retinols at night this is the time to go back into them so since we're not so sensitive my favorite let me see my favorite alpha hydroxy beta hydroxy what happened to be all the choice has a nice one yeah i would also say something like hmm you guys got me here thinking about my thinking about my whole situation.

32:31Have you ever used biologic recherche? The P50? They call it Jesus in a bottle. Okay. Okay. I'm here for that. I'm here for it. So any of those and but keep keeping in mind you want to keep it under about 5%. Yeah. Okay. You know because you don't want to burn off your complexion. Right. Yeah. Okay. All right. I think also the the peel pads. I talk about them. The Dr. Dennis Bros. They're so good. And they're sensitive ones too. I use the sensitive ones. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And then this was a hack I saw. I wonder what you think about this. Maybe it's just trial and error. So you're applying your foundation.

33:08I haven't tried this, heard about it. So you apply your foundation with a beauty blender in the areas where your makeup separates, like the inner creases of your nose, you rub it in just with your fingers instead, like you would a moisturizer. Yeah. That makes sense. Absolutely. I think that in general, like after you, you know, after you put on your complexion, always take your hands or your fingers and manipulate your skin because you know your body heat is going to change the texture it's going to melt the makeup in a way that looks a lot more organic but if you do use your fingers use your ring fingers your index finger is too aggressive okay it's going to pick up too much product it's going to age your eyes so i always use ring fingers and tap tap tap tap if you always if you ever see me working like in motion i'm always tapping tapping tapping tapping yeah okay i love that i remember that pat mcgrath talked about how when you leave the house it's like 20 minutes after you put your makeup on that's when it looks the best that's what she said i'll take it i don't know if that's true but i think it's like when it's a bit more like if you to your point where you're kind of like working it in with your fingers and it's like all melting together because it's not sitting on top of the face you know and i like you know i know that we are in a generation of like seemingly perfection yeah instead everything but because we use a lot of powder right now yeah we're in a powdery era yes but having a complexion that is just a little bit more dialed back.

34:27It's easier to maintain throughout the day. Okay. How do you know or prevent your makeup from oxidizing? I do feel like this is something that's really prevalent, especially if it's a really yellow undertone. That's for me anyway. I find like sometimes at the end of the day, if it's too yellow, I'm like a different color at the end of the day. So do you have any tips for that? That's a really good question. Well, if that's the case, I would try to change your foundation color or undertone. Maybe your undertone is already on the verge of being too olive yellow. And maybe you need to cancel it out with something a little warmer.

34:59Maybe if you love the foundation, let's find a loose powder that happens to have a pink undertone. Huda Beauty has a beautiful loose powder and it's like a pink undertone and it's softening, it's blurring. So just something to cancel out one of those things, you know? Would that work even if on all skin tones, like to do a bit of color correction? Absolutely. I mean, listen, so many women who are multicultural or like, you know, from either like I think about some of the women who are from India or you know Pakistan a lot of black women for the Caribbean they may have uneven pigmentation around the mouth or underneath the eyes may be darker so it in those times invest in color correctors or try to find a foundation or concealer that can cancel it out because you're going warmer right okay and what about the foundations that you always have in your kit maybe you could tell us a few that are your favorites right now okay a few favorites I have right now and it always changes right It's always going to change.

35:51Of course. I think one thing about us as a group, you know, is the fact that like, are we a band yet? I don't know if we're a band yet. I think we're going to be. That'll be part two. We're just going to be singing in the next episode. I would say that like often I do love a liquid pump. So I think recently I've been using what is called Mario's Foundation. Love Mario to death. I've been using this foundation. It's super sheer. It's luminous. But if you have oily skin, this might be, you want to probably go in a novel direction. So I'll go to like Estee Lauder, double wear light or something like Estee Lauder, sorry, double wear light.

36:26Even I like La Mer's pump as well. I forgot what it's called, but I mean, that's on the higher end of the spectrum. But it's beautiful. It's gorgeous. With skin type sap? I would think that's like, it's like a serum. So it's pretty much for everybody. And then NARS is always a good place to fall into. Yeah. I love NARS, but then I, to this day, haven't found my right color. I feel like it often is too yellow. I don't know. Okay. But I love all of their, I love their concealers. I love all of that. But the foundations I find to be a bit tricky. What about some of like the Pat McGrath foundation or Charlotte Tilbury or any of those?

37:00I love Charlotte's Flash Retouch. It's like it has a doe foot applicator. It's like a shinier one, but it's not a foundation. But it's like something you tap onto the sides of your face, wherever you want. Like a luminous kind of glow, but it's not chunky. It's not shimmery. And I haven't used Pat's foundation, so I can't say. Okay. I haven't tried it either. I've tried it. It's very similar to Armani Luminous Silk in terms of the finish. She designed Armani. Yeah. It all hangs together when you're like, oh yeah. When you see them pump side by side, you're like, that makes sense. I'm going to tell you guys about a foundation I just tried that I'm like, what the?

37:34It's Shiseido. It's called like Glow Something. It is so nice. It's like very medium coverage, glowy finish. It'll be like perfect in the winter, drier skins. But it's amazing. Okay. A bit of a sleeper hit. Wasn't that a new one in camp? It's just new this fall. Or a reformulation or something? I just tried it and I'm trying to look up the name in real time here. Yeah, it's called Revital Essence and it has like a white cap on it. What's the claim to fame? It's like a medium natural buildable foundation. Really pretty. Really pretty. Does it have any? Because I know that they're famous also for their self-refreshing technology.

38:13Yeah. And the Synchro Skin Foundation that came out two years ago. That's amazing too. Yeah. But this one doesn't, this one is, I would say more for drier skin types. Good for the winter. Good for the winter. It's comforting. Yeah. My favorite find lately. Oh, it looks like that. It's different. Okay. My favorite find lately is the Tom Ford concealer. Just saying. Oh yeah. So good. So are we, what question for you? Yes. What's the application? Is it like a stick? Is it a liquid or? It's to me, it's like a more modern version of the Clé de Peau iconic concealer. Yeah. Which calls like a million dollars.

38:46Yeah. But the Tom Ford's not going to be far behind, right? But yeah, it's that same kind of a stick. So you can get really good coverage if you want. But I would say it's a little bit more lightweight than the Clé de Peau and easier to blend. What about clogging pores? I think a lot of people when they're shopping for a foundation, they're concerned about that. So does non-comedogenic on a label, does it solve everything? or are there certain things like that you need to, what would you recommend? So the thing is like, you can have the non, how do you say the word? Non-comedogenic. Boom, that part.

39:23You can have that on the label, but it's all about the practices. Like going back to, you know, what we were saying earlier, you can do that, but then you'll probably still slather on a lot more primer or something else that may inhibit the oxygen coming to your pores. So I think it's like, how can we shear out some of the layers? What do I need for the day I'm going to have also? And what time of day is it? You know, so I think that's kind of key. I'm not sure. No, that makes sense. I actually remember not that this had to do with that, but we were speaking about Pat McGrath and I remember interviewing her in New York, also in someone's home.

39:56Now that I think about it and talking about the look she did at a show and how she used a piece of Kleenex like tissue. I don't know if when you worked with her, she did this and she like put it on the model's face and sort of to kind of like tap on and just take off that extra little bit of too muchness. So Sam Fine, I'm not sure you guys know Sam Fine, we love, know and love. So I was his assistant for a long time as well. And what he does, so when you go in with not so much always liquids, but like cream foundations or stick foundations, they do have a bit of oil, like a mineral oil. And so he would take a tissue or two ply and then just split the two ply and then go in and we would just dab up all of the oil.

40:37I did this yesterday in the class. And so you're left with pigment, pure pigment, pure foundation. But when you powder it, it's going to last and lock for hours on hours on hours. That's a lip trick too. When you do that on the lips to make it longer lasting. Okay. Getting all the tips. The best tip is the Starbucks napkins. You guys know that. The best tip, guys, is our cigarette rolling or joint rolling papers as flat film. Oh, yeah. They're cheaper. They're like a dollar instead of$17. And I live in California, guys. We like herbal refreshments. So I have a lot around the house. Yeah, I bet.

41:16That makes sense, actually, because they're so like tissue thin. And then they're smaller, too. They're smaller, too. And the thing is, you know, even when you're like a lot of people I know have oily eyelids. So even if you lift the oil off of your lids with shadow on, it kind of resets the eye. Yeah. And you don't have to put more shadow on. You don't have to do anything else. So, yeah, that's kind of a hack. Genius. Okay. Love it. What's the one-on-one on setting powders? Because I think that can happen where it can look dry and cakey. So what are your best tips for that? One-on-one about setting powders.

41:47So back to the tagline, we don't bake, we cook. And I feel like baking is, it's okay for stage. It's okay for TV, but for daily life, I don't use a sponge to press in powder. Some people like more coverage that way. I'll always dusted on. And so when I say dusting on powder, I'm going to show you guys a brush. So all you guys at home, this brush, it's like two inches long in the hair and it's so soft. So this is what I would use to set the T-zone. It's like a little bunny foot. Yeah, totally. And so that is not going to allow me to inundate the complexion with too much product. And it's just really good in a pinch.

42:26What's the powder that you like? Powder, I'm loving. I'm loving the Huda Beauty powder right now. It's called a baking powder, but the way we would use it, using it in such a sheer amount. You would love it for what you were telling me about with the color correction situation. Also, Makeup Forever has HD loose powder, which is crazy good. It's so good because it works on everyone's complexion. It never flashes back. Do you remember that era? Oh my god, I was just about to talk to you about that. The Nicole Kidman of it all. It's burned in my brain. I was like, she needs to fire whoever was. A lot of us got fired, guys.

42:59Not even one person. It was an era of the technology, right? We all, all of us, any big makeup artist at the time wanted to buy one because it was a remedy. We thought it was like God's gift, right? And so we all were in a space where probably got released from a client or two because of the flashback. Using it as sheer as you needed to use it, but you still had this massive flashback. I mean, now they have so many, they've changed all the formulas, but like shame on them, man. Yeah, now they've, They weren't testing it under red carpet. That was their problem. Okay. Well, I want to ask about this whole era of people doing, I think Jackie Aina sort of, she was the first one to tell us about it when she was on our show.

43:42But this idea of applying your base almost in reverse. She does the powder first. Oh no. And then she does foundation. Okay. And now on TikTok, there are multiple people who are, and I'm not saying TikTok is the Bible, but they do like powder, then setting spray, then they're going to do a primer and then they're going to do the foundation. Bizarre. The concern I have, it's not even an issue. It's the concern I have is like, okay, two things come up for me when I see something like this. Okay. A lot of this shit is for clickbait, right? And it's how can I create interesting content that's going to get more views, going to get some follows, going to have people talking.

44:25I'm not saying that Jackie's doing it because I know her really well. And I know she does a really great face. She does a good beat, right? She knows what she's doing. But from a dermatologist standpoint, even though I'm not a derm, but I do roll with a lot of great derms. Shout out to Dr. Dendi, Dr. Shitarini in New York. Know that you are setting your pores up for disaster. I'm like, do you love your pores? Do you love your skin? Because you think about when you put a powder on top of your skin and then you put a liquid setting spray on top of it, it's going to push whatever that is directly into the pore.

44:56It's going to lock that into the pore. And then we're putting something that was meant to be a certain, like almost like a veil of skincare-esque product, which is a foundation on top of it all. And it's going to emulsify in a really weird way. So once that starts to oxidize, it's going to bring out a lot more texture. Yeah. I hear you. So I think it's a fail. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I learned so much. This was good. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you guys. Thanks for listening. You can find details on every product mentioned in today's episode, along with our exclusive promo codes on our blog at breakingbeautypodcast.com.

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46:09See you next Wednesday.

46:27Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.