Spring Makeup Reset: How-to Glow With Textured Skin, the New Contour and More Pro Makeup Tips with Smashbox Makeup Artist Lori Taylor Davis

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24:16Lori Taylor Davis:I want to ask you because some people just prefer mat and they always will. So I'd like to ask you about the modern way to wear mat, because I do think that's also a trend coming in for for 2026. And is there an occasion, like maybe it's under certain lights or whatever, where matte works better? So maybe you could give us some tips like you did with the glowy skin of how to wear matte, how to layer it so that it does still look fresh, especially if you do have dry skin, because I think some of our listeners maybe have always used matte since they were younger. Their skin might be more dry and they're still using their matte product.

24:58Lori Taylor Davis:So what's a way to just freshen up like they can still use the matte foundation, but make it look fresher and more 2026. The one thing I think I love too is matte now has changed because now there's like velvet matte. There's like luminous. I mean, I love a luminous matte. I was like, okay. Make it make sense. But anyway, we're going to go it. I do love one of those kind of almost like, I think back in the day, we might've even called it like a demi matte. You know, I do love something that does look like your skin is as healthy as it can be. So for a matte skin, it's one of those things where you're going to use something that's going to control the oil.

25:36I think we tend to love, like you said, you started off using a matte foundation and that's just what has always worked. And this is where you want to go. And I think we're also using matte simply because we want things to lack. We feel like matte really is like, that's going to be my bulletproof product. That's really just going to go the distance and be on all day. So I think sometimes we have to get the formulas and the formula changes into our head and understand that there are other ways to wear a more matte look. So again, I mean, I'm going to go back to primer because it just kind of always is that thing first.

26:08You know, something like, again, a control primer if you're extremely oily or something that is like a pore minimizing primer or just even the original smooth and blur. It has more of a velvety matte finish. That is going to help with everything looking more skin-like. So it's how you're starting your makeup. It's how you finish it. And then matte makeup, again, can just, or a matte foundation can just be applied to the areas where you are more oily. It can just be a T-zone item. You start by applying that first application in the T-zone and blending out and up and stop there. Yeah. And then you would then jump to maybe setting it with a tiny bit of loose.

26:50I love a loose setting powder. I really do. It's just one of those powders that tends to be lighter and more airy than something that's a compact, which I think is more for touch-ups. Yeah. And then you stop and almost like applying that again with a puff. We're not dusting it all over. We're actually creating another layer that then helps to lock everything out. From there, you want something to, you want to freshen up the under eye. So it's almost like you're pulling the areas of your face apart and doing it in quadrants. And layering certain quadrants and other quadrants can be kind of have a softer application.

27:25I love a concealer that is very almost fresh and almost airy and less, maybe a little bit more radiant and not so matte. Because there's no oil glands underneath your, you know, on your lower eye. So you can actually just apply something that has a little bit of radiance there. So that's going to, adding that mat with a little bit of radiance immediately takes the mat down and gives you a little bit, kind of almost brings the two together.

27:49Lori Taylor Davis:Yeah, because that's where we cake with the fine lines is the crow's feet and under. And around the mouth, that's another one. We don't, under eye and around the lip are the two most delicate. We've all heard this, the two most delicate areas of the face. So something that is literally like more radiant for underneath the eye is great. That then is going to, then you can actually take a little bit of highlight and put that higher on your cheekbones. I think also placement is so important. As we're getting older, we're realizing that things, the placement of things like contour and highlight have changed.

28:19We want to be lifted. We want to be snatch-rolled. We want to snatch it on back. So knowing where to place your highlight and knowing where to place your contour and knowing which type of those products you should be using is also key.

28:33Lori Taylor Davis:And you mentioned that you could use a mattifying primer with a sort of glowier or more luminous foundation. Could you do the inverse if it was someone with dry skin where you're using a hydrating primer and add a matte foundation or is that going to pill? No, it shouldn't pill if you're using the right formulas. Again, you have to know your formulas. So Photo Finish, we have a primerizer, which is 70 % hyaluronic acid. So it's super hydrating. So for someone that loves a matte foundation, I like the coverage, or they'll have the foundation that they love, I would start by first giving the ultimate hydration.

29:12So yes, you can definitely do that. If you're, and I do have, I have some clients that just, this is my foundation, I'm not changing it, this is my color. And I'm like, absolutely.

29:20Lori Taylor Davis:Let me change your primer. 100 % change your primer. I wanna ask you, so we got a great tutorial on finishes and skin type. How do you keep going with the next, the products that come after? because when we're talking about bronzers, blushers, eyeshadow, it comes in every single finish under the sun. So let's say you've started your base, just like we talked about. How do you know when to go in with a cream blush versus a powder, a cream luminizer versus a powder, bronzer, all of that? Is there a formula where it's like, I should stick with all creams? Or I've also seen cream blush with a powder duo.

30:00Lori Taylor Davis:So like give us some rules of engagement. Okay, let me, so I am of the belief that your skin will dictate what products you're using at any given moment. What you have going on. Sometimes it's the environment you're in. I know if you're anybody that travels, it's one of those things where it's like you go somewhere and you're like, oh, okay, this isn't working. Or it's winter to summer. So there's a lot of kind of factors that come into place. I'm a blush girl. So we can start with blush. I absolutely think it's the best thing that, you know, the makeup gods ever created because I think it's true.

30:35I agree. And you know what I mean? On Monday, it's all about blush and some glasses and we're ready to face the world. I have seen a lot, definitely a lot of different ways to apply it. And it's kind of almost like it's the finish that you really want to achieve. I think there are times when it's just all about powder. And maybe those are your textured girlies or oily girlies that you're going to use that blusher, the powder, to actually also do the work of helping to put shine at bay. Because that's another thing. It's like you can think of your makeup. It's not just a blusher. It's a powder-based product.

31:11Therefore, it can do a few different things for you. I think there are times when some of the, like an oily skin, also just wants that luxuriousness of a cream product. so then would you apply your sometimes you can apply your powder first and then you can apply your cream on top of that i know you can you definitely can i know it seems like i'm breaking all the rules but it's how you're applying it so you can apply your powder product and then you can take your cream product with a brush not really maybe with your fingers because that can move the powder and you can buff that into buff that over the powder and it just helps to they almost kind of melt together and create this almost like kind of like creamy powdery goodness so that's also something to do dry or oily yes okay yeah and then there's sometimes they're just really great i'm starting to see so many different textures in with blushes there's sticks there's cream there's all these things and sometimes those you can just take a little teeny tiny bit and just almost like warm it up between your fingertips and almost just do spirit fingers on your face and then that's just giving you a little bit of product and that hint of color that we need.

32:21Lori Taylor Davis:So you can do just to just to clarify. Yes. So you can do the powder over top of cream that helps with staying power, but you can also do the cream on top of the powder and that's just going to give it an extra pop. Yeah. Right. 100%. Yeah. I love that. So switching gears a bit, we need to talk about contouring and sitting right in front of us on the table, these Smashbox new contour sticks. I have to say They're like skinny. They're like very demure, very mindful. So these have just come out. And what's your favorite thing so far about using them? All right. The thing I love, okay, there's so many things I love.

32:58It's almost having like, they're like, you're not supposed to pick your favorite. And I was like, this is my favorite. So. And let me just say also everyone who's listening, they're kind of look like an eyeshadow stick. They're very slim and like a cream base angled tip, five different shades. So the Precision Contour Stick is actually just that. It is all about precision. We wanted to give you, first of all, something that could fit into your makeup bag. That it wasn't like carrying around, although powder is great, powder and a brush. If you want to apply this on the go, all you need to apply it, again, are your fingers, which is great.

33:35We decided to do cream because cream is the most skin-like. I feel like one of the pain points of contour is, and everyone loves, there are people that love a cool, they're on team cool contour. And there are people that are on team, again, on team more for it to look more like skin or more something that's like easy to apply and more. We decided we were going to do cream as a brand, wanted to be skin-like and we wanted it to melt into the skin. And the thing about them is it's the applicator. We chose an angle so that it It almost is ergonomically and kind of can hug the areas of not only your jawline, but eye, sides of nose.

34:17Nose, yes. And down, definitely on your chin. The sides of nose is important because these can also be worn to carve out the eye area. There's certain areas of what we thought of as a brand that are always, that to us, it just is kind of like, oh yeah, everybody does that. Because I guess we're in the studio, so we're using it underneath in the studio. But then we were almost like, no, everyone's not doing that. So it's almost one of these products that we wanted it to be, when you pick it up, it automatically tells you how you can use it and where you can apply it. So that was the first thing.

34:49The formula itself is so creamy that it melts into the skin, but it lasts and it stays. Aside from knowing that you can easily contour the eye area, we also were seeing that people are starting to do lip contour, where they're getting a little bit of shadow at the lower lip line to give that more full lip. And they're doing lip flips and they're doing all these things. So we really wanted you to be able to literally take it and from one side or the other, you can go flat side largest on the more chiseled side, inner eye and at the bottom of the lip easily. So you're not getting so much product that you really have to, you're forced to really have to try to blend it in.

35:29It blends in nicely and you can actually build. We did five tones, the fairest being the most cool because the fairest needs the most cool contour. That's me. That's your go. The other ones are on the slider, we'll say, I don't want to say warm side, but they're more like skin tones. Because really beautiful contour that's easy to apply is more like skin than it is like having to chisel or put something on that's too cool that you then have to cover up with bronzer. So we took out that bronzer step with the creams and just made it so that you can literally like eye, lip, cheek, jawline, all of that, that you can actually create.

36:08Natural. Love it. Let's see these. Yeah, go for it. Go for it. I think that's actually. We need to swatch them. And a little bit goes a long way. You don't need a lot of it. I feel like sometimes I'll watch people and they'll kind of try to build color. And I'm like, with Smashbox, it's literally like draw, draw, draw. One of the products that we are also bringing back and she also got a facelift is our step-by-step contour kit, which we were one of the first brands to ever do a contour kit. I remember that. Yes. So she kind of got a face. She got it. She got like a little glow up. And that one's powder.

36:41And what we did is we modernized the tones that we use. And we also literally wanted to make it easy because there are some people that love a cream and they want to put a powder over it. We have a really great tutorial and we have a tutorial on your own basic contouring. But for the step-by-step contour and for the contour pen, I like to call them, it's a contour pen. We are giving you contour for each individual face shape. We took the most popular. So it's heart shape, oval, square, round. We are giving you just literally your ABCs and one, two, threes on how to contour for your specific shape, which is great.

37:24Lori Taylor Davis:I love makeup for dummies because I'm a dummy. And you know what? Some things just need operating instructions. Yeah, absolutely. I really like this idea of the contouring kind of crayons because I do like to do my eyes sometimes when I'm having like a really lazy day. or I just don't want, I don't feel like wearing too much makeup. But it's funny the way I've come around to contouring because I am like a, I'm not a heavy makeup wearer, but now I find it's almost a desert island product for me is a contour product because it just brings so much life to my face. I agree. I think for me too, because I am fair, it's like, it's giving me tone and it's just creating that dimension where it's like the way that people use mascara sometimes because they need that definition for me I need a contour and so I if I'm lazy like I'll just do it I'll do it in my eye too I'll do you can like basically line your lips like kind of blend it in like an eye shadow and like you're done it's like it could be a one and done if you were having like a quote unquote no makeup day or I 100 % agree and that's that's the thing we're starting to again products that do double duty this is almost like I like to say that the precision contour sticks are like at the swiss army knife of makeup now yeah because it's that one thing if you have like you said you have a mascara and a gloss yeah you're pretty much done yeah and i love it also and then your tone would be that your saw you swatching would be the fair and that's where you can kind of create that dimension especially if you're feeling like like i just need like a little bit of life we love to say that any type of contour stick or contour kit is like having your own like lighting system that you're carrying around in your pocket.

39:14And for us, you know, in the studio, lighting is so important. So this is like, you're literally like, you're almost like lighting air. Once you kind of create the shadows, it's that, I think that's where the life is going. You create the shadows and then all of the other dimension comes forward. Exactly. And while we're on this topic and you mentioned Carlene, because she's fair, she would use the fair one. And those tend to be cooler undertones. If you're a deeper skin tone, how do you choose the right contour shade? Because I feel like that is a little bit confusing. I would say the deep one, it almost looks like it has a bit of a red undertone to it.

39:47It definitely has a lot of warmth. And we did that because that gray tone on a deeper skin tone, they don't need that. That's not, you know, that's not something that's... Not flattering. Not at all. Not as flattering.

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43:46Lori Taylor Davis:Give us some tips for, you know, snatching, lifting, lifting a drooping nose that like, what are your contour tricks? My contour trick, again, is always to, of course, first, just don't let's not go crazy. We don't want to walk out and look like a marionette. You want to look like yourself. So for any type of nose, it's almost like I think I have a few clients that they're like their nose is very long. So you just almost want to kind of do a V right at the tip of it. at the tip. Okay. And using your nostrils as the indicator of like, I'm going to go here, I'm going to go there. And then you're just going to kind of blend it in.

44:22It's almost like an X shape you're drawing at the very tip of the nose, like one swipe on each side. And you're so good. Okay. I love sometimes too, if someone feels like their nose is a little bit more flat and wide, contouring on the sides to really kind of create that shadow and almost push it in. And then of course, anything you want to bring forward, you're going to shade it on either side and then do a little bit of highlight on the tip on the bridge of the nose I think also I have some clients that I really want to build up almost like the bridge of the nose so I'm going to almost use the the area in this corner of your eye to start and then come down maybe you don't come down all the way if you need it but just kind of really working in there and one of my favorite tips for contour is don't be afraid to really if you're somebody that they're feeling like because I'm seeing it my eyes are starting to, they used to be straight and now one of them is doing its own little thing.

45:16I literally have to build back up that natural crease that I had. So really kind of carving out the crease and opening the eye and then blending the contour up to create that to build up your crease. It's like that thing when your eye lid starts to wobble. Where do you wiggle? You're just like, okay, okay, where is that goddamn contour stick? Exactly. Stop the wobble. Just prop up my lid with this anyway okay I love those hacks and what about pairing contour and blush these days what's your go-to move again I'm a blush girl so contour I always say what I like to say some people will blush first and then contour I'm like if you're gonna smush it all together and it's a cream then just make sure that it doesn't look heavy and and I would like to say dirty you know Sometimes people put so much contour on and you're like, whoa.

46:10Yeah. I'm more like you're going to. And I think the area now where we're contouring has also changed. We used to carve out our cheek. Right. Now it's higher. We want to go higher because we're really trying to create that lift. So like right under the cheekbone. Right. It's almost like if the cheekbone is here, it's literally on top of the cheekbone. And then whatever kind of blends. Yes. What kind of blends down is what blends down. before we used to start in in the carb and then you'd end up having it almost dragging the face down so for new contour is literally it's high and it's lifted it's going back towards the ear it's right almost kind of really going a little bit up towards the temple depending on your face shape and then always pair it with blush i mean blush is again blush is like wearing your favorite sneaks it's just like you got to put them on if you want to feel great yeah yeah yeah blush is like blush.

47:00And that's something that you can literally like if you want to, again, I like a cream blush. You can almost, again, spirit fingers over that contour. And the next thing you know, they're all cheering great together. But yeah, you can definitely, definitely pair them together.

47:13Lori Taylor Davis:Okay. What about highlighter? What is one surefire place to put highlighter to instantly brighten the face? My new kind of hack that I've really been doing, it's kind of like, it's high on that cheekbone. I use the temple. Again, it's certain quadrants of the face. I use the temple to where I'm going to highlight to the temples, to the gods, to the temple gods. So it's literally like I'm going to start high on that cheekbone and back. I feel like sometimes we bring color too close into the center of the face, where if you start back and you kind of get that almost like, again, pulled or natural look, when you get that look, then you can always bring it forward.

47:50But if you start forward, it's almost like you're just trying to like kind of calm down the fact that you bring all that color to the center of the face. Got it. Right. Right. Okay. And I feel like, and did you say you prefer powder or do you prefer cream? I like them both. I'm a makeup artist. You know, we have them. But if I had to pick one, I'm going to say team cream. I like a cream. I like anything that can melt, can really kind of become part of the skin.

48:18Lori Taylor Davis:When should you reach for a powder versus a setting spray to help makeup last? Like how do you make that choice? Is it based on the person's skin type or is it based on like a overall finish you're trying to achieve? You know, I think that's a trick question right about now, because now we have setting sprays that are, that are luminous. That's like the newest thing. And mattifying. And mattifying. Mattifying and luminous at the same time. We'll figure that one out. So I definitely think for me, one of the, it's where you're going when you leave my chair tends to dictate when I'm using a setting spray.

48:56but I also have clients that they love to lasagna it powder foundation setting spray powder and they are literally just applying I do see that the definite need for them like if you want a bulletproof I mean back in the day do I say that we used to use hairspray yeah which was you know not the best thing so so setting powders are definitely that thing where I love to finish with a setting powder I will still put powder and then a setting powder kind of goes over that because there are setting powders out there that literally can almost they're like finishers but even now that's starting to separate you have a makeup finisher that's kind of like the new thing we're seeing makeup finisher and the event setting spray so it just depends on it's the environment you're going to be in it's how much you how long you need your products to to wear and last what are you doing or i mean if you're a gymnast at the olympics then i get it or if you're a bride and you're at a wedding and your makeup artist is not staying with you, then I get it.

49:56But sometimes powder, good old powder, just doesn't seem as cakey. And then setting sprays, some people just don't love the feeling of them. Yeah.

50:04Lori Taylor Davis:Thank you so much. Thank you, Lori. This was so fun. It was so fun. We're so appreciative to have your expertise. So thank you for spending time with us. Thank you so much. Thank you. 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. While you're there, be sure to sign up for our newsletter. Every episode will be delivered directly to your inbox so you won't miss a single thing. And get social with us. Let us know what you think of the episode. You can follow us on Instagram at Breaking Beauty Podcast.

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51:20Please 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.