Practical - The Perfect Base

In our latest couple of practical session with Sue we were shown how to create the perfect base for a natural makeup look. I set up my work station by placing each roll over the mirror shelf and laying out all of the products and brushes that I would need for todays lesson and turning on the mirror lights. Once we had tied our models hair back and given them a gown to wear we washed our hands and began by cleansing, toning and moisturising the face and neck. I asked my model if she was wearing contact lenses or if she had any allergies and I was ready to go. 

The products we used to create this look were:

-Illamasqua Matt Finish primer

-Charles Fox Foundation Palette 

-Charles Fox Contour Powder Palette 

-Illamasqua Translucent Powder

-Charles Fox Concealer Pallet

-Mac Shimmer Highlighter

-Illamasqua White Base

The brushes that I used were:

-Charles Fox stippling brush 

-Charles fox Small Rounded Eyeshadow Brush (most small shadow brushes will work)

-Illamasqua Powered Puff

-Charles Fox Kabuki brush 

Once the skin has been prepped properly, you should begin by applying the Illamasqua satin or matte primer. this depends on the skin the of your model as well as the look you are trying to achieve. If you model has naturally very oily skin then the matte primer is probably better to use as it wont add to the grease that will form on the face. The primer allows the foundation to set on the skin and it won’t allow it to move around during the day, making it last longer. You can apply the primer with your hands like you did with the moisturiser, however it is probably best to use a stippling brush to apply this to get more even coverage and to make your model feel more comfortable also. Not only this but the rush will be moist and will take the foundation a lot easier if it has been used to apply the foundation. Once the face and neck have been primed you will need to mix the correct colour of foundation for your model. Using a wooden spatula you should scrap a small amount of an appropriate foundation out of the palette and apply it to the back of your clean hand. If you need to add other colours or any of the Illamasqua white base then you can do so, mixing it again on the back of your hand. Test this colour by applying a single brush stroke onto your models jaw line and down her neck. If you need to make alterations then do so, if not then you will use the foundation that you mixed on your hand to cover the whole face.   

Apply the foundation using the same stippling brush you used to apply the primer, working from the middle of the face and pulling the foundation out. This brush will not create completely streak free finish, so don’t worry about lines in your foundation just yet. You ill need to remember to keep checking you application in the mirror as well as looking at it yourself to avoid any uneveness. Taking the Kabuki brush, you will brush the whole face in small circular motions buff the foundation into the skin. I found that I had lines in my foundation despite me taking a long time trying to get this perfect, but once I had buffed the face my application was flawless and I was very happy with the result. Something that I feel I should add, is that when buffing the face, you are supposed to buff the foundation on the eyelids however you should take into consideration that you will need to be a more careful around this area. When I was being used as a model, during this part of the application, I had a lot of my lashes torn out as they got caught in the brush and this is something that i am very aware of now when working on my models. 

When you have perfected your foundation, you will need to start mixing the correct colour of concealer for your models skin tone. It will need to be 1-2 shades lighter than their foundation in order to have the desired effect. I used numerous colours from the Charles Fox concealer palette in oder to create a match with my models skin, again mixing it on the back of had but applying it with  a small shadow brush rather than the stippler brush. I applied it to any blemishes that I was able to see and also underneath the eyes. I again took the Kabuki brush and blended the concealer into the skin to avoid having any tide lined been your foundation and concealer. To set all of this grease base product, you will need to use a powder all over your models face and neck. The product that I used was the Illamasqua translucent powder because it is colourless and won’t have any visual effect on what I have done so far. I applied it using a power puff, dipping it into the powder and applying it to the face, pressing and rolling the sponge on the skin. 

Finally, we need to contour the face and this means finding the correct places to contour. Ask your model to suck her cheeks inwards so that you’re able to see her cheek bones, gentle feel for the underneath of her bone and draw a faint line to mark this out using the Charles Fox Contour Powder Palette and a small shadow brush. This are needs to be slightly darer than the rest of the face, and so does the tip of the nose, underneath the bottom lip, around the hair line on the forehead and just before the temple on the bone. This needs to be very subtle and blended well, a tip for doing good contouring is to try and make it look like you haven't contoured at all. I finished my look off by applying my favourite highlighter by MAC to the top of the cheek bones and the under neath of the eye socket as well as adding a small amount on the bridge of the nose. 

I was surprised at how much difference expensive products, tool and professional lighting can make to the finish of a look and was pleased with my work today. there was nothing that I really struggled with other than finding he correct colour of foundation for my model, which I managed to do in the end.