For many, makeup acts as a way of covering up things they consider to be imperfections and help them to feel more confident. Makeup for you may be a way of expressing yourself, displaying your creativity, or a much-needed confidence boost. Whatever it is, you will be aware that you have your good makeup days and your bad makeup days. You have days where no matter how hard you try your wings just won’t match, and your holy grail foundation is just clumping in places it never used to. When those bad makeup days (or weeks) come around, it is time to turn a scrutinising eye to your skincare routine, and what techniques and tools you are using that are helping to blend that makeup on to the skin. Makeup will only look as good as the skin underneath it. You can be the most skilled makeup artist in the world, but you still won’t be able to solve dry skin and excess oil with your makeup. If anything, piling more on top is going to accentuate those problems. Here are some tips and tricks that will help your makeup look as good at the end of the day as it does when you first put it on in the morning.

Skincare Routine

The basics you will need to be doing every morning and night is cleansing, toning and moisturising. This will help to clean the gunk that collects in your pores over the day, close the open pores, and replace moisture that has been lost throughout the day or through cleansing. Building on top of those basics you will need to cater your skincare routine to your skin type. If you are unsure of your skin type, you can either do some researching, ask a dermatologist or answer this question: how does your skin feel after you get out of the shower? If it feels extremely tight, then it is probable that you have dry skin. If not, you will either have combination or oily. Combination can be diagnosed through the appearance of dry cheeks and an oily t-zone, whereas oily skin will create a build-up of oil throughout the day, separating your foundation and making you appear shiny. If your skin is dry, you are going to want a gentle cleanser that does not dry out the skin too much, a toner which will relieve your skin of dead skin cells, and a rich moisturiser. If your skin is oily, you’re going to want a gentle moisturiser and a thorough cleanser. The Clinique 3 Step is a good place to start. They have a two-week trial that is catered to every skin type. Once you have the basics down, you can look into exfoliants, facial oils, masks, eye creams, and serums. skincare is really a case of trial and error, and finding what works best for you. However, the basics are always a good place to start. Once you have gotten used to and committed to having a day and night skincare routine in place, you can start to invest in a more intense and catered-to-your-skin-type routine.

Treatments

There are plenty of factors that go into creating the texture of your skin. As well as a skincare routine there may be other treatments that can help improve the texture of your base from makeup application. There are threading treatments for unwanted hair, and facials that cater to any imperfection you would like to improve. There is microdermabrasion which removes the top layer of dead skin cells to reveal brighter and more youthful skin underneath, and re-balance facials catered for combination to oily skin types. There also purity facials for skin types that suffer from congestion and blocked pores. There are even anti-ageing and vitamin facials for anyone who is worried about fine lines and wrinkles. As well treatments for your skin, there are also treatments to make your teeth whiter. If you are a lover of bold lips you will know how – unless you are wearing a blue undertone red lip – most colours can make your teeth appear yellow and discoloured. Having a bright pearly white smile is the best accessory for a killer glam makeup look.

Follow these tips to see a significant improvement in your skin’s appearance, the application of your makeup, and the way it appears on the skin. Although, this is a beauty dedicated post it is important to note that societal beauty standards are nearly always false and unrealistic. Practising self-love and learning to love yourself in your own skin is invaluable. Makeup put on to skin you love no matter what – will always look amazing – and you are beautiful both with and without makeup.