How To Stay Matte All Day

I guess I’ve had this thing my whole life where if I complain about how oily my skin is and how inconveniencing it is, it’ll just magically go away. Unfortunately, that’s never worked for me so I had to figure out what to do. I feel like I’ve tried everything and although some options have worked better than others, there was nothing that I was completely satisfied and comfortable with. Until the day before my wedding. Right before I needed to get ready for the rehearsal, I found a new technique and figured I had nothing left to lose. I gave it a shot and my life is now changed forever!
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Of course there’s some obvious steps that we should go ahead and get out of the way first. Before starting any makeup, you should always prime your skin. Especially if you have oily skin! Just like paint on a wall or paint on your nails, how do you expect it to stay if you don’t prime first? Right now I’m using the Smashbox Photo Finish primer. It’s good, it’s just not my favorite. When I find the perfect one, I’ll let you know!
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Primer’s not only important for the obvious reasons, it’s also an essential part of making this trick work. Once the primer is set and dry, take a small brush that doesn’t have very dense bristles (I’m using a small blush brush from an old BH Cosmetics set) and lightly dust some loose powder over areas where you would typically get oily. For me, that’s almost my entire face. Just make sure you’re not applying too much or it can really mess with the foundation you’ll be layering over it.
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I know it sounds crazy and against everything we’ve been taught our whole life, but trust me when I tell you that this trick works. The key is to make sure that you’re using a loose powder, a loose bristled brush, and layering it over primer. If you don’t have primer down, there’s not going to be anything for it to stick to. I’m not a total genius, so I don’t know the science behind this and how it works. I just know that after hours of wear, I’m not nearly as oily as I usually am.
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Towards the end of the day, especially if it’s really humid outside, I’ll still have to blot a little bit. With this trick, it just ends up being about six hours after application rather than 1 ½ - 2 hours. If I’m not at home, my favorite blotting sheets to carry with my are Elf’s Mattifying Blotting Papers. I love the little puff that they include and that the paper has powder on it, I just wish their packaging was a little smaller.

If I am at home, I like to blot excess oil with a tissue first and then use Ofra’s Oil Control Pressed Powder with my Elf Powder brush. Those two work really well together and blotting before dipping into the powder can help prevent oil build up. This powder can create a slight white cast over the skin, though, so I typically only apply it in my t-zone area which helps to brighten my face a little bit.
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It sounds crazy to use powder before your foundation, but I can’t believe the difference it has made on my skin throughout the day. I do still apply powder after blending the foundation into my skin, I just don’t use nearly as much or it can have the tendency to cause cake face. We already discussed in a previous post how that’s so not cute and ways to prevent it. Finishing with a setting spray can also help to make things look a bit more natural on the skin.

If you found this trick helpful, please feel free to share it using one of the buttons below. If you have questions about this or any other makeup hack, leave them for me in the comments section! Have you tried this trick before? What’s your main beauty concern?

~Mani Monday~
I loved my Essence nail polish so much last week, that I wanted to wear the second color I picked up. I wasn’t really into this shade at first when I went to paint it on my nails. I mean, I think it’s beautiful, it’s just not what I wanted for this week. But I changed my mind as soon as I got the first nail done. It’s a beautiful classic pink and compared to last week’s, I would definitely recommend only using one coat with these polishes. They’re amazing quality, but can get a little too thick after two coats. Thankfully, they’re opaque enough to get away with one coat, which also makes application and drying time faster! I'm now fully convinced that I need every single shade from this line!
What’s on your nails this week?

~Christina~

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