non-stop November: back to basics: mixing foundations

Lately, one of my biggest makeup obsessions has been mixing my foundations. I know, I know...this sounds messy and like a big hassle- but it's really not! I think mixing your foundations can give you the exact coverage and finish you are looking for without having to trial hundreds of them to find the "perfect" one. Because in the end, isn't that what we all want? The foundation that will shrink our pores, make our skin look matte or glowing and youthful and hide all our flaws, but at the same time not look cakey (that's expecting quite a lot from a liquid!).

This is great if you are, say, more of an oily person but you want to use a dewy foundation or vice versa. Also, let's say you love a foundation but the shade is too deep or light for you- you can mix it with one that is lighter or darker to get the perfect shade! So let me show you what foundations I love mixing.

Pictured above are three matte full coverage foundations and then a dewy light to medium coverage one. Mixing a matte foundation with a dewy one allows me to wear a dewy foundation without looking or becoming too oily. Also, this thins out the coverage a little and can sometimes make full coverage foundations easier to work with. The three full coverage foundations I really enjoy are the Revlon Colorstay Makeup for Combination/Oily Skin, CoverGirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation and Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme Makeup. The dewy foundation I usually  mix them with is the L'Oreal True Match Lumi Healthy Luminous Makeup.

Here I have the L'Oreal True Match Lumi Healthy Luminous Makeup in shade W1-2 on the left and the CoverGirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation in 810 Classic Ivory on the right. In the middle you can see these foundations mixed together- which you can do on your hands or by dotting the foundation on your face and then blending with a stipple or buffing brush.

You can tell a bit that one foundation is a little more yellow in undertone while the other leans more pink- mixing them can give you more of a neutral undertone, which is great for foundations that only come in one or the other.

The next set of foundations that I mix all have light to medium coverage but are either too light or too dark for me right now. The L'Oreal True Match Super Blendable Makeup and Make Up For Ever HD Invisible Cover Foundation are both a light-medium coverage foundation that are a little too pale for me at this moment (not for long though), whereas the L'Oreal Magic Nude Liquid Powder Bare Skin Perfecting Makeup and Smashbox Camera Ready CC Cream are a few shades too deep.

On the right I have the Make Up For Ever HD Invisible Cover Foundation in N117 and mixed that (middle swatch) with the Smashbox Camera Ready CC Cream in Light/Medium on the right. This give me a little bit of a lighter coverage, but also allows me to wear both foundations even though you can see one is clearly too light and the other too dark.

I personally do not like putting foundation on the back of my hand- too messy for my liking- so I generally just dot each foundation on my face with my fingers. Like I mentioned above, I then usually stipple the foundation so the colors start to mix together with a buffing or stipple brush and then blend it all together in circular motions.

I hope this gave you some courage to mix a couple of your foundations. I would have never thought to do this before, but lately, it's giving me the perfect look! I could not be more satisfied!

Always stay happy and healthy! :) Tschüss, Katharina