I had a strange experience recently, where for some reason, every foundation I put on my skin looked off. It so happened that I was trying out a new foundation, and I was quite ready to pan it. My makeup looked splotchy and wore off quickly through the day and although I have normal-dry skin, I was actually having to blot as the day wore on.
For someone who doesn’t own oil blotters, it was quite a mind-boggling experience.
But one morning, I picked up one of my favourite foundations that never fails me. And horrors, I noticed the same problem rearing its ugly head after a few hours! My first reaction was “Is something wrong with my skin?” and the second was “Stupid foundation, there must be something wrong with it!”
But after my initial outburst, a cooler head prevailed and I tried to figure out what was wrong. For the record, the 2 foundations in the picture above – Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide and Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation are 2 of my newer favourite foundations. I’ll be expanding my Top 8 foundation list soon to include a few more I’ve been using over the last 6 months 🙂
After careful thought, I hit on the problem. It wasn’t the fault of my foundation. The problem went deeper than that!
The problem was with my sunscreen.
I wear sunscreen daily and in the past 2 years, I’ve only ever used one – Shiseido Perfect UV Protector SPF50+. I preach about its virtues to anyone who’d listen, it’s the only one I’d comfortably recommend and I have gone through multiple bottles of it (out of my own pocket, and if you know how much it costs, that’s a lot of money I’m dumping into sunscreen that I run through like water. But whatever works!)
Part of the reason I love the Shiseido Perfect UV so much is because aside from it protecting my skin (and I swear it does it impressively even by the beach!) it makes a wonderful makeup base/primer. People often ask me whether I use a makeup primer and my answer is always no. I don’t like using more products than necessary so I use my foundation directly over sunscreen, which forms the last step of my makeup. That my sunscreen also forms my primer never quite crossed my mind.
And in the past 2 years I’ve had absolutely no problems. Foundations that I like stay on nicely, and foundations I dislike don’t. But then, I was recently given the opportunity to try a couple of new sunscreens. I haven’t used a new sunscreen in over 2 years, and I’d just squeezed out the last drop of my Shiseido sunscreen. I thought I’d give it a go.
Unfortunately however, that’s when I noticed the problem with my foundations. The new sunscreens had a different, creamier texture and had a tendency to oil up as the day wears on. I’ll review them separately in a separate post, and I’m not saying they’re bad products, but they played merry hell with my foundation and confounded me for 2 weeks while I laid every blame I could on my skin and foundations (poor maligned skin and products!).
When I broke down, bought a new bottle of Shiseido Perfect UV and used it, the balance in my universe was restored. I achieved foundation nirvana again.
I also knew then, that whenever a foundation doesn’t seem to work on our skins, sometimes, it’s not the fault of the product. It could be because of what we’re wearing underneath. Perhaps it’s your sunscreen where the texture doesn’t mesh well with your foundation. Sometimes, it could be your skincare – a day cream may be too emollient, and because it’s hot in the tropics, you may oil up more quickly than you expect, which may mess up your perfect base.
So my tip here is, before you pan a makeup product, consider if you’ve changed something in your skincare routine. In my case, it was my sunscreen that messed things up and frustrated me for 2 weeks. I’m using the same foundations now over my regular sunscreen with no issues at all so I know it’s not the fault of the foundations.
Have you experienced something similar? Have you dumped a poorly performing makeup product or foundation without considering if it might be your skincare that’s incompatible?
I admit that this is the first time I’d thought about how my skincare plays with my makeup. I usually just slap things on and assume they’d work. This time, I realised I might have to think about it a little more. Sometimes, it may not be the fault of the product, it could just be what we use for our skincare that results in different people having different experiences with the same makeup product 🙂
Paris B
I tend to run into issues with moisturizers and foundations. Most of the time, it’s that I often slather on the moisturizer and if I use it a little more sparingly, things go well. I do wonder sometimes, when I read/ watch a review, if it is something to do with what’s underneath.
I’m a little more forgiving to reviews now that I’ve discovered this for myself. Because we never apply the foundation on bare skin, sometimes, it may react a certain way because of what skincare we use and we may not realise it 😉
I wholeheartedly agree. When I have dry flakes on my skin and use the drier Japanese sunscreens, this Shiseido one included, I find that my foundation will emphasise it. When I use a richer base like the Estee Lauder Crescent White UV, there are no flakes to be seen (same foundation of course). I have a variety of sunscreens at home and rotate them and it’s been very helpful.
Yep, I noticed that but man, that Estee Lauder turned my foundations into an oil slick! Maybe just far too moisturising but my skin has been behaving very well with the Shiseido – it’s not as drying as many other Japanese sunscreens I’ve used which I’m thankful for 😀
I think I had the same issue years back but I didn’t know what was wrong. Perhaps it was the sunscreen because it was quite gooey and whitish so when I applied my foundation, I felt like I was wearing something so thick on my face so I ended up not using any sunscreen, just relying on whatever sun protection the foundation provided. And other sunscreens that I tried afterwards always gave the same result, I think because all of them shared same attributes – can be oily after applying or gave the whitish appearance that affect the foundation shade or just plain cakey.
But nowadays, I found my perfect sunscreen which wasn’t like the previous sunscreens so I’m happy to apply again sunscreen before foundation. In fact, I sometimes skip foundation when I was too lazy to wear makeup LOL
Some tips that I learned which most people already knew: always wear sunscreen when playing sports in the sun, whether in early morning or late afternoon. I skip sunscreen when I played sports because I thought the sunscreen will melt and I thought it was so early in the morning or already quite late in the afternoon. However, just couple of months and my skin turned darker that I need to get 2 shades darker foundation! Lesson learned, my friend 😀
Here’s a great article on how different ingredients in your base can affect your foundation.
http://www.reddit.com/r/MakeupAddiction/comments/25hkqi/how_to_tell_if_your_foundationprimer_is_silicone/
Thanks for sharing the link, quite an interesting explanation on how the different based primer can affect different based foundation (whether water, oil or silicone based). The article also explained on how to correctly applying moisturizer and sunscreen as it will affect the foundation, too.
Glad you’ve found a sunscreen that works for you Fathin 🙂 I’m a huge proponent of wearing sunscreen in all conditions but I know the texture doesn’t agree with everyone so the key is always to find one that does work for you even if it means trying many to find out! Thank you too for sharing your tip about wearing sunscreen when playing sports even if late in the day. Even is tanning isn’t a concern, damaging UV rays are and it’s good practice! 😀
I have experienced similar issues in the past but I find that factors such as even primers could affect the finish of a foundation. In the past, I find that I had more problems with foundations not meshing with primers rather than my skin care because most often, I just use a light sunscreen/moisturizer anyway and tailor my primer to suit my skin when I put on foundations.
And also, ooo BB skin foundation! It’s interesting to hear that you liked it and am also interested to hear your thoughts on it. I find it doesn’t last long on me sadly sigh.
Absolutely right about primers, Robert. I don’t use primer which is why I didn’t notice that happening for me 🙂 I really like the BB Skin foundation! Stays put all day long and gives my skin this lovely dewy, natural finish. I do set it though, either with a powder, Meteorites or Hourglass Ambient light powders. All work 🙂
I’m looking for so long for a good sunscreenso propably i will try it out because it sounds so good !
xoxo Afrodite
Try the Shiseido, I swear by it!
Great that you point it out. I am recently bothered by serious acne outbreak and it seems to get worse over months. I believe it is hormonal acne because mainly both cheeks and lower face involved. However it tends to get persistent now that I worry. And until I see a dermatologist today who reminds me not to use oily products on face, I shrug it off initially because I have been checking my sunscreen, foundation etc which I never change since ages. But, oh crap, I forgot my shiseido Maquillage primer which I use on & off and it contains lavender oil, mica etc! I’d love to share those tips and mistakes I learn if I have a blog but I just impossibly keep a blog. 😉 Hence, thanks greatly for your tips all these while.
Ahhh that’s a good point to note Junni. Sometimes, we layer our products and forget how they work with or against each other. I’m glad you’ve figured out the problem! Even if you don’t blog, thank you for sharing your experiences when a suitable topic comes up because I know a lot of people read the comments as well and it’s helpful!
Hmmm … I’ll have to have a closer look at mine sunscreen as I’ve had the same problem! Thank you, I would never have thought of that
Glad to have given you food for thought Mrs Tubbs! Hope you find a way to make them work!
Good point! I’ve had foundations flake and pill on me and I didn’t know until much later that it was a particular sunscreen that I was using that caused the foundations to act that way. I thought it was the foundations that were rubbish!
Now I try to give foundations a second chance. But if they don’t play well with my regular HG sunscreen, they’re out the window 😛
I have the exact same problem but switch sunscreen with serum and foundation with sunscreen. It’s all about those combinations and some things I like, just don’t mix or it’ll ball up like crazy and give me ruddy skin.
I can’t really do serum + sunscreen either unless it’s a really watery and lightweight texture. If not I’ll get greasy looking yet bone dry feeling in a matter of hours. Bloody hell skin, behave already.
You’re right about skincare mixing weirdly too. I find that a siliconey serum/moisturiser can play up with my other products too. But these days, for some reason, the skincare I use aren’t very siliconey (not intentional) so everything is fine so far. I still don’t do oils in the day though. I’d be a mess 😛 Sometimes, I think it’s harder where you are, especially in winter when you are cold outside and then have the heater on inside. My skin totally messes up every time!
Huh. It’s obvious when you point it out, but I never thought about it!
I’m pretty fickle about my sunscreen so I wonder if I’ve unfairly maligned some foundations.
As I’m sure most of us have at some point or another! As someone else has pointed out, if you wear primer, it might even be the primer! Gosh, so many variables
I have experienced this recently. I’d have a floating oil slick of foundation hanging around my face in just a few hours after applying it. In the span of less than a month, I switch from 3 different types of water-based foundations that I used to love. Then I thought I must be getting old and hormones changed over night and I had just turned more oily and probably need to stop using foundations. The thought saddened me quite a bit and got me started on anti-aging skin care products. But nothing changed until one day I went back to my hometown and forgot to bring my sunscreen ?