Foundation drying like a patchy/pigmented mask?

[Wonderbug81]

I am mid 40s. I went for a make up appt at Charlotte Tilbury (Airbrush) today and also have started finding this with my own foundation (Illamasqua) but basically it looks great and smooth when first on but after an hour or so (once it's fully dried I guess) it goes a bit patchy. So I get a kind of patchwork of my skin and the foundation showing through.

I do wear a fair bit of foundation due to pores and uneven skin tone and need to wear some for a special occassion soon.

Is this likely a case of not having the exact right shade, bad application (make up artist used a sponge, i use fingers), the wrong foundation or poor prep?

It’s often a skin prep issue with foundations not sitting well IME
I find as I’ve got older I need more moisturiser and well hydrated skin to help with patchy foundation plus a damp beauty blender helps
some foundations are harder to blend due to formulas so sometimes it is trial and error to find a good one

It sounds like you have dry skin and need a better base under the foundation.

Thanks @rubyslippers @user593.

The thing is I've been using hylauronic acid serum and an M & S night cream even during the day. Charlotte Tilbury put a night cream on underneath too.

I have started using a starter retinol (The Inkey List) 4 times a week so perhaps it's still too dehydrated and/or my skin's adjusting?

@Wonderbug81 Does your skin feel dry? Some people can find hyaluronic acid drying, particularly if used under certain conditions. It
may be the products you’re using just don’t suit your skin. I’d also be worried about foundation slipping around if I was using a night cream as a day cream.

Mine did this & I ended up buying the Laura Geller makeup. Liquid/ cream foundations don’t do much for me anymore.

This is about the condition of your skin, and you shouldn’t use a night cream during the day,

so you need a good day moisturiser and also you need to ensure you’re fully hydrated,

get a good primer, and don’t wear too much foundation, it will never look good. Just aim for a full coverage one.

If it's happening with your usual foundation and has never happened before I'd put it down to the retinol.

I use the Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum after applying retinol of a evening and again in the morning to stop redness and dryness due to retinol use.

Word of warning if you have your eyebrows waxed. Stop retinol use a few days before or your skin can be so delicate it grazes. I learnt the hard way and had scabbed swollen eyes just before a holiday!

Firm convert to Trinny London, especially her BFF foundation, it sits really nicely and doesn't dry out, it's designed for a more, ahem "mature skin"

I use milky toner under foundation. Retinol does dry out skin at first. Also some foundations just stop working as well as they did on your skin. Maybe try a tinted moisturiser while your skin is acclimatising to retinol

No to be honest apart from my eye area it's not dry as such. I'm thinking I need to switch to a lighter moisturiser.

Thank you, will try a primer and switch to a lighter moisturiser.

Thank you. I'm on a very low dose retinol and I usually layer it over hylauronic acid serum. It never feels too drying but maybe it is still drying my skin a little.

Will look at the Trinny option.

I second the poster who said milky toner. I had this exact same issue until I started using the Byoma milky toner. No foundation issues since I started using it about a year ago.

Op I can recommend this primer. It’s got a cult following and for good reason, on days I don’t wear foundation I wear it on its own. It’s very good.

www.spacenk.com/uk/makeup/complexion/primer/skin-nova-MUK200036203.html?dwvar_MUK200036203_size=UK200036203&quantity=1

I've got dry flaky skin, it could be you have a much more minor version, which is why yours looks ok at first?

Thank you. My skin is smooth, it's more like when you paint with a roller for the first coat and it hasn't covered properly.

Fine when it first goes on but then as the foundation dries, it gets a bit patchy like paint.

I do wear a fair bit of foundation due to pores and uneven skin tone

It sounds as if you'll do better by preparing your skin for the foundation, rather than relying on it to fill pores and mask certain areas. Going back to your decorating analogy, you have to fill any pits in the wall and overcoat stains before applying a thin, even layer of paint. We'd better stop the analogy there, as you won't be sanding down or re-coating 😂

Try using colour-correcting creams and a pore-filling primer, plus a concealer if you still need one after correction. Let each layer settle before applying the next, and take a lighter hand with the foundation.

It's a bit worrying that you talk of your foundation drying out - it sounds as if you mean it's caking. You must be trowelling it on! After applying a thin, even layer of foundation, use a powder to help fix it. This again should be dusted lightly over your face. I use a loose, colourless, 'glowy' powder from Elf but, if you're still concerned about coverage, there are plenty of tinted powders. Put it on with a large, fluffy brush, barely touching your skin.

You can still use a setting spray after the powder if you want.

My skin flaked for two months after starting tretinoin, and still does it periodically. I found there was nothing to be done about it, apart from leaving off for a week. It is supposed to stimulate cell renewal. This means old cells must be pushed off, and it seems some of us have skin that clears them out in bursts (much like the way I empty all my rubbish the night before bin day!)

You don't give any details about your skin type, only your skin tone. It's really important, when choosing a foundation, to know if your skin leans dry, oily, combination, sensitive, etc.

You also don't mention anything about your skin prep routine before applying your foundation.

Nor do you meantion anything about how you apply your foundation aside from "using fingers". Okay? But do you rub it in? Dab it on? What do you actually do?

It all matters if you want to have a flawless, natural and long-lasting application.

You need to prep your skin more and apply your foundation in thin layers to build coverage where needed

I think I do mean caking so to continue the decorating analogy moment maybe I've been plastering it on a bit.😁

The MUA at Charlotte Tilbury was piling it on although she did sponge some of it off again which i don't do.

Thank you for the advice!

I would say it's normal to dry, dryer on my cheeks. Not generally sensitive.

Skin prep - usually hylauronic acid serum and a night cream as I've shared with other posters who've said it's too much! But CT also used their magic cream, a serum and a toner on me and it did the same thing with their foundation. I think both she (with a sponge) and I (dabbing and rubbing combo) have both applied it way too heavy.

Aimee Connolly primer was a game changer for me- is about €25 here in Ireland, she’s Irish though so not sure how available it is outside of Ireland. I can’t wear make up without a primer no matter what, I’m just dry patches all over!

Thanks for clarifying. Less is definitely more when it comes to foundation, so if you tend to be heavy-handed, or if that's what the CT rep was, then, yes, the foundation is prone to wear off in patches, peel and cake up. I'd definitely try to use less product and see if that helps.

Your skin prep doesn't sound too bad, but night creams tend to be richer than day creams - so wouldn't necessarily use that if your skin isn't of the dry type. There needs to be a balance between too much and too little skincare in order for the foundation to sit well on the skin. Since you have normal skin mostly, with dry areas such as your cheeks, I'd not necessarily treat my entire face the same. I'd add a more rich cream (such as a night cream) on my cheeks, but use a day cream on the rest of my face.

I think it's fine to use your fingers to apply foundation, but I find that it really helps to

• Pump the foundation into your face cream and mix it up so you're essentially creating your own BB or CC cream
• Use a damp, soft makeup sponge after you've applied foundation to dab all over my face. This really helps melt the product into my skin. This method also removes any excess product that might sit on my skin. Then, I give my face a very light dusting of powder (please avoid matte powder if you're not oily skinned). Like, literally just a very soft sweep over the parts of my face I know are prone to get a bit oily throughout the day
• Bring a cheap makeup sponge/puff with you when you're out and about to dab your foundation down throughout the day if you need to. You can lightly sprinkle a few drops of water on the puff before dabbing the skin down
• I find that using a grippy primer really helps, too. Since your cheeks are on the dry side, I'd probably choose a primer for glow or hydration

This is really helpful. Hadn't thought to keep a sponge with me during the day either.

I'll take a look at primers too.

You keep saying about the time it takes to dry, which indicates you’re just putting far too much on. Charlotte tilbury foundation takes one to two mins to fully set. It shouldn’t be like rollering paint on.

charlottle tilhury is one pump for full coverage, half a pump for light to medium. How much are you using? Is it more than one pump?

CT was used by the make up artist on their counter. Mine is Ilamasqua and I use it at home.

It only takes a minute or two to dry but after about an hour is when it starts to look like patchy rollered paint.