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The sequence
The Order of Makeup, and Why Each Step Exists
Every product in a kit is answering a problem the previous one created. Applied in order, they compound. Applied out of order, they cancel each other out.
The chain, and what each link is for
Read this as a chain rather than a list. Each step only makes sense because of the one before it.
- Skincare — creates an even surface. Without it, foundation clings to dry patches and slides off oily ones.
- Primer or blur — controls what skincare could not. Oil in the T-zone, or texture and pores.
- Foundation — evens tone. It also removes all natural colour from the face, which is the problem every later step is fixing.
- Concealer — handles what foundation could not, in the smallest possible area.
- Cream bronzer — puts warmth back. Cream now, while the base is still receptive.
- Cream blush (optional) — colour that sits in the skin rather than on it.
- Powder — locks everything cream underneath and creates a new surface for everything powder above.
- Powder contour — shadow, now that there is something to grip.
- Powder blush — colour and life.
- Highlighter — light, last of the colour steps, so nothing sits on top of it.
- Setting spray — binds it all into one film and kills the powdery look.
How each product extends the one before it
Skincare buys the foundation grip. Foundation buys the concealer a matched background, so you need far less of it. Cream bronzer buys the powder something warm to sit over, so the face does not go grey when you set it. Powder buys the contour and blush a surface with tooth, so they blend instead of skidding. Highlighter needs everything else finished, because anything applied over it dulls it.
And the setting spray buys back what powder cost you — it re-wets the surface so eleven separate layers re-dry as one.
The three inversions that break a face
- Cream after powder. Patching, grabbing, streaks. The most common error in the whole sequence.
- Highlighter before powder. You will powder over your own glow and wonder where it went.
- Concealer before foundation. The foundation pass wipes most of it away, so you use twice as much and it creases.
Where you are allowed to break it
Two places, and both are deliberate.
Eyes before base, whenever you are using saturated colour. Fallout onto a finished foundation costs more time to clean than doing the eyes first ever costs you.
A second thin foundation layer after powder, on camouflage work. Set the first layer, then press a very thin second layer on top and set again. It holds far better than one thick layer ever will.
The products for this
Dior Backstage Face & Body FoundationFull specification, how it is used, and where to buy it in Morocco.
Hourglass Vanish Airbrush ConcealerFull specification, how it is used, and where to buy it in Morocco.
NARS Laguna Bronzing Cream 02Full specification, how it is used, and where to buy it in Morocco.
Make Up For Ever Compact PowderFull specification, how it is used, and where to buy it in Morocco.
Questions
Should concealer go before or after foundation?
After, always. Foundation first means you will need much less concealer, and less concealer is what stops it creasing.
Can I use cream blush and powder blush together?
Yes, and it is the most long-wearing way to do it — cream first, set, then the same family of powder shade over the top. The cream anchors the colour so it survives the night.
Do I have to use primer?
No. Primer solves a specific problem — oil, or texture. If you do not have that problem, it is a step that adds nothing and one more vehicle to clash with.
Knowing how is one thing. Ninety minutes on the morning is another
I bring every product on this site to brides across Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakech and Tangier — matched to your skin, your caftan, and the light you will actually be photographed in.
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