When it comes to makeup, we all know the drill — primer, foundation, concealer, powder and you’re done. But did you know that you need to alter the way you layer your base makeup products depending on the look you’re trying to achieve? Yes, really. Achieving a dewy look doesn’t just mean sweeping on oodles of highlighter. A dewy look starts with the base. In fact, you need to ace the base to perfect any look you’re trying to recreate. Scroll down to learn how to do just that.
 

01. Minimal makeup for everyday

01. Minimal makeup for everyday

No matter how much you love makeup, you will get bored of wearing a full face of makeup if you’re wearing makeup daily. Playing with eye makeup is still fun as you get to try different things every day. But it’s not the case with your base makeup. So, for daily makeup wearers, using concealer and powder would be ideal.

This base makeup routine will take barely five minutes of your time. 

 

02. Light and flawless coverage for a casual day

02. Light and flawless coverage for a casual day

Have a casual brunch with friends or a house party you don’t want to dress up too much for? This is the base makeup you need. A BB cream with a light to medium coverage and concealer will do the trick.

 

03. Subtle glam for date nights

03. Subtle glam for date nights

You gotta bring your A-game to a fancy date or cocktail event. This means medium to full coverage, highlighting, contouring and the whole shebang! Foundation, a lighter concealer and powder is perfect for this kinda occasion.

  • Apply your favourite foundation all over your face. If this is a daytime catch-up, use a foundation with SPF like the Lakmé Absolute Argan Oil Serum Foundation SPF 45.
  • Once it’s all blended in, use a concealer that’s about a shade or two lighter than your skin tone and draw two tiny stripes under your eyes.
  • Blend it in the shape of inverted triangles and blend upwards to your temples. This will add a lift and more dimension to your face.
  • Set the concealer with a lighter shade of powder for extra lift and definition.

 

04. Natural and long-lasting makeup for work

04. Natural and long-lasting makeup for work

Makeup for work calls for heavy-duty products that don’t require constant touching up. However, you also don’t need a lot of coverage for this. You will be wearing this makeup all day so it needs to be light, breathable and easy to do. Moreover, when getting dressed for work, you won’t have a lot of time in hand to use multiple products. A foundation and powder will suffice. You can use the same foundation as a concealer too.

  • Apply an adequate amount of a long-wearing foundation like the Lakmé 9To5 Primer + Matte Perfect Cover Foundation all over your face and blend.
  • Use a tiny dollop of the same foundation under your eyes and conceal around your eyes.
  • After you’ve blended it all in, lock your makeup in place with a compact powder and complete the look with your lipstick, eyeliner and mascara.

 

05. Full glam for important events

05. Full glam for important events

For full glam looks, you generally go for heavy eye makeup. And when the eye makeup is heavy, the rest of the makeup also needs to be flawless for it all to go well together. If the eyes are bold and the makeup is light, it draws attention to any imperfection that isn’t covered. You will need a colour corrector for your skin tone, a lighter concealer, a full coverage foundation and powder.

  • Use a peach or orange colour corrector under your eyes and dark spots. Blend it only in the darker areas, do not drag it out like a concealer.
  • Once that is done, apply a full coverage concealer like the Lakmé Absolute White Intense Liquid Concealer SPF 25 over under your eyes, right under your cheekbone, on the bridge of your nose and centre of your chin.
  • Blend it out but don’t diffuse it all the way like you normally would. Keep it a little opaque as we will apply foundation on top to balance it out.
  • If you have a darker concealer, use that to cream contour.
  • Once that is done, apply your foundation all over your face and blend it in with your concealer.
  • Finally, powder the skin and set the concealer in place.

This reverse foundation technique was made famous by none other than JLo’s makeup artist Scott Barnes. To give the singer naturally glam yet flawless skin, he layers his base products in this order: corrector>concealer>foundation>powder.