Foundation Battle: Gimme the Base!

Is your makeup water based? Silicone based? Oil? A hybrid? How can you tell and does it really matter?

I have filmed many short videos on social media about the “base” of makeup. They always do very well and I get a lot of questions. Lately it seems that the subject is becoming more popular, as the trend to apply multiple layers of prep and makeup to grows. Most of the time all of those layers get along, but when they don’t - Yikes! So we are seeing more artists and consumers looking at the ingredients in their products and asking why they do, or do not, get along.

A perfect blog topic! Let’s start with the base of foundations.

I love talking about ingredients and formulations, why some products get along and others do not. I love experimenting with different products, seeing how adaptable they are and how I can manipulate them. However, I am a professional makeup artist. Things like that are my “jam”. Not everyone, even other professionals want to be that involved in a product. Many just go with what is popular, what other artists use or what they grab at a makeup store. And that is okay until something goes wrong: A bride’s makeup disappears after 2 hours, your makeup for a special event slides off your nose, the skin gets greasy, a makeup pills, gets textured or changes color after it has set up…..

Whether things go right or things go wrong- It is all about formulation.

The formulation of a product refers to ingredients and function. A product is formulated with certain ingredients in certain amounts to perform specific duties. All makeup, all skin products have a “base”. Many people think that the first ingredient listed is the base, but this is not always the case. The base is the carrier that delivers either pigment or treatment to the skin. When we have many products on our face with different “bases” we can start to see issues. (Remember that saying about oil and water?????)

Let’s talk about foundation makeup specifically.