About seven years ago I had a make over at the Bobbi Brown counter in Selfridges in London. It was then that I was recommended to not use moisturiser underneath my foundation. Although I never really understood why not?
Now, the challenge for any busy mother and career women is to be able to have immaculate make up, by the end of the day – without resorting to any touch ups. Therefore, the last thing you want to happen to you is your foundation sliding off – I’ve never really seen this happen to me. (To be fair, I actually have to wear foundation before it can slip off!)
Part of me has always been keen to wear moisturiser beneath my foundation (on the few times I do wear foundation), as my moisturiser has added sun protection in and my foundation rarely does. Consequently, I was delighted to hear from a beauty consultant on the clarins counter, that I should moisturise before putting my foundation on. Younger teenage skin, which is prone to spots, may like to opt not to put the moisturiser on first as this can make the skin even greasier. In fact, that’s one of the arguments against moisturiser before foundation – it can make your skin greasy.
Anyway, it appears that as you get older that moisturiser plus foundation is very much the order of the day. However, the golden rule is you need to moisturise and then let the moisturiser sink into your skin, BEFORE putting on your foundation. That’s right, you need to leave 10 mins or so between your moisturiser and then putting your foundation on. This stops the foundation from blocking your pores (because the moisturiser is there first!), and helps prevent the foundation slipping off during the day.
I don’t really have a spare extra 10 mins between moisturising and using foundation – so I tend to just make do with tinted moisturiser and powder.
