How to Make Your Make-up Stay Put

Whether you are outside all day at a summer festival or inside all night at a hot club, you want to make sure that your make-up stays in place. No two people wear make-up the same way, so take my suggestions and tweak them so that they will work well for you.

Skin
Make sure that you exfoliate the skin rather well before make-up application. The make-up will look better over the top of skin that is even. Use a very light oil free moisturizer with SPF of 20 or above. If you have oily skin just use a little oil free SPF. Make-up sticks well to dry skin but you don’t want the face so dry that it makes the makeup clump together on the face.

SPF
We all know by now that we need to be using SPF everyday no matter what, right? Keep in mind that you need to let sunscreen sit on the skin for at least 20 minutes before stepping outside. Please remember to put sunscreen on your scalp, the top of the ears and the tops of your feet. Those are the places most easily forgotten. You can also find hair products to help prolong the color of your hair with an added SPF. The sun loves to suck the color out of hair, especially dyed-black hair.

Primer
Primer for face base will help to smooth out most imperfections and will help make-up last as long as possible. You can now find face primers with added SPF. The use of primers will allow you to keep the number of products on your face to a minimum, giving you less of a chance for disaster. Eye shadow and lip primers will help you to get a very bright and bold look of a color while also helping the product stay in place.

Base
I have found that tinted moisturizer is the most wearable base for a very fair look. I used to pile a lot of white base on my face and then realized that it makes people look older and less in control of the face. You can opt for a very fair shade of tinted moisturizer and build the base to perfection. This look also allows the skin to breathe so that you are not sweating off all of your hard work. If you would like more coverage, try mixing a heavier foundation with a little bit of moisturizer on your own. This method will provide the right kind of moisture for the face while still giving you a lot of coverage. Set the make-up with a very light translucent or white powder. If you have pinkish skin, try using a green or yellow tinted face setting powder. This will assist you in achieving a very fair look while using less actual face make-up.

Eyes
For your eyes this summer, I would suggest using Eye Tattoo by Hard Candy. The product is available in many different looks and each comes with its own setting powder to make sure that they stay put. If you would prefer to use only black liner or shadow, try using She Laq by Benefit Cosmetics to actually seal on eye shadow, eyebrows and mascara. This clear, waterproof liquid works well to actually lock on those parts of your make-up. It washes off well and comes with a mini brush set. Waterproof mascara and eyeliner are also a great idea to help keep the longevity of your look.

Lips
Use a primer and a liner to keep your lip color in place. A great look for high impact is black eyeliner on the lips with a clear gloss over the top. It is always a good idea to outline the lip area with a light concealer to keep the lip color in place as long as possible.

Set
One of the best tips that I have learned over the years is to set a very heavy face with a light mist. Use either a make-up setting mist or even a light mist of water can work. This concept seems backwards, but if done right, can actually prolong the life of your make-up. Hard Candy products that can be found online or in any Walmart. My favorite Hard Candy products include Eye Tattoo in Animal and Sheer Envy Primer and Tinted Moisturizer. For setting spray I recommend Fix+ by MAC.