Finding complexion perfection

Versality in your makeup bag is a very useful thing. Going to work? Then do your everyday makeup look. Going out for an evening? Have a couple of extra tricks up your sleeve to take that day look up a notch. 

As much as it makes us choke on our cheerios to utter the words "foundation wardrobe" it's ideal to have a little variety in your complexion products. And this is totally possible with two products max (a capsule wardrobe?) - a product to give you an overall even skin tone, its texture matched to your preferred everyday look; and a kick ass concealer which can be used as and when needed for more heavy lifting. 

Let's start by defining some of these words which I find myself using more and more to describe makeup products: 
COVERAGE - how well the product will cover anything you don't want to see on your skin
PIGMENT - the colour particles in makeup
TEXTURE - the feel of the product once applied on your skin
FINISH - how the product looks on the skin

In today's world coverage does not have to mean a heavy texture sitting on top of the skin. We prefer lightweight textured products loaded with pigment which can cover to your hearts content without looking too much unlike skin. The brilliance of this type of coverage is that you can use it just where needed as it blends beautifully. Apply thoughtfully and you'll get compliments on your skin. Because your application looks like skin. Wizardry. Magical. 

Digging into the fun part, products! Your options for an everyday base, or foundation product to even out skin tone working our way from the lightest of coverage to the fullest are: 

NOTHING
The easiest base is nothing. Go forth and show off that gorgeous skin. 

TINTED MOISTURISER OR SUNSCREEN
These have a low level of pigment in a skincare product so it's a twofer if you're short on time as they'll give your skin a bit of evening out plus some hydratey glow and protection. 
There are many online gripes about tinted products not coming in a range of shades to suit all skin tones. They'll tend to the California tan as middle ground so if you're fair there's the potential to look a tad Magda, and if your skin is deeper they'll look ashy and grey. Brands talk about the pigment being so sheer it'll suit many skin tones but I have yet to see this from a product. 









Our favourite tinted moisturiser
Josh Rosebrook's Tinted Nutrient Day Cream, a fantastic SPF30 moisturiser with a golden tint suitable for an olive complexion.

LIGHTWEIGHT FOUNDATION (often found by the name of serum foundation in 2024)
These products sit in the light coverage category but tend toward glowiness and are brilliant if you are mostly happy with the state of your skin but want to lift it a bit. You're feeling dry, tired, want more radiance, etc. These will give it to you.


Our favourite lightweight foundation
Kjaer Weis Invisible Touch Liquid Foundation which gives the greatest of glows with a sheer pigment to gently even out your complexion. You're left with sheeny, healthy skin. The bad news on this front is that KW are running out this foundation in its current state and bringing back a reformulation in 2025. We have a little stock left if you're quick (and the shades are right). 

LIGHT TO MEDIUM COVERAGE FOUNDATION
A fluid with levelled up pigment, read: coverage, which will also tend to have more texture, or feel on the skin. You can layer these to give more coverage where needed, and if it's a goodie you should be able to sheer the product out in areas where you want your skin to shine through.


Our favourite light to medium coverage foundation
Fan favourite Ere Perez Oat Milk Foundation. Super creamy and blendable, this foundation gives a buildable base while always looking like great skin. You'll get compliments not on your makeup, but on your skin which is a win in our books. 

Moving into the heavy hitters for better coverage, concealers.
LIGHTWEIGHT CREAMY CONCEALER
A creamy concealer is a godsend when you want to cover more - under eyes, redness on cheeks/nose/chin, blemishes, pigmentation as you can layer where needed and it'll blend out perfectly. Lightweight and creamy is key if you are dry, dehydrated or want imperceptible coverage, which is pretty much everyone (at least in the undereye area). 


Our favourite lightweight creamy concealer
Ere Perez's Lychee Creme Corrector as it has brilliant pigment in a light cream base so covers well without being cakey or heavy. The creaminess is ideal for under eyes which tend to be lacking in hydration and oil, but it is so lightweight in texture that once settled in it won't crease. 

CONCEALER/ FOUNDATION HYBRID
Tending toward a heavier looking cream foundation in a pot, a concealer/foundation hybrid will give the most coverage of all. Packed with pigment it can be built up to a high coverage foundation all over or used thoughtfully where you feel you need it. 


Our favourite Concealer/ Foundation Hybrid
Blunder Cover by Monika Blunder Beauty looks super creamy and heavy in the pot, but the texture sheers out beautifully leaving beautiful pigmented coverage while always looking like skin. 

Note: We haven't touched on powder foundations as we lived through the mid 2000s when everyone and their dog was on the hunt for 'mineral makeup' which came in the form of a powder. Don't get us wrong, powder can be a godsend if you are on stage or shiny beyond measure, but in general powder on the skin looks like powder on the skin. Sometimes, brands throw a bit of shimmer into the formulation to try to give a skin-like glow which has the unfortunate effect of giving the face an eerily disco-ball-like-finish (we're looking at you Suzanne Paul). Not skin-like, not what we like. As always, super happy to be proven wrong one of these days when cosmetic chemists do their science wizardry and create a banging powder foundation which looks like skin.