Blending Over Those Fine Little Wrinkles

Courtesy of Paula Begoun's Beauty Bulletin

If you’ve started to notice that foundation or concealer is sinking into some of those little wrinkles on your face, especially the laugh lines, lines under the eyes, or near the crow’s feet (I have no affection for the person who came up with the term “crow’s feet” to describe the lines extending from the back corner of the eyes!), you have to be even more meticulous about how you blend your foundation into place. In this regard, less is best. Blend, blend, and blend again, making sure to remove the excess in those areas with the clean side of the sponge. Continue blending intermittently while you apply your lipstick, blush, and/or eyeshadow to ensure that you have removed the excess.

Minimize your use of moisturizers over the areas where you have lines, and use a foundation or concealer that’s neither greasy nor too emollient. Anything with movement and slip gives the foundation a free ride into the lines.

As for those concealers and foundations that claim to deflect, reflect, or somehow improve the appearance of wrinkles: they don’t. And the cosmetics lines that sell foundation primers, which are usually just moisturizers with extra film-forming agents (hairstyling-type ingredients), don’t work all that well either, plus they just add another layer of product to the face, which increases the likelihood of clogging pores, exacerbating breakouts, or creating dull-looking skin. The truth is, a face without foundation always looks less wrinkled. I’m not sure why this has to be so, but it is. You can test this for yourself. Go to the cosmetics counter, find the most expensive foundation with the most elaborate claims about making the skin look less wrinkled, apply a sample to one side of your face, and leave the other side naked with just a dab of moisturizer over dry areas. Then check out your face in the daylight. You will be astonished by how much more noticeable the lines on the foundation side of the face are. Of course, the foundation side will look smoother and will have a more even tone, the redness and blotchiness will be gone, and the pores will have virtually disappeared. But the wrinkles will be more noticeable than on the side without foundation. That’s the agony and ecstasy of foundation!
 

 

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Photo by Jyn Meyer.