Beauty Editor Makeup Tips For Keeping Foundation In Place & Fresh All Day Long

No matter your skin type or aesthetic of choice or the time of year—keeping makeup fresh and in place all day long proves to be a challenge for many. For folks with dry skin, they may find it settles into fine lines.

For those with oily skin, it may appear shiny as the day goes on. For acne-prone individuals, there may be issues keeping makeup on even as the day goes on.

This is all to say: It's a very common issue for people who choose to wear makeup—so no, it's not just you who finds the need to touch up midday.

And because it's so common, beauty editors tend to get a lot of questions about it, including one on a previous Clean Beauty School episode with mindbodygreen's former beauty editor Jamie Schneider.

Makeup application, techniques, and tricks are so dependent on your overall look, skin, and formula preferences. So no matter what, finding what works best for you will take some trial and error. 

Schneider's go-to step is finding a primer that compliments your skin and makeup. "I would invest in a primer, especially if you are oil-prone. This way, the foundation or whatever makeup you use can stick to that, not your skin's natural oils," she says. 

Luckily, as she notes, there's a new wave of functional primers hitting the market, so there's no shortage of great formulas to test out. Unlike old-school primers, these have active ingredients that also help the skin (with oil and blemish control, for example), so you can improve the skin over time while helping your makeup wearability throughout the day. 

My move? Playing around with textures of your concealer and foundation. If you've spent time in the makeup aisle, you know that formulas come from silky, thin serum-like numbers to thick full-coverage options. Use this variety to your advantage. 

For example, the skin of the eye area is very thin and experiences a lot of movement throughout the day. Therefore it's more prone to looking clumpy or settling into fine lines.

I recommend finding a thin, flexible concealer here—something that moves with the skin. Whereas if you have texture concerns (like acne scars), opt for something with some thickness so it can help smooth the skin out.