How To Make Makeup Not Look Cakey

You might not exist able to explain what cakey makeup is per se, but you definitely know it when you see it on your face: the dreaded lines of demarcation, the patchy, textured skin, the pores and fine lines that look more intense and obvious than they really are. And fifty-fifty though your middle-school days might tell a different story, full-coverage foundation isn't always the culprit—it's frequently how you lot're applying products, the formulas you lot're slathering on top of one some other, and the techniques you're using.

Basically, cakey makeup isn't the result of using too many products simply from using too much product . See the difference? I'll explicate a picayune more than in-depth, below, with all the best makeup tips and video tutorials, so keep reading then you never have to bargain with cakey makeup again.

What does caking hateful in makeup?

Cakey makeup by and large refers to foundation that looks thick, heavy, and noticeable, but it's also kind of a catch-all term for uneven, splotchy makeup that'south creasing, sliding around, breaking up, flaking—basically anything other than makeup that looks ~flawless.~ And because cakey makeup tin can announced in so many different ways, the list of causes can be pretty long, also.

Sometimes, the reason for cakey makeup is way too much production or non the right products, and other times, it has more to do with your actual peel, like skin that's likewise dry or also oily, or skin that hasn't been prepped properly. So with all that in mind, permit's get over a few pro tips for how to refresh cakey makeup and how to prevent it next time.

Cakey makeup tip #1: Melt it with setting spray

If you lot're yet non using a makeup setting spray, why tho? When you've finished all your contouring, bronzing, setting, and highlighting, and your face up looks like a powdered donut, you need to cook allll that powder into your skin. A setting spray volition not merely lock your makeup into identify, but information technology will also take away any powdery remainder and set everything into your peel for a more than natural finish.

4 setting sprays that'll melt makeup into your skin

Urban Disuse All Nighter Setting Spray

Morphe Continuous Setting Mist

E.l.f. Cosmetics Illuminating Mist & Set

Due east.l.f. Cosmetics Illuminating Mist & Prepare

Fenty Beauty What it Dew Makeup Refreshing Spray

Fenty Dazzler What it Dew Makeup Refreshing Spray

Cakey makeup tip #2: Keep blending

An even foundation awarding requires more than than just rubbing it on and calling it a solar day. If your foundation looks cakey later on you've practical information technology, and then yous're not done blending. Use your clammy Beautyblender to gently stamp your foundation (or BB cream, or tinted moisturizer) into your skin over and over again until information technology has basically set (virtually three minutes). The blending and stippling will eliminate any harsh lines and ensure every inch of your skin is covered and even, without the cake.

Cakey makeup tip #iii: Hydrate crepe-y under eyes

And so you've followed all the nether-eye blistering steps to a T, and yet your concealer looks crusty, crepe-y, and chalky. Ugh. What you demand is to add a scrap of hydration dorsum into the skin. This makeup artist'due south trick: Use a face spray or toner that contains squalane (a moisturizer) to hydrate your fine lines and deliquesce powdery residue. But don't just mist information technology all over your makeup—spritz information technology right onto your clean makeup sponge, dab it a few times on the back of your hand to tap off the excess, and so lightly press it over your cakey concealer to ready the dryness without ruining all the work you did.

The lineup that'll fix your cakey concealer

Tatcha Luminous Dewy Pare Mist

Kiehl'due south Ultra Facial Toner

Biossance Squalane + Hyaluronic Toning Mist

Fourth Ray Beauty The Lightweight Hydrator

fourthraybeauty.com

$x.00

Cakey makeup tip #4: Finish with oil

Dry pare has a way of looking cakey and flaky no matter how much prep you do. If you've finished your makeup and your bronzer looks muddy or your foundation looks chalky or cakey, help give it a skin-similar texture by adding in an oil at the end of your routine. But drib a few dots of face oil onto the back of your manus, postage your beauty sponge in it a few times, then lightly (lightly!) stipple it over the dry parts of your face. With this trick, all of your products volition marry each other and become i with your skin.

4 all-time oils for fixing chalky peel

The Ordinary 100% Organic Cold Pressed Moroccan Argan Oil

The Ordinary 100% Organic Common cold Pressed Moroccan Argan Oil

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Oil

Anastasia Beverly Hills Hydrating Oil

Brown and Coconut Hydrating Face Oil

HOW TO Avoid CAKEY MAKEUP

Cakey makeup tip #five: Don't skip skincare

Your hairstyle might work amend on slightly dingy hair, but the same is not true for your confront, bestie! Ya gotta do all the skincare steps in the correct order (except for the ones that dry out out your face, similar acne spot treatments) to create the all-time sail for all that makeup you're about to paint on it.

First step: Launder your face with a gentle face wash or micellar h2o. If you accept dry peel that flakes with foundation, be sure to exfoliate your skin on a regular footing to remove any dead skin (some even swear by shaving their confront and peach fuzz for the smoothest finish) that could crusade your foundation to look scaly. And so, you lot have your optional toners and serums.

If you have a dull complexion, you might actually observe a hydrating face serum to be helpful in calculation a little glow. And for oily peel, a toner might be helpful for removing excess oil without stripping the skin. Then, follow with a lightweight moisturizer (similar one that contains hyaluronic acid) and let it at least v minutes to sink in before moving on with your sunscreen and makeup.

Cakey makeup tip #six: Powder oily skin before foundation

We all remember the v-step foundation process that went viral on TikTok during quarantine, right? Well, here's a refresher. If you have oily skin, follow this production gild: moisturizer, setting powder, setting spray, primer, foundation. While this might not piece of work for all you with dry skin, TikTok hack has enough of success stories and fans who swear this technique keeps their foundation long-lasting and pucker-free.

4 all-time setting powders your T-zone needs

Huda Beauty Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder

Sephora Collection Beauty Amplifier Smoothing Translucent Setting Powder

Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder

Beauty Bakerie Face Flour Baking Powder

Cakey Makeup Tip #7: Powder your olfactory organ

If the rest of your face up is fine, but your olfactory organ is e'er on the shiny side, here'due south the play tricks for you. Afterwards you prime, press your nose with a damp sponge and tinted translucent pulverization in a shade that matches your skin tone. Then, use whatever foundation is leftover on your brush afterwards applying it all over the rest of your face to lightly encompass your nose, followed by a little more pulverisation. The idea hither is to let the powder give most of the coverage, not the liquid foundation. This will help create an even base and besides prevent the product from sliding effectually and breaking up around your nose.

Cakey makeup tip #viii: Apply less makeup in your creases

One annoying symptom of cakey makeup is when it settles into your fine lines, making them expect like full-blown wrinkles. The trend is to embrace these areas with fifty-fifty more makeup to hide them, but y'all actually desire to do the opposite. Instead, apply your foundation all over your face, avoiding the areas that pucker (around the optics, brow, and effectually the rima oris). And so, use whatsoever production is left on your makeup sponge at the end to very lightly comprehend your creases.

Cakey makeup tip #9: Pair the right formulas

Not everyone's a fan of makeup primers, merely if you're regularly dealing with makeup that creases and moves around, y'all'll do good from using 1. However! Not all foundation formulas are uniform with all primers. As explained by the Reddit makeup geniuses, silicone-based primers work best with foundations that comprise silicones, while h2o-based primers are a little more versatile and can work with either water- or silicone-based foundations. Just check the ingredients listing: If you see anything ending in -cone near the tiptop of the list, you've likely got yourself a silicone primer or foundation.

Cakey makeup tip #10: Strategically place your concealer

If creasing of your under-eye products is your main gripe because you smile a lot (grinning is good! Keep doing that!), apply your concealer only in the inner corners of your eyes and blend it outward into just the hollows. In other words, don't pigment a large swipe under your entire centre and avoid applying whatsoever product at all by the outside corner. With this technique, you become the coverage where you lot need it most without all the buildup where your face up naturally scrunches. Because as you know, creasing can make your makeup expect cakey fifty-fifty when you lot didn't pack on the production.

Brooke Shunatona Brooke Shunatona is a contributing writer for Cosmopolitan.com.