Cover up is truly what face makeup is all about. One of the key advantages of makeup is for covering imperfections. Once puberty hits, very few people can maintain picture perfect skin. Hormones, lifestyle, and our environment all take their toll. From the teen's zit, to the aging spots and wrinkles, cover up has got you covered.
Types
With a strong demand for perfect skin, the cosmetic industry provides a wide variety of options in cover up makeup. Depending on your skin's needs, there are different types and levels of coverage to choose from.
Color and texture are the first two choices to make. If you don't already have a favorite makeup picked out, visit read Face Makeup, which will give you specific details on selecting the perfect colors and textures for your skin type. Generally speaking, your cover up should match your skin exactly. Then, you will select the texture based on the level of coverage you desire. Matte foundations are denser stronger coverage, while the sheers are more natural. For most skins, using a combination of the two provides the best overall look.
Basic Types of Cover Up are:
- Foundation - overall and spot only coverage
- Tinted Moisturizer - great alone for clear skin or also used in combination with other foundations
- Concealer - best for eye areas and dark patches
- Powder - seals in the coverage, reduces light reflection, and helps to blend
Basic Cover Up Application
For a standard face improvement, you can even-out the skin tone and cover up minor imperfections with the following steps.
- Thoroughly clean your face, making sure all of yesterday's makeup is removed.
- Apply a moisturizer if needed.
- Start with your basic foundation in the sheerest formula you can handle.
- Apply a thin layer over the entire face. This will instantly even your skin tone and some can even stop here.
- Next, apply extra coverage where you need it. This can be with a thicker foundation stick or cream, or you can also use the same sheer foundation with a heavier layer.
- Build this process in layers until you achieve the level of smooth complexion you desire.
After you have completed your application, test your look in a variety of lights. Look at your reflection in the hallway mirror and even take your compact outside for a natural light check. Touch up or blend away if needed. Different lights will greatly affect how your cover up ultimately looks. As a face is not flat, shadows affect your appearance in low light and outside lighting tends to show a more natural you.
Cover Up Problem Areas
Blemishes
No matter what your age, pimples seem to break through that otherwise clear canvas. Covering up blemishes is slightly different as they are actually raised red bumps. It is important that the foundation you choose is thicker and skin-tone colored. Although the tendency is to cover the redness with a lighter concealer color, it actually ends up highlighting the bump instead of hiding it. Simply pat a matte foundation lightly on top, blend the edges, add a good layer of powder, and move on with your day.
Scars
Scars are a unique imperfection as they are damaged skin with no pores. This causes a scar to resist the standard style foundations on the market. For dramatic scars your best bet is specialized scar cover up found at most dermatologist offices. If you only have a small scar, you will want to use the driest foundation you can find. Apply moisturizer over the scar first. Then place powder over the moisturizer, before the foundation. This combination of moisturizer and powder will help the cover up to stick to the scar. Then, cover the scar with the foundation and blend the edges.
Tattoos
Love your tattoo, but not at a business function? With the right cover up technique, you can make it temporarily disappear. The important piece of the cover up process with a tattoo is working in layers with two colors. The first color should be a salmon or light peach concealer and the second should be a concealer that matches your skin around the area of the scar. Once you have these ready, follow these steps:
- Start with the peach concealer first to neutralize the bluish colors of the tattoo.
- Dab this directly onto the tattoo, until completely covered.
- Blend outwards at the edges to merge into the surrounding skin.
- Pat with powder.
Now you have a patch and you will have to match this to your skin.
- Select the skin tone concealer next.
- Sporadically dab this color over the first peachy color. You want both colors to work together, which will give the appearance of real skin.
- Powder again to seal.
Feel free to repeat these layers until the tattoo is completely hidden.
