Your foundation is the what will give you face a smooth look and hide any blemishes - especially your beard. Its arguably the most important part of your makeup as its perfection (or lack of) will influence the overall appearance more than almost anything else. There are a number of types of foundation but most come in stick form (like a thick lipstick tube) or liquid form like a thick paste. I find sticks are more economical while some liquids give better cover. Queen of the foundations is undoubtedly Clinique but at £16 a small bottle I only ever use it for special occasions when I need to look my absolute best. Most of the time I use Rimmel or Maybeline stick foundation which gives good results. Be careful about liquid foundations becaute a lot are very thin and wont cover very well. Max Factor liquids fall into this category. You can easily test them in shops. Us T-Girls need a very heavy makeup to look our best. A word of caution about foundations here. NEVER mix different manufacturers foundations - I have been on the receiving end of a nasty allergy caused by mixing two mainstream manufacturers foundations together. OK - you need to know how to get it on right and what to buy. You need a foundation that is as close to your natural skin color as possible. Don't worry if its not exact - manufacturers generally only produce 4-5 different shades. Buy the one that's closest to your natural tone. You can test them discretely in the shop by rubbing the tester tubes against the back of your hand and smearing them in. The second item of foundation is your concealer. This highlights areas like your eyes and helps to hide any blemishes. Buy this in a lighter shade than your foundation - ideally about 2 shades lighter. See the table below for a typical match. Foundation Ivory Nude Pale Biscuit Tan Dark Biscuit Concealer     Ivory Nude Pale Biscuit These are based on just typical colors available - each brand has their own color shades.

Finally you need loose powder. This should be as near as possible as the foundation color but its possible to get away with a lighter shade or even use translucent powder which will work with almost anything.

APPLICATION

Before applying makeup I usually rub in a small amount of skin cream which helps the makeup settle better and also protects the skin. Also you need a close shave before even starting and let your face settle a bit. Some make-ups to tend to sting a bit when applied onto freshly shaved skin. Take your foundation stick or liquid and smear it onto the face in stripes radiating away from the centre of your face. Your beard area will need quite heavy application and will need the most cover. It needs to be 'painted' in foundation quite heavily. Now take one of your sponge wedges which should be VERY slightly damp - just a little moist - and working very lightly in even strokes spread the foundation out making sure it covers any creases and lines. Around your beard area it needs to be 'dabbed' rather than brushed to give the beard area the maximum coverage. Make sure you cover the eye lids and sockets as the foundation will help the eye makeup to 'grip' a bit later. Work on the foundation until its smooth all over. It needs to be blended in around the neck and also a small amount of dabbing with the sponge should be applied to the ears. You need a smooth even appearance across the whole of your face up to the hairline and to the base of the neck making sure there is no obvious line where the makeup ends. Don't be surprised if the finish seems a bit thin - this is just the start of your transformation. Now apply the concealer - quite heavily - around the eyes. Underneath the eye and also onto the lid and eye socket area - using a fresh sponge wedge blend this in at the edges to the main foundation. You don't want to look like a panda and the effect should be quite subtle - hardly noticeable. I usually put a strip of concealer down the centre of my nose and blend it in as it helps to make the nose look a little thinner and more feminine. Now using the powder puff (usually comes with the powder but if not you need to buy one) apply the powder liberally over the make-up paying especial attention to the beard area. I use a nice big fluffy puffer here as I find it helps quite a bit. Finally using soft brush strokes and going very lightly use your powder brush to remove any loose powder. At the end of this process your face should look quite smooth and almost featureless and your beard area should now be disguised.

Back to Start Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Overview Blusher Eyes 1 Eyes 2 Lips