There is an uptick in using "clean beauty," and rightly so. One of the trailblazers of this movement blends performance, results and safety and some brilliant expert tips. Editor Trudi Brewer chats with a jane iredale makeup artist Sha O'Sullivan how in three simple steps you can have aflawless, lightweight, natural-looking coverage that lasts.
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Clean, vegan, and cruelty-free beauty are in hot demand. But, while the list of brands grows by the day, there is one thoughtfully curated brand with a slew of dew-enhancing products that has been around for decades. British brand jane iredale makeup lives up to its claims of delivering luminous results from buildable, radiance-making products that over-deliver in the shade department. After all, our skin deserves makeup that looks good while being good for you at the same time. So here’s a simple guide to nailing your makeup base each day.
“Highlighters are always a crowd favourite and a great way to dress up any makeup look.”
Makeup artist Sha O’Sullivan
Why do you need a skin primer? What do they do?
Primers have become increasingly popular over the last ten years. They are predominantly used as a skin smoothing “prep” product to reduce the look of an uneven skin texture, open pores and fine lines and to prepare the skin’s canvas to enhance the wear time of foundations keeping skin looking fresh, healthy and even-toned throughout the day. It’s also one of the essential products for use as step two in our Skincare Makeup System.
Ed’s pick
jane iredale Smooth Affair Brightening Primer, $110.
This ultra-lightweight prime skin-quenching helps minimize the look of open pores and fine lines, but it also helps brighten the look of your skin thanks to fruit extracts, apple and grapefruit, and green tea - which means you need less foundation to cover imperfections.
How do you make your foundation look like a second skin?
Using the correct brush to apply foundation is vital - this will dramatically enhance the foundation's look, creating a more skin-like, flawless finish. Also, spritzing the face with one of the jane iredale Hydration Setting Sprays to finish once the foundation has been applied will create a more dewy effect to most foundations and add extra moisture content to the skin’s surface for extra comfort and increased glow - and part of step three in our Skincare Makeup System.
What is the best way to apply foundation?
Depending on the foundation format, there are varying techniques. However, one of the most popular products in the jane Iredale foundation portfolio is the PurePressed Base Mineral Foundation SPF20 full-coverage mineral powder. First, pressed into the skin with a Handi Brush (which has very tightly packed flat bristles); this compacts the powder, achieving fuller coverage and depositing the product onto the skin in a particular way so that the minerals lay flat on the skin surface. Then spritz the skin with a Hydration Setting Spray to moisten the skin’s surface. Then while the skin is damp, re-pressed this combination back into the skin, transforming the powder base into a liquid foundation look.
Ed’s pick
jane iredale Glow Time Pro BB Cream, $110.
This is a great moisturiser, foundation and SPF all in one; its skin-loving benefits are endless. Stacked with antioxidants like honeysuckle flower extract, sunflower seed oil, skin-rejuvenating apple and grapefruit extracts, and white and green tea that work harmoniously to brighten dull-looking skin. Finally, the essential mineral sunscreen and titanium dioxide SPF 25. You can achieve light to medium coverage with this BB cream. There are 14 shades.
Is buffing or painting on foundation best when you use brushes?
It depends on what type of foundation you use. For example, the jane iredale fuller coverage foundations such as Beyond Matte and Glow Time Pro Foundation achieve their best result when dotted onto the skin and then blended with a Blending Contour Brush (which has a lot of compacted bristles and is a larger volume, size-wise to a traditional foundation brush). Next, buff the skin in a circular motion for a truly perfected mannequin-looking skin that lasts all day. For the lighter coverage option, it’s best to paint on the foundation in a crisscross motion using a flat Foundation Brush which results in two coats in one application and compresses the product into the skin, creating a beautifully perfected skin look every time.
Where do you place skin illuminators or highlighters?
Highlighters are always a crowd favourite and a great way to dress up any makeup look. They’re best used on the top of the cheekbones, the bridge of the nose, and above the top lip edge if a fuller-looking lip is required. A light touch is always best, aiming for a more ‘pearl-like’ sheen on the skin rather than a disco ball.
Ed’s pick
jane iredale Glow Time Highlighter Stick in Eclipse, $85.
Designed to wear anywhere on the face or the body, this creamy highlighter melts into the skin in minutes, thanks to the jojoba seed oil that hydrates. At the same time, your skin will be sporting a pretty natural-looking shimmer thanks to natural mica powders. There are three colours.
What's your best foundation tip?
Apart from having the skin beautifully hydrated with appropriate skincare underneath before any foundation application - a must; using the appropriate brush (not a sponge or hands) to apply a foundation of choice is critical and will perfect a skin’s finish by a mile. Then for extra glow and that natural finish to ensure makeup longevity, I can’t go past using a few spritzes with one of jane iredale’s organic Hydration Setting Sprays to finish your makeup look.
To nourish and boost skin hydration.