Baking Your Makeup: Avoid Caking Like a Pro
Do you find that your look starts to crumble only a few hours into the day?
Find yourself starting from scratch again at lunch, and then again before evening cocktails?
You might want to start baking your face. And no, there’s no microwave or any heat involved (outside of your natural body temperature). Keep reading to learn about this stunning technique, and discover how baking your makeup can lead to a look that lasts all day long.
So, What Is Baking Your Makeup?
Like many great makeup routines, baking your makeup has roots within the drag community. Pageant queens breaking a sweat on the ballroom floor needed a look that would last late into the night as the competitions carried on.
Is more makeup better? Not in most cases.
But in these particular instances, baking allowed that additional layer of translucent powder to blend into the foundation. The overall look didn’t change too much, it just gave the wearer more protection from the daily elements.
Why Do It?
If you have a long day ahead of you and don’t have time to reapply: bake. If you wear full-faced makeup regularly: bake it.
Transfer-proof, budge-proof, crease and sweat-proof are some of the many reasons why many love this technique. Save yourself doing your makeup twice in one day!
Before or After Foundation?
Since baking essentially ‘seals’ the look on your face, ideally this is the last step in your makeup routine.
You may have heard of the TikTok Foundation Hack, which involves applying powder before foundation. While this may work for some, it’s quite risky and may not prove effective for some skin types.
For this tutorial, we’ll finish with a powder after foundation.
1. Prep
Start off doing what you would normally do in your makeup routine. Apply your eye cream, moisturiser, and primer.
Opt for products that naturally hydrate your skin over a standard choice. Your face will need that nourishment throughout the lifetime of your look.
2. Foundation
Next, apply your foundation. Create an even base to work with with your foundation of choice.
If your skin is a bit on the drier side, opt for something luminous like our Face Base Foundation. This helps to avoid caking later in the day, and helps your skin feel even more hydrated.
3. Concealer
Touch over any blemishes with a concealer. Then move on to colour correcting the spaces under your eyes. Remember, just a little is more than enough. Applying with your hands can help the product absorb into your skin easier.
For best results, go for our Mineral Cream Concealer. Shea butter and plant-based waxes assist with blending the formula into your skin, creating a reflective coverage that doesn’t cake around fine lines. Add more for dry skin.
4. Let’s Bake!
Grab a translucent powder, like Runway Room’s Loose Setting Translucent Powder, and get to work.
Start your application around places that tend to crease throughout the day. We usually tackle the forehead, nasolabial folds (that diagonal line stretching from outer lip to nostril), chin, and any other places that see a lot of movement.
At this point, it’s ok to go a bit heavy on the powder. Once the application is complete, let the product set into your skin for at least 5-10 minutes.
This is when the magic happens. The heat from your body temperature ‘bakes’ the powder into your skin, allowing it to set with the rest of your makeup. No oven required!
While you wait, you can tick other things off in your routine. Define your brows, add mascara, get dressed…pretty much anything that doesn’t involve touching the makeup on your face.
After 5-10 minutes brush off any excess powder. And that’s it!
Pro Tips
Once It’s Done, It’s Done
After you complete your bake, we don’t recommend applying any other product to your face. This look is built to last. Adding additional elements after the translucent powder can cause the inner layers of makeup to shift, ruining the protection you put in place.
A Note on Dry Skin
If your skin is neutral, this technique can work wonders in giving you a long-lasting look. If your skin is a bit on the drier side, there are some risks, but plenty of workarounds to subvert them.
As mentioned earlier, stick to products that hydrate! Plump up those fine lines with primers and moisturisers. Touch up the under-eye with a nourishing eye serum.
A Long-Lasting, Hydrating Look
Whether you're one to full-face it, or opt for a minimalist natural look, baking your makeup can add much-needed stability to your overall makeup routine. It’s a look that lasts throughout our busy, non-stop days.
Combine this technique with our natural makeup guide for an amazing, effortless look.
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