How To Prevent Makeup From Looking Flaky

You might not be able to explain what cakey makeup is per se, but y'all definitely know information technology when yous see it on your confront: the dreaded lines of demarcation, the patchy, textured peel, the pores and fine lines that look more than intense and obvious than they really are. And even though your middle-school days might tell a different story, full-coverage foundation isn't always the culprit—it'south often how yous're applying products, the formulas you're slathering on pinnacle of ane some other, and the techniques you're using.

Basically, cakey makeup isn't the result of using too many products but from using also much product . Run into the difference? I'll explain a little more in-depth, below, with all the best makeup tips and video tutorials, then keep reading so you never have to deal with cakey makeup again.

What does caking mean in makeup?

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

Sometimes, the reason for cakey makeup is fashion also much production or not the right products, and other times, it has more to do with your actual skin, like skin that'south too dry or likewise oily, or peel that hasn't been prepped properly. So with all that in listen, allow's go over a few pro tips for how to refresh cakey makeup and how to preclude information technology next time.

Cakey makeup tip #1: Cook it with setting spray

If you're still not using a makeup setting spray, why tho? When you've finished all your contouring, bronzing, setting, and highlighting, and your face looks like a powdered donut, you need to melt allll that powder into your skin. A setting spray volition not only lock your makeup into place, but it will also have abroad whatsoever powdery balance and gear up everything into your skin for a more than natural terminate.

4 setting sprays that'll melt makeup into your skin

Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray

Morphe Continuous Setting Mist

E.l.f. Cosmetics Illuminating Mist & Set

East.l.f. Cosmetics Illuminating Mist & Prepare

Fenty Beauty What it Dew Makeup Refreshing Spray

Cakey makeup tip #2: Proceed blending

An fifty-fifty foundation application requires more just rubbing it on and calling information technology a mean solar day. If your foundation looks cakey later on you've applied it, then you lot're not washed blending. Use your clammy Beautyblender to gently postage your foundation (or BB foam, or tinted moisturizer) into your skin over and over again until it has basically set (most iii minutes). The blending and stippling will eliminate any harsh lines and ensure every inch of your pare is covered and fifty-fifty, without the cake.

Cakey makeup tip #3: Hydrate crepe-y nether optics

And so yous've followed all the nether-eye baking steps to a T, and yet your concealer looks crusty, crepe-y, and chalky. Ugh. What you lot need is to add together a bit of hydration back into the skin. This makeup artist'south fob: Use a face spray or toner that contains squalane (a moisturizer) to hydrate your fine lines and dissolve powdery residue. But don't but mist it all over your makeup—spritz it right onto your make clean makeup sponge, dab it a few times on the back of your paw to tap off the excess, then lightly press it over your cakey concealer to set the dryness without ruining all the work you did.

The lineup that'll fix your cakey concealer

Tatcha Luminous Dewy Skin Mist

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Toner

Biossance Squalane + Hyaluronic Toning Mist

Fourth Ray Beauty The Lightweight Hydrator

fourthraybeauty.com

$10.00

Cakey makeup tip #four: Cease with oil

Dry skin has a fashion of looking cakey and flaky no thing how much prep you lot do. If y'all've finished your makeup and your bronzer looks muddy or your foundation looks chalky or cakey, help give it a pare-like texture by adding in an oil at the end of your routine. Just drop a few dots of face oil onto the back of your paw, stamp your dazzler sponge in it a few times, then lightly (lightly!) stipple information technology over the dry parts of your face. With this fox, all of your products will marry each other and become one with your skin.

4 best oils for fixing chalky skin

The Ordinary 100% Organic Cold Pressed Moroccan Argan Oil

The Ordinary 100% Organic Common cold Pressed Moroccan Argan Oil

Smashbox Photograph Terminate Primer Oil

Anastasia Beverly Hills Hydrating Oil

Brownish and Coconut Hydrating Confront Oil

HOW TO Avoid CAKEY MAKEUP

Cakey makeup tip #5: Don't skip skincare

Your hairstyle might work better on slightly dirty pilus, only the same is not true for your face, bestie! Ya gotta do all the skincare steps in the right order (except for the ones that dry your face, similar acne spot treatments) to create the all-time sail for all that makeup yous're nigh to paint on information technology.

Get-go step: Launder your confront with a gentle face wash or micellar water. If y'all have dry skin that flakes with foundation, exist sure to exfoliate your skin on a regular footing to remove whatsoever dead skin (some fifty-fifty swear past shaving their face and peach fuzz for the smoothest finish) that could cause your foundation to look scaly. Then, you lot take your optional toners and serums.

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

Cakey makeup tip #6: Pulverization oily skin earlier foundation

We all call back the five-step foundation procedure that went viral on TikTok during quarantine, correct? Well, here's a refresher. If you lot accept oily peel, follow this product club: moisturizer, setting powder, setting spray, primer, foundation. While this might non work for all yous with dry skin, TikTok hack has enough of success stories and fans who swear this technique keeps their foundation long-lasting and crease-free.

four best setting powders your T-zone needs

Huda Beauty Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder

Huda Beauty Piece of cake Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder

Sephora Collection Beauty Amplifier Smoothing Translucent Setting Powder

Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder

Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Pulverization

Beauty Bakerie Confront Flour Baking Powder

Cakey Makeup Tip #7: Pulverisation your olfactory organ

If the rest of your face is fine, but your nose is always on the shiny side, here'due south the trick for you. After you prime number, press your nose with a damp sponge and tinted translucent powder in a shade that matches your skin tone. Then, use whatever foundation is leftover on your brush later applying it all over the rest of your face to lightly cover your nose, followed by a picayune more powder. The idea hither is to permit the powder give well-nigh of the coverage, not the liquid foundation. This volition assistance create an even base and as well foreclose the product from sliding around and breaking up around your nose.

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

I annoying symptom of cakey makeup is when it settles into your fine lines, making them look like full-diddled wrinkles. The trend is to cover these areas with fifty-fifty more makeup to hide them, but you actually want to exercise the opposite. Instead, utilise your foundation all over your confront, avoiding the areas that crease (around the eyes, forehead, and around the oral fissure). And then, use whatever production is left on your makeup sponge at the stop to very lightly embrace 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, you'll benefit from using one. However! Not all foundation formulas are compatible with all primers. As explained by the Reddit makeup geniuses, silicone-based primers work best with foundations that contain silicones, while h2o-based primers are a little more versatile and can work with either h2o- or silicone-based foundations. Just check the ingredients listing: If you see annihilation ending in -cone virtually the tiptop of the listing, you've likely got yourself a silicone primer or foundation.

Cakey makeup tip #ten: Strategically identify your concealer

If creasing of your under-centre products is your main gripe because you smile a lot (smiling is good! Go on doing that!), utilize your concealer merely in the inner corners of your eyes and blend information technology outward into only the hollows. In other words, don't paint a big swipe nether your unabridged eye and avoid applying any product at all by the outside corner. With this technique, you go the coverage where you demand it near without all the buildup where your face naturally scrunches. Because equally you know, creasing can brand your makeup expect cakey fifty-fifty when you didn't pack on the production.

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