I am a big liquid foundation fan. However liquid foundation does have its down sides. You can run into issues with a foundation that doesn't layer well with correctors, or it moves once you layer a highlighting concealer on top. Foundation quality plays a part and quality isn't respective of price.
Recently I transitioned to using cream foundation. Why cream? Although the formula is usually thicker, cream doesn't separate as much as liquid. It dries down consistently. It can eradicate the need for color correction, and if your placement is right, it can get rid of the need for highlighting concealers. Once the cream is set, in my experience, contour powders show up better on the skin, blush appears brighter. Cream can even be reduced to little more than a tinted moisturizer if paired with the right product like the Embryolisse lait-crème concentré depending on the coverage you need. It is very versatile.
I began using RCMA and Ben Nye cream foundations and to be honest, once my Maybelline Fit Me foundations are done, my kit will be all cream.
So...how do I use it? Well, after priming the skin, I use two different colors. I use one that matches the skin tone in the interior of the face and the second color on the perimeter. For women of color, I like to use a perimeter color that matches closely to the neck color if it is darker than the face. The interior color will match the body. To blend them out I use a thick flat top Kabuki brush sprayed with MAC Fix +. I buff the foundation into the skin with the brush until the two colors are indistinguishable and then make sure it gets blended into the neck.
What I'm left with after that process is a face that is naturally highlighted and contoured without having to pack on a ton of product. The finished product ends up looking seamless, beautiful and light. With cream foundation, you don't need a lot of "drying time" so I usually use my translucent powders once I'm done blending to lock in the foundation and bake.
This is my new technique for applying cream products and its been working. Obviously, depending on the client I may or may not use cream but if I have to, the steps above are generally what I would do.
If you are looking for great cream products, Makeup Forever, Black Opal, Ben Nye, and RCMA are great options. For the client below I used Ben Nye Foundation. Tell me what do you think!
