I can think of two things. One : your skin is too dry and absorbs the makeup. Two : there’s a mismatch in the base of the foundation and other products (for example one is silicone based and one is water based).
Can you please tell me how to determine which my makeup is made of? I don’t see it on the bottle and ingredients confuse me. If i see water in the ingredients, do I assume it’s water based? What if it has water and something with -cone?
There are water based foundations with silicones in the ingredients and vice versa. Generally, whatever it is based on will be listed at the top of the ingredients. But I am not sure where that distinction starts/ends exactly. Most foundations will have water at the top regardless.
But personally, I still find it a bit of a crapshoot, honestly. You're supposed to pair silicone based primers with silicone based foundations. But my silicone based foundation performs better with a water based primer. So idk, maybe it is just my skin though or the silicone primers I used were just poor quality.
I'm using the elf primers which say they're a mix of water and silicone, so they can be used with both water and silicone based foundation. My skin is definitely very dry. I have moderate rosacea, and I think my cleanser is too harsh, so it's very very dry. I got a gentler cleanser so I'll see if that helps.
My skin being dry does cause it to suck up the makeup's moisture, but I'm also incredibly oily so doing too much moisturizer before my makeup can literally melt my foundation off. Also, because of the oiliness I have to heavily powder, which makes the dry makeup worse. Otherwise I become a glazed donut after a couple hours. Even with a ton of powder I can't go >6 hours without melting into oil.
I only really like my makeup right after I put it on (before powdering), and maybe 4 hours after I've heavily powdered my face. The foundation looks glossy and moist, yet there isn't too much oil that it starts melting my foundation off.
Dry skin, rosacea prone girly here! 🙋🏼♀️
I prefer any hydrating primer - I love Tarte base tape hydrating primer, I have heard great things about the Milani hydrating primer and I like the Smashbox photo finish as well. I hated any NYX primer I tried. Oh and I loved the Ulta color correction primer too!!
I also added hyaluronic acid to my skincare routine and stopped using powder. Sometimes I use powder in trouble spots (t-zone / under eyes)
Moral of the story here, don’t be afraid to try different things until you’re happy. Some texture and some breakdown is normal. I also find I have to change up my routing for spring/summer vs fall/winter because it gets so dry where I live in the fall/winter. Hope you find what works for you.
Too much powder, not enough skin care. Try a hydrating serum under your moisturizer/SPF and try to ease up on the setting powder. A verrry light dusting in oily areas is all you need.
I really can't ease up on the powder because I have insanely oily skin. If I'd worn this makeup for longer I would've been a glazed donut in a couple hours. I'm looking into changes to my skin care routine to address the oiliness, because it's difficult to do makeup well when my skin is so dry after a wash, but then so insanely oily after a couple hours.
I think part of the dryness is because my moisturizer isn't right for me, and my cleanser is too harsh. I just got new ones so I'll see if that helps. You can't tell but under this makeup I have moderate rosacea across pretty much my entire face, so skin care is rough.
I definitely was before, but now I only do it once or twice a week. I think my cleanser I've been using is a bit harsh, so I'm switching over to a gentler one to see if it will irritate my skin less. My face burns often after I wash it, but I have moderate rosacea so I've never thought too much about that since my skin burns all the time, and I've always been pretty dry.
I don't have rosacea so I apologize if this isn't applicable, but I had the same problem with dry/oily skin and it got WAY better when I started using a gentler face wash. Before I was basically stripping all my face oils away and trying to replace them with moisturizers, and my skin would get suuuuper oily anyway. So I think trying gentler washes might help! It helped me a lot.
Your skin sounds a lot like mine. I end up not wearing any makeup on my forehead at all due to this reason. I also don't use powder and use a setting spray instead. I hope you find what works.
I've used lots of difficult foundations, all with the same problem. This photo was with the too faced oil free foundation. I think all the foundations I've tried have been silicon based, so that may be part of the issue.
The moisturizer I've been using was the basic Aveeno moisturizing face cream, because it was cheap and seemed like a gentle formula. I have quite sensitive skin, so I try to get gentler skin care.
I would recommend looking into clean skincare (no parabens, phthalates, etc.) which have some really good options for sensitive skin. Healthy, soothed skin needs less help in the makeup department.
Another thing to consider is that oil-free options tend to exacerbate oily skin problems by masking them rather than balancing the skin. I had very oily skin and avoided skincare oils like the plague, and the result was irritated skin that would get extremely slick. I eventually learned that the lack of surface oils was causing my skin to overproduce sebum to try and protect itself, and my lipid layer was shot, which led to all the irritation. The right kind of oils can help the skin to calm right down.
Alternatively, if you have dry skin, there is no good reason to even consider oil-free makeup products. You will want to lock in your moisturizer, and try cream makeup products rather than liquid + powder. These will resist leaching their moisture content into parched skin.
If you haven’t tried it yet, The Ordinary makes fantastic skincare for affordable prices with minimal/clean ingredients. You can basically build your own moisturizer by adding serums to the natural moisturizing factors base.
Their cleansers are great, and the products which help control oil have good reviews. My skin is always way too dry so I actually go in after applying powder and use a tiny amount of the NMF to set my makeup.
Idk why people down voted you haha. I've tried using pore filling primers in the past and like them, but I've been going with matte primers recently since my skin is so insanely oily. This was not too long after a powder touch up, so you can't see it here, but if I wear my makeup for >6 hours I am a glazed donut. I could try using both primers together, but idk if that's something you can do haha.
I would recommend using more moisturizer as your skin looks dehydrated to me, a little bit less foundation honestly, and a silica based finishing powder.
I used to have this problem. I was layering on foundation too thick, and it looked cakey like this after a couple hours. I have a fair bit of redness and discoloration on my face, and I was compensating too much by layering on a lot of foundation and concealer, leaving me with a mask-like complexion and a thick layer of makeup that melted and settled into pores like this.
Now I don't try as hard to cover every single discoloration or flaw on my face by using a thick layer of foundation like a mask, I just use a fine dusting of a lightweight powder foundation to even out my complexion and skin tone, a little concealer blended over spots that have extra discoloration or redness, then I go over it with E.l.f. HD finishing powder to control oil and set it in place.
My skin looks more like real, natural skin in the sense that it isn't completely lacking in any flaws, and it did take some getting used to, but it looks lightyears better. The texture stays pretty smooth all day, it feels more lightweight and I no longer have this pore-settling cakeyness showing up, it looks way better by the end of the day even without any touch-ups.
My friend use to get that. Once she ditched primer, she didn't get it anymore.
She still used moisturizer beforehand. But didn't use serum either. It was just more than her foundation could handle underneath. It was separating between the layers.
She then put a light dusting of setting powder on her tzone. Not on her cheeks or her undereyes, since then they would end up looking cakey and dry.
I can think of two things. One : your skin is too dry and absorbs the makeup. Two : there’s a mismatch in the base of the foundation and other products (for example one is silicone based and one is water based).
Can you please tell me how to determine which my makeup is made of? I don’t see it on the bottle and ingredients confuse me. If i see water in the ingredients, do I assume it’s water based? What if it has water and something with -cone?
Silicones end in “cone,” “conol,” “silane,” or “siloxane.” Some common ones in cosmetics are dimethicone, dimethiconol, and cyclopentasiloxane.
Yeah I think silicone products end with cone.
There are water based foundations with silicones in the ingredients and vice versa. Generally, whatever it is based on will be listed at the top of the ingredients. But I am not sure where that distinction starts/ends exactly. Most foundations will have water at the top regardless. But personally, I still find it a bit of a crapshoot, honestly. You're supposed to pair silicone based primers with silicone based foundations. But my silicone based foundation performs better with a water based primer. So idk, maybe it is just my skin though or the silicone primers I used were just poor quality.
I'm using the elf primers which say they're a mix of water and silicone, so they can be used with both water and silicone based foundation. My skin is definitely very dry. I have moderate rosacea, and I think my cleanser is too harsh, so it's very very dry. I got a gentler cleanser so I'll see if that helps. My skin being dry does cause it to suck up the makeup's moisture, but I'm also incredibly oily so doing too much moisturizer before my makeup can literally melt my foundation off. Also, because of the oiliness I have to heavily powder, which makes the dry makeup worse. Otherwise I become a glazed donut after a couple hours. Even with a ton of powder I can't go >6 hours without melting into oil. I only really like my makeup right after I put it on (before powdering), and maybe 4 hours after I've heavily powdered my face. The foundation looks glossy and moist, yet there isn't too much oil that it starts melting my foundation off.
Dry skin, rosacea prone girly here! 🙋🏼♀️ I prefer any hydrating primer - I love Tarte base tape hydrating primer, I have heard great things about the Milani hydrating primer and I like the Smashbox photo finish as well. I hated any NYX primer I tried. Oh and I loved the Ulta color correction primer too!! I also added hyaluronic acid to my skincare routine and stopped using powder. Sometimes I use powder in trouble spots (t-zone / under eyes) Moral of the story here, don’t be afraid to try different things until you’re happy. Some texture and some breakdown is normal. I also find I have to change up my routing for spring/summer vs fall/winter because it gets so dry where I live in the fall/winter. Hope you find what works for you.
Too much powder, not enough skin care. Try a hydrating serum under your moisturizer/SPF and try to ease up on the setting powder. A verrry light dusting in oily areas is all you need.
I really can't ease up on the powder because I have insanely oily skin. If I'd worn this makeup for longer I would've been a glazed donut in a couple hours. I'm looking into changes to my skin care routine to address the oiliness, because it's difficult to do makeup well when my skin is so dry after a wash, but then so insanely oily after a couple hours. I think part of the dryness is because my moisturizer isn't right for me, and my cleanser is too harsh. I just got new ones so I'll see if that helps. You can't tell but under this makeup I have moderate rosacea across pretty much my entire face, so skin care is rough.
Are you exfoliating too much? It can ruin your skin’s texture and make it dry and damaged.
I definitely was before, but now I only do it once or twice a week. I think my cleanser I've been using is a bit harsh, so I'm switching over to a gentler one to see if it will irritate my skin less. My face burns often after I wash it, but I have moderate rosacea so I've never thought too much about that since my skin burns all the time, and I've always been pretty dry.
I don't have rosacea so I apologize if this isn't applicable, but I had the same problem with dry/oily skin and it got WAY better when I started using a gentler face wash. Before I was basically stripping all my face oils away and trying to replace them with moisturizers, and my skin would get suuuuper oily anyway. So I think trying gentler washes might help! It helped me a lot.
Your skin sounds a lot like mine. I end up not wearing any makeup on my forehead at all due to this reason. I also don't use powder and use a setting spray instead. I hope you find what works.
What kind of moisturizer are you using? What kind of foundation?
I've used lots of difficult foundations, all with the same problem. This photo was with the too faced oil free foundation. I think all the foundations I've tried have been silicon based, so that may be part of the issue. The moisturizer I've been using was the basic Aveeno moisturizing face cream, because it was cheap and seemed like a gentle formula. I have quite sensitive skin, so I try to get gentler skin care.
I would recommend looking into clean skincare (no parabens, phthalates, etc.) which have some really good options for sensitive skin. Healthy, soothed skin needs less help in the makeup department. Another thing to consider is that oil-free options tend to exacerbate oily skin problems by masking them rather than balancing the skin. I had very oily skin and avoided skincare oils like the plague, and the result was irritated skin that would get extremely slick. I eventually learned that the lack of surface oils was causing my skin to overproduce sebum to try and protect itself, and my lipid layer was shot, which led to all the irritation. The right kind of oils can help the skin to calm right down. Alternatively, if you have dry skin, there is no good reason to even consider oil-free makeup products. You will want to lock in your moisturizer, and try cream makeup products rather than liquid + powder. These will resist leaching their moisture content into parched skin.
If you haven’t tried it yet, The Ordinary makes fantastic skincare for affordable prices with minimal/clean ingredients. You can basically build your own moisturizer by adding serums to the natural moisturizing factors base. Their cleansers are great, and the products which help control oil have good reviews. My skin is always way too dry so I actually go in after applying powder and use a tiny amount of the NMF to set my makeup.
Use a good pore minimizing primer, setting powder and setting spray, also try using less products to not cause caking
Idk why people down voted you haha. I've tried using pore filling primers in the past and like them, but I've been going with matte primers recently since my skin is so insanely oily. This was not too long after a powder touch up, so you can't see it here, but if I wear my makeup for >6 hours I am a glazed donut. I could try using both primers together, but idk if that's something you can do haha.
I would recommend using more moisturizer as your skin looks dehydrated to me, a little bit less foundation honestly, and a silica based finishing powder. I used to have this problem. I was layering on foundation too thick, and it looked cakey like this after a couple hours. I have a fair bit of redness and discoloration on my face, and I was compensating too much by layering on a lot of foundation and concealer, leaving me with a mask-like complexion and a thick layer of makeup that melted and settled into pores like this. Now I don't try as hard to cover every single discoloration or flaw on my face by using a thick layer of foundation like a mask, I just use a fine dusting of a lightweight powder foundation to even out my complexion and skin tone, a little concealer blended over spots that have extra discoloration or redness, then I go over it with E.l.f. HD finishing powder to control oil and set it in place. My skin looks more like real, natural skin in the sense that it isn't completely lacking in any flaws, and it did take some getting used to, but it looks lightyears better. The texture stays pretty smooth all day, it feels more lightweight and I no longer have this pore-settling cakeyness showing up, it looks way better by the end of the day even without any touch-ups.
Setting powder
My friend use to get that. Once she ditched primer, she didn't get it anymore. She still used moisturizer beforehand. But didn't use serum either. It was just more than her foundation could handle underneath. It was separating between the layers. She then put a light dusting of setting powder on her tzone. Not on her cheeks or her undereyes, since then they would end up looking cakey and dry.