Being a Professional Makeup Artist in 2016, one of the questions I get asked constantly is "Do you Bake?"....
No, the baking technique doesn’t require any cooking utensils; the only tools you need to “cook” your face are a concealer, powder and patience. To “bake your makeup” means to let your concealer sit on your face for 10 to 20 minutes before blending it, so that your own body heat enables the makeup to melt into your skin and cause it to change colour and texture. This allows for the concealer to be blended more easily for a flawless coverage.
This technique is used for highlighting and to ensure that your concealer doesn’t move out of place, as well as help it remain crease-free throughout the day.
Here's how you too can pull off poreless, picture-perfect skin and brighten your eye area while you're at it:
1. Hydrate your eye area. Apply eye cream around your eye area to hydrate your skin and plump it up, minimizing the appearance of any fine lines or creases. Try Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Eye Cream.
2. Apply a thick concealer under your eyes. While concealer usually contains oils and has a tendency to crease, it won't if it's set right. Apply it upward from the apples of your cheeks toward your temples all the way underneath your eye. Then, blend it in with a damp makeup sponge. Try Maybelline Fit Me Concealer and the BeautyBlender.
3. Coat on more concealer. At this point, you might be thinking, This is a shit-ton of makeup, and yes, it is. So, you can skip this step and still get great results, but for lasting power, a sheer second coat can lock in the first formula. After you apply the second layer of concealer, blend it in again with your damp makeup sponge. Make sure to cover and smooth out all the creases before setting your concealer in the next step.
4. Dust on translucent powder. Use a fluffy eye shadow brush to apply translucent powder over the entire patch of concealer to set the base makeup. Try Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder.
5. Now, "bake" or "cook" your makeup. Use a wedge sponge and dampen it with a setting spray, like MAC Cosmetics Prep+Prime Fix+. Then, dip the wedge into the translucent powder you used in step 4 to pack the loose powder generously over the area where you applied the concealer. Leave the powder on for five to 10 minutes.
6. Dust it off. Using the same fluffy eye shadow brush from step 4 and a pressed powder, likeMake Up For Ever Pro Finish Multi-Use Powder Foundation, swirl the fluffy eye shadow brush over the formula and dust away the powder as you add more coverage to blend any harsh edges.
Boom, you're baked.