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The geniuses on TikTok have come up with yet another inventive approach to beauty. This time, it's in the form of a makeup hack that suggests you put all of your base products on in reverse order. The trick started making its way around the app in late February thanks to a user by the name of Jarida, or @ridaaaamat.
"Change your whole routine and try this instead," she says in her video, which has been watched more than 2.7 million times. She goes on to demonstrate how she applies her base: After moisturizing, she uses a fluffy brush to dab on a light layer of translucent powder. Then she mists her face with setting spray, lets it dry, and follows it up with face primer. She tops everything off with foundation, and that's that.
It goes against just about every single beauty tip we've ever learned, but Jarida swears it's low-key magical. "Just see what happens and how amazing your fucking makeup is going to look," she raves in the video. "It's going to stay on 24/7, and it's not going to crease." She goes on to claim that although she only discovered this trick recently, it's not a new one. And she's right.
New York City-based makeup artist Tommy says this technique has been around for years. "How old it is, I'm not sure," he explains. "But basically, the layering of powder, spray, primer, and foundation helps to 'seal' the skin underneath, to control shine and smooth texture, and 'reinforce' the layers on top."
Fellow makeup artist Yvonne Macinnis says she's also seen this technique plenty of times over the years. "I have seen an application technique similar to this when working in stage makeup, for dancers, or even in Bollywood films, where the actors or dancers need a full-coverage foundation that can be sweat through and won't move," she recalls.
Tommy isn't a huge fan of the method, but he encourages everyone to try all beauty-related things at least once. Macinnis adds that beauty choices come down to the user's personal preference, so there's no predicting how effective this might be for any individual.
And I couldn't agree more on both accounts. I'm also a skeptic at my core, so I had to put this viral trick to the test. Here's everything you need to know before trying it for yourself.
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For context, the photo above shows what my base makeup looks like just about every day. Unless I'm going to be filmed for an Allure shoot or have a special event to attend, I like to keep things light and dewy because I'm lazy and luckily I have pretty cooperative skin. That might not be relevant for you, but again: Beauty is totally subjective. My makeup tastes and your makeup tastes might not match up. Nor our skin types and needs. But I digress.
For the purposes of trying this out-of-order base routine, I stuck to products that are either old faithfuls or recent favorites. As I always do before applying any makeup, I did my full daytime skin-care routine, sealed off with a layer of Korres Greek Yoghurt Nourishing Probiotic Gel-Cream.
At this point, I realized a major issue with this makeup trick: There's no mention of UV protection. In any other circumstance, I would apply sunscreen after moisturizer and before primer or foundation — but because I wanted to experiment with this method exactly as in the video clip, I didn't apply any. If you're going to use this method during the daytime, you'll need to use a moisturizer or sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher.
I then grabbed my favorite Fenty Beauty setting powder and a big, fluffy brush to gently dab it on, making sure to hit all the crevices around my nose, eyes, and mouth. Then it was time to spritz my face with tried-and-true All Nighter Setting Spray from Urban Decay, followed by a thin layer of Laura Mercier's Perfecting Primer.
Before I even touched my foundation, I saw a difference in the way my skin looked. Where I normally try to make my skin as glossy as possible before laying down any product, this trick gave me an entirely matte base. With a tapered blush brush, I applied Reboot Foundation from Make Up For Ever all over my face and immediately noticed it delivered a slightly fuller and more matte coverage than usual. By the time my base was complete, it looked filtered just as the viral TikTok clip said it would.
Though the foundation itself looked very smooth, layering other products on top of it proved to be a challenge. As I normally would with a liquid foundation, I applied a small amount of my favorite cream blush, Glossier's Cloud Paint in Haze, to my cheeks. I blended it out successfully, but I could feel the formula slightly tugging against my skin — like it would if I'd layered cream directly on top of powder. The same exact thing happened when I dabbed on my Cle Cosmetics highlighter, a liquid formula in a sponge compact. Neither of these products delivered their usual color payoff or shimmery sheen when paired with my matte complexion. That said, this technique definitely works better if you stick exclusively to powder blushes, bronzers, and highlighters.
For the most part, my makeup held up throughout an average workday spent mostly inside, but after a few hours, it did start to settle into fine lines. My skin also felt drier than usual, and I'm not the only one who noticed that about this method.
When makeup artist Kelsey Deenihan tested the technique, she thought it made her foundation look and feel pretty normal until she had worn it for a few hours. "My face felt tight and the makeup started to crack around my nose and fine lines," she tells Allure. She thinks that's because applying setting powder on top of moisturizer defeats its purpose because it absorbs all the moisture before it has time to penetrate the skin.
Deenihan wouldn't recommend applying your foundation this way if you've got dry skin like hers. And Tommy agrees: "I’d be hard-pressed to recommend this to someone whose skin is dehydrated, flake- or fade-prone," he says. He and Macinnis agree, however, that everyone has their personal preference and theirs simply aren't a match for the finish this technique provides.
"For someone trying to achieve a medium or sheer finish with their complexion, I would avoid this technique," says Macinnis. And I'd have to agree. If a glossy finish is also your style, this layering technique probably won't work for you. But if you can't resist a full-coverage beat and have skin that's on the oilier side, there's a good chance you'll like it.
TikTok's viral foundation trick isn't for everyone, but there's no harm in trying it to see what happens. Just make sure to moisturize really well at the end of the night.
More on TikTok:
- We Asked TikTok's Resident "Greasy Hair Girl" Why She Didn't Shampoo for 8 Years
- I Tried the $3 E.L.F. Cosmetics Eye Shadow Palettes That Are Going Viral on TikTok
- One TikToker Is Using Makeup to Give Black History Lessons
Now, see how foundation has evolved within the past 100 years:
