If you are someone who uses products like highlighters, blush, and eyeshadow in powder-based formulations, you might want to rethink your choices. While mixing powder-based products like translucent setting powders with traditionally cream-based products like foundations may have become the norm, the blending of these products is not as flawless as you might think.
Mixing different formulations can lead to piling of the products, and you might have been denying yourself a much more seamless approach to make-up. Enter: cream-only make-up.
As the name suggests, the cream-only make-up routine is where you create a make-up look using only balms, creams, and liquids. The technique makes all the products melt into each other, avoiding issues like creasing and caking. It also gives a more youthful, hydrated, and plump finish.
Using excessive powder products can lead to cracked, cakey, and separated make-up, while cream based products blend seamlessly into each other, giving a soft, butter-like texture. It gives you a light, dewy finish that mimics a natural, healthy glow. Mixing cream and powder-based products can also cause the products to clump, making the makeup look patchy.
For people who prefer a softer, barely-there make-up look with an appearance of healthy skin, sticking to cream based products only can be a total game-changer.
While this technique is great for minimal make-up, it also works for high-glam make-up looks. Highlighting the versatility of the cream-only makeup look, Mumbai-based make-up artist Richelle Fernandes explains, “You can go from a no-makeup look to a full face of glam based on how much of the product you apply. You can layer it, easily blend it, move it, have fun with it! I’ve always looked at doing skin work as painting (it technically is). The process of blending is seamless with cream based products.”
If you are someone who would like to try the cream-only makeup routine but you love baking, we would suggest skipping baking altogether and using a setting spray instead. It will seamlessly melt together all the make-up products and give you a luminous, well-moisturised finish.
Naturally, the cream only make-up routine works particularly well for dry skin, given that it hydrates it and minimises any signs of dryness and patches. However, it can also work for oily skin, given that the products are picked wisely. “It usually suits most skin types but if you’re someone that gets oily, make sure you don’t skip your primer, powder and setting spray,” adds Richelle.
Another skin type that can benefit greatly from the cream-only make-up routine is mature skin. Since mature skin lacks moisture and has an uneven texture, using only cream-based products can give it a nourished, supple appearance, while powders often tend to make it look drier. Powder-based products settle into fine lines and wrinkles, making them more prominent, which makes a full cream-based make-up look ideal.
Our top pro-tip to use cream-only make-up would be to keep it simple, when it comes to the cream-only makeup routine. Do away with brushes and beauty blenders, and use your fingers instead. Warming up the product lightly with the heat of your fingers offers a more seamless blend.
Leaning a little more into the less-is-more approach, Richelle points out, “I like using an all-in-one face palette that includes complexion, contours, blush, and highlighter. It is the perfect palette for someone trying to do a cream only base.” If you too, would like a simple, hassle-free cream-only makeup routine, we would suggest investing in an all-in-one face palette. Bonus? It’s perfect for travelling!
Since cream products blend together effortlessly, Richelle suggests mixing different shades together to find your true match. “Treat your face like a canvas, mix shades and match them to your face. Most of our foreheads are darker than the rest of our face. Mix and match the shades to suit the different parts of your face. It’ll give your face dimension,” she concludes.