The clever trick to getting your make-up to last all day – even in the heat

Telegraph

a day ago

After decades of practice, I've learnt how to create a pretty daytime make-up look. Until quite recently though, it was more of a pretty hour look.The more sheer and light touch it was, the faster it melted away.
Professional make-up artists create looks that last 24 hours. The downside is that they tend by definition, not to be the sheer, barely there looks I like. So over the past few months I've been experimenting with compromises: subtle applications for sure, but ones that last an entire evening. A very basic starting strategy, if you use face oils, is to wait 10 minutes for them to absorb properly.
It's taken half a century but I've finally fallen in love with face powder. I always thought this was a product for mature skin. Then, after I realised I was mature, I also realised a lot of powders can get stuck in your lines, making your skin look powdery and papery,
That was wide of the mark, it turns out, and a good illustration of why it's so useful, every so often, to visit a make-up counter. The modern generation powders are phenomenal: translucent textures that are invisible on the skin. I tried some loose ones but found them too messy. Charlotte Tilbury's Flawless Finish is not loose and does what it says on its gilded compact. It comes in four shades and the formulation is so good that in extremis, you could use your fingers to apply it.
Of course you won't because, as Annabel says, you achieve much more lasting results if you use a brush and really press it into the skin. I prefer it to setting sprays, because you have more control about where you're applying it. But for a party, I'll use both, and take care to blot lipstick, apply powder plus another coat of lipstick and lip liner. Charlotte Tilbury does a teeny travel size of the Flawless Finish powder. Per gram, it's a zillion times more than the larger one, but handy for those who like to travel light.
I sweep the powder over my eye lids before or after I apply a pale, creamy pencil or a gold cream (Charlotte Tilbury's Eyes to Mesmerise in Champagne is lovely) .
These days I find taupes and metallics on my lids make me look fresher and more awake than smoky effects. For definition, I also use a brown crayon next to the lashes. Studio 10's i-lift is one of my all time favourite eye accoutrements. Use the brown crayon to create both precise or smudgy lines. Once it sets – a minute or so – it stays in place. Apply the pale end on lids and if you like, your lower water line for wide awake eyes. It's formulated by a make-up artist with 50-plus-year-olds in mind – non-drying and multitasking. The 6-in-1 mascara is great too, as is Merit's. Both stay on all day with no slippage or flaking.
I don't use a primer. There are great ones, but powder and setting spray are surely enough unless you're deep sea diving and require a full face of make-up. I find powder blushers and bronzers stay on much longer than those temptingly sheer creams and sticks. That's why I love RMS Beauty's Re:Dimension Blush. Available in ten shades, it's also a highlighter. And it stays put.