Ready, SET, Go!

 The best thing you can do to prevent your make up from disappearing from your face throughout the day is to team up a great primer and setting spray. We already went over some great primers, so now it's time to talk about setting sprays! Setting sprays are designed to set your make up on your face after it is applied. If you get a good setting spray then it should water proof your finished look. How to look for a good primer is hard since you can't really test it out, so although this is a blog about getting the best for the buck, unfortunately, this is a product that is defiantly worth spending money on. Your best bet to find a good primer is to ask someone who knows a lot about the product or find one that you need to spend a few dollars on.

*The absolute best setting spray that I have come across and swear by is All Nighter by Urban Decay. This product is available at Sephora and ranges from $29.00-$45.00. I use this on all my clients and they have all loved it and agreed that their make up lasted all night long!

* Recently, Urban Decay has also come out with two new lines of setting sprays that work just as great as the All Nighter. One is made for those who have dry skin (Dew me) and the other is made for those of you who have oily skin (De Slick). They are priced the same as the All Nighter.

* Another setting spray that I have found that is good, but not great, is Victoria's Secret's Face Prime Setting and Priming Spray. It retails for about $15.00, but is no where near as good as Urban Decay's. Yes, you are saving money, but you defiantly need to apply the spray more throughout the day where as the All Nighter you can just spray it once. It does say that you can use it as a primer too, but I found that the other primers I mentioned before worked better. 

* The final setting spray that I have found that is the best buy is e.l.f's Makeup Mist & Set that can be found at your local Target. Costing you only $3.00, this spray does work, but like Face Prime you do need to apply it throughout the day in order for it to hold up as well as the All Nighter.  

HOW TO APPLY A SETTING SPRAY: When applying a setting spray you want to make sure that your look is complete because after you spray your make up should become set! Once you have your look ready hold your breath and close your eyes. Hold the spay about five inches from your face and spray first in a cross pattern (down the middle of your face and across your eyes) and then an X across the diagonals of your face (that being starting from your temple to your jaw line). Try not to squint when applying so that your make up does not crease up. Allow a few minutes to dry and your ready set to go! 

Prime Time!

One of the best kept make up secrets is the wonderful power of a good primer. Primer is used to fill in any pores or wrinkles before applying foundation and concealer. If you have ever looked at yourself in the mirror after a long day and noticed your concealer or make up gathering in certain areas, this is because your face is porous and uneven. Everyone has uneven skin, some worse than others especially as you age, but there's a solution! When you apply a primer, as I stated before, your wrinkles or "expression lines" and pores get filled in so that there is one complete smoothed out surface to begin the next step of foundation and concealer. The key to applying primer is to use just enough and not too much. Since primer is filling in your pores you want to make sure you are not overloading your skin. Depending on what brand you get a little will go a long way, but make sure to really hit your problem areas first, like your brow lines, crows feet, and frown lines.


 Another great thing about primers is that they help your make up remain longer on your face throughout the day, it's almost like a glue, so to speak, between your skin and your make up. Of course, your primer will help your make up stay, but for the true battles of sweat, humidity, tears, etc. it is best to team your primer up with a setting spray after you have achieved your finished look, which we will talk about in the next blog! 


Also, ladies do not forget that although an all over primer is great, our eyes (especially the under eye circles) need a little extra TLC. Eye shadow is hard to keep on the eye because it is always blinking and shifting your make up around. It is also a more moist area since your eyes tend to water. So, on top of the all over primer it is always good to have an eye primer as well.


Below are some of my favorite all over primers:
 * Bare Essentials: Bare Vitamins Prime Time is one of those primers that spreads very easily throughout the skin so you only need a pea size amount for your whole face. It retails at $26.00 at Sephora. It is a little pricey, but it goes a long way since you only use a little at a time. 

* For the gals that are pinching pennies, this next primer is just as great, but doesn't hurt your wallet as much! L'Oreal's Studio Secrets Face Primer. This can be found at any local department store for only $10.99. Since this primer is a little more dense, I would use about the size of a dime throughout my face applying a little to the forehead, cheeks, nose and chin first and them smoothing it all around.

* Next is my absolute favorite eye and under eye primer. Stay Don't Stray by Benefit is one of the best eye primers I have come across. To be applied on the eye lid up to the brow and under the eye, this product does wonders. Not only does it keep your eye make up in place, but it also lightens your under eye circles before you add your concealer. It is costly at $26.00 from Sephora, but once again it last a long time since only about a pin head amount is needed for each application. 

* Now for another great eye primer, but not nearly expensive is e.l.f's Essential Eyelid Primer. I picked this up at my local Target shop just to see how it works and it ended up working great especially for the price! For only $1.00, yes you heard me right... ONE DOLLAR, it is definitely a great find. I will admit it is not as great as Benefit's, but will get the job done and get it done nicely. 

HAPPY PRIMING EVERYONE!