Part 4 of my Foundation Guide Series is about what to use to apply your foundation and how to use these foundation tools

So! Now we know what Colour and Type of foundation for your skin. We’ve covered What to do with your skin before you put the foundation onto it. Now what are we going to put it on with?
There are a few ways of doing it. There’s brushes, sponges and fingers. Those are what most people use. I’ve seen spray on foundation too, but that seems like a bit much to me. I’m sure it would give a lovely finish, just sounds a bit messy to me, wouldn’t it get in my hair? I’m not going to get into that.

So your sitting there with perfectly prepared skin, your ideal colour matched foundation, what the hell comes next? Pop a little foundation on the back of your hand. It’s good to have the product warm up a bit. It will blend in more easily. Then you take your chosen tool of application-

Fingers

It’s fine to use your fingers. Like I said it’ll warm the foundation and make it easier to blend. It’s easier to apply exactly the right amount as you can just take a little dot at a time.

On the other hand, I find that I really have to look closely in the mirror to get it right, it’s pretty precise. It takes longer than using a brush, which stands to reason because your fingers are (hopefully) smaller than a foundation brush.

Brushes

A brush will take a bit of the work out of it. Because they are larger and more flexible than your fingers you can just swipe the foundation on in a jiffy. You can use a brush to get the product onto your face then get up close in the mirror and blend it into corners.

Synthetic brushes are best for applying liquid foundation as they don’t absorb product as much as natural fibres (natural fibre brushes work well with powders)

Here are a few different sorts of foundation brushes

• A flat foundation brush– These are paintbrush shaped and you literally use them to paint the foundation onto the skin. The ones pictured above are a Mac 190 and some random old one from M&S. I find these leave streaky lines, so if you have these then use them to paint the foundation on then make sure you go over afterwards and give it a thorough blending.
• Dual Fibre brushes–Such as this Mac 187 brush. This brush has a combination of synthetic and Goat hairs, so you can use it for powder or liquid. I’ve had this a long time, it’s a classic. I went off it a bit, I find it does leave some streaks and deposited hairs on my face. I prefer a softer brush than this
• Flat topped Stippling Brush–  This brush I got from Space NK is gorgeous. It’s very soft. You can sort of pat the foundation into the skin. Only problem is getting into the corners, you have to switch to something smaller for that, so it’s not the ideal foundation brush if you’re in a hurry.
• Soft Domed Brush–  This one is from Kiko. This has to be my favourite sort of foundation brush. It has a point so you can use it to get into corners. It’s dead soft so it doesn’t leave lines. It makes foundation application    a much quicker job.

When you’re shopping for a foundation brush look for synthetic fibres, ideally a contoured point and most importantly it should be as soft as a mouse’s ear.

Sponges

I have two foundation sponges- a Kiko one and Superdrug own brand. The Kiko one is the lilac coloured one, it’s a pretty firm texture and I’m not crazy about it. It seemed to get damaged very easily. I love the Superdrug one though. It was only £5. It’s extremely soft and bouncy. It has a pointy end for getting into eye and nose corners. Also check out Beauty Blender and Real Techniques sponges.

Foundation blending sponges are ideally used wet. Just run it under the tap and squeeze out excess moisture. You can use them dry if you want to (you can apply powder with a dry sponge too) but if the sponge is damp it won’t absorb too much product. You take little dabs of foundation and pad it onto the face, using stippling motions rather than dragging.

I really like the finish these sponges give- very even. You can keep layering on until you have enough coverage. They’re fun too, I feel like a YouTube person when I use mine.

Overview

Whatever you’re using, the goal is to have a thin layer of foundation blended into the skin. You can use whichever tool you prefer or mix it up- apply the foundation with a brush say then blend with fingers or a sponge, it doesn’t matter. Start by applying a small amount at the centre of the face, say at the sides of your nose, and work your way out. Blend blend blend until you’re sick and tired of it, then have a good look in the mirror to check there are no blobs.

It doesn’t matter what you use, the main thing is to make sure it’s blended in properly. Good luck!