Why does my makeup look flaky? We all know how frustrating it can be when your makeup doesn’t seem to want to stay put. It flakes, smears, and leaves a mess on your clothes. Flaky makeup is not something that we like, but unfortunately, it happens more than we would like to admit.
What seems to be more unfair is when your face becomes super dry, and your makeup goes extra flaky at the exact moment you need to go somewhere very important. Looking at the mirror with that on your face could really be terrifying!
So, why and what are the reasons why makeup looks flaky? It could be a lot of things: the weather, the brushes you use, your skin type, and more!
But no worries because I will be helping you today in this article to identify what other reasons might be causing this problem so that you can start having better luck with applying your makeup!
Reasons Why Makeup May Look Flaky
No one wants to keep on using filters for the rest of their lives, right? It would be great to have smooth-looking skin that complements well with foundation, contours, concealers, and some more other things.
Now, let us know the reasons why our makeup is looking flaky:
1. Wrong Product for Your Skin Type
There are five basic skin types that you probably have heard about already. And, you actually should know and understand your own skin type so you won’t experience lots of skin-related troubles. Here is a quick introduction to the five skin types:
2. Normal Skin Type
Also known as eudermic, the normal skin type is well-balanced whereas the T-zone (consists of forehead, nose, and chin) can be a little, and not excessively oily. In other words, it’s not too dry, and not too oily; just the exact balance.
3. Dry Skin Type
For the people who have dry skin, take note that your skin doesn’t have enough sebum, an oil produced by your body. Your skin normally feels dry and rough in most areas of your face.
4. Oily Skin Type
On the contrary to the dry skin type, if you have oily skin, you will never dry. If you are included in the people who have this skin type, you should understand that your sebum is producing way too much and that causes the heightened oil level of your skin.
5. Combination Skin Type
While the normal skin has balanced sebum and dryness, the combination skin type has both excessive oils around the T-zone and dryness on the cheeks.
6. Sensitive Skin Type
People who have sensitive skin tend to experience redness, burning, and itching whenever they try out products that do not cater to sensitive skin. Well, it’s not really a medical diagnosis, but it’s something to be seriously considered to avoid any reactions.
Okay, so now that you probably have an idea what your skin type is already, one great reason why your makeup is flaking is that you are not using the right type of product for your skin type. If you have dry skin, make sure to use products that focus on people with dry skin. Make sure to avoid products for oily skin since it could make your face look drier.
7. No Exfoliation
Exfoliation is the removal process of the dead skin on your face. Naturally, your skin throws away the dead skin cells so that it can make room every month (or 30 days) for the new and upcoming cells.
You can practice exfoliating your skin depending on how much your skin type needs. By doing this, you can make your skin feel and look healthier than ever. Some of the common benefits of exfoliations are:
- It cleanses your skin by removing the blemishes and minimizing the pores.
- It evens out your skin tone.
- It makes it easier for your skin to absorb the skincare and makeup products you use, meaning, you will lessen the chance of having your makeup looking flaky when you apply it.
8. Little or No Moisture
Having no to less moisture in your face could make your skin really dry. The weather, hot or cold, could affect the dryness of your skin. So, if you’re not using any moisturizers, even if you have an expensive foundation, your skin won’t cooperate. And, that leads to the flaking of your makeup.
9. Using a Brush to Apply Foundation
It’s possible that ever since you started getting interested in beauty and the art of makeup, you’ve always seen most people use a brush when they’re applying foundation.
However, according to some professional makeup artists like Wayne Goss, using a beauty blender is a much better choice. That cute little egg-like sponge can definitely do a lot of things, and one of them is how to make your makeup look smoother.
The first thing you need to do is to wet the beauty blender but squeeze it so it won’t be too damp when you use it. Then, put some foundation on (by dots, and not too much).
Lastly, just tap and bounce the beauty blender all over your face. With this, the foundation gets pressed inside your skin, leaving no weird flaky traces on the surface. Compared to a brush, a beauty blender helps you distribute the makeup evenly.
But you need to make sure you’re using a good quality beauty blender for better results.
How Do I Stop My Foundation from Flaking?
Now that you have some ideas why you are getting that horrible flaky makeup, then it’s time to know how we can stop and avoid that from happening.
There are several ways and steps that you can add to your skincare routine before you glam up with your makeup.
1. Get Prepped
As someone who has some interest in beauty, whether a newbie or expert, it definitely says something about you. It clearly tells about your artistic and creative side that you showcase when you’re doing makeup. And, as an artist, you always have to prepare everything.
If a traditional visual artist prepares their canvas with a primer, then you will also need to prepare your own canvas, which is your face. You need to cleanse your face first, exfoliate, then moisturize (use light moisturizers that won’t hinder the real quality of the foundation).
2. Don’t Use Too Much Foundation
Our faces aren’t supposed to be flooded by the foundation. If you think that using lots of it could make you have a better skin texture, drop that thinking now. Like what was mentioned earlier, you only need to put a few dots of foundation, and only apply a thin layer.
If you’re thinking that you need to put an excessive amount of foundation to cover some redness or acne marks, that would be a no-no. You can choose a corrector or concealer instead. Also, make sure that when putting your foundation and makeup, use the right brushes or sponges.
What to Do If Foundation Becomes Flaky?
Well, sometimes you just don’t have enough time anymore to fix the makeup you did for an hour or so. If it got flaky because of your foundation, we can still try to make it work.
1. Lock with a Setting Spray
After putting all in your face, the contour, concealer, foundation, just everything – it’s nice to lock it in with a setting spray. Locking it could help your makeup stay put, and not get super messy. Aside from that, it can definitely help your flaky makeup because the setting spray can let you have a more natural finish.
To use the setting spray, make sure that you are already done with everything including mascara, lipstick, and such. Then, do not forget to shake the setting spray bottle. Lastly, try to place it around 8-10 inches away from your face then spray it on an “X” or “T” motion. Of course, don’t forget to close your eyes when doing it!
2. Add Hydration
Just like our bodies, having enough water in our skin can make your skin feeling healthier and youthful-looking. With a sufficiently hydrated face, skin elasticity improves and wrinkles can lessen. Also, having it can help us fight off oiliness because the more our skin is dry, the more oil it produces.
If your face is getting enough hydration that it needs, the results will definitely justify through the texture of your skin. You will notice how much it has gotten soft after practicing it for few times.
3. Blend the Excess Foundation
Similar to what was mentioned earlier, using a beauty blender can help you more with having non-flaky makeup because it presses better in the skin compared to a brush. But, that’s not only that.
As you blend it on your face, make sure that you are distributing it evenly. If you think that there are some excess foundations left on your face, try to put some on your neck, and check again some other parts of your face that you might have missed.
Conclusion
It’s really a total bummer especially if you spent few hours trying to make your look extra-special but it ends up flaky and cakey. Don’t worry, it’s common. It happens to a lot of us, too. I guess you now understand why makeup looks flaky and how to avoid or take care of it.
