Skincare Junkie: The Two Products That Will Make Your Foundation Look Fantastic

As most of you may know already, I’m a big fan of skincare brand DECIEM’s The Ordinary. In fact, I love it so much I even wrote about all my favourite bits from their range, which you can read here.

As that article was a brief overview of my six favourite products by The Ordinary, I thought I’d go into detail on the skin prep combo that I think is the perfect base for under your makeup.

Up until last year, my skin prep consisted of any moisturiser I had at the time (for a while it was Boots own brand), and then straight in with the foundation. It wasn’t until I started using high-end, pricier foundations that I realised prepping my skin correctly would make the foundation look its best, and I’d get the best bang for my buck. As I always say, your makeup only looks as good as the skin underneath it, ladies.

After trial and error with various moisturisers that ended up leaving my skin greasy, resulting in my €40 foundation sliding off my face, I’m pretty confident I’ve discovered the perfect skin prep combo for my skin.

If you’ve read my full skincare routine from back in January already, you know it’s a pretty beefy process, but these two products are the staple, and if I had to cut my routine down to two products, I’d definitely keep these.

Every morning, I’ll prep my skin with The Ordinary’s Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%, followed by Natural Moisturising Factors + HA. Sounds confusing, but it’s really only a serum and moisturiser.

According to the DECIEM official website, niacinamide (Vitamin B3) is indicated to reduce the appearance of skin blemishes and congestion. A high 10% concentration of this vitamin is supported in the formula by zinc salt of pyrrolidone carboxylic acid to balance visible aspects of sebum activity, meaning it reduces the appearance of spots and pores. The website also states that niacinamide helps to brighten the skin tone. All these factors make it perfect to apply before your foundation, and it means you can completely skip your primer. Who doesn’t want shrunken pores and glowy skin?

deciem.com €5.90

Now you could probably leave it here and go straight in with your foundation if you wanted, but seeing as my skin can sometimes get dry throughout the day and my foundation a bit flakey (delightful), I like to follow it with Natural Moisturising Factors + HA.

Natural Moisturising Factors (NMF) are elements that keep the outer layer of the skin protected and well-hydrated. NMF are made up of multiple amino acids, fatty acids, triglycerides, urea, ceramides, phospholipids, glycerin, saccharides, sodium PCA, hyaluronic acid and many other compounds that are naturally present in the skin. This product offers non-greasy immediate hydration (no more slipping foundation).

deciem.com €5.80

I find applying these two products under thicker foundations (I’m currently using Huda Beauty’s #FauxFilter) creates a smooth, hydrated base that keeps my makeup looking fresh all day long.

You can pick up both products for less than €6 each at www.deciem.com.

• Beauty
• skincare