Struggling to keep your makeup from sliding off your face in the heat? Want it to actually last the full length of the day? You need to try the Velcro trick…
Makeup artists have lots of brilliant tips and tricks for extending the staying power of your makeup, stemming from decades of experience working on all face types. The Velcro trick is our beauty editor’s latest discovery, picked up from the makeup artists at Selfridge’s beauty concierge during a makeup consultation.
Here’s how the Velcro trick works and how to achieve it for yourself.
What is the Velcro trick?
The Velcro trick is a method of applying your skincare that helps to prep your skin for makeup. It gets its name because the application method helps provide a ‘sticky’ Velcro-esque base that ensures your foundation, concealer, and other base products stay in place for longer.
Best of all, it’s designed to avoid a heavy or patchy finish (which can sometimes happen if you overdo it with setting sprays and powders). Instead, you can achieve a very natural ‘no makeup’ makeup finish – perfect for maximising and enhancing your summer glow.
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Why doesn’t my makeup last?
If you find your makeup doesn’t last throughout the day, it’s probably due to one of two reasons. Either your foundation becomes patchy due to skin dryness, so your base seems to fall into your pores, or your skin becomes oily over time, leading to areas of high shine and your makeup slipping off your face. If you’re unlucky, it could be a combination of the two in different areas.
The Velcro trick is designed to simultaneously solve both those issues – deeply hydrating your skin while also effectively providing a ‘grippy’ base for more flawless-looking makeup.
What products do you need to achieve the Velcro trend?
According to the Selfridges’ makeup artist Jake Meehan (who our beauty editor met at the store’s Beauty Concierge), the secret to the Velcro trend is using light layers of skincare products, specifically a hydrating (not exfoliating) toner, plus a water-based serum and moisturiser. This allows you to focus on hydrating and prepping your skin.
In terms of your makeup itself, the skin finish is up to you, but you may want to avoid products that have a lot of silicones to avoid skin piling. Look out for ‘-icones’ high up on the ingredients list, such as dimethicone.
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How to recreate the trend
It’s all about the press
Starting with a clean face, first apply your hydrating toner – such as Laneige’s Cream Skin Cerapeptide Toner or Byoma’s Hydrating Milky Toner. Instead of using a cotton pad, apply straight to your hand and press the liquid into your skin using your fingertips. You want to feel the product becoming a little tacky under the pressure. Focus on applying more to the areas where your makeup tends to fade fastest, such as across your cheeks and nose.
Slow and steady wins the race
After applying your toner, don’t rush straight to your serum and moisturiser. Instead, leave it a minute to dry on your skin slightly. Then, follow with your chosen hydrating serum and moisturiser – again taking a pause between the two. You want to apply both products in the same manner as your toner, slowly pressing them into your skin and feeling that all-important tackiness under your fingers before you move on.
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Give your skin a hug
Meehan also recommends giving your skin ‘a little hug’ when applying your moisturiser (aka your final skincare step), using your palm to press the slightly heavier product deeper into your face. This ensures your skin is super hydrated but without causing any greasiness or heaviness that may cause your makeup to slip. We love Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Cream Light and Tatcha’s The Dewy Cream for lightweight but effective hydration.
Take a light touch with your makeup
Now you have your Velcro-like skincare base, you want to lightly tap your foundation and concealer into your skin, with either your fingers or a compact foundation brush, such as the IT Cosmetics Perfection Brush. This helps to ‘stick’ the makeup to your skin. You’ll get the best results if you start by applying only a small amount of coverage and then building it up in the areas you need more. This makes sure you are effectively pressing the product into your skin without patchiness.
The best base products for the Velcro trick:
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Any Questions or Tips to add?