Hey friends! I hope you are doing well! Prepping your skin for your makeup is really important, so today I am going to show you what I do to prep my oily skin for makeup that will last, but I will also dive into prepping dry skin as well. So no matter what type of skin you have, keep reading to find out more.

How To: Prep Your Skin For Makeup

The first thing you should do when prepping your skin for makeup is you should wash your face. I typically wake up, and wash my face first thing in the morning. This will wash away any excess oil or makeup you may have missed from the night before. I also like to wash off my moisturizer I used the night before, to completely create a blank canvas.

I have been loving this Clear Complexion Cleanser from Aveeno because it has tiny microbeads in it that will exfoliate your skin. If you are planning on wearing a lot of makeup, light exfoliation is suggested because it will help slough off any dry skin/patches.

If you have super dry skin and don’t want to risk drying out your face, you should use Micellar Water and a cotton pad to clean your skin. Read all about them here.

The second thing you should do to prep your skin is moisturize. Now let me just tell you this, I have super oily skin, so honestly up until recently I always told myself… “you have oily skin, you don’t have to moisturize before makeup”. I was so wrong. Not moisturizing your oily skin, can cause it to be even oilier (and every oily girl knows, you don’t want that).

I have been totally in LOVE with this Oil Control Mattifier Moisturizer with SPF 15 by Murad. It is really like the best of both worlds. It moisturizes your skin, but it keeps it matte, and it has SPF… what’s not to love about this. If you have oily skin, I HIGHLY suggest this. My skin has really been thanking me for it.

If you have dry skin, I suggest this bad boy, CeraVe Facial Moisturizing Lotion AM with SPF 30.

The third thing you should do when prepping your skin for makeup is to prime your face. So after you’ve moisturized, let that sit for just a few minutes (you want it to be dry). Then apply your primer. I usually take enough to fill the tip of my index finger… that’s weird I know, but I use around the same amount every day. Then apply it to your face, you can just concentrate in a certain area like your T-Zone, or cover your whole face. I typically prime my whole face. Depending on the primer it should make your makeup last longer, but also blur out lines, pores, or imperfections.

I have been absolutely loving the No7 Beautifully Matte Primer. It is a white creamy primer with absolutely no scent to it. Because it is really matte, I get my best results from pressing the product into my face rather than rubbing it around. Rubbing it can cause the product to flake off. Like I said, this is a really matte primer, so if you have any dry patches, I would stay clear of this because it will cling to them for sure.

For all the dry skin girls out there this Laura Mercier Hydrating Foundation Primer is a great alternative, it’s going to hydrate your skin while priming it for your makeup.

At this point you can either go on and do your eye makeup, or finish the rest of your face (see the foundation I’ve been loving). But the last step in prepping your skin is to prime your eyes. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to do a really pretty makeup look, and then look in the mirror a couple hours later and it has creased so bad you can’t even see my eye shadow anymore. So I always prime my eyes. You really only need a tiny amount for both eyes. Priming your eyes obviously makes the shadow last longer, but it also makes the shadow look more intense as well as creates a blank canvas before you start.

I am a big fan of the Urban Decay Primer Potion, it works great for my oily/hooded lids.

But if you have drier eye lids you could definitely use a MAC Paint Pot (in Painterly), I used to use this all the time but as the weather got warmer I noticed my shadow creasing more with this.

So that is how I prep my skin for makeup, it may seem like a lot but it can be done pretty quickly once you get going.  Since I have oily skin I still do have to blot and touch up my face later in the day, but if I didn’t prep my skin with these steps my face would be a mess, I’m telling you! And if you have dry skin doing the dry skin options will make sure you face stays hydrating and that you don’t look like cake face.

I hope this was helpful to you! How do you prep your skin for makeup?

If this was helpful to you, please share it on your social media! :)