This long-wearing foundation trick has been used by professional makeup artists for decades and is hailed for its ability to prevent your makeup from creasing and transferring.
Whether you're equipped with one of the best lightweight foundations or best powder foundations, trying to combat makeup transferring and creasing can feel like a constant battle. The cause of these issues can be due to an array of reasons, such as your makeup mixing with the natural oils of the skin, applying too many layers or due to the movement of your face.
Alas, we've just uncovered an insider industry secret that rivals some of the best makeup setting sprays, which makeup artists rely on in order to ensure a long-wearing makeup look - and now we're never looking back.
Why we're adopting this makeup artist secret into our beauty routine
Dubbed a 'trade secret' that makeup artists have been relying on for years, M.A.C's iconic Mixing Medium is the unexpected buy behind a seamless transfer-proof, crease-proof makeup look. Its versatile nature and promising staying power has resulted in the gel formula boasting a number of stellar five star reviews.
RRP: £20
Originally designed to to be mixed with glitter and loose pigment eyeshadow formulas, this translucent customisable gel is equipped with a blend of polymers to help makeup products adhere better to your skin. Formulated with green tea extract and derivatives of vitamins A, C and E, this nifty mixer not only allows you to adjust the texture and lasting power of your beauty buys, but it also works to protect and soothe the skin.
Posting to Instagram, Rose Siard lifted the lid on a must-know industry trick that ensures makeup remains locked in place throughout the day, without any unwanted creasing, fading or transferring.
The method in question involves thoroughly combining a pea-sized amount of MAC's iconic Mixing Medium formula with your foundation or concealer, on the back of your hand, in order to boost its longevity. Helping your makeup to seamlessly blend for a non-patchy finish, the makeup artist advises working on one side of the face at a time as "this can speed up drying time but it's nothing too major, just keep that in mind."
If find your makeup creasing in particular areas, Siard advises using the Mixing Medium by itself and applying it over the top of the "areas that really are wanting to crease." Although you can do this trick without setting your makeup in place, for those who prefer a more mattified finish, Siard also recommends using one of the best setting powders to completely lock it in place.
After hearing the promising features of the trick, I knew I just had to try it out for myself to see how it fared on my skin. As someone with combination skin, that leans more towards the oily side, keeping my makeup locked in place all day sounds like music to my ears. I followed Siard's steps and mixed a pea-sized amount of the mixing medium in with my base products and applied my makeup like normal.
In terms of the results, I have one smile line that my makeup likes to settle in, and while this still did occur, the rest of my complexion boasted increased longevity - think less creasing and a 'just applied' finish. However, as someone with blemish-prone skin, the most impressive result I noticed was on a hormonal blemish on my chin that had a red and raised appearance. While this typically would fade after a few hours, my blemish remained completely concealed throughout the entire eight hour working day - and two train commutes which consisted of my chin being nestled into a scarf.
