Baking & Strobing !!

Hey Everyone

Today’s post is Baking & Strobing  !!

Couple of years ago ,I got familiar with terms contouring & highlighting makeup products  and techniques to do so. Although I wear makeup regularly, I shy away from indulging in contouring my face for that chiseled features on regular basis rather prefer highlighting a.k.a strobing. Strobing is another buzzword that has garnered much attention from makeup artists all over YouTube & Instagram since 2015 .  Now when we were just getting accustomed to Strobing , “Baking,” or “Cooking”your makeup,another fancy term has cropped up especially on Instagram Makeup Tutorials.

Baking makeup is the term that has been used in the drag community (as per wikipedia) for years which actually means setting base makeup with translucent powder which sits on your face for 5 to 10 minutes. This simple step allows the heat of your skin to set base foundation and concealer. As long as your base makeup cooks up, you can continue with makeup for rest of your face.I usually prefer doing my eyebrows and eyeliner when my foundation is baking up. And then dust off the powder from your face with a clean powder sweep brush. I am currently using Sigma Baking & Strobing Brush set which has set of five makeup brushes for baking and strobing. I will be sharing my detailed review on the brush set soon . Recently I published Navratri Special Makeup Tutorial on my Youtube Channel where I shared techniques to bake and strobe your makeup for flawless , luminous finish.

For more on Baking & Strobing, keep reading !!

Baking & Strobing

How to bake your Concealer & Foundation ?

1. Before you begin make sure that your under-eye area is properly moisturised. If you have fine lines in your under eye area, this particular step becomes crucial for achieving creaseless finish once you set your concealer. My favorite is Kiehl’s Powerful Strength Line Reducing Eye Brightening Concentrate which fills up fine lines and instantly plump up tender under eye skin.

2. Apply Orange Corrector and Concealer in your under eye area. I am currently using MAC Studio Finish Orange Corrector and Kryolan SupraColor Concealer FS 29. Concealers have tendency to set in fine lines so make sure you blend them properly with a makeup sponge or kabuki brush. My current favorite is Sigma Concealer Blend Kabuki Brush – F79.

3. Layer on your foundation on top of your concealer. Applying foundation as a second coat on concealer locks in the products beneath. Ensure to cover and smooth out all the creases before setting your concealer & makeup with translucent powder. Dust on translucent powder with a fluffy eye shadow brush to apply translucent powder in your under eye area & areas you want to highlight on your face. This helps to set your base makeup.

4. Time to cook your makeup !! I prefer using  Sigma Baking Kabuki F 89 and Sigma Baking Precision P 89 brush for this particular step. Just dip your baking brush into the translucent powder of your choice and pack it generously over the areas where you want to bake. Leave the powder on for 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile you can go ahead adding finishing touches to rest of your makeup.I usually do my eyebrows while my makeup is baking up.  Then just dust off powder with fluffy Eyeshadow brush or Sigma Powder Sweep F06 Brush while blending at the same time. And you are baked !!

 

Baking, not only sets your foundation & concealer it also highlight your features and makes your makeup last longer.

What is Strobing?

I have been wanting to share information on Strobing from quite sometime especially after my ‘ Instafam’ dotingly named me ‘ Glow Queen’ and wanted me to share my Strobing techniques. Strobing is yet another fun term for highlighting and my most favorite part of applying makeup. Highlighting facial features add dimension to your demeanour while all over strobing will gives a dewy, youthful glow. Strobing is all about getting that perfect natural glow on face, so I start from the very first step in my makeup.

1. Prep up your skin with a good hydrating moisturizer or serum infused primer . My favorite is Natio Ageless Illuminating Primer which is serum infused primer that hydrates my skin while priming it at the same time.

2. Next crucial step is to choose right shade of your highlighter product that compliments your skin tone. Fair – Medium skin complexions should opt for highlighters with a pearlescent champagne sheen.Medium – Olive skin complexions usually pair up well with peach or gold highlighters.

3. Highlighters come in different formulas so you can choose one as per your skin type. Liquid highlighters can be used both for overall illuminated glow or for target highlighting.Add few drops of  liquid highlighter to your liquid foundation and dot the mixture on your forehead, cheeks,nose and neck. Then blend it out with a foundation brush or damp beauty blender for smooth ,uniform glow.Avoid using shimmery or glittery highlighters when using highlighter for complete facial glow. Liquid highlighters can be used to highlight face spots that catch light. Just dot the highlighter fluid on your cheekbones,on bridge of your nose, below your brow bone, inner corners of your eyes and on your cupid’s bow & blend it out with your fingers.Liquid highlighters can blob up so make sure you blend all harsh edges of highlighter so it camouflages with rest of the skin.

Further, you set liquid highlighter with same tone powder highlighter. This Liquid + Powder method works best for normal to dry skin beauties.Some of my favorite liquid highlighters are Revlon Photoready Skinlights Illuminator ,FACES Ultime Pro Liquid Highlighter,  Inglot AMC Face and Body Illuminator and NARS Illuminator Orgasm. Maybelline Master Strobing Cream is new drugstore addition to my collection of liquid face highlighters.Colorbar Radiant Glow Illuminator can be a very good option for target application.

4.If you have oily skin, go for Powder illuminator. You can either use a damp sponge or fan brush to apply a powder highlighter on high points of your face . Make sure you go light-handed while applying the highlighter product and should build up the product for strong highlighting in layers. Avoid highlighting areas of your face that have active acne. Also if you have oily skin ,skip areas of your  face like forehead or chin, which tend to develop shine after some time.My favorite powder highlighters are Revlon Colorstay Highlighting Palette, Makeup Revolution Vivid Baked Highlighter and Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks Compact. If you are looking out for decent affordable highlighter, Sivanna Colors Shining Star Shimmer Bricks are pretty nice.

5. Beside liquid or powder highlighters, there are balm and stick highlighter formulas too.With both these formulas , I prefer applying foundation after highlighter as these tend to remove the foundation off on blending.

RENDEZVOUS TIME

What are your thoughts on these makeup techniques ? Do you bake , strobe or contour on regular basis or only for special occasions ? Do mention in comments below