MUAs share their best tips and tricks

This year, I emerged out of my winter cocoon with skin that looked dull, dry and frankly, pretty lifeless. Of course, it’s not unusual.

Thanks to central heating, whipping winds and the draining effects of winter colds and bugs, most of us are faced with a complexion that looks anything but fresh when the sunshine finally hits. Of course, having dry, flaky skin that seemed impossible to revive was disheartening, but the way makeup sat on said skin was even more so.

While my foundation was just about okay, the rest of my usual makeup kit – dense powder bronzers and pigment-packed blushers – just weren’t doing the glow-giving job they usually did.

Instead, they exacerbated the dullness and clung to the dry patches, making my pores look larger and my fine lines more pronounced. So, while sorting out my skin was definitely on the agenda, it was also time to rethink my makeup bag, if only to try and revive things in the short-term.

Cream of the makeup crop

It was more luck than anything that my search for a new makeup routine coincided with a slew of new, cream formulas that landed on my desk. Of course, my foundation and concealer are all liquid or cream, but when it comes to the fun, frivolous stuff, like blusher, bronzer, eyeshadow and highlighter, my predilection is for powders. 

Not any more though, I am from here on in, a full-on cream convert. 

And the reason? Since switching over to almost exclusively cream formulations, my skin has never looked better. Not only does the makeup itself sit better on my skin and is easier to apply, but creams have given me a youthful, dewy, radiant finish that just feels impossible to replicate with powders. 

“I like skin with texture, skin that still looks like skin,” says Chiho Omae, MERIT global creative makeup artist. “To me, glow should feel like it belongs within the skin’s natural structure rather than sitting on top of it. Cream textures are perfect for creating beautiful dimension and a modern, skin-like finish,” she adds.

As well as their affinity with skin itself (the oils in cream products mimic skin’s natural lipids, allowing them to melt in more easily) most modern cream makeup formulas have been created with ingredients you’re likely to find in your skincare. Think things such as vitamin E, which nourishes, vitamin C, which brightens, and botanical extracts which are rich in conditioning fatty acids. No wonder then that my skin has been glowing with gusto.

Of course, all good makeup starts with skincare but once you have a smooth, hydrated base (courtesy of some simple staples such as AHAs, ceramides and humectants), cream formulas really come into their own, gliding on to skin and melting in a way that looks diffused and effortless. These are the ones I rate. 

It starts with skincare

I love Medik8’s Total Moisture Cleansing Gel, £29, for a clean base. This thoughtful formula removes everything, including SPF and heavy makeup in as little as 30 seconds but leaves skin feeling cushioned with moisture until your next cleanse.

Dr Hauschka The Calm and Balance Ampoules, £78, are a great place to start if your skin is sensitised and red. This intensive month-long treatment uses borage, pearl and oak bark to soothe, balance and hydrate the skin and get things back on a more even keel.

Anything that’s loaded with ceramides and peptides is a good thing in my book and Prequel’s Half and Half Moisturiser, £23, is just that. Ideal for bringing skin back from the brink and calming a compromised skin barrier, this is just the thing to get a supple, juicy skin base for your makeup.

My cream makeup favourites: The bronzers

Back to my crop of cream makeup formulas. Like most of the world, I have fallen for Hailey Bieber’s glossy, glazed makeup look, so it’s only natural that the Rhode Pocket Bronzer, £25, is up there with my favourite cream formulas of all time. Whatever shade you choose, these ultra-creamy bronzers are a great way to add warmth and dimension to all skin tones. Simply glide on wherever you want a hit of sun-kissed colour and blend in.

The bronzers have exceptionally good blendability, which means they can be buffed into skin seamlessly for a naturally bronzed finish. 

Likewise with the Summer Fridays Bronzer Balms, £30, which are nicely melting and give pallid skin a real boost.  Formulated with essential fatty acids from extracts like shea, mango seed, and illipe butters, this bronzer is part pigment, part skincare, and it shows in the application. If you want to forgo makeup altogether, a touch of this buffed into cheekbones and eyelids is enough to add life to your whole face

Don’t be afraid to apply both beyond just your cheekbones; the beauty of cream bronzers is that they can also be used to subtly add contour and dimension to the rest of the face, so trace them along temples, under the jawline and into the eye sockets too.

If you love that dewy, healthy skin finish then you’ll love the Sculpted by Aimee Cream Luxe Bronzer, £18. Enriched with hyaluronic acid, vitamin E and castor seed oil, it’s an easy way to gently sculpt your face naturally and fake that healthy glow.

The blushes

Bronzer and blusher are like salt and pepper, it feels wrong to have one without the other. A great blusher can not only bring your face to life, but it can fake a good night’s sleep, eliminate all traces of a late night and generally just make you look a million times better than you feel.

On top of that, if you lean into cream formulas, you’ll find they melt into skin so effortlessly that it’s impossible to tell where your skin stops and the blusher starts. In other words, you look like you simply radiate good health.

Using the same slimline silhouette as VB’s much-lauded Contour Stylus, Victoria Beckham Beauty’s Blush Stylus, £38, is excellent for adding colour exactly where you want it, whether to carve out cheekbones or sculpt around your temples. The smooth, creamy formula blends like a dream, and the pigment is sheer yet buildable, leaving you in control of the intensity.

Another crayon I like is Kosas’ Impressionist Multistick Cream Cheek + Lip Colour, £32. The great thing about these versatile crayons is how waxy the formula is without being greasy. That means you don’t need to warm the product up on the back of your hand before you apply; simply sweep, blend and go.

While VIEVE’s Sunset Blush Balm, £24, is technically a liquid, not a cream, the idea is the same and the luminous finish you get with this is not to be missed. Of the two newest shades that have launched, I’m a fan of Malbec, a tawny peach which has earthy undertones for a natural flush.

How to apply cream makeup

As for how to apply your chosen cream products, whether that’s bronzer, eyeshadow or even a lip tint, Omae says don’t overthink it: “I like to embrace a softer, more lived-in finish, letting the colours melt into the skin and blend naturally together.”

Jamie Genevieve, makeup artist and founder of VIEVE and agrees, adding that when it comes to blusher, she likes to “tap on with fingers for a subtle sheen or layer up for an intense, blushed look.”

Of her VIEVE Blush Balm, she says, “You can even mix the liquid blush with other products in your makeup bag to customise and play.” As for me, fingers are not only the most convenient tool but often give the best result as the natural oils in my fingers warm the products up nicely, allowing them to be patted in with a near-flawless execution. It really is as simple as that.