In recent years, the quest for flawless makeup has led to the development and popularization of various techniques. One prominent method, contouring, has been heavily advocated by celebrities like Kim Kardashian. Meanwhile, the drag community and Instagram influencers have introduced another technique – baking or cooking – that has garnered significant attention.
Baking is a process that allows makeup to seamlessly blend with one’s complexion, creating a more natural and long-lasting look. This technique has gained popularity through YouTube tutorials and is now commonly used by both drag queens and everyday makeup enthusiasts. In the following paragraphs, we will delve into the steps for baking your face and why this technique has become a mainstay in face makeup applications.
Chapter Overview
What is Baking?
Baking is a technique popularized by the drag community that involves allowing translucent powder to sit on your face, letting the heat from your face set your foundation and concealer. The results are a flawless and creaseless finish. Here are some key points to remember:
- Origins: Started by the drag community, which has greatly influenced modern makeup trends.
- Purpose: Provides a flawless, creaseless finish for foundation and concealer.
- Process: Apply translucent powder, let it sit and “bake” with your body heat, then dust it off.
- Time efficiency: Only adds a minute to your morning routine and reduces the need for touch-ups or fixing smudging eyeliner later in the day.
- Multitasking: While the powder bakes, use the time to complete other makeup tasks, like filling in your brows.
Overall, the baking technique has proven to be a useful and efficient way to achieve a long-lasting and flawless makeup look.
What Do You Need?
To achieve a flawless, poreless, and creaseless look, it is essential to have the following key items on hand:
- Translucent Setting Powder: Opt for a finely milled powder that blends seamlessly with your makeup. Ensure it does not contain minerals like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, which can cause flashback in photos.
- Makeup Sponge: A damp makeup sponge will effectively grip the powder. Alternatively, use a densely packed brush.
- Creamy Concealer: Find a concealer that is easy to blend, like MAC Studio Fix 24-Hour Liquid Concealer or Jouer Cosmetics Essential High Coverage Liquid Concealer.
- Eye Cream: This is a crucial part of the baking technique.
- Liquid Foundation: Choose a liquid formula that will be less likely to look cakey when baking, such as HUDA Beauty Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder.
Once you have all these tools and products, you’re set to master the baking technique and achieve a flawless makeup look.
Step by Step Guide
Step 1 – Moisturize
To begin, we must hydrate the eye area, so it’s soft and healthy. Applying eye cream around the eye area will moisturize and plump it up, minimizing the appearance of fine lines and creases.
Step 2 – Conceal imperfections
Now, we apply a thick, creamy concealer under our eyes. Blend the concealer from the apples of our cheeks and towards the temples underneath the eye using a damp makeup sponge.
Step 3 – Apply even more concealer
For lasting power, a second coat of concealer can be applied, although this step is optional. If you choose to do this, blend the second coat using a damp makeup sponge, ensuring all creases are covered and smoothed out.
Step 4 – Apply translucent powder
This crucial step sets our base makeup. Using a fluffy eye shadow brush, apply translucent powder over the entire patch of concealer.
Step 5 – Start baking
Dampen a wedge sponge with setting spray and dip it into the translucent powder. Generously pack the loose powder over the concealed area and leave it to sit for five to ten minutes.
Step 6 – Dust it off
Finally, remove excess powder using the fluffy eye shadow brush and pressed powder. Blend any harsh edges as you dust away the loose powder.
Finishing Touches
Now that our foundation is set, let’s enhance our look with these final steps:
- Contour: Using a contour powder, let’s define our cheekbones. The powder will smoothly blend with our already baked makeup base.
- Blush: To avoid a flat appearance, we should add a natural flush of color to the apples of our cheeks with a blush.
- Eye Makeup: For a captivating eye look, let’s use a combination of liquid and pencil eyeliners. We recommend coating our lashes with one or two layers of mascara, remembering to include the bottom lashes as well.
- Tips for crease-free and long-lasting eye makeup:
- Choose matte finish eyeshadows for a seamless blend.
- Use an eyeshadow primer for a smooth and lasting finish.
- Brows: Let’s keep our brows looking flawless by focusing on these aspects:
- Shape
- Fill
- Set with a brow gel for a natural-looking hold.
- Highlight: To achieve a radiant complexion, apply a highlighter on the high points of our faces, such as cheekbones, nose bridge, and brow bones.
- Bronzer: For a sun-kissed glow, dust some bronzer on our temples, cheeks, and jawline.
- Lips: Complete the look by applying a liquid lipstick in the shade of our choice, tailored to our preferences — from subtle to bold.
To maintain our immaculate makeup throughout the day, we can use a setting spray for a poreless, silky-smooth, and matte finish. Should touch-ups be necessary, we can easily freshen up with a few simple steps, ensuring our makeup remains creaseless and flawless.