Long-wear make-up products for your late nights
By Brittney MacDonald, Staff Writer
Make-up has become a ritual of war paint for most women (and some men) these days. We don it and feel invincible on our quest to tackle the world at large, and if it’s a night out, to find a date. But what do you do to make sure your war paint stays fresh the whole night, just in case you meet that 2 a.m. prince or princess?
Finding long-wear make-up is a pain. With all the products out today that promise to make your face “life proof,” it requires a lot of experimentation to know what works and what’s just going to go straight to the junk drawer.
So let’s just start with the basic of the basic—setting powder. I cringe when I hear that people skip this step, especially if I know they wear a full face of foundation and concealer. Setting powder is not the same thing as foundation powder. In the world of long-wear, you want a translucent setting powder that will bond with your foundation or concealer and keep it from creasing and forming fine lines under your eyes and around your brow and mouth.
I know how precious money is when you’re a student, but if you splurge on anything it should be this. Make Up For Ever, MAC, and Vichy all make decent setting powders that will not only make oily skin look matte, but will also prevent your daily-wear concealer and foundation from sliding around. This is especially good because in all my personal and stage make-up experience, I haven’t found one long-wear foundation that didn’t feel like cement on my face; being able to stick to my tried-and-true BB cream is a bonus.
Next up is cheeks. If I know I have a long day coming up I almost never wear powders. Instead I opt for cream blush, or better yet, cheek tint. Cream blush can also be set with your setting powder, so it has a longer life span than powder, and cheek tint is meant to last longer than both of them because it actually acts as a temporary stain. I tend to stick to the Urban Decay Afterglow series and Benefit’s Benetint, because they work and are super affordable.
Eyeliner is a big pain for any long-wear enthusiast. Your eyes are constantly blinking, watering, and squinting, which makes it nearly impossible to find an eyeliner that will last through all that for an entire day. I prefer liquid liner, but almost all of it is water soluble. Products that work do exist; Kat Von D has an amazing tattoo liner that won’t budge even if you’re facing the wind head-on in a thunder storm—but the price is a little steep for the amount of product you get.
If you don’t wear liquid eyeliner often maybe Kat’s version will work for you, but if you’re a daily user you might want to look for something a little cheaper. Again, Urban Decay saves the day! Their 24/7 liquid liner will last you a good 12 to 15 hours before you’ll need to redo it, and at $12 it’s easy on your wallet. I wear liquid liner nearly every day, and one tube of this stuff will last me four to five months.
I’ve saved the best for last, though I feel like a bit of a commercial for saying this—it’s another Urban Decay product. In my defence, they are one of the cheapest brands in major cosmetics stores, and like me, they are against animal testing—plus they just make a lot of long-wear cosmetics. The Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray is a constant in my make-up bag for stage make-up and my day-to-day. I started using it around four years ago and though I have tried other setting sprays including the far more expensive products from MAC and Make Up For Ever, I always come back to this one because it just seems to work better than all the rest.
I will readily admit that I am lazy. I apply my make-up once and the possibility of reapplying it during a busy day seems torturous. But then, so does looking less-than-my-best when I’ve got a long day (or night) ahead of me. So be lazy—just don’t let anyone else know.
