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How to Minimize Shine Throughout the Day - Tips and Tricks
Makeup & Beauty Tips on How to Minimize Shine Throughout the Day
Share your best tips and tricks for keeping your face shine-free during the day! Feel free to share your experiences, how you mastered techniques, or what you struggle with.
My Tips
- I have normal-to-dry skin, so I don’t have a lot of shine that needs to be dealt with, so my tips and tricks come from living with that type of skin! As a result, I find a light dusting of pressed powder (regular, finishing, setting, or blot!) all work well on my t-zone to “reset” my finish if I’ve gotten a little shiny.
- I like primers, because they help minimize the oil from the get-go. There are mattifying primers that work well.
- Setting foundation after you’ve applied (especially liquid or cream) with either setting or finishing powder does help to prolong and keep shine at bay, even if it might not last all day if you have an oilier skin type.
Thanks to Rajaa for this week’s topic!
I have EXTEMELY oily skin. I’m talking about an hour after application of primer, foundation, powder and setting spray the oils just start shining through. I have used every type of primer from drugstore to high end, with SPF, without SPF, mattifying, silicone base, EVERYTHING. The only thing that I have found that works extremely well to minimize shine and by night time looks like a nice subtle glow is………….milk of magnesia!!!!!!!!!!!! Underneath my eyes is the only area that I apply face primer to, but everywhere else is milk of magnesia. Then I set everything with a light spray of UD’s All Nighter spray. This little magic potion has beyond impressed me and blew a $50 primer I bought out of the water. Throughout the day I do not need to touch up, or use a blotting sheet or anything else.
i need to try this!!! can you apply milk of magnesia after medicated lotions like benzoyl peroxide???
Oooooh, I’m not sure. You might want to ask a dermotologist about that.
ITA! Milk of magnesia as a primer is the best thing for my super oily skin! Just a dab on a cotton pad and swipe over all the areas where you get oily throughout the day.
Also, NARS Light Reflecting Loose Setting Powder is without a doubt the best setting powder I’ve tried. I get a couple of extra hours before my face is a grease pit with this.
The way I apply my pressed powder foundation also has to contribute to the longetivity of being “oil-free”. I use a velour puff (like the ones that MAC sells that come in a twin pack), place it flat over the powder foundation, twist, and I press the product into my skin. I found that if I use a brush, even if it’s in a stippling motion or pressed onto my skin, it doesn’t look as beautiful as when you press it in with a velour puff. You can always lightly dust some NARS loose reflecting whatever product over as a finishing product. I love using that stuff for setting concealer underneath my eyes. Doesn’t cause a white cast or flashback in photographs, and is very light feeling.
I’m not an esthetician but I have seen, first hand, how changing up your skincare regime can go a LONG way to helping oily skin. It won’t give you the fastest results but I think it’s the best place to start. I’ll generalize here (knowing there are exceptions to every rule): Oily skin likes to be oily. There’s usually not a damn thing you can do about it. I’ve seen the best results come from tossing out most of your “oil control” products – get rid of anything harsh or drying. YOUR SKIN WANTS TO BE OILY. If you try stripping it, it’s just going to make more oil to compensate. Try moisturizers that aren’t oil free. Sometimes you can “trick” your skin into thinking it has the right amount of oil already, therefor it won’t overproduce to compensate. Give your face the oil it wants and it won’t make more (again, this won’t work for everyone but I’ve seen it work time and time again on people with oily skin).
I’m always a fan of doing what you can to minimize the amount of products you need to use. If you can get your skin under control and happy, you might not NEED all that other stuff.
I couldn’t agree more! I always suggest the same for everyone who suffers from oily skin and acne because it personally helped my skin a lot. Moisturize well and those drying acne leftovers are also easier to conceal.
I also find it helpful if after moisturizing(and/or primer) and applying foundation you really press the powder into the skin and dust off the access (with something like Mac Prep+Prime powder that can’t be overapplied and finely milled so it also covers the pores)
I hear you! I swapped my ‘oil control’ cleansers and ‘pore minimizing’ lotions and potions for gentle products and it significantly changed the oily appearance of my skin. Also, I found avoiding products with fragrance and essential oils helped. They might not be as fun to use, but my boring skin routine has saved my skin!
I’m very oily and prone to shine. My steps to make makeup stick:
1) Primer
2) Minimal foundation – just what I need to even out tone. The more foundation, the worse it looks when oil seeps through, I think.
3) Light dusting of powder.
4) Urban Decay De-Slick spray as a finishing spray.
5) Touch up with powder as needed during the day – usually mid-day and again if I go out after work. If the latter I’ll reapply the spray too.
AMEN to minimal foundation. I have acne scars, but I prefer to only go over those areas with more foundation or concealer rather than drenching my face in foundation (which I used to do. WIth FULL coverage foundation. Hot mess.). I agree that it looks so gross when the oil factory is in full gear D:
I have oily skin, and fighting the shine is a daily battle. I recently started using the Nanoblur and I notice that that really helps to keep the oil at bay. But I always keep a jar of mattifying powder in my bag, just in case.
I have super oily skin and I have found what works for me — the key is how I apply a setting powder. After applying a thick/heavy cream foundation, I use maybelline matte powder (works as good as MAC but is cheaper and last longer!) to set the look. I take the little puff circle and really press hard into the powder and I apply heavily to my forehead, under eye area, and nose. When I first do it, I end up looking like a crazy person who walked into a cloud of flour. But then I take a clean brush and go over by face, dusting off excess, but not too much excess!! Then I balance out the look by applying powder blush and maybe a contour shade (bronzer will work too for many people). The reason this works is because since I am so oily, my natural skin oils/sweat will adjust my overly-powdered face in a matter of 10-15 minutes. So by the time I get to work, I look like a freaking celebrity, and everyone is always complimenting my makeup. The best part is that I don’t have to touch up at all!!! I can come home and the makeup still looks PERFECT almost until I go to bed! I decided to try this because I noticed that a lot of the best youtube makeup gurus who are able to truly perform red carpet-level makeup application use a heavy hand when it comes to setting powders, and it works.
I use Estee Lauder’s Double Wear Light (I believe this is for oily skin) or Jouer’s Matte Moisture Tint. If I know I am going to be out all day and night (e.g. when I travel) I spray some of UD’s de-slick after doing my makeup and I apply powder when I get shiny throughout the day. On most days I just use Gatsby’s Oil Clear Sheets to remove excess oil because I’d rather remove it than apply product that will absorb it.
Blotting papers cut down the shine. NYX makes very affordable ones. I also like MAC Blot Powder.
Oh my GOSH thank you for this post! I am a super oily girl and I love hearing how other people deal. I have found that I agree with Dusty – I’ve gone back to using moisture and even the Tarte Maracuja oil at night. My face seems to freak out less when its already “oily”.
I still have to use mattifying primers and change them up seasonally. UD De-slick spray works really well. In the summer I just have to make peace with using light powder only and blotting the hell out of my face -all. the. time. I work in an office and it wouldn’t be unusual if I took a piece of paper that I was going to toss and stuck it on my forehead first… Blotting papers get expensive when you need to use 5 at a time, multiple times a day!
I agree with the above post – skincare is the way to go! For most of my life I would have described my skin as oily, but luckily I found MY “miracle” product – glycolic acid! I use a glycolic toner 3-4x a week at night, and that alone has transformed my oily skin to something that is much closer to normal. I still blot maybe once a day using a clean napkin/towel or my trusty NYX blotting papers, and follow up with a quick dusting of powder. And honestly if you have oily skin I think blotting is the best way deal with it anyway. Its the cheapest and most effective….however if you’re going to invest in products then I would put my money towards skincare rather than oil control or ‘mattifying’ products like primers, foundations, etc.
I swear by the Clean & Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets. I keep them on hand at all times because I have combination skin that gets pretty greazy. (Yes, that’s greazy with a Z. It’s that serious.) I also like mattifiers – Mary Kay’s is my favorite. Smashbox’s Photo Finish mattifier works almost TOO well…I always end up with white streaks on my face…requiring me to use tinted moisturizer…that makes me shiny all over again. Recently, I tried that combo backwards – putting on the moisturizer first and then the mattifier – much better results.
First I would start with using Tea Tree Oil to wash your face. Specifically, I use a TTO soap, that goes a long way to making my skin soft and free of pimples (common problem with oily skin)!
There are probably going to be tons of great makeup tips, so I will suggest something else.
If your skin is oily to the point where you are blotting every hour or so, I would highly recommend a medication called Spironolactone. It will lower the androgens in the body, which can cause oily skin. I used it for about a year, then went off, and my skin is permanently less oily now. It was a miracle.
My skin’s quite dry, but I have a heart condition that causes excess sweating with any little amount of exertion. Just walking around the mall my face will get dripping wet. My savior for times when I need to be put together (meetings, interviews, my upcoming wedding) is facial antiperspirant. The one I use is called Neat 3B Face Saver, which I’ve only found at WalMart. It’s a gel, and wears really well under makeup. I put it on the places where I get sweaty first (browbone, t-zone, upper lip). This isn’t something I use even close to every day, but it’s a godsend for my issues. I also have used it on brides when I did their makeup, especially for summer weddings!
Newest solution – Essence All About Matt pressed powder. I think it might be the best mattifying powder I’ve ever used (well, it’s certainly up there with the best but it costs about 1/5th to 1/10th the price of the other good’uns).
I love Paula’s Choice Shine Stopper. It really does what it says it will. I no longer have to blot every hour!
One thing I do to keep my makeup shine-free and long-lasting is to blot between each layer. That is, after moisturizer and sunscreen has been applied to a freshly cleaned face, then left to sink in for at least 15 minutes, I’ll take a piece of tissue and press it all over my face. If the tissue sticks to your face, those are excess oils/moisture that your skin isn’t going to absorb anyway. It’s important to tissue this off as it will interfere with your makeup later on, making it shiny faster. Keep blotting until the tissue slides off your face and doesn’t stick to it, this lets you know that there’s nothing else to blot.
If you use primer, apply it (no need to wait as there’s nothing to absorb), then blot your face again, until the tissue slides off. Apply foundation and concealer and after they set, again blot until tissue slides off.
Finally powder where you need it. With all the excess oils/moisture off your face, the powder doesn’t have to absorb it at the beginning and so will stay effective for longer and absorb more oil later when needed (since the powder can only obsorb so much oil). Also, if you get shiny throughout the day, blot first then powder, otherwise it can lead to a cakey mess.
I find this method works for me and I stay shine-free thoughout the day, but I am not very oily, just combination skin. Granted it can be a little time-consuming, so I don’t do this daily, but I definitely do this for events and when I’m going to be photographed for sure. Hopefully this will help even a little.
Now THIS is my area of expertise! I have extremely oily skin. Here is what work for me:
Cleanse wilth Pangea Organics willow cleanser
Tone with Caudalie Beauty Elixir
Moisturize with Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel
Apply Milk of Magnesia all over my face with a cotton pad – your face will look white, but once you put foundation overtop, it’s gone. This is the key to my oil control
Spray Urban Decay De-Slick
Apply foundation and concealer
Spray Urban Decay De-Slick
Apply powder – I have yet to find an amazing one, but Tarte Amazonian Clay works well
I have oily to combination skin and what I do is apply Urban Decay’s De-Slick Setting Spray after moisturizing and apply it once again after I’ve applied foundation, concealer and pressed powder. This usually works for me, I also try to keep my makeup brushes clean and I tend to avoid abrasive skincare. Oh, I also like to apply a clay mask once a week to keep the oils away 🙂
By the way, I haven’t found any good setting powder that can keep me matte through at least half a day :/ Right now I use rice powder.
I have tried almost everything and still have to do a lot of blotting. For me, it’s a constant struggle because I have combination skin. Now that I’m 35, I deal with an oily t-zone but I can easily dehydrate my cheeks which are normal. I have used just about every mattifier under the sun and nothing keeps the oilies completely at bay.
I have to agree with the “skincare” ladies. I am dealing with MUCH less oil lately, now that I’m moisturizing at night (Paula’s Choice Anti Aging Clear Skin Hydrator followed by Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief) and cutting back on oil control products and drying anti-acne products. During the day, I’m using UD De Slick in a Tube only on my T-zone. I am also only using powder on my T-zone (light dusting). I’ve been spritzing on De Slick too, but that might be too much. I’m still trying to find the right balance, but I have to say, hydration at night combined with less drying anti-acne products has helped my skin find better balance overall.