Must Know Foundation Tips for Acne Prone Skin

Foundation Tips for Acne Prone Skin

Acneic skin isn’t something anyone wishes they had. It’s not the nicest thing to live with; however, it doesn’t have to be the worst thing either. If you know how to treat your skin’s acne in a way that can help it maintain in a healthier with less occurrences of acne outbreak, then you’ll see that it doesn’t have to cause disruption to your life.

In this article we’re going to look at some foundation tips for acne prone skin. We’ll also touch on some other bits of information that are useful for knowing how to treat and prevent acne.

Should I Put Makeup on My Acne?

We need to start at the beginning which is whether you should be putting makeup on acneic skin at all. Wearing makeup should be a personal choice made by you, not by your skin. So, yes, if you want to, you should put makeup on even if you have acne.

That answer comes with some guidelines you should follow though. Be careful about what kind of makeup you use. Unfortunately, there are some kinds of makeup that can actually cause you to develop more acne or worsen what you normally have. It’s even been known to cause acne in people who didn’t already have it.

What Kind of Foundation Makes Acneic Skin Worse?

Thick, pore-clogging foundation is only going to exacerbate the problem. You need to find a foundation for your skin that is labeled as non-comedogenic, which means it won’t clog pores. Another term you might see used is non-acnegenic.

Also, don’t use makeup that has oil in it. Your best bet is a foundation that is not greasy and completely oil-free. Find makeup that is hypoallergenic so you’re not dealing with any other kinds of weird outbreaks. You want it to be non-irritating as well.

Look at the list of ingredients that’s in the foundation. If the first ingredient isn’t water, move on. You may have seen some advertisements for mineral-based makeup lines. These are one of the key foundation tips for acne prone skin. There are components in most of these that are really good at absorbing oil and making the tone of your skin appear more even. These are much less irritating to the facial area in general. Look for dimethicone to be part of the list too. It’s great for dulling redness so your skin looks more even.

Related: Effective and Easy Foundation Tips for Oily Skin

What’s the Best Way to Cover Up Acne?

The answer to this question depends on what type of acne you are trying to cover up. Since there are different kinds, we’ll just briefly go over the foundation tips for acne prone skin on the various types.

• Whiteheads: Always start with skin that’s been cleansed and is completely dry. The concealer you’re using should be thick—like a paste almost—not thin and wet. Concealers that are thin just move around and don’t stick to what you’re trying to cover anyway. Look for something that is in a small tub. Paint the concealer on with a small-tipped brush. Only apply it to the pimple and the redness, not to the clear skin. Once you’ve finished covering it, brush powder foundation over your entire face.

• Cystic pimples: These are mountains that break out on your face without a head. They’re swollen and red and often tender to the touch. Use a compress to reduce swelling as much as possible first. This type of zit is better served by the lighter versions of concealer. Thick, heavy concealers can cause these things to look even bigger than they are, and no one wants that. Combine the lighter one with some tinted moisturizer to make the pimple less obvious.

• Dried out zits: These are the ones that look like they’re peeling or flaking all the time. Hit them with some good moisturizer first. If there’s a lot of dry skin around it then you’ll want to take sterilized tweezers and clear as much of that as you can. Once you’ve done that and hydrated your skin properly, then you can apply concealer.

• Blackheads: These usually occur in groups. You can hide them with layers. Apply your foundation. Sometimes that’s enough, but if it isn’t, add concealer on top of that. Then move on to your powder. If you can still see them, use a brush that’s made for precision applications and dab at them with with more concealer.

• Super red acne: For these you need more power. Use green concealer or primer to knock out the redness. Then you’ll add a concealer that is yellow-based, making sure to blend it outward so it looks more natural. Apply powder over the area sparingly as it will stick.

Related: Everything You Need to Know About Salicylic Acid for Acne

What Color of Concealer Should I Use?

We touched on this a little bit above. If the acne you are trying to cover is bright red, you’ll go with the green concealer. Otherwise, you want to get as close to the tone of your skin as you can. You’re trying to hide what’s going on under that makeup, not draw more attention to it. If you go too light or too dark, you’ll be putting a bullseye on top of the blemish. That kind of just defeats your purpose.

What’s the Best Foundation for Acneic Skin?

The best foundations for acneic skin are those that are water-based rather than oil-based. You don’t need to slather oil on skin that is already oily in many cases.

You’re going to be better off spending a little bit more money for a good foundation that will treat your skin well. It’s not like it will cost you an arm and a leg, but just more than what the bargain brands cost at big box stores.

Stay away from foundations that boast about making you shimmer or glow. These most likely have ingredients in them that will ultimately clog your pores as they make you shine. And just in case it didn’t stick, we want to re-emphasize to stay away from anything oil-infused.

Related: CBD Oil Skincare Benefits 

The Best Tools for Applying Your Foundation

The typical methods for applying foundation are—fingers, brush, or sponge. So, how do you know what the best tool is for the job?

Use a brush if you’re putting on liquid foundation. You need to get a good foundation brush. You’ve probably figured out by now that there is a different makeup brush for every different type of makeup. Foundation brushes are specially designed to blend liquid foundation smoothly and easily into your skin. They also don’t waste the product you’re putting on. They blend so well that you really need a very minimal amount of makeup to spread over your whole face. When you’re finished, make sure you clean your brush thoroughly and place it somewhere clean to dry.

We often see people applying foundation with a sponge. While they can get the job done, they are better for using just as blending tools after you’ve already applied the makeup. If you are going to use a sponge, purchase a higher quality reusable sponge. If you regularly clean it, it will last for a long time. The little white ones (you know what we’re talking about) should never be used to apply foundation. They suck your makeup right up, causing you to use more.

Your fingers will work for applying any of your makeup if you’re ever in a pinch. If you can help it though, only use them to put on the tinted moisturizers and BB creams you use. The products don’t require a lot of blending. They just go on smooth and leave you with a nice finish. When applying anything with your fingers, start by washing your hands first and making sure they’re completely dry before you begin putting your makeup on.

General Tips for Things You Shouldn’t Do With Acneic Skin

You probably know what’s coming first but we’re going to say it anyway. DON’T POP PIMPLES. This is very hard not to do sometimes and we are aware of that. Let’s discuss why you shouldn’t pop them as a way of deterring you from doing it in the future.

• Scarring – Popping a zit can lead to permanent scarring.
• Additional outbreaks – You don’t know what’s in that thing. If there’s zit-causing bacteria in there, you could end up with a much bigger problem than you started with.
• Extending its visit – Your body has its own way of healing things. When you take matters into your own hands, quite literally in this case, you could be interrupting the course your body was already on. That can make your blemish stay around for longer than it would have if you had just left it alone.
• Unsuccessful efforts – You know that sometimes you just can’t get a pimple to pop. In some of these cases, what’s under the skin clogging your pore moves deeper into your face. That results in an even bigger, more noticeable spot on your face which is what you were trying to avoid in the first place.

Don’t Sleep in Your Makeup!

Always wash your face when you go to bed. Even if you didn’t wear makeup that day, your skin was exposed to all sorts of pollutants throughout the day. You want to wash everything that could be harmful to you skin off before you lay down at night.

Leaving your makeup on at bedtime allows it to move into your pores and clog them up. It can happen all on its own just from sitting on your skin for so long, but add to that the fact that you sometimes rub your face into your pillow, which creates pressure and pushes makeup into your pores, and this is a recipe for disaster.

The makeup on your face can also trap in all of those pollutants and free radicals that you encountered in your day. If you don’t wash your makeup off, you’re allowing those things to wreak havoc on your skin and start doing some pretty harmful damage. Your skin will start to look dull and lifeless if you do this much.

Sleeping in your makeup can also cause your skin to age more quickly than it should. You will essentially be robbing your skin of its chance to restore itself. Everything in your body tries to refresh and regenerate when you are resting at night. Your skin is no exception. During sleep, your face should be getting its nightly dose of sebum. This is something that your pores release at night as part of a hydration process.

Wear Sunscreen!

Don’t forget to protect the skin on your face from the sun. The UV rays that the sun puts out are so damaging to your face. Often, people will put sunscreen all over the other parts of their bodies but neglect to do so for their faces.

Now, should you just put any old kind of sunscreen on your face? No, you shouldn’t. Many of those sunscreens have oils in them and they’re greasy with ingredients that are sure to clog your pores. You can look for a sun protection product that is specifically formulated for the skin on your face. Also, many facial moisturizers have SPF in them, as well as makeups.

One more bit of advice is don’t exfoliate every day. While it’s true that dry skin can clog your pores and cause outbreaks, exfoliating every day starts to eat away at your skin’s natural moisture and oil. That ends up having the opposite effect from what you were intending. Too much exfoliation will actually lead to more breakouts rather than help you avoid them.

Related: This is How Often You Should Exfoliate

Our Intention

Our intention here is that you understand how to treat your acneic skin in a way that will make it the easiest to live with and look the healthiest it possibly can. There are plenty of foundations you can use that will not cause outbreaks. Some of them might even help prevent acne. The trick is to choose the right one for your skin and use the right kind of methods to apply it, as well as good habits that benefit your pores altogether.

More Great Resources for Foundation Tips for Acne Prone Skin

Makeup and Skin Care for Acne

The 30 Best Concealers That Will Completely Cover Your Acne

The Best Foundations for Acne-Prone Skin That Actually Conceal Breakouts