Being on campus for most of the day can take a toll on your base makeup, and attempting to reapply in-between classes is a hassle. Thankfully, TikTok offers a few hacks that claim to keep your foundation and concealer perfect throughout the day, with no creasing or pilling. Over the last few days, while being on campus all day, I’ve put two of these hacks to the test using products courtesy of Maybelline. Specifically, I used the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer in Cool Ivory 095 and the Maybelline Fit Me Loose Finishing Powder in Light 15. Unfortunately, I found the finishing powder a little too dark, so if I were to buy one for myself I would probably go for the shade Fair 05. On a side note, Maybelline actually has a really cool tool on their website under “tap and try” which allows you to test shades by using your camera, a photo of yourself, or a model. This is really helpful because finding your perfect shade can be a challenge online.
For the criteria of my experiment, I’ll be ranking each hack based on ease of application, how cakey/heavy my makeup felt on my skin, and how it held up after a day.
Testing Just the concealer and loose setting powder.
I found applying the Maybelline concealer and loose setting powder very easy, as neither required much work or extra steps and instantly melted into my skin. Also, my skin didn’t feel cakey or heavy at all. Overall, I was extremely happy with how my skin looked right after application. As you can see in the photos, it actually held up well on its own. The concealer did rub off the side of my nose, but that is to be expected after an entire day with no touch-ups and just setting powder. Here are my final ratings for this baseline test:
Ease of application: 5/5
Cakeyness: None!
How it held up: 4/5
Would I recommend it? Yes! Maybelline is a great drugstore makeup brand, and both of these products are affordable and held up well on their own.
TikTok hack 1: Applying powder before concealer/foundation.
Moving onto the second day of my experiment, I decided to test out a viral TikTok hack that recommends putting on your setting powder before putting on your concealer or foundation. I’m not sure who started this trend, but the video I saw was from @klaudiasyd on TikTok. Starting with the application, I found this method extremely easy because I was just swapping around the steps from the day before. It did feel a little strange applying the concealer on top of the loose finishing powder, but I’m sure if I made this part of my normal routine I would get used to it quickly. This method also felt a little more cakey, but again that could just be in my head because I’m not used to it. Right after application, my skin looked really good. Maybe it’s because the powder helped fill my pores before the concealer, but I thought my skin looked better than how it looked using the regular method. I was on campus for the majority of the day, so this hack was really put to the test. By the end of the day, you can see that my concealer once again struggled a little around my nose, but other than that it held up pretty well.
Ease of application: 5/5
Cakeyness: A little cakey, but could just be because I’m not used to putting powder first.
How it held up: 4.5/5
Would I recommend this hack? Definitely! While I’m not sure how healthy it is for my skin in the long run, this hack definitely seemed to hold up a little better than the classic concealer before powder method. Again, this day was way more demanding than the day before and I’m not sure yesterday’s method would look as good.
tiktok hack 2: setting powder, setting spray, primer, and then concealer/foundation.
This is the most viral foundation hack I’ve seen on TikTok. Again, it was difficult for me to find who exactly started this trend, but the video I saw was from @makeupbytvl (definitely not the creator, they’re just who I saw it from first). This hack claims that in order to have the best long-lasting base makeup, you should apply a thin layer of setting powder, then setting spray (wait for it to completely dry), primer, and then your concealer or foundation. I’m going to be real with you, this was not my favorite method. With early morning classes to get to, I don’t realistically have the time to go through all these steps in the morning. Additionally, my skin felt extremely cakey, even with only adding a thin layer of each product. However, I will admit, my skin did look very good after application, so I’d definitely recommend this hack for a quick photoshoot over an everyday makeup routine. Because it felt so cakey, I was not surprised to find that my makeup did not look too good by the end of the day. I also had a few new breakouts (hormonal acne is the actual worst) and you can definitely see the difference between the coverage in the morning compared to the coverage at the end of the day.
Ease of application: 2/5
Cakeyness: Very cakey feeling.
How it held up: 2/5
Would I recommend this hack? No. While it might be nice for a one-off photoshoot, this hack was my least favorite and not realistic for an everyday routine.
Going forward, I think I might stick to my normal makeup routine. While trying these hacks was fun, my skin already responds pretty well to how I already do my makeup and I am a little scared about these new routines leading to breakouts. I will be looking into buying a lighter shade in Maybelline’s Fit Me Loose Finishing Powder, because I really enjoyed how this product made my skin look.