This one never would have occurred to me on my own. I had no idea anyone was doing this — mixing face oil into their makeup. Then I saw MAC Senior Artist Alev Karli do it in a video (check out her Instagram feed because it’s gorgeous!). She blended a couple drops of MAC Essential Oil into Groundwork Paint Pot, and BAM! — ye olde proverbial light switch got flipped in my head.
Whoa! You mean that if I add a few drops of face oil to cream eyeshadow or cream blush, it’ll thin them out and change their consistency??
That’s brilliant.
Adding a few drops to cream shadow makes it easier to buff and blend (and also makes it look less cake-y and more natural). The finish changes, too. It gets dewier and glossier.
If you’re in the mood to mix, here are some variations to try…
1. Face oil + cream highlighter
I did this with Cream Colour Base in Hush 
last weekend and a few drops of Chantecaille Rose De Mail Face Oil, which someone gave me as a gift a few years ago (it’s crazy expensive!), but I bet it would work just as well with any face oil you have around.
I added the oil right into the pan of Cream Color Base, mixed it with a face brush, then gently stippled the new concoction onto my upper cheekbones for a dewy, pearly glow.
You can wear do this on top of your face makeup (although I recommend applying it before you do your face powder so it doesn’t make whatever you’re wearing under it scoot around too much), or apply it under foundation or tinted moisturizer for a soft, subtle highlight.
2. Face oil + matte liquid lipstick
This combo turns a matte liquid lipstick into a cream. Start by swiping a small amount of liquid lipstick on the back of your hand, then add one or two drops of face oil. Then mix and apply that with a lip brush or your fingers.
Ding, ding, ding! Bonus: this will also work as a cream blush. Take what’s left on your hand, and pat it on your cheeks.
3. Face oil + foundation
Got a foundation that could really benefit from a moisture boost? Swipe a smidgen on the back of your hand, add one or two drops of face oil (or more if you want to really sheer it out and turn it into a tinted moisturizer) to it, then apply that to your face with your fingers or a brush.
Voila!
Next time I experiment, I’m gonna try this with some powder products to see what happens. 🙂 If you’re in the mood to play, get creative, mama! Give it a try, and bust out the face oil.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Jan Kelley says
September 18th, 2017 at 8:15 pmYes, I’ve seen Wayne Goss, MUA do this on his you tube channel with foundation. It gives a beautiful finish.?
LindaLibraLoca says
September 19th, 2017 at 2:46 amI have seem it with foundation on You Tube, but I usually let my regular oils do the trick, the ones my skin is producing loads of…
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janine says
September 19th, 2017 at 3:30 amI knew this but since I don’t have dry skin it’s an easy pass. I have mixed my foundation with Moisturizer and such but if I want to go Dewey I use Bobbi Brown tinted moisturizer and cream blush skip powder. Interesting post!
Chelsea says
September 19th, 2017 at 5:41 amI can’t wait to try the cream eyeshadow! Oils break out my face like crazy though, so I probably won’t try this on my face makeup.
Jane says
September 19th, 2017 at 7:03 amThat sounds like a great suggestion for drier skin types. I just haven’t found a face oil that doesn’t irritate my skin. for some reason, Bobbi brown products cause my skin to itch like crazy. That is one of the reasons I stopped using the Extra line. my skin kept reacting to it.
Anyway, I am off the radar for the next few days. Have a great rest of the week.
Kim says
September 19th, 2017 at 7:33 amI’m totally trying this with my too-dry, old tube of mascara. I’ve done that before with makeup remover and had good results so you’d think I would have considered trying it with face oil. I’ll let you know how it goes. 🙂
Yelena Rivera says
September 19th, 2017 at 8:21 amoooh great idea for dry skin!
any one have face oil recommendations? for this purpose?
kellly says
September 19th, 2017 at 11:16 amSweet almond oil is a pretty standard oil. I am not a real big fan of argan oil. I’ve used cocoa butter oil and shea oil. Currently I use jojoba oil. Get it at Sprouts. It’s less than half as expensive there as it would be if you bought it from some specialty cosmetics brand.
Lorraine. E.R says
September 19th, 2017 at 5:33 pmWhat’s a good inexpensive oil for lips and using under or with matte lip products? Is Jojoba oil good for that too?
My lips are dry af and I’m trying to mix up my lip treatments so I would probably wear oil on them to bed and use a couple drops of something before matte lippies so that they don’t make my lips look worse.
kellly says
September 20th, 2017 at 6:02 amI would think anything that works on the rest of your face is worth using on your lips. Argan, shea, cocoa butter, jojoba and almond oil are all used in cosmetics, so I would think they’d be good on lips, too. I’ve tried different ones and find some work better with my skin chemistry than others. Physician’s Formula has argan oil lip products (they come in little tubes) and Milani used to have some but they might be discontinued. Good old Vaseline also works well on lips. I don’t like Chapstick that much because it’s so waxy it drags and feels hard to apply.
Indya says
September 19th, 2017 at 10:45 amHmmm. My skin is oily af though! Do you think this would work better for oil skin with an oil that absorbs quickly?
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kellly says
September 19th, 2017 at 11:14 amI LIVE by facial oil. I’ve used them for years and have used them to thin oil-based products frequently. I have dry skin and live in a dry climate. I would crackle up and blow away if it wasn’t for my oils! Jojoba oil for my face and grapeseed oil for my body and for thinning oil-based products.
Gina Bullard says
September 19th, 2017 at 11:27 amI’m going to try that with my paint pot – I made the mistake of getting one with a luster finish and it goes on really crumbly – or something. It’s not pretty. I might try that with my cream color base too — I just wish I’d gotten “hush”. I got a dark brown color and I never wear it. I’m an oily skin girl, but I do use oils in the winter at night. I got mine (or I get them) at Marshall’s – they have some good ones sometimes – and they’re really inexpensive. By the way, Karen – do you like the retro matte’s from Mac? I really dislike them — I ordered four of them and sent them back — I didn’t like them at all.
Happy Tuesday,
Gina and Gracie.
Tatiana says
September 19th, 2017 at 5:04 pmI tend to reserve my face oils for overnight skin care as I have a taste for really expensive ones. I might try to add a drop or two to foundation to see if it helps with the finish and application.
Marina (Makeup4all) says
October 7th, 2017 at 5:29 amLove the idea of using oil with the eye shadows and a blush! Will definitely try it x
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