Ever since the pandemic, many of us have been working from home and it’s safe to say that being able to do so has helped my skin tremendously. Gone are the days where I have to worry about wearing any makeup to the office.

And even if I do go out, my makeup routine is perennially simple. My tinted moisturiser makes a perfect substitute for a heavy foundation and I put more focus on my eyes for obvious reasons (read: masks). However, recently I came across this excessive-foundation routine that left me speechless.

If you’re curious to find out more about the foundation hack and my take on it, read on.

What the excessive-foundation trend is about

The trend recently went viral on TikTok when it was first published by the user, Meredith Duxbury. On her TikTok page, it’s evident that the Meredith is a beauty junkie herself, with over 584 beauty videos and a strong following of 7.9 million. So what’s in it for this routine that’s abuzz?

Basically, the excessive-foundation trend is actually a maximalist foundation routine that starts off with a dash of primer, followed by an excessive amount of liquid foundation.

In the video she’s seen smearing the foundation across her face with her own bare hands. We’re not even exaggerating and we’re not saying it’s wrong, but surprisingly, it works quite well considering the amount of foundation that was already on her face.

Meredith then follows through with a blending sponge to even out the foundation on her skin, before setting her face with some powder, bronzer, blush, highlighter, eye makeup and lipstick. And though it might look super extra, we have to admit, the finishing look is simply stunning.

And so, having seen the trend I was curious to find out how it would fare on my skin especially in Singapore’s hot and humid climate. I gathered everything I needed from my own beauty arsenal and got started right away.

The process

Now that I’ve neglected all my beauty products over the last few months due to the pandemic — and having spent most of my days at home — I was thrilled to experiment a new look, and of course, breathe new life into my old products that been just collecting dust on my vanity.

For starters, I used the a generous dollop of Marc Jacobs’ Beauty Under Perfecting Coconut Face Primer. Considering the amount of foundation that I was going to use, I wanted to make sure that my face was primed and prepped for it.

Next, I generously applied about five pumps of YSL Beauty’s All Hours Foundation. I made sure I picked out a full coverage foundation to ensure that it was similar to the ones that were used in the video.

Of course, I also made sure that I applied the foundation with my own hands and but I quickly realised that it turned out to be a mess — which is why it’s important for you to note, that if you’re trying this, avoid wearing white at all costs.

After doing so, I blended in the foundation with a beautyblender before topping it with some powder, eye makeup, blush, bronzer and a lipstick.

However, while I was applying my eye makeup, I realised that it can be a little heavy on the lids, especially with the layers of foundation, and it was also hard to correct any mistakes around the eye area because you’d have to reapply the foundation on that particular area to ensure that everything looks even.

Overall verdict

I have to admit that I was genuinely impressed with the look. My skin looked flawless, and it seemed like I had a filter on IRL — you could barely notice my pores. It was surreal and it managed to banish any imperfections on my skin including my blemishes.

The downside of this, however, is that it feels quite heavy on the skin. Going outdoors in Singapore, especially with a mask on, will only cause you to smudge your makeup and ruin your look.

Any form of indentation by your mask will be noticeable and if you don’t use the right foundation, it might just transfer over to your mask or anything that you lie your face on.

And not to mention, you’ll be wasting a lot of product while doing it — because let’s be real, you don’t need that much product.

In fact, many beauty aficionados can attest to that which explains why they can’t stand the trend.

So would I recommend? Well, this look is amazing if you’re doing at-home or any other indoor photoshoots, but if you’re heading, I’d advise to go easy on the foundation and settle for a more minimalistic approach to your makeup routine.

This article was first published in Her World Online.