3 pro tricks to smooth out uneven texture with your makeup

There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to cover an uneven skin texture with your makeup, only to have it flake, look cakey, or just stand out more rather than blend in with the rest of your face. (Besides, perhaps, swiping on a brand-new mascara that just clumps, or applying an entire makeup look that only melts off as soon as you sweat outside.)

Covering breakouts is hard enough with your makeup, but at least pimples take up little real estate. Uneven skin texture can happen from pesky acne scars, dryness, or any number of reasons, and tends to cover more area than a mere whitehead does. Whatever it’s from, if you’re like me, you are trying to swipe on some foundation and/or concealer to even out your complexion… so I tapped a celebrity makeup artist for the pro-approved secrets for blending it all in seamlessly, bumps, divots, or marks.

“Usually, when skin texture is uneven, it indicates that the skin is dehydrated,” says Jamie Dorman, makeup artist. So the trick is to infuse your skin with hydration, rather than cover up a dry, bare canvas. Here are her three top tips.

1. Treat the skin first: “It’s best to treat the skin before applying your makeup when doing makeup for uneven skin textures,” she says, noting she likes to slather on a hyaluronic acid serum to bind water to your dehydrated skin cells. Then lock that in with a face oil or moisturizer—she loves to use Loli Beauty Plum Elixir ($68), but whatever’s in your skin-care regimen for hydration will work.

2. Use the right sponge: Covering up texture is easiest with a sponge, says Dorman. “I like to use a satin-finish foundation applied with a sponge so it won’t stick to dry areas,” she says. Her pick? The Beauty Pie Flawless Foundation Blending Sponge ($20).

3. Set it in place: “I’ll set areas that aren’t dry and tend to get oily so that the overall texture is the same,” says Dorman, who likes a mattifying powder applied as the last step. Try NYX Professional Makeup HD Finishing Powder ($7), and you’re good to go.

BTW, here’s how to do blush draping, the contouring makeup secret that requires no contour. And this is how to apply eyeshadow like a pro.