Why you should start thinking of your face in different zones when applying foundation

Foundation can be a fickle friend. Some days, you put it on and are instantly transformed into a smooth-skinned, glowing goddess. Other days, though, you’re left staring at a version of yourself who looks like she’s been caked in clown makeup. But according to celebrity makeup artist Katey Denno, there’s an easy way to ensure “glowing goddess” status every time you put on your makeup—and it will totally change the way you think about your skin.

Many of us (including Denno herself) have got a lot of different things happening in the various parts of our faces—it’s rare that you’ll have the same skin tone and skin issues evenly distributed from your forehead down to your chin. So instead of considering your complexion to be one solid canvas, she suggests thinking of it as a sum of many different parts.

“You can look at your face as different zones, and each quadrant needs different things depending on what your issues are and what you want to cover up,” she told Well+Good’s Fine Print Facebook group during a live beauty tutorial last week. “I never put on a full face of foundation.”

She suggests starting by evaluating your skin on different layers. “Figure out what you want to cover up and what areas look great as they are, because you don’t need to have foundation from [top to bottom],” she says. “The more natural skin that people see, the more it kind of tricks they eye into thinking you’re not wearing anything.”

Once you figure out which particular areas you want to cover up, only apply product to those spots (Denno, for example, uses foundation to even her skin tone in the areas where she has hyperpigmentation or sun damage). Then, leave the other areas bare. Or, if you do want coverage all over, you can either use an ulta-sheer foundation, like Kosas Tinted Facial Oil ($42), on your full face then use something heavier, like W3ll People Narcissist Foundation Stick  ($29), to spot conceal where you need it, or use a single product play with different application tools. Apply foundation with a wet BeautyBlender for light coverage all over, then use your fingers to dab on more product where you feel you need it.

The result? Foundation that looks so flawless, it will hardly look like you’re wearing any at all.

Want even more beauty intel from our editors? Join Well+Good’s Fine Print Facebook group for must-know tips and tricks.