9 game-changing cushion application techniques that will help give you that flawless finish

There are hordes of people who swear by cushion foundations while other find themselves changing from one brand to another, because every one of them seem to give you a cakey or flaky finish.

Perhaps the problem isn’t with the cushions but with you – there, we’ve said it.

A good product has to be coupled with the right application techniques in order for it to perform as well as what you see on the images or videos of beauty gurus you follow.

Beauty expert Haeni, or better known as haeni beauty on YouTube, who has over 200,000 subscribers for her detailed foundational makeup tutorials. She has shared some of the best cushion application techniques we’ve seen and we urge you to bookmark this article, where we’ve compiled them, and it’ll change your makeup game forever!

Understanding cushion foundations

Because cushion foundation is watery and less viscous, Haeni reveals that it is best used to even out your skin tone instead of pilling it on for coverage.

Cushion foundations’ durability also increases when applied lightly because they adhere better to the skin, and this is how you can create a light makeup base.

Avoid layering your cushion foundation

To get full coverage on pimples and dark circles, use a concealer instead of layering your cushion foundation.

Especially for dark circles, because the eye area is thin, only the thinnest layer of foundation is required or your makeup will look cakey.

When you use cushion foundation only to even out your skin tone and concealers on spots that require heavy coverage, you can achieve a light makeup base with a flawless finish.

Clean your cushion puffs

Not only is this important for hygiene and skincare, but too much product on your puff can actually interfere with product adherence and make it difficult to control the amount you apply to your face.

How do you keep your cushion puffs clean? You can wash your cushion puffs with a brush cleaner, soap and water, or just soap and water.

Sounds like too much trouble? Simply squeezing your puff firmly with a tissue before using it will also allow you to remove a significant amount of excess product as a quick fix.

Apply with the middle of cushion puffs

This is a step that we’ve all done: picking up the product with the edge of our puffs.

According to Haeni, the foundation should be applied to the middle of the puff, which is the part you want to use to apply the product to your face.

Because you will be blending, filling up pores, and evening out the skin with the clean edge of the puff, having a lot of product there will only make your makeup more uneven rather than properly blending the product in.

Pressing onto the back of your hand

You may have noticed that all makeup artists perform this step, which is to apply any product to the back of their hands first, from eyeshadows to blushers and foundations.

The reason for this is simple- the first application will never be even and will inevitably become blotchy. If you apply it directly to your face, it will go on unevenly, and blending it out will make it look too heavy.

Spread the foundation evenly onto the puff by pressing firmly onto the back of your hand and moving it from left to right.

Because the majority of the foundation will be removed during this process, repeat the step again but apply less pressure when pressing it onto the cushion foundation and the back of your hand.

Start from the outer cheek

Because the first application yields the most foundation, apply it to the widest and thickest area, which is the outer cheek.

Since your inner cheek is thin and delicate, putting too much product there will cause only cause the foundation to cake up.

Haeni recommends patting the puff with just the right amount of pressure onto your outer cheek (1 on the picture), and then applying a thin layer of foundation to your inner cheek (2 on the picture), which has more visible pores by swiping.

The swiping motion will help to fill up the pores, whereas the regular patting motion will highlight your pores rather than filling them.

After that, simply relax your hand and pat the cushion around the area all the way to the outer edges of your face, making sure that there is only a tiny amount of product because too much of it will make your makeup look messy and your hair will get stuck onto your face.

A good way to tell if you’re applying too much is by rubbing your hand on the outer edges of your face, and there shouldn’t be much foundation on your hand.

Fold your cushion puff

If your foundation appears to be caking up, fold your cushion puff in half on the clean side and pat the foundation in.

This trick is also useful for applying makeup below the brows as it is a very narrow area. A precise application can be obtained by folding the cushion puff in half on the side with foundation.

Avoid the laugh lines

While applying a tiny amount of foundation to your chin, avoid getting foundation on your laugh lines, as it can become creased into the lines as you talk and smile.

Nose application

As mentioned previously, areas with visible pores require a swiping motion to fill in the pores.

Because the nose is a narrow area, simply fold the puff inwards, as shown by Haeni above, and swipe downwards on the nose tip where pores are visible.

Pat the puff lightly to get a thin layer of coverage and to blend the borders while skilfully avoiding the nasolabial folds (the sides of your nose), which are areas known to crease a lot.

If you need coverage at the nasolabial folds, use a concealer instead of a cushion foundation.

We hope that these cushion foundation application techniques save you money, as they did for us, because you won’t have to buy every cushion to find one that fits you!

Check out Haeni’s video below for the full in-depth tutorial.