Whether you’re going for Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour, darling Yuna’s homecoming concert in KL, GOT7’s K-pop heartthrob BamBam’s first-ever solo concert, or Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour in Singapore, looking as glamorous as your idols is a must.
The real question, however, is whether you’ll be turning up ready to bop to songs with concert-proof makeup. It’s a criterion that has to be met because we’re not about to let external factors like the weather get in the way of our concert experience!
If you’re a perfectionist like we are when it comes to beauty, read on for some tips and hacks to ensure your makeup stays slay and lasts for hours on end.
Spoiler alert: you may need to stock up on setting sprays and setting powders because it seems to be highly essential for long-lasting makeup.
Related read: Grab these Taylor Swift-approved red lipsticks before she visits Southeast Asia next year
- Prep, prep, and prep!
- Add a layer of setting powder after you moisturise
- It’s all about that base
- Use eye primer under your eyes
- Go heavy on the setting spray and mist away!
- Waterproof and smudge-proof your eyes
- Lock in your cream products with powder
- Mix different setting sprays
- Set your makeup with a matte powder at least twice
- Spray, powder, and spray!
Prep, prep, and prep!
@tias.mua i used the @pacificabeauty vegan collagen skincare line to show how makeup performs with no skin prep vs with skin prep! i honestly can’t stand the feeling of doing my makeup without skin prep because my skin feels so tight and cakey. when i’ve done a lot of skin prep before i notice products glide on top more smoothly and the makeup looks more skin like!🫶🏼 ad #pacificabeautypartner #vegancollagen #skincare
We shouldn’t need to tell you this by now, but we’ll say it again and again (for posterity too). Don’t skip or skim off on your skincare prep!
After cleansing, make sure that your skin is primed and well moisturised so that your makeup won’t turn out looking uneven. Once you have your blank canvas ready to go, not even your skin’s natural oils or the fluctuating weather can interfere with the products on your face.
If you’d like to go a step further, use specific primers or moisturisers based on your skin type or for different areas of your face. Dry skin? Pack on the moisturiser! Combination skin? Use a mattifying primer on areas that tend to get oily like the T-zone.
Try:
- Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base: Its advanced formula with shea butter instantly hydrates, softens, and cushions the skin, and is what the brand’s makeup artists rely on for a smooth makeup base.
- Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer: This award-winning primer has an invisible, 94% natural gel formula that smooths the skin, locks in hydration, and literally grips makeup into place for up to 12 hours.
- Smashbox The Original Photo Finish Smooth And Blur Primer: This oil-free and lightweight primer will give you a flawless, pore-less visage while protecting your skin with antioxidants and vitamins A and E.
Add a layer of setting powder after you moisturise
@jazzybaby99 The MOST FLAWLESS MAKEUP BASE I learned from tiktok 😭✨ #fyp #skintok #makeuprecommendation
If you’re not one for primers, that’s totally fine. Sometimes, too much product under your base can cause your foundation to slip and slide.
The important products to include are toners, serums, and moisturisers. Apply your toner and serum as per usual before thoroughly massaging your moisturiser into your skin.
Here, it’s crucial that you use a moisturiser that’s suited for your skin type and to be applied under makeup. That means more water-based products and less emollients to mess up your base.
Then, buff in some loose setting powder all over your face with a big fluffy brush, taking note to dust off any excess powder. Lock in the powder with a setting spray before heading in with liquid foundations.
Try:
- Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder: Made to provide long-lasting makeup, this award-winning setting powder gives a soft-focus effect and doesn’t settle into fine lines or dry out the skin. Its no-flashback formula means you’ll look amazing and never oily in pictures.
- Givenchy Prisme Libre Loose Setting Powder: This non-comedogenic, feather-light loose powder combines four popular correcting shades in one to even out the skin tone with a shine-control effect. It’ll leave you with an enhanced finish and a perfectly matte yet luminous complexion.
It’s all about that base
Credits: @alishasapproach/TikTok, @xthuyle/TikTok
You’re going to want to use products labelled “lightweight” and “long-wear” to live through all the hours of queuing in humid environments and sweating from all the jumping and screaming.
And we know that the dewy or “no makeup” makeup looks are still trendy, but products with matte finishes may be a better pick especially if you’ve oily skin or know that your foundation tends to disappear with heat and sweat.
Another tip or contingency plan is to spot-conceal your face prior to your foundation! After primer, TikToker @xthuyle uses the NARS Soft Matte Complete Concealer to blur any imperfections on her skin.
With this step, she claims that any redness or unwanted spots won’t show throughout the night if her makeup were to fade.
Trust us, you’ll need these in your makeup arsenal to really achieve that flawless, bulletproof base.
Use eye primer under your eyes
Credit: @slaybyjess/TikTok
Say what now? Yes, that’s right, using an eyeshadow primer on your delicate under eyes will help to prevent any unwanted creasing from thick concealers or from hot and humid environments.
No more frantic moments where you check your reflection in the mirror and realise the makeup is exaggerating instead of concealing the lines under your eyes.
Try:
- Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Eye Primer: Just like the face primer, this invisible eye primer gives a smooth, even base and locks down the colour of your products for up to eight hours. It helps to prevent fading, creasing, smudging, and even blurring fine lines for a more youthful appearance.
- Too Faced Shadow Insurance: This eye primer has a colourless and silky-smooth formula that blends into any skin tone to smooth for the perfect canvas. It’s also waterproof and features unique binders to lock down pigments for amazingly long wear!
Go heavy on the setting spray and mist away!
@seewyen Makeup Tahan Lama ✨ Its around Hari Raya i hope this makeup hacks can help your base last long during Raya ☺️ #makeuptahanlama #makeuplastlonger #makeuphacks #basemakeup #basemakeuptutorial #makeuptutorial #makeuptips #beautyguru #longlastingmakeup #flawlessmakeup #beautyhacks #beautytips #tiktokmalaysia #fyp
Here’s a tip that may break your heart, especially if your setting spray is rather pricey, but it’s said to be extremely effective and worth it.
After every step of your makeup, use a setting spray and let it dry before you continue. Think of it as adding invisible, protective layers to the products on your face.
Remember, being liberal is key. The typical “x” and “+” motion isn’t enough — you’ll need to fully saturate your face with up to seven pumps of setting spray to form a solid veil.
There’s also the step of spritzing your makeup brushes or sponge before using them, which is known to give your products a better grip on the skin and can make pigments pop more too!
Try:
- Urban Decay All Nighter Waterproof Setting Spray: This impressive, award-winning setting spray continues to reign supremacy in the makeup world. It features a patented Temperature Control Technology that lowers the temperature of all your makeup products to ensure long-lasting, transfer-proof wear.
- M.A.C. Fix+ Stay Over Weightless 16HR Setting Spray: This spray has an innovative hydrating formula that uses microscopic film-former particles to lock in your makeup with weightless wear and zero alcohol. It also protects against pollution and blue light.
- Benefit The POREfessional Super Setter Makeup Setting Spray: Benefit’s multitasking microfine mist can make your makeup last for 16 hours while instantly blurring pores and reducing shine for a natural soft-focus finish.
Waterproof and smudge-proof your eyes
Credit: @roseandben/TikTok
It happens to the best of us…one moment, we’re belting out and singing along with the artist to our favourite songs.
The next moment we find ourselves unable to stop the tears from falling when a sentimental ballad comes on, and our emotional chords are struck.
But alas, a tear-stained face with black mascara smudges is not the look we’re going for!
Try:
- Maybelline Waterproof Lash Sensational Sky High Mascara: This TikTok-viral mascara is easy on the wallet and definitely worth the hype. It defines and adds volume to the lashes instantly with just two coats. You won’t find any flakes, clumps, or smudges.
- Benefit BADgal Bang! Pencil Eyeliner: This 24-hour long-wear creamy eyeliner has a weightless formula that glides on seamlessly. It’s truly budge-proof and even has a built-in smudger to create smokey eyes in seconds.
Lock in your cream products with powder
Credit: @christxiee/TikTok
You may think that this sounds fancy or makes your makeup routine longwinded, but many beauty lovers have taken to TikTok to share this trick in getting their makeup to stay on for longer.
If you use cream bronzers and blushes, set them with the powdered versions after. You can also do this right before you set your whole face’s makeup.
Mix different setting sprays
Credit: @anifetoupeva/TikTok
Who said we only had to stick to and commit to just one setting spray? Raise your hands if you’re guilty of owning more than three bottles of setting sprays…we promise we won’t judge.
If you’re adventurous in nature, you’ll love this. There are so many great setting sprays out there and surely there’s no harm in experimenting a little.
Try mixing your setting sprays and see how it works out. Marrying two different formulas may just be what you need all this while for flawless makeup.
Although, just like skincare, some ingredients aren’t meant to be put together, so do carry on with caution and stop if your skin feels irritated.
Set your makeup with a matte powder at least twice
@janicabayangos how i made my makeup last for 12 hrs during the blackpink concert #InstantlyInfalliblecInstantlyInfallibleeFreshWear
This hack is tried and tested. According to TikTok user @janicabayangos, it was how she managed to keep her makeup looking great for 12 hours when she partied away at a Blackpink concert.
After she’s done with her base, blush, eyeshadow, and everything else, she sets it with L’Oreal Paris Infallible 24H Freshwear Foundation in a Powder and applies more on oily areas of her face.
Then she uses a setting spray and waits for it to dry before going in with the setting powder once more.
Spray, powder, and spray!
@makeupbyalissiac If you want your makeup to last longer throughout the day start doing this, SPS: spray, powder, spray #BeautyHacks #BeautyReview #makeuptutorial
Here’s another way to set your makeup. Coined by TikTok makeup guru @makeupbyalissiac, “spray, powder, spray” is the ultimate secret weapon for long-lasting makeup.
When you’re all done with your makeup, set your face with your setting spray and press the product in with a beauty sponge. Then, dab setting powder all over your face before setting your face once more with setting spray!
Feature image credits: @jazzybaby99/TikTok, @genevievesjy/TikTok, @slaybyjess/TikTok
