Microwaving Is Going To Be Your New Go-To Beauty Hack, But, What Is It?

Some things in our beauty routine never change. We always dot on our primer before our foundation, we religiously fill in our brows and you’ll rarely see us without a layer (or four) of mascara. Every so often though, a new technique comes along that totally shakes up our dreary old regime.

Enter: Microwaving. No, not a trend that involves cooking your beauty products at speed, but instead a nifty beauty hack that’ll nix dark circles, hide blemishes, highlight and sculpt.

Basically, microwaving is the big sister to baking: a technique that layers on lotsa concealer and powder to sculpt and conceal. The big difference? Microwaving uses a liquid concealer instead of a cakey one to achieve a lighter, more dewy finish.

”It’s similar to strobing but minus the shimmer and shine,” says make-up artist Kim O’Sullivan. “Most commonly, it’s used with concealer and a translucent powder, which is at least one to two shades lighter than your make-up, to highlight a chosen area of your face, generally the cheekbones, under eyes, bridge of the nose or jawline.”

What you’ll need

A make-up sponge

BeautyBlender sponge, €20.90

Setting spray

Urban Decay All Nighter Make-Up Setting Spray, €28

Concealer

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer, €28

Setting powder

Laura Mercier Setting Powder, €28

How it’s done

The trick is apply concealer and then A LOT of powder. “Use a sponge and dampen it with a setting spray,” instructs Kim. “Then dip the sponge into the translucent powder and pack it generously over the area where you applied the concealer.”

The next step? Er, wait. You’ll need to allow between 20 and 25 minutes for the powder to set. “During this time, the concealer will melt into your skin, giving you a natural, pore-less, flawless finish,” explains Kim.

Lastly, brush off any excess powder, and lightly blend any harsh edges with a damp sponge or fan brush.

Et voila! Dark circles are no more and you’ve a perfectly contoured finish Kimmy K would be proud of.

• Beauty
• make-up
• Microwaving