The new trend of ‘cooking’ your face for a flawless makeup finish

IF YOU’VE had a crack at contouring, or even stumbled upon strobing — well, now there’s another lesson to be learnt when it comes to a flawless finish. Get in the kitchen, because it’s time to start cooking — with your face.

Used by celebrities like Kim Kardashian, the art of ‘baking, or ‘cooking’ focuses on the undereye area and allowing a light powder to sit on your face for up to 20 minutes, before brushing it off. Using the heat of your own skin, the process isn’t as extreme as it sounds, and promises flawless results.

“The method of baking is accentuating your bone structure and contours of the face — primarily under the eyes, above and below the cheekbones and through the centre of the face,” said Tony Baumann, Mecca’s Head of Artistry.

“[The look is achieved] by applying highlighting powder to certain areas of the face and allowing it to “bake” into the skin. Baking originates from old school theatre makeup techniques.”

So how is the baking process executed? Mr Baumann promises the flawless finish in just 5 simple steps:

1) Highlight using a cream or liquid concealer 2 to 3 shades lighter than your foundation.

2) Take a latex wedge or blender phere — sprayed lightly with a setting spray — and generously load it with loose translucent powder.

3) Press the wedge or sphere over the areas you have highlighted with concealer.

4) Let the translucent powder sit or “bake” for 10 mins and allow the natural heat and oils of the skin fuse with the concealer and the powder.

5) Take a loose powder brush and gently buff anyway any excess powder.

As the images indicate, this process relies on using excessive amounts of translucent powder. But the quality of what to use plays a role in the end result.

“Try the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer [as a base], the Kit Blender Sphere and bare Minerals Mineral Viel as the Loose Translucent powder to ‘bake’ your face.

“It is an extreme look/technique so there is a lot of product being put on the skin so it can compromise the texture of the skin — especially by highlighting blemishes, fine lines and uneven skin texture.

“Additionally, if you conceal with a shade more than 2-3 shades lighter than your concealer, the highlighted areas can look too light or white.”