One of My Favourite New Products for Creating a Glowy Base Under Makeup (Even in Winter)
Sadaf Razi is Adore Beauty's Senior Beauty Editor.
She's a former fashion editor (who worked at various glossy mags) and stylist-turned digital beauty and lifestyle writer. She has been in the lifestyle/media industry for over 10 years and her work has also been featured on international covers like Elle France and Vanity Fair Mexico.
Some of her fave Adore Beauty products include Cicaplast B5, CeraVe Cleansing Oil and Lancôme Renergie Triple Serum.
As someone who refuses not to have a glowy base year round, I think I just found the perfect duo for making sure my face and makeup looks luminous even in the dullness-inducing throes of winter.
A small teaser; here’s what my base looked like using only one of the products:
And here’s having used both together (as the glowy makeup gods intended):
As we seasonally switch up our skincare, it’s also an excellent idea to do this with our skin prep, because we all know good skin prep is key to a flawless and glowy makeup look.
Something like a rich cream for example, not only sets a smooth canvas for your makeup application, it also lifts dry skin so you can happily wave goodbye to dried up, patchy makeup throughout the day.
One cult product I’ve used for years for makeup prep is the iconic Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base. I even mentioned her in my favourite glowy primers article here
This lush cream envelops dry skin in winter beautifully and now there’s a vitamin enriched serum to layer under her for the perfect glowy base.
You know that hashtag #notsponsoredjustgood? This should fall under that category because I was genuinely enchanted by own face once my makeup went on.
But don’t just take my dewy, makeup base as gospel, our Content Manager and resident makeup artist Megan loves it too.
Let’s find out more and how we used it in our makeup prep routine.
1. Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Smoothing Serum.
Ok, I know $115 is a lot to dish out for makeup prep.
But here’s the thing, though it’s positioned as a glowy serum for makeup prep (and it’s one of the best for this) it's not just a skin prep serum, it’s also a serum serum.
Meaning you can use it both morning and evening as part of your skincare routine to also hydrate and plump your face - win! We love a multi-tasker.
Here’s some other main features of the Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Smoothing Serum:
- A hydrating and brightening serum that helps prep skin for makeup.
- This serum features 10 skin-loving ingredients that work to give you hydrated skin as well as a brighter complexion.
- Its radiant-boosting powers also allows for a smoother and more seamless makeup application especially when paired with the OG OG Vitamin Enriched Face Base.
- Promises to improve skin smoothness, strength and hydration in just 4 weeks*.
- Key ingredients include shea butter, olive oil and botanical extracts.
- *Clinical testing on 36 women after using product twice a day for 4 weeks.
My Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Smoothing Serum review:
When I found out Bobbi Brown released a serum version of its iconic cream, I was a little sceptical but as a Vitamin Enriched Face Base fan, I was still super keen to try it.
What was my hesitation?
Step one would usually be my moisturiser, so layering a serum underneath first made me think it was going to be too much for makeup causing it to pill or slide.
The opposite.
I can safely say, I loved it immediately.
It left a dewy film that made my makeup glide on more smoothly and my winter skin and makeup more glowy.
I definitely think this serum played a huge part in the lasting power of my base.
I’m also such a big texture person, so when I first pumped some out, its initial watery, milky consistency wasn’t love at first application for me, however - I was pleasantly surprised after a few seconds to see it transform into a more creamy (but lightweight) texture that absorbed elegantly and beautifully leaving me with illuminated skin.
I’m actually not sure I can ever do my makeup without this serum now tbh.
2. Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base.
Every year sees new and exciting product launches, but I hardly steer away from products like Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base for one of the best moisturisers under makeup.
I might have to do a BIQ article on some of my other faves soon! (Watch this space).
If you’re still uninitiated with this cult cream here’s some quick facts:
- A best-selling primer and moisturiser hybrid.
- Is rich but doesn’t feel greasy on the skin.
- Is ideal for normal to oily skin types.
- Formulated with shea butter, hyaluronic acid, squalane as well as vitamins B, C and E.
- Ideal to use before makeup.
- Is lightly scented with grapefruit and geranium.
My mini Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base review:
True perfection; Bobbi Brown has crafted the perfect skin prep duo as this serum and OG cream work so well in synergy together to give you a beautiful luminous base that helps your makeup truly last and look glowy all.day.
The popular Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base has earnt its high praise and now skin’s radiance is dialled up even more when applied with its serum iteration.
For glow-getting beauty lovers like me - this is the DREAM makeup base.
3. Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Eye Base.
- A nourishing eye cream that hydrates and primes.
- Perfect to use under concealer.
- Leaves under-eyes more refreshed, hydrated and plump.
- Contains hyaluronic acid, B vitamins and shea butter.
- Can be used by all skin types.
My mini Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Eye Base review:
As someone with super creasy and particularly dry under-eyes at the moment (thanks Melbourne winter!) my eye contour area has been loving and drinking up this nourishing eye cream.
Just like its facial cream counterpart, it’s rich and cushiony but if you prefer a lighter serum or cream for your under-eyes then I’d leave this out of the routine.
On my recent trip to Japan, the all-day walking in the heat, not drinking enough water etc. (I was too busy trying to source my next delicious Japanese snack) had my parched under eyes begging for some sort of nourishment and as you can see below, this one delivered:
I even used it on the plane to combat that pesky moisture-zapping altitude.
Want more Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Eye Base reviews? BIQ writer Shilpa Bhim loved it too, read her thoughts here.
Megan, Adore Beauty Content Manager and Makeup Artist.
"As a makeup artist, I'm ALWAYS on the hunt for a holy grail base product that can be applied for evening applications (aka, without SPF on).
As soon as I applied this my skin felt hydrated, plumped and just all round *better*.
It sat perfectly underneath my makeup, offering just the right amount of grip to hydration ratio.
I didn't experience any pilling and found that areas of my face that would usually experience bunching/separation didn't move at all!
This is going straight into my personal and professional kit, big fan!"
Final Verdict...
The glowy base is quite instantly visible and even when I walked out of the sun in the not-so-flattering winter lighting, my skin was still dewy!
See how the how the look came together (with a couple of my other Bobbi Brown faves - again, not sponsored, just gewd) in the video below:
Keen for more makeup inspo? Catch up on some of our other BIQs here:
