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Bobbi Brown make-up on a marble table
Bobbi Brown make-up on a marble table
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Northwestern | Style > Beauty

A College Girl’s Guide to Going-Out Makeup

Lindsay Baker Student Contributor, Northwestern University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Northwestern chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

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Everyone has gone out and then looked in the mirror, only to be completely mortified by how their makeup looks after sweating in it all night. There are a couple of tricks to getting your makeup just right so that it will actually stay on when you go out: proper skin prep, matching your products by their bases, and using waterproof makeup. 

Skin Prep

Skin prep is a heavily underestimated part of your going-out makeup routine. The secret ingredient for a flawless base that stays on through sweat is a mattifying skin toner. This kind of product controls excess oil and shine and blurs your pores. If you have dry skin, only apply it to your oily areas (like your T-zone). If you have combination, normal, or oily skin, pat the toner all over your face. This product will work even better if used immediately after washing your face. It’ll perform amazingly for sweat control on the face. For the girls who like a glowier look, feel free to use a pearlescent moisturizer or mix in glow drops with your moisturizer. 

Toner Recommendation:

Primers

The most important part of getting your makeup to stay fresh and looking good all night is making sure the bases of the products you use are the same. Primers, foundations, and concealers are either silicone-based or water–based. Mixing bases will not bode well for keeping your makeup long-lasting, so you need to make sure your base products are either all silicone-based or all water-based. An easy way to identify which base a product has is by looking at the ingredients list. If a product’s first ingredient is “water” or “aqua,” it is likely water–based, while silicone–based products usually have ingredients ending in “-cone,” “-siloxane,” “-conol,” or “-silicate.” Keep in mind that some silicone-based products could have water in the ingredient list, but it will be immediately followed by a silicone chemical with one of the previously listed endings. Also, try to avoid super glowy primers for going–out makeup, as it’s easier to achieve the glowy look without looking sweaty by using powder products later in the routine rather than laying something too pearlescent on the skin first thing. 

Primer Recommendations: 

Base Products

For the oily skin girls, try to stay away from using overly glowy or sparkly base products, like the Makeup by Mario Foundation or the ELF Halo Glow, as those could supersede the toner and skin prep and make your skin look even more oily. If you like the glowier look, it’s better to use non-base products to achieve the look rather than using luminous base products like primer, foundation, or concealer. 

Your base can be either a true foundation or a skin tint; the heaviness of the coverage won’t affect how long your makeup will last if you match up your products by their bases, so the coverage type is completely dependent on your preference. For the foundation lovers, make sure to find a foundation whose base is the same as whatever primer you use. But through research, I’ve found that a lot of drugstore foundations are silicone–based, whereas a lot of higher–end foundations are water–based; just something to keep in mind. 

Foundation Product Recommendations: 

Skin Tint Product Recommendations: 

Cosmetics and brushes rest on a table
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Concealer Products

Everything that applies to foundation and skin tints also applies to concealers: you must find products whose bases match the other products you use, otherwise your makeup will not last and will separate on your face. Similar to foundation and skin tints, concealer coverage is a spectrum, and there are so many products that are different levels of heaviness. Concealer coverage is also dependent on personal preference, and your makeup won’t be affected by different coverage types between base products as long as the products’ bases are the same. 

Concealer Recommendations: 

Powder Products

The only products that need to have the same bases are primer, foundation/skin tint, and concealer. Powders, either pressed or loose, are personal preferences, but you absolutely need one if you’re going out. Powder will prevent your skin from looking oily and will also make your makeup last much longer than it would otherwise. 

Powder Recommendations:

Eye Products

Eye makeup is also a key part of your makeup looking polished all night, and the most essential part of having good going-out eye makeup is that all of it should be waterproof. Ideally, you should find waterproof mascara, eyeliner, and brow gel so that none of it smudges. Although waterproof eye makeup can be a bit difficult to get off at the end of the night, you’d much rather that happen than have your mascara or eyeliner running down your face in the middle of a party. 

Eye Makeup Recommendations:

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Overall, the key things to remember are to make sure the bases of your liquid face products have the same ingredient base, avoid overly glowy products, try to use waterproof products, and use products that work with your skin type. If these things are applied to your going–out makeup routine, your makeup will last all night and keep you looking fresh and put together.

Lindsay Baker

Northwestern '28

I am a sophomore studying sports journalism. I'm originally from Los Angeles, CA but now I live in Charlotte, NC.