We’ll let you in on a little secret: behind every fresh-faced makeup look and red carpet glam is an elaborate ritual of skin prep. Here’s why it’s trending in 2024…

1.  It helps your makeup last longer

Many of us spend hours each week making sure our makeup looks tip-top, be it for everyday wear or a special occasion. And it’s only fair that all our hard work stays on — and stays looking fresh and flawless — for as long as possible. The trick? Skin prep! If you want to ensure your makeup goes the distance, it’s crucial to begin with a clean, hydrated canvas to ensure your skin doesn’t dry out throughout the day and impact your final finish. Cleansing and moisturising are key steps here, so don’t miss a beat when it comes to these!

2.  It provides a flawless finish every time

Bright, bouncy skin comes from supported skin. By prepping your face with ingredients like hydrating hyaluronic acid, calming niacinamide and smoothing actives like lactic acid, your skin will deliver that lit-from-within-glow we’re all in search of and up the ante on the flawless finish of your final makeup look.

3.  Keeping hydrated is key to good skin (and makeup!)

We can’t stress this one enough — dry skin means creased makeup, and nobody wants that. As part of your skin prep, focus on skincare heroes packed with hyaluronic acid which help your skin to retain water throughout the day (in fact, hyaluronic acid holds 1000 times its weight in water) and stay looking fresh, plump and well-slept.

We can’t get enough of our Pollen Plumper as the perfect hydrating yet protecting double whammy base. With its peptide, glycerin base and its super lightweight formula, it can be applied all-over as a hydrating, plumping and soothing moisturiser that sits perfectly under makeup.

4.  It rids the skin of rough patches

Exfoliating is another key step to skin prep, providing as smooth a base as possible for any products that follow next. Look for ingredients like lactic acid which help to slough away dead skin cells, enabling your skin to not only look and feel more smooth but also to better take in and retain moisture.

The other role of exfoliation is to clear excess oil from the skin. We all know the dreaded 3pm oil-slick that can happen on our T-zone, so regularly using exfoliating ingredients can help to draw out oil from our skin cells and prevent our makeup from sliding off throughout the day or night.

5.  It makes blemishes look less obvious

Finally, skin prep is one of our favourite hacks to making blemishes look less obvious under makeup. Pimples or acne spots can tend to appear red and dry, so anti-inflammatory hydrating ingredients are key to helping them pipe down. Our Honey Shots Clearing Gel works wonders here, with soothing aloe vera, green tea and niacinamide to help calm the appearance of redness, and hyaluronic acid to hydrate the skin on application and prevent dry patches from forming. Not only can it be applied all over before makeup, but as a spot treatment on blemishes too. Skin prep, sorted!