The rumors are true. I’ve downloaded TikTok!

It’s only been about three days since I’ve had it, and I’m following about nine celebs, one YouTuber, and Blogilates. 

The main reason I downloaded it was because of all of the makeup and beauty hacks shared on the app. Glamour, Teen Vogue, and Cosmo have been regularly collecting the latest hacks and viral products from TikTok’s makeup community for articles. But I also know that makeup hacks aren’t new to social media. I often watch such tips and tricks on the Snapchat channels Beauty Insider and Beauty Hacks. I even first got very familiarized with hacks by the video clips posted on Huda Beauty’s Instagram. For a while there, that page was disseminating the most ridiculous suggestions! 

But hey! Points for ingenuity, right??

The reason why TikTok reeled me in was that it had both other social media platforms and beauty outlets fascinated. It’s basically the new Makeup Addiction on Reddit. 

After downloading the app, Google suggested an Allure article about a viral TikTok foundation hack. I read it immediately. 

The writer, Nicola Dall’asen, was mildly skeptical about it but was a good sport about giving it a try! By the end of her day of rocking the TikTok hack, she did disclose that her skin felt drier, and the foundation had settled into fine lines.

“By the time my base was complete, it looked filtered just as the viral TikTok clip said it would.” -Dall’asen

Later that night, I watched RawBeautyKristi’s video on using the hack. I wanted a visual as well. I’m late to the TikTok game!

Oh, wait! Here’s the hack in question. It’s all about applying and setting your base “out of order.” The average foundation wearer, after moisturizer, applies primer, base, and sets their foundation with powder, setting spray, or both. That’s how I apply my base, minus the setting spray. (I don’t believe they work very well for me. But I have some from previous purchases). 

TikTok users instead swear by moisturizing and powdering, followed by primer and foundation. The hack was also popularized by user Jarida. Her clip is still used as a point of reference on YouTube, and the hack is meant to give you a smooth, filtered look. Jackie Aina also does a similar routine, and years ago, ItsMyRayeRaye tested out powder before liquid.

While watching Kristi’s video, I was simultaneously entertaining the fear of this concoction looking and feeling like lava out of a lava cake. Just oozing off of my face! 

Subsequently, flashbacks of when I attempted to recreate Nicki Minaj’s Grammys makeup look, back in 2012, came back to me. 

Gosh, did I try it!

A layer of Wet ‘n Wild’s MegaGlo cream highlighter with foundation applied on top. My face felt caked up and lowkey itchy! I forged ahead with such a beautiful disaster because Minaj had had this beautiful sheen and glow to her face on the red carpet. It wasn’t just the usual areas that were highlighted. It was like this all-over glow.

I loved makeup even back then, but I knew very little about applying and working with multiple products on the face. Powder highlighter wasn’t even popular like that yet, either. I did the best I could with what I had and understood!

The next day, I again consulted online makeup lovers on how to do this TikTok hack. While still nervous about what the experience was really going to be like, I had peeped a comment on Kristi’s video that recommended another sequence of items to try. I copied and pasted it for later: “moisturize, prime, and THEN set the primer and finally put foundation on top.”

Alrighty then.

Because I’m still quarantining, I selected one of my more problematic foundations to avoid wasting a trial run on a foundation that rarely fails me. Pretty Vulgar’s Cool AF Lava Water Foundation I liked so much when I first tried it. But once I got the full bottle, in the shade “Au Naturel,” the consistency has been off and on. 

When it’s off, I sometimes think it’s a little red for me. And it’s a foundation in which I need to powder or blot a lot.

I also chose Pretty Vulgar’s Detox and Chill Lava Water Primer, MAC Fix+ in “Lavender,” and J.Cat’s Luxe Pro Powder in “Chestnut.”

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Based on the sequence of moisturizer, powder, primer then foundation, I (re)moisturized with Belief’s True Cream Moisturizing Bomb and, under nervous circumstances, with a Wet ‘n Wild brush, lightly applied “Chestnut.”

I didn’t feel gross, but I was on edge! I pumped out Detox & Chill, which is slightly watery and leaves your face slick and shiny, I reached for my moistened Wet ‘n Wild Makeup Sponge and applied “Au Naturel.” 

I winced as I felt I looked a tad redder than my natural undertone. 

But how was this new order of base going? My face felt fine!

Once done dabbing, I reached for that same brush and very lightly powdered again.

My take on the first sequence of this hack application is that while I felt my foundation was more secure, my problem areas were still an issue! (Smiles lines, honestly). But it’s important to consider that the foundation I used was, in general, not dependable.

But I was intrigued by all the hacking.

Yesterday, I tried the second sequence that I discovered as a comment on Kristi’s video: moisturize, prime, and THEN set the primer and finally put foundation on top. I used the same products, except for Fix+. 

I gotta say, I prefer the second sequence. Maybe because the primer succeeded the moisturizer? My makeup altogether felt lighter.

I can’t say if this is going to be my new routine. It’s a routine that isn’t linear. But great makeup takes time and sometimes a trick or two. I’m willing to try it with a foundation more felicitous, for extended wear, than the Lava Water. (By the way, Pretty Vulgar does have some cool products. Maybe I’ll do a hit or miss post. And you never know. Their foundation may work for you!)

It’s also imperative that I apply and try my base the TikTok way and wear it outside since my test took place indoors.