How To Use Strobe Cream To Brighten Up Your Makeup Routine
We've seen great eyeliner wings and unique lip looks, but we can say without a doubt that nothing beats the place of good skin work when it comes to makeup. Depending on your personal preferences, good skin could be anything from a natural-looking matte finish to a dewy, hydrated base, and certain makeup items are essential to achieve it. Among these are your primers, setting sprays, and the lesser-known strobe cream. Applied during the skin prep stage, strobe cream can add some much-needed shine to your makeup routine.
Strobe cream is an illuminating skincare-makeup hybrid cream that moisturizes and adds shine to your skin. Strobe creams are usually sheer and can impart shine through the tiny iridescent particles they are formulated with. From mixing it with your foundation to wearing it on its own, you can use strobe cream extensively in your routine in several ways. It all depends on your makeup goals and how exactly you envision your dewy, glowy look.
Strobe cream vs. highlighter
With its promise of a dewy, healthy glow on your skin, strobe cream sounds very similar to another makeup essential we love: highlighter. However, while both items will give your skin some luminosity, they are not the same thing.
For one, highlighter is used to add definition to the high points of your face through shine, but strobe cream is applied under your base to give a softer, less defined, but luminous shine to your skin. Another difference is that while highlighting is usually done in conjunction with contouring and bronzing, strobe cream is usually applied on its own. Regardless, strobe cream still makes a great alternative for highlighter, especially if you want your skin to have a natural-looking luminosity.Both illuminate the same areas, including your Cupid's bow, your temples, the space between your eyebrows, and your cheekbones.
Before you use strobe cream
Strobe creams are multi-functional products that add shine, hydration, and radiance to your skin, but there are a few things to note before you use it. First off, you want to be mindful of your skin type. Strobe creams offer intense hydration and shine, and while these are great qualities for dry and normal skin types, anyone with oily skin might have a hard time achieving a makeup look that isn't greasy. Instead, if you have oily skin, you can choose to use a mattifying primer before applying strobe cream or just use a strobe powder instead for shine without oiliness.
It's also important to choose what color of strobe cream is most appropriate for your skin tone. While most strobe cream shades work for most skin tones, LookFantastic does recommend pink-toned strobe cream for fair skin tones, gold- and silver-toned strobe creams for light, medium, and darker-toned skin, and peach-toned strobe cream for every skin tone.
The products/tools you'll need to apply strobe cream
You can use your strobe cream in many ways in your makeup routine. And just as it is multifunctional in its use, you can also apply it with different tools. If you're using strobe cream as blush or face primer, or mixing with your face moisturizer, strobe cream blends excellently well when you use your fingertips, a soft makeup sponge, or a dense contour brush. There's also the option of using a foundation brush to apply your strobe cream, especially when mixing it with your foundation. You'll also need a mixing pan and mixing brush if you plan to mix your strobe cream with other products.
If you're applying strobe cream under your eyeshadow, using a flat eyeshadow brush with the cream will give you a solid base to work with. Either way, it all depends on what applicator or tool you're comfortable with.
Use it as a primer for a glowy base
A moisturized base is essential for dewy looks like dolphin skin or pearlescent glazed donut skin. And with strobe cream's iridescent, moisturizing properties, there's no better way to go than to use it as a primer (though it shouldn't replace your moisturizer). Applying strobe cream on your skin before your complexion products gives you a glowy base and adds a layer of subtle radiance to your look. This way, you can use a non-luminous or matte foundation with the perks of dewy, hydrated skin.
If you're not a fan of foundation and would like to skip the step while improving your skin's radiance, apply the strobe cream alone or mix a few drops with your face moisturizer. However, it's important to use small amounts of the cream to avoid looking too glowy or, worse, greasy, especially if you have oily skin.
Mix with your complexion products for dewy skin
Apart from its use as a primer for your dewy skin looks and as a glow-up addition to your daily moisturizer, strobe cream is also perfect for a radiant base when mixed with a complexion product like your foundation or tinted moisturizer. Mixing strobe cream with your foundation helps you achieve a hydrated look that is naturally iridescent. All you need to accomplish this is a mixing pan and a spatula or brush. Mix a small amount of strobe cream on the pan with the foundation you need for a full face and apply to your skin.
For that skin-like finish, we recommend using a makeup sponge to let the product sink in. However, use only a few drops and nothing more. Otherwise, you might look greasy and overly made-up.
Mix it with your eyeshadow for extra shine
So far, we've seen how strobe cream is multifunctional for your skin, but it can also be used if you need a glossier base for your metallic eye looks. Mix with your eyeshadow on a pan or palette, apply the strobe cream as a tacky base, and then put the eyeshadow on top. Highlighting the area just under your brow bone with strobe cream can really make your eyes pop.
Apply your strobe cream as blush
Dewy dolphin skin has two defining components: a hydrated, iridescent base and a rich blush on the cheeks. And to achieve both, strobe cream is just the thing you need. Strobe cream is available in different colors like peach, which suits all skin tones, pink for lighter skin tones, and even gold for deeper skin tones. Once you decide on a color you love, apply a small amount of the cream to your blush areas, preferably with your fingers, whether it's the space above your cheekbones, your temples, or across the bridge of your nose.
For an even more high-shine effect, try mixing strobe creams of different colors suited to your skin tone and apply them as blush. You can also create an ombré effect by placing dots of colored strobe cream next to each other and blending them for the perfect gradient. Whichever method you choose, strobe cream is a fantastic addition to any routine, and you'd be surprised just how far you can get with a few drops of the wonder item.