Meet your match! Shopping for the perfect shade of foundation can be a difficult task, but Ashley Madekwe has discovered the answer. Stylish sat down with the 33-year-old actress in Beverly Hills on Thursday, August 17, to get the scoop on her past makeup mistakes, what beauty products she carries with her at all times and her tips for taking a great photo.
Stylish: When did you first start wearing foundation?
Madekwe: I first started wearing foundation really when I was 17, so I was quite late to it. I had an awkward phase when I was like 15 and 16 where I just wore coal eyeliner on the bottom of my eye and not even any mascara. It was such a bad look.
Stylish: Have you ever had any foundation mishaps?
Madekwe: Once I was doing a press tour for the TV show Revenge and I had done my own makeup that day and I just want to say… it looked good! But then, as I was about to go out on the stage, the in-house makeup artist gave me a quick dust and my face was completely white! When I saw the pictures and I was mortified.
Stylish: Has it been tough to find the right shade of foundation?
Madekwe: Yes, because I fall somewhere in the middle. I’m not the darkest and I’m not the lightest. I usually wore two shades that I blended myself. I used to mix a Burberry foundation and a M.A.C Studio Face and Body one because I liked the sheerness of the face and body, but needed to up the coverage a little bit with the Burberry one. I was wasting it because I was using a pump of each.
Stylish: What do you love about the bareMinerals BAREPRO Performance Wear Liquid Foundation that you use now?
Madekwe: I like my skin to look flawless, but I don’t like it to feel caked and the BAREPRO is the perfect mix of that. Even though it is full coverage, you use so little of it— literally half a pump will do your entire face. Even though it’s full coverage, you still see your skin. I used to use a beauty sponge and I don’t anymore. Now that I’ve got this brush, I’m obsessed with it because the bristles are so thick, so it kind of buffs it out in seconds. This (foundation) almost melts into the skin.
Stylish: Does this foundation improve the look of skin in pictures?
Madekwe: I think so. It almost looks like you have an Instagram filter on it. It’s great if you’re doing an Instagram story— you don’t even have to mess around with a filter. It’s almost like having the Snapchat ‘pretty filter’ on your face.
Stylish: What are your tips for nailing a photo?
Madekwe: It does depend on your face shape, but if I’m doing a selfie, I go a little bit higher. If someone’s taking a picture of me, then I am shameless and I will move myself to face the light source. It’s all about lighting— my husband taught me that.
Stylish: Any products that you always have on you?
Madekwe: I always have my Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream on me. I don’t like a dry lip. I apply it a lot and it’s everywhere— in my handbag, in my car— I have millions of tubes of them!
The British star has been using number 23 throughout the summer. Head to bareminerals.com to shop the shade that’s right for you!
