A Makeup Artist’s Hack To Tone Down Shine & Still Look Dewy

Apply your foundation and concealer as usual (to nail dewy skin, we recommend airy, slightly satiny foundations and creamy concealers), and grab a clean beauty sponge. 

Dampen the sponge, making sure to squeeze out the excess water, and wrap it up in a tissue. Pull the tissue taut and gently blot away wherever you notice the most shine—for many, the T-zone area accrues the most oil, which can sometimes read sweaty. “It’s that easy,” Scortezz says. 

The tissue acts as a blotting paper of sorts, absorbing oil through its tiny pores without throwing off your makeup. If your tissue is two-ply, you can even separate it into thinner pieces for even more precision. Using a beauty sponge, as opposed to tapping on the tissue with your fingers, also gives you more dexterity and helps you reach tinier crevices (like the corners of your nose). 

Just a couple of tips here before you blot: Always bounce the beauty sponge—never drag, lest you smear all your concealer. Also, make sure the sponge isn’t too wet; most makeup has an oil base, and too much water can create pilling (remember, oil and water are not friends). A good rule of thumb is to make sure the tissue stays dry—that way, it can lift up excess oil instead of making the skin look even more misty. 

Feel free to reuse the technique any time you feel your makeup sweating off. Say, stash the sponge and a couple of tissues into your bag, and you can eliminate shine on the go.