Most people who wear foundation have made peace with one frustrating reality: by mid-afternoon, the product has found its way into every fine line on the face and is doing the opposite of what it was supposed to do. According to Mathieu Grandjean, a trainer for Nars, this is not an inevitability. It is the result of three skipped steps – and fixing it requires less product, not more.
Why the formula you choose matters more than the technique
The first and most foundational mistake, according to Grandjean, is reaching for the wrong texture entirely. Heavy, rigid foundations are the primary culprit behind that settling effect – they lack the flexibility to move with the skin and instead collect in lines as the day progresses. The correction is straightforward: switch to fluid, hydrating formulas that sit on the skin rather than sinking into it. For reference, Grandjean points to the Nars Light Reflecting Foundation and Pure Tinted Moisturizer as examples of the kind of texture that works – light enough to avoid buildup, hydrating enough to stay comfortable through the day.
The powder step most people are doing wrong
Setting powder is where many routines go sideways. The instinct is to apply enough to lock everything in place – but too much powder is exactly what accelerates migration into fine lines. Grandjean’s approach is the opposite: a very light veil of ultra-fine, translucent loose powder, applied only where needed to manage shine, while leaving the rest of the skin’s natural luminosity intact. The Nars Light Reflecting translucent powder is his recommendation for this step. The goal is to mattify selectively, not to create a uniform matte finish across the entire face.
The finishing step that most routines skip entirely
The third step is the one Grandjean identifies as most consistently absent from people’s routines, and the one that makes the most difference to longevity: a setting spray. A few spritzes of a hydrating fixing mist applied at the end of the routine does two things simultaneously – it blurs the different product layers together so the finish looks more skin-like, and it extends wear time without drying the skin out. Grandjean recommends the Nars Light Reflecting Mist for this final step.
The bottom line
Three adjustments, applied in sequence: a fluid hydrating formula instead of a heavy one, a light-handed application of ultra-fine translucent powder only where necessary, and a hydrating setting spray to finish. None of these steps add time to a routine – they replace approaches that were already there with ones that actually work. Foundation migrating into fine lines is a technique problem, not an aging one.
