To get the best results start with cleansed, toned and moisturised skin. Apply colour to the centre of the face, across your nose and cheeks then blend out over the face. To ease blending and avoid caking always prime your skin with moisturiser before applying foundation and give it a minute or so to absorb. If you use a liquid foundation, always shake the bottle well before you apply it. Pigment can settle at the bottom and give you an uneven finish.

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For perfect application, stroke liquid and stick foundations on with your fingers rather than a sponge. The heat of your fingers makes the foundation melt into the skin better. Make-up sponges can skid across the surface and leave streaks. Blend your foundation onto your cheeks, forehead, nose, chin, even your eyelids, starting from the nose and working outwards. Use as little or as much as looks right for each area - which sometimes means none at all. An easy trick for a glowing look is to use two different shades of foundation.

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Apply your ‘true’ shade, which matches the natural skin tone of your neck, all over your face as normal. Then apply a little bit of darker foundation over the nose, cheeks, chin and forehead to create a ‘cross’ of slightly darker colour in the centre of the face. This technique ‘punches-up’ the colour in the face and really livens up the skin tone. When you're shopping for foundation take a compact mirror with you so you can put the colour on your face then check it outside. A shade that looks great on your skin in the artificial light inside the shop might look dreadful in daylight.

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The right foundation for you will be virtually invisible when you apply it to the skin between your cheek and your jaw. Get yourself a foundation 'wardrobe'. Your skin colour and needs change over the year and one foundation is not going to look right for 12 months. Use a little more than a tinted moisturiser for high Summer when your skin is darkest, a paler foundation for Winter and something in between for Spring and Autumn.

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Apply with a dry sponge to get even coverage. Conceal dark circles by apply foundation all over with the sponge provided and then using a fine brush for the area that needs to be hidden. You don’t need to use powder with compact foundations.

Can be applied directly to the skin by stick or with fingertips. If you are using the stick to apply, draw it along both cheeks and blend outwards. Apply a little to the chin and forehead and blend outwards.

Any cream concealer should always be applied over liquid foundation. If you put it on first, it simply rubs off when you apply the foundation Professionals keep concealer light and minimal. Only use it where you absolutely need it and make sure that the colour blends perfectly with your skin tone. If the colour looks like it's sitting on the surface of your skin try tapping it in with your fingers.

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Under-eye shadows can be blended away simply by pressing on Erace concealer by Max Factor. Blend into the inner corner of the nose and at the outer corner of the lid, using your ring finger. Add a little around your nose, over your eyelids, in fact anywhere you need a little extra coverage. Just ensure that you blend it in well. Blemishes can be covered by applying Erace accurately with a tiny brush. You can also blend it in using your finger.

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