NYFW Makeup Pros Dish on How to Get Picture-Perfect Skin

"I think the most important thing about foundation is the skin that's underneath it. That means super cleansing your skin — making sure that you take your makeup off before you wash your face. That also means exfoliating and using a good hydrating serum every day," said Rick DiCecca, the lead for Artistry at Pamella Roland.

He added, "For a lot of women, that doesn't make sense. They think that one step is the way to go. I think that was very true in the '50s and '60s — when women were in the workplace for the first time in a long time and they wanted to do it quickly — but you can't get great skin quickly. What you take off at the end of the day is just as important as what you put on in the morning."

"The hardest thing with applying foundation is having dry patches or dry skin, so you want to exfoliate that first, and then put on a cream," said James Kaliardos for Maybelline at Cushnie et Ochs.

And when it comes to applying that moisturizer, don't hold back, he urged. "Some of my most famous clients will just [lightly dab on their moisturizer], and I'm like 'No!' You want to put it everywhere. You want a full, smooth canvas. It's like a painting. Then, when you put on foundation, it will smooth on in the same way. That really helps, and a lot of people just don't do that."

"Always prep with the appropriate moisturizer, whether that's just a simple hydrating cream to add a little bit of glow or dimension," said Marc Reagan, the key makeup artist for Bobbi Brown at Bibhu Mohapatra. "Today, for that flawless, glowing skin, we're actually using our Extra Illuminating Moisture Balm ($68). It's wonderful because it adds just a hint of highlight to the cheeks or any high point, and it just gives the skin a luminous glow under foundation and concealer."

You can also try skipping the foundation completely, which is what Gucci Westman did backstage at Badgley Mischka. Instead, she explained that she mixed Inglot Cosmetics AMC Face & Body Illuminator ($17) with a moisturizer to create a supersheer, porcelain-like finish. The subtle luminosity gently diffuses light and softens the skin.

Alexander Wang wanted to create a bold, strong woman and did so by taking away color and creating more of a softly chiseled, contoured face. Key makeup artist for Nars Diane Kendal explained that after applying contour underneath foundation, she went back in to strategically place powder highlighter on top of the eyelid, at inner eye corner, down the nose, and on top of the cheekbones.

"The luminosity is a nice contrast with the contouring — it creates a really sculpted but luminous face," she said. Regarding powder vs. liquid, she said, "I find that with powder, you can control it more. Sometimes with creams, it ends up getting too spread out, but with a powder, you can really go into the areas that you want."

Setting powder is one of the greatest tools in any makeup artist's kit, but it's so easy to abuse it, noted Pep Gay for MAC Cosmetics at Tadashi Shoji.

"Yes, powder might fix the makeup, but if you go overboard, then it looks too heavy," he said. Instead, lightly apply it on top of concealed blemishes or in a very thin veil on top of your foundation, and be done with it.