Sabrina Carpenter's Makeup Artist Reveals Armani Foundation Secret

“Getty Images does not lie,” Carolina Gonzalez, laughs as she tells me when I meet her at the Armani Beauty Masterclass. It’s true! When I sign into work and check the latest celebrity sightings of the day, those photographers are somehow able to clock every single pore. Gonzalez, who is the mastermind behind Sabrina Carpenter’s ethereal, glowy skin (Gigi Hadid and Hailee Steinfeld are also clients), is constantly tasked with the challenge of crafting a complexion on her clients that looks like skin, but covers enough to withstand event-ready lighting. The newly formulated Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Natural Glow Blurring Foundation has become the product she “counts on,” and it is so “goof-proof,” she even blends it in with her hands. Gonzalez admits she was “so scared” when she heard about the re-formulation, but confirms it's “even better” and after testing, I agree. New additions like brightening niacinamide has been added to the foundation, which has a noticeably lighter and dewier consistency that was inspired by the feeling of silk. Additional pigments were also included to make shade-matching seamless—a makeup artist with the brand matched me from an Instagram photo on the first try—and overall, the foundation just feels modernized to leave a more skin-like finish. More ingredient call-outs include lupine protein, which has anti-aging properties, glycerin, which acts as a nourishing emollient, and kaolin, which soaks up and controls oil production. I noticed immediately that Gonzalez blended the foundation in with her fingers, which is not only impressive, but incredibly unexpected. Unlike a tinted moisturizer, you typically need to blend in a foundation with a brush, but that was not the case for the “goof-proof” formula. I took Gonzalez’s lead and also blended it with my fingers and was shocked at how easily it melted into my skin. “I also use my fingers more with mature skin,” she says, adding that “using the fingers gives you more control,” and that you aren’t swiping away the product but “tapping it in.” Gonzalez has been working with the new formula since July, and noticed that while the old foundation would sometimes pick up texture and her rosacea, the new one doesn’t. “Across the board, foundations tend to settle into fine links and wrinkles,” she adds, finding that the new formula “fills in the texture and smooths it at the same time.” She used the blurring foundation on Justine Lupe for a party with the brand and created “the most healthy skin look—like Justine just had the best facial of her life.” Shop the new Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Natural Glow Blurring Foundation, and more of Gonzalez’s go-to products from the brand below. Although Gonzalez says you "don't even need a primer” to pair with the Luminous Silk Natural Glow Blurring Foundation, she opts for the Glow Extending Primer to add an “extra boost of hydration” and to make the foundation “perform even better.” Before the foundation got re-formulated, Carpenter wore it on-stage at Coachella paired with the concealer. I’d wager she’s still a fan of both, and relies on the duo for stage-ready glam. For a “rubenesque” blush moment, Gonzalez uses the Cheek Tint—it’s how Carpenter gets her Barbie-pink cheeks. For a more summer-y look, the MUA recommends to try shade 65, and to “feather it into the eye” for a seamless finish.