Makeup Artists Say These 8 Tightening Face Creams Are Injection-Level Effective

Ask any makeup artist, and they'll tell you prepping your complexion with high-quality, strategic skincare products before going in with foundation, concealer, and powder is just as (and perhaps more) important than the makeup application itself. In order for your makeup to look amazing, the goal is to get your skin looking and feeling its absolute best. We're not talking about perfection; we're just talking about coaxing your skin into living its best and glowiest life courtesy of A+ products. Think about it this way: You wouldn't show up for a marathon without putting in ample work and training beforehand. And in a way less dramatic sense, the same goes for your skin.

Celebrity makeup artist Pati Dubroff (who works with Margot Robbie, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Kate Bosworth, and more) once said she nurtures and prepares the skin for at least 40 minutes before starting the makeup process pre red carpet. Of course, we don't expect you to go to those kinds of lengths (for the record, we're not attending red carpets and hardly have that kind of time or patience), but something can be learned from that expert-level stratagem. 

Even though we know most celebrities have an army of experts, products, and in-office treatments to help keep them looking right and tight, we asked three of the most sought-after makeup artists in the industry (from Paris, London, and New York, no less!) to share the absolute best skin-tightening face creams they swear by for lifting perks. Then, we took it even further by asking them to share their stash of reinforcements, aka the skin-tightening lineup of serums, masks, massaging tools, and anything else they love to use in tandem with said lifting creams. Curious to get in on their age-defying routines? Keep scrolling! 

Paris-Based Makeup Artist Andreea Ali

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(Image credit: @aliandreeamakeup)

The Reinforcements

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Pictured: Amina Muaddi, celebrity client
(Image credit: Getty Images)

London-Based Makeup Artist Nikki Wolff

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(Image credit: @nikki_makeup)

The Reinforcements

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Pictured: Demi Moore, celebrity client
(Image credit: @nikki_makeup)

New York Based Makeup Artist Morgane Martini

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(Image credit: @morgane_martini)

The Reinforcements

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Pictured: HoYeon Jung, celebrity client
(Image credit: @morgane_martini)

Shop More Skin-Tightening Creams Our Beauty Editors Love

This article was originally published at an earlier date and has been updated.

Beauty Director

Erin has been writing a mix of beauty and wellness content forBest Knockoff Luxury Clothing for over four years. Prior to that, she spent two and half years writing for Byrdie. She now calls Santa Monica home but grew up in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and studied writing, rhetoric, and communication at University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. She studied abroad in Galway, Ireland, and spent a summer in L.A. interning with the Byrdie andBest Knockoff Luxury Clothing family. After graduating from UW, she spent one year in San Francisco, where she worked as a writer for Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen before moving down to L.A. to begin her career as a beauty editor. She considers her day-to-day beauty aesthetic very low-maintenance and relies on staples like clear brow serum (from Kimiko!), Lawless's Lip Plumping Mask in Cherry Vanilla, and an eyelash curler. For special occasions or days when she's taking more meetings or has an event, she'll wear anything and everything from Charlotte Tilbury (the foundations are game-changing), some shimmer on her lids (Stila and Róen do it best), and a few coats of the best mascara-type product on earth, Surratt's Noir Lash Tint.