"Sandbagging" Is About to Become Your Go-To Makeup Technique

You'll swear by it this summer.

Makeup powder
(Image credit: DANA TEPPER)

Sandbagging is the latest makeup/contouring trend taking over the internet, but here's the thing, it's not exactly new. It was actually back in August that Kim Kardashian's makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic initially posted a makeup how-to showcasing the game-changing setting trick. Regardless, we're just relieved to have this technique in our repertoire in time for summer.

Basically, sandbagging is about sopping up grease. All you have to do is use a sponge to cake on loose powder over foundation, focusing specifically on the areas underneath the eyes and around the bottom edges of the lips. After the powder is applied, you wait a few minutes for it to set—the idea being that it absorbs oils from the skin and ensures that those areas will stay ultra-smooth and matte throughout the day.

In addition to putting a stop to excess oil, sandbagging also ensures that your eye makeup and lipstick won't melt outside the lines—which makes our feline-flicked, red-lipped dreams for summer that much more feasible. And if its face sweat-safeguarding properties aren't enough of a draw, it also provides a subtle highlight to the face. Because obviously there weren't enough ways to contour already.

As for the name of the technique (which some claim was actually created by Dedivanovic himself), it's an ode to sandbags (yes, the burlap sack kind) used to prevent flooding.

"What we're trying to do is a create a dam," explains beauty vlogger Wayne Goss, who created a step-by-step sandbagging tutorial. Makes sense, no? So grab a powder "with a bit of color," watch Goss' video, and give it a go below:

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Beauty Editor

Lauren Valenti is Vogue’s former senior beauty editor. Her work has also appeared on ELLE.com, MarieClaire.com, and in In Style. She graduated with a liberal arts degree from Eugene Lang College, The New School for Liberal Arts, with a concentration on Culture and Media Studies and a minor in Journalism.