ANOTHER "miraculous" makeup hack has trickled down from expert artists to DIY pros on TikTok: foundation underpainting.

The viral method seemed easy enough, but when I gave the spackling strategy a try, some major missteps left me feeling plasticky.

The underpainting technique was developed by drag artists, but it owes its genius to centuries of painters.

Fine artists use the technique to prep canvases by layering a base of paint onto the surface before they start creating in earnest.

On canvas, this gives landscapes and portraits a deeper, richer tone. On my face, it's supposed to give the illusion of perfect, healthy skin.

When you're underpainting with makeup, you do everything in reverse.

Instead of layering your contour products on top of the foundation, you put blush, bronzer, concealer, and highlighter on first.

Then, you apply foundation over the dramatic contour. The idea is that covering the "underpainted" layer will result in a natural, flawless finish.

According to the pros, this technique should make your foundation look even and natural while providing longer wear time than traditional methods.

For research (and definitely not because I couldn't fall asleep), I watched at least 20 TikTok tutorials on how to do underpainting at home.

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One thing that bugged me was the inconsistency with which makeup artists approached their foundation.

Some people caked on full-coverage prestige brands, which left me mentally calculating how much every pump of product cost.

Others dotted on delicate dabs of sheer to medium coverage bases, making sure not to disrupt their stark contouring with sponges or brushes.

The end result was the same regardless of the video.

Every underpainted face had an airbrushed appearance with flawless contouring, all much more natural-looking than the initial layer.

The experts also promised that underpainting gives celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian hours of wear at big events.

Even though my schedule included a few errands and no red carpets, I set to work slathering my face to put this viral technique to the test.

It felt a little weird to be putting color products directly on my "naked" face, which I prepped with just a bit of moisturizing primer.

For this experiment, I followed the tried-and-true contour pattern I use to sculpt what my younger brother calls my "rhombus-shaped head."

I figured this was not the time to try a fun new bronzing strategy, so I stuck to what I knew, using concealer, a bronzing stick, and two shades of blush.

Even though buccal fat removal is all the rage right now, I try to emphasize any fullness in my cheeks as I cling to the final years of my 20s.

My makeup placement was the same as normal, but I easily used three times as much product.

After all, how else would my blush and contour show through my foundation?

The color was more dramatic than I was used to, but several consecutive TikTok videos had prepared me for this.

Despite the harshness of my makeup, I kept the blending to a minimum. That's another lesson gleaned from the tutorials.

Over-blending when underpainting could make my makeup look muddy, the pros warned, so I only diffused very lightly with my fingers.

Then, the moment of truth came. It was time to turn my face upside-down and put my foundation in place.

Using a wet makeup sponge, I started on the "blank" areas of my face that didn't have any contour makeup, stippling the foundation into place.

Then, I moved on to cover the existing makeup on the right side of my face. Immediately, I could tell I'd used too much foundation.

Even though I based my foundation technique on the viral videos, the amount I used covered my blush and bronzer almost entirely.

I avoided using much foundation at all in the areas where I placed concealer, to salvage a little bit of the sculpting I'd started with.

When I finished the right side of my face, I paused to get a closer look, first in front of my ring light and then in my bathroom mirror.

The foundation emphasized my pores, but covered my vibrant layer of underpainting, leaving me looking like a department store mannequin.

Determined to make the strategy work, I rinsed my makeup sponge before starting on the left side of my face.

I approached this section with a lighter touch, applying foundation a tiny bit at a time.

Using less foundation was definitely the right move. My blush and bronzer shone through the topsy-turvy base layer, giving me a luminous glow.

But it was easy to tell that I hadn't blended my cheeks, jaw, forehead, or nose before going over those areas with the foundation.

The carved-out shapes underneath my cheekbones ended abruptly, and the contour at my hairline stood out like pizza crust.

After trying in vain to sop up some of the foundation on the right side of my face with the sponge, I gave up, put my hair down, and added lipstick.

I needed to venture out into the world for some errands.

This gave me an opportunity to see how my face looked under different types of lighting, including the unforgiving fluorescence of my corner deli.

Walking from room to room in my house, I checked to see how my face looked under plain incandescent bulbs.

The caked-on foundation covering the right side of my face looked terrible and flat, but my "good side" looked pretty typical.

At a glance, I don't think someone who knew me would be able to tell the difference between my underpainted makeup and a normal application.

Unfortunately, that moment of confidence gave me hope to wander under some fluorescent lights, which is always a mistake.

In line at a couple of stores, I asked strangers what they thought of my makeup.

One well-meaning man said it looked very natural, as though I wasn't even wearing makeup, which was a lie. Women were more honest.

Leah, a neighbor who I interact with regularly, told me she could see where I'd switched strategies and used less foundation.

Another woman outside the supermarket critiqued me under a streetlight, saying that my blush looked "healthy," but the rest of my contour was invisible.

And a man in the lobby of my apartment building said I'd done a great job of blending everywhere, except my nose, which looked "stripey."

But that wasn't the worst of it. I discovered a huge mistake on my way home.

Having my hair down disguised the unfinished contouring on my jawline, which was completely unblended and totally visible through my foundation.

I put my hair in a ponytail while walking home, and when I looked in the mirror, I realized just how severe the bad blending on my jaw was.

Normally when I contour, I apply the makeup and blend it in a single step.

When I put my bronzer in place, then went back to blend via foundation later on, I clearly dropped the ball.

The good news is the underpainted makeup lasted a long time, even after I trekked outside in the icy wind.

I didn't need powder to lock my makeup in place – the foundation seemed to do that for me – but what I set in place was not my best work.

Underpainting might need to be a warm-weather technique for me.

It seems that despite expert opinions, underpainting looks its best (and is most wearable) with a semi-sheer foundation or even a tinted moisturizer.

That makes it a great contender for spring and summer, when even the most saturated makeup looks slide off my face.

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The next time I try underpainting, I'll break a rule or two, too, and avoid another major jawline fail.

Now that I've tried it myself, I won't be afraid to ignore the expert warnings and blend to my heart's content.

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