We love answering your seemingly impossible questions, like how Jennifer Lopez looks better than we’ve ever looked at 50. Spoiler alert: it involves no caffeine or sunbathing.
The one question we couldn’t quite answer though, was how she gets through those 2 hour performances with her makeup still completely intact and without turning into an actual puddle.
Thanks to her longterm makeup artist, Scott Barnes, we now know it’s not because she’s from an alien planet, it’s actually all thanks to an unlikely primer that you’d normally find in your medicine cupboard.
Yep we’re talking good old milk of magnesia aka magnesium hydroxide, aka the thing you might take to relieve you from constipation.
Who said beauty was all glamour?
In a video on his YouTube channel with WWE wrestler Natalya, Scott revealed he occasionally uses it as a makeup primer because it helps makeup stay on in hot conditions. A tip he learnt from drag queens he use it to stop sweat revealing any signs of a five o’clock shadow.
“The magnesium literally stops your pores from sweating,” he explained. “So you can sweat everywhere else but your face doesn’t move. I wouldn’t recommend using this on a daily basis though because it’s drying. Don’t get the mint flavour though, get the original.”
We’re never going to watch Jennifer’s My Love Don’t Cost A Thing dance breakdown the same now…
In terms of application, Scott recommends pouring a small amount into a bowl and applying with a cotton pad, avoiding the eye area as it can cause “crinkles”. As it does dry ashy, he then uses a dry powder puff to dust off the excess before applying foundation.
Before you pour the contents of your medicine cupboard on your face, we asked dermatologist Dr Jusine Kluk if there were any dangers to using Milk of Magnesia as a primer.
“The active ingredient in Milk of Magnesia is magnesium hydroxide, a compound intended for oral use to treat constipation or neutralise excess stomach acid. Although there are many anecdotal reports of its use as a primer to reduce facial sweating, it’s not intended for topical use and hasn’t been safety tested for administration in this way so it cannot be recommended.
“Although it’s possible that occasional application may be tolerated, to avoid the potential risks of allergy and irritation, I would stick to primers specifically engineered for this purpose instead.”
Basically, use it at your own risk.
Scott and Jennifer have worked together for over 20 years, and in a previous video on Tati Westbrook’s channel, he also revealed the unlikely product he uses to give Jen her infamous glow: Neutrogena’s Ultra Sheer Body Spray Sunscreen Mist SPF30.