Influencer Meredith Duxbury says she started using her hands to apply foundation to save money on makeup in college

• Influencer Meredith Duxbury recently filmed her 10-minute makeup routine for Allure.
• During the tutorial, she explained that she uses her hands to apply foundation to save money.

There are countless beauty influencers on TikTok, but few have a makeup routine quite like Meredith Duxbury.

The makeup artist, who is known for her full-coverage foundation technique, recently filmed her current beauty routine as part of Allure's 10-minute Face series.

During the tutorial, Duxbury first mixed six pumps of Huda Beauty's #FauxFilter foundation and at least two pumps of Kosas' Revealer Skin-Improving foundation.

She then explained that she started using her unconventional base method — using a brush handle to apply foundation to the skin before rubbing it in with her hands — while trying to save money in college.

"I was a broke college student and the beauty sponge kind of just absorbed all of my foundation," she said. "I use a little more foundation than the regular person because I do have freckles, so it takes me a few more layers to cover everything up."

"I was using a foundation that was like $50, and I was like, 'I can't afford to have the beauty sponge soak up all of my foundation,' so I was like, 'I'm just gonna use my hands,'" she continued. "And I like that the warmth of my hands blends everything in so smooth and nicely."

Duxbury also explained why she uses brush handles instead of bristles to smear the product across her face.

"I like to use the back of the brush just because it's easiest," she said. "I feel like if I'm using my fingers I can get it under my nails. You girls probably know with the acrylics, it can be hard sometimes with makeup."

Duxbury — the self-proclaimed "complexion queen" who has more than 15 million TikTok followers — has gone viral on numerous occasions.

Most recently, she opened up about her foundation technique and said she aims to "fully cover every single little one" of her freckles when creating full-glam makeup looks. She did so after makeup legend Bobbi Brown seemingly poked fun at her negative review of the Jones Road foundation balm.

Some viewers have suggested that Duxbury likely applies so much foundation to get more views, and removes some of the product off camera. But in a recent TikTok comment, the makeup artist said that isn't true.

"I definitely don't have time to be removing foundation between cuts haha my life is too busy for that," Duxbury replied.