This story is part of Ensemble’s colour week, presented by Resene

Two annoying and interconnected clothing problems plague my wardrobe: I can’t stop buying white t-shirts and more frustratingly, everytime I bring a crisp tee home, it gets stained with my foundation on the first wear.

Sitting in my dresser is a stack of at least seven otherwise pristine white t-shirts, each sullied to some degree by markings of makeup that seem hell bent on proving just how ‘long wearing’ its formula is. 

I’ve tried getting dressed in my outfit before I do my makeup, and also carefully lowering my tee down over my set face, exaggeratedly stretching out the neck opening so it doesn’t graze my chin, cheeks or nose. Both methods garner the same result: by the time I leave the house, my neckline will be tinged with a beige ring not too dissimilar to that faint pink mould that grows in the grout of a neglected shower.

I don’t think I’m alone in my plight. Once in high school, after canoodling with her taller boyfriend during morning break, a friend was mortified to find she’d left a full face imprint on the front of his white t-shirt. He wore it around proudly, like a hickey in Thin Lizzy 6-in-1 powder. 

Given my own marked shirts declare only my clumsiness, not loved up status to the world, I enlisted the advice of an expert to share some science backed ways to prepare for these annoying occurrences and solutions that don’t involve buying another replacement.

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First things first, you want to jump into action. If you notice a stain as you’re walking out the door it can be tempting to simply cast off the soiled shirt promising to deal with it later, but the extent to how successfully you remove stain depends on how quickly you act to rectify the situation.

The engineered spreadability of foundation formulas means these stains tend to expand quickly, and the longer a stain sits the deeper the pigment will sink into the fibres of the fabric, making them harder to reverse. 

As soon as you notice a mark on your tee, wash your hands (to avoid transferring any more product on the material) and set to work removing any excess formula sitting on the surface. For powdered foundations this could be as simple as blowing the pigment off with a blow dryer or using some tape or a lint removal roll to gently lift the pigment up and off. For liquid foundation try gently scraping off with a knife or credit card or very softly blot the stain with a makeup removing wipe. Take extreme care to only apply gentle pressure elsewise you risk accidentally spreading, smudging or pushing the foundation further into the fabric.

From there you can turn your attention to removing staining that’s embedded deeper within the fibres of your shirt. To get the best results, it’s important to understand the ingredients of the foundation.

Dr Oliver Hofmann, cosmetic chemist and technical director at cosmetic product manufacturer Shieling Laboratories, says that all makeup is made of dyes or pigments and a matrix or something to mix them in, usually an oil that doesn't easily dissolve in water or sweat. The bad news is “the pigments and dyes are an absolute bastard to remove.”

“Pigments are little, non-soluble, heavily coloured specs of dust, that lodge deeply into the fibres of the fabric. Dyes often have a pesty habit of interacting with fabric fibres, bonding them to it.”

Removal of dyes and pigments is a tough ask, but not hopeless. “Since they are encased in the matrix, it helps a lot if one can ‘dissolve’ the matrix, and by flushing it out, it will take most of the colour with it.”

The most common dissoval method is to work in an emulsifier, something like dishwashing liquid, shampoo or Handy Andy which will make the matrix water soluble and more likely to be flushed out.

Hofmann recommends using a stronger detergent, because agitation is required “to combine the surfactant with the matrix” in the case of a weaker detergent and “lots of rubbing pushes these things in even further, making the removal pretty impossible.” Dishwashing liquid or Handy Andy is better than a shampoo. 

Hofmann also says you could also use an oil, like cooking oil [or makeup remover] to flush out the matrix, but this essentially just means you’re swapping one type of stain with another.

More frequently, Hofmann says, people will apply something  that is a bit like oil and a bit like water – alcohol, acetone, nail polish remover, etc. “People like to use this because they are used to it and because the smell vanishes pretty fast. Sometimes, when the matrix isn't completely ‘oily’ these solvents are very good.”

A more volatile solvent, like turpentine or kerosine are better options, though “downside here is that that stuff stinks,” says Hofmann. 

If none of that works, Hofman says, “the very last resort, once all else fails, is to hope that the colour doesn't come from a pigment and it is a dye and that the fabric is white. Because then you could try and use some bleach which will most likely destroy the dye.”

Once your stain fighter of choice has been applied, and given it time to do its job, the only thing left to do is pop the offending garment into the washing machine and wash on the highest temperature recommended on the care label. For peace of mind, add some oxi-action powder into the machine. 

Failing all that, may I recommend joining me in Googling ‘Pamela Anderson makeup free’ – looks like the liberation all those feminine razors promised us.