Amazing Skin…

Hi Ladies!

I’ve been so busy recently with jury duty and everything going on during summer I have barely had any time to even put on makeup! I decided on Tuesday though to treat myself and go to Sephora to pick up a few new products. I went into Sephora with the intention of getting a few foundation but honestly came out with so much more.

If you have yet to try out Sephora’s Colors IQ you are seriously missing out… I was originally going to get a YSL foundation that I have heard wonderful things about but couldn’t find a color that really matched my skin.I asked one of the sales associates to match me and instead she did the Color IQ test. Since forever I have always though that I have very very pink and red undertones but to my surprise I am completely yellow, almost to the end of the yellow scale! I was shocked to say the least because everything that I buy has some kind of pink tone to it…which would explain why sometimes I feel like my skin is just so blah and has no life to it because I have been using the wrong undertone for WAY to long.

When Jennifer (Sephora sales associate) asked me what foundation I was interested in I told her the YSL one but instead she recommend the Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation because I told her that I love the way the Tarte Amazonian Clay foundation lays on my face I just wish it actually lasted 12 hours for me. So I decided to try the Double Wear Foundation in a bit darker shade than I would usually get and also in a very yellow tone. Before you even finish reading this you just need to know…this is by far the best foundation I have ever used. I am such a fan of full coverage but I don’t want it to be too full wear it starts to look cakey on my skin and make me look like I am wearing a complete mask. This foundation glided onto my skin and although it is more of a dry foundation and sets to a powder finish it made my skin look so healthy and luminous I can’t even explain how. As you know, I have very dry skin and recently my forehead has been very patchy with dry skin but this foundation did not sink into my dry areas and accentuate them it covered it so well. I noticed that I only needed one layer of foundation and it completely covered every single blemish. I applied this foundation with a Makeup Geek Buffing Brush (which is my new holy grail foundation brush) and it looked airbrush. Another thing I loved was how the rest of my products worked so well on top and underneath the foundation, even though the foundation was thick it wasn’t hard to blend in concealer or bronzer. I put the foundation on at about 7pm and when I came home around 3am my face still looked airbrushed and perfect. I found that this foundation seemed to hold the rest of my makeup in place throughout the night to which I loved.

Will You Love It?
If you have dry skin or oily skin this product will be amazing for you. I think people who have oily skin will really appreciate this because not only is it oil free but it just creates such a nice matte canvas to your skin you really don’t need to worry about touching up because you get oily throughout the day. If you have dry skin honestly this foundation could be a hit or miss, if you prep your skin well with a moisturizer and apply this about 20 min after you won’t have a problem but if your skin is VERY dry I would say to exfoliate and moisturize and then try out this foundation. Also this is very full coverage so I would recommend using this foundation when you will be taking a lot of photos and being out for a long time because it sits very nicely on your skin in photos and in person for a long period of time but if you like a natural finish this won’t be your favorite foundation.

The photos posted have absolutely no edit so you can completely see how perfect my skin looked with the foundation. Also if you would like a complete product list just let me know!

XOXO

Just a Little Update…

Hi Ladies!

I did a post a few days back about my up and down relationship with primers and how I have yet to find my perfect one. I just wanted to post a photo of my skin without any primer being used underneath my makeup. My skin has seriously been loving no primer and looks amazing without it right now. I can’t even bring myself to try a new one yet because I am so happy with the results of using just a good moisturizer and foundation.

In the photo I am using the Philosophy Hope in a Jar light-weight moisturizer(if you would like a review on this product let me know because it’s one of my new favorites). I let the moisturizer sit on my skin while I do my eyes and then go in with the Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Foundation (review coming soon). I started by applying this all over my face with my fingers and then taking my already damp Beauty Blender, spray a little bit of Fix + from MAC onto it and then blend my foundation onto my skin. After this step I like to let my foundation sit for a minute so I do my eyebrows and then continue onto my face. I then did my concealer with MAC Pro Longwear and blended it out with a Beauty Blender and set it with a very light Mineralize Skinfinish from MAC and then set my skin with the Hourglass Cool Translucent Powder on a large fluffy brush from Real Techniques. Then I did some light blush and bronzer and finished it off with a setting spray from Skindinavia for Dry Skin

XOXO

What’s The Deal With Primers?

Hi Ladies!

Recently I started the task of trying to find a perfect primer one that truly did everything it said it would and would live up to the expectations that I had. To start, my initial belief is that I need a primer. My skin is dry but it also gets oily in my T-Zone during the day. For some reason almost every primer that I have used has inevitably broken my makeup in certain parts of my face and made my face look worse with makeup than it does without. I started thinking, do I actually need a primer? Are they worth the extra $40 and time in the morning? If you follow Jacklyn Hill on YouTube you know that she does not use a face primer, just a good moisturizer and goes from there and her makeup looks flawless on and off camera. She said that as long as you treat your skin well then you should have no problem simply applying foundation straight to your face. Thinking back to middle school and early high school years, I never used primer or did I know anything about it, it wasn’t until magazines and make-up counters started saying that women NEED it. Over my hunt for the perfect primer I had a lot more bad skin days then I did good.

I started the hunt a few months ago when I started using Hourglass Veil, the primer seemed to glide onto my face and give me a very airbrushed finish. I started developing some intense blemishes quickly after using the primer (and a few new skincare items) so I changed it immediately. I then started using the Benefit Porefessional Primer which honestly is one I always seem to find myself going back to. If you have yet to try the primer, it gives you the most flawless silky skin and I always found that my skin looked best an hour after my foundation had been sitting on it. It was when it got to the fifth or sixth hour that my skin was almost peeking through, I was oily and blotchy, and extra touch-ups just made my skin look worse. Basically this primer did not last long at all. So I set out to find a primer that gave me the same immediate results as the Benefit Porefessional Primer but just lasted longer. So I tried the Too Faced Primed and Poreless Pure primer which was formulated without oil for sensitive skin. This primer to say the least was a waste of money, I was better off with my Benefit primer. Lastly, I rediscovered an old favorite, the Smashbox Photo Finish primer. As I am writing this post I am currently wearing the primer and asking myself why in the world I am. The primer broke up my makeup almost immediately with two different foundations and made my skin look like I literally caked on my makeup. If I could wash it off now without destroying the hard work I’ve done on my liner I would.

So now I am left to return the Smashbox primer and go back to the racks to find a new one… Some of you may say that I am expecting to much from a primer to withstand the wind, sweat, and sun for up to 10 hours but let’s be real I put on my makeup in the morning to last me ALL day… I don’t have time to come home between work or school and wash off my hard work, PLUS thats another four or five pumps of foundation that I am wasting…

If you guys have any suggestions for the next primer I should try just let me know!

XOXO