More Foundations…

So, I took some pictures of the 3 foundations I currently wear the most often.  Really I just wear two and rotate them depending on my mood/day.

I suppose I should have kept them in the same order as the coming photos but whatever.  Deal with it!

Loreal True Match Lumi in W1-2- I think the color is too warm or orange (I’m probably more neutral?) and while the finish is lovely if you have slightly oily skin beware.  I think my skin is combo with oily and dry spots.  This foundation will definitely separate on you and turn into little dots all over your face if you don’t have a good enough primer on and you get oily.  I rarely wear it because I get too oily on my cheeks and around my nose.  It also is quite sheer on the coverage.  I don’t have perfect skin – far from it – and need solid coverage to cover up old acne scars and redness.  Boy do I have surface redness!

Revlon Colorstay Whipped in Buff- I have raved about this before.  It has fantastic coverage and I think it is a pretty good match tone wise.  My complaints are that it is heavy feeling sometimes (especially if you use too much on accident) and it has a strong fragrance.  Sometimes it is hard to get off my brush when I clean it.  But, this is so far my go-to foundation.

Skin79 SuperBB+ in Orange – this is a solid Asian Beauty BB cream.  It has a floral/fresh fragrance that goes away pretty quickly.  There is great SPF coverage (PA+++/SPF 50) which is perfect for summer.  My complaints are that it isn’t as full coverage as I’d prefer (go figure, it’s a BB) and the wear time isn’t as great as say the Revlon.  I still like it for quick easy days or walks in the park.

As you can see both Revlon and Skin79 have similar colors but the Loreal Lumi is a tad more warm.  Skin79 and Loreal Lumi both are more watery in consistency (Loreal Lumi more so than Skin79) while Revlon Whipped is quite thick hence the name whipped. haha.  That is probably why the Revlon Whipped gives the best coverage!

You can see them sheered out in the top picture.  In the picture right above you can see them on my neck.  This shows how close the Revlon Whipped in Buff and the Skin79 Orange are while Loreal Lumi is different.  I still am not the greatest at deciding what foundations are a good match for me – I think in part because as you can see I have a TON of surface redness skewing everything. grr.

I tried to do a blending picture and a picture comparing one half of my face with one foundation to the other half, but, well yeah.  It didn’t quite turn out just like I was wanting soooooo maybe a different time!  Instead I ended up with a full face using the Skin79!

I think it’s a fairly good fit.  No obvious problems that I can tell.  If only I could get rid of those darn under-eye circles.  They’re the worst!  No matter what I do I can’t seem to cover them enough. Boo.

Ah well, if you stuck with me through the whole thing thanks!

~xoxox

Foundation Comparison Round 1

I’ve been meaning to go through my small stash of foundations/BB creams and compare them to each other.  I’m slowly getting around to it!  It’s been a crazyyyy few months between moving and going to Jamaica/getting married.  At any rate I’m finally getting around to starting it. HAHA.  I have four today that I was playing around with.

I’ve never been very good at foundation matching.  I got the MUFE Mat Velvet+ and the UD Naked skin matched off of the Sephora match.  However, I’m not quite sure they are very close matches.  Typical Sephora.  I picked out the Mizon BB (only one shade) and the Maybelline BB because I was going to Jamaica and wanted to have a lighter foundation for the heat.  I’m not quite sold that they are good matches either.

MUFE mat velvet – I have this in shade 30 aka Porcelain.  It says it is a match for those with medium skin and beige undertones.  In the winter this foundation and I do not get along because my skin gets very dry.  It works decent for the summer.  I’m not in love with it, but, I don’t hate it.  This was a repurchase though.

Mizon BB cream – I love all that this BB cream can do for you!  Since it is Asian it has fantastic sunscreen coverage.  It also has pretty good coverage in general – similar to a foundation.  As you can see it has snail extract in it which is helpful for fighting acne and repairing the skin.  Fantastic! Sign me up.  However, this one only comes in one shade.  Soooooo, you need to be NC15 or lighter to pull this off.  I’m not 100% what my skin tone is but I’m around 10-20 depending on the season and what not.  I do think this pulls a little light/beige on me though.

Maybelline BB – so American BBs are just glorified tinted moisturizers.  This one claims to do a lot for your skin, but, I don’t really think it does.  I got it in the light, but, man when it comes out of that tube it is bright orange I swear!  It’s crazy.  It is sooo watery and they were not lying about the sheer tint.  I feel like it covers nothing and gives me an oompa loompa tint.  Not cool. Not cool at all!

UD Naked Skin – I have this in shade 3.5.  It is considered a light shade for those who are beige with slight pink undertones.  It’s fairly comparable to the MUFE on the Sephora match finder.  It provides a nice sheer, skin like finish and glides on.  It doesn’t cover a lot, so if your acne is showing, this is probably not for you!  Oil isn’t controlled that great either and sometimes it highlights dry patches.  I did like it and it was a repurchase, however, I’m not sure it’s the right color.  Ahh well.  I’ve moved on to bigger and better things!

Here you can see all 4 of them on my hand.  I told you that Maybelline one was ORANGE!!  It is pretty obvious in this picture that the Mizon one is fairly beige.  You can also see that the UD and Maybelline are quite runny while the MUFE and Mizon are much thicker.  Below they are all rubbed in.  On my hand none of them really blend THAT well, the Naked Skin might be the best match, but, then again it’s just my hand….gotta compare to my face and neck!

Get ready to see some pretty rough looking skin.  I may be in my mid-twenties but, I have the skin of a teenager!  It SUCKS so bad.  ugh.

It’s hard to say if any of them really match that great.  Without any blending it looks like the Naked Skin and Maybelline are out for sure – quite orangey compared to my skin.  MUFE is maybe ok and the Mizon looks quite light.  Hmph.

Apparently I didn’t take very good pictures of them when I blended them in.  So i’ll continue that another day.  I find it hard to compare with just a small swatch on my neck though.  I feel as if I need a half face or at least a large section to see if it blends nicely or not.  At least now I know that two of them are out for sure! And my beautiful Mizon cream is probably going to be a winter foundation.

~EP

Asian Beauty – Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream

Have any of you guys tried this before?  I just got this in the mail and can’t wait to try it out!  Ive heard so many good things about it and am just getting into Asian Beauty.  Stoked.

xoxo

Empties!

When I finally finish a product I feel accomplished.  It means I loved the product so much I stuck with it until the end and I got my money’s worth no matter what the cost was.  Over the last month I have managed to actually use up some of my collection and it wasn’t just one item either – it was several!  Shocking!

Here they are in all their glory:

Hair Products: 

• OH BEE HIVE! by Bed Head; Tigi – it’s a dry shampoo and smells oh my gosh delicious.  It doesn’t have that “fresh” scent to it necessarily, but, it smells soooooooo good.  YUM.  I don’t really totally get dry shampoo as they don’t really seem to ever work THAT great – but it’s probably user error. haha.  That being said I do think this does help some in reducing the oil, making my hair have some body, and helping make it smell good for one more day.  
• Sacred Tiare leave in detangler by Carol’s Daughter – it does a wonderful job of detangling my long silky hair that always manages to tangle itself once I get out of the shower.  It smells amazing and the scent lingers in your hair.  It is nice and cheap at Target – a bonus!.
• Super Skinny Serum by Paul Mitchell – a heat protectant spray that helps to smooth out your hair.  It also smells so good and I think it does help make my hair dry faster and keeps it healthy.  I do really like this product a lot!

Body Products – aka my HOLY GRAIL LOTIONS:

• CeraVe in the tub lotion – this stuff is AMAZING.  I can’t speak enough wonders about this beautiful life saving product.  I have some of the worst winter itch eczema known to man-kind.  It might not be bad enough that others can see, but, let me tell you what it itched like the dickens this winter.  Nothing I did would make it stop!  It was awful.  UNTIL that is this wonderful product.  This stuff is pretty thick.  But it has ceramides in it that help to restore the body’s barrier and it really moisturizes fantastic.  I would put this on after the shower and it helped a ton!
• Eucerin Eczema Body Relief Creme – this stuff is also pure amazing and awesome.  I wouldn’t have made it through winter without it!  It helped soothe my poor troubled legs so I didn’t scratch the daylights out of them.  It is SUPER thick but it rubs in so nicely and your skin feels so wonderful after.  I would use this along with the CeraVe after my showers and also in between showers to help stay moisturized.

Randoms:

• Smashbox Photofinish Primer Light – meh.  It’s an ok primer.  I’m not completely sold on primers per se, I guess I haven’t found one that I just LOVE totally.  This one did the trick but I thought it was expensive and just not really worth it.  I wouldn’t buy again.
• Tom’s Toddler Training Toothpaste – mhmm.  It tastes delicious and is SLS-free.  My mouth no longer burns like crazy and my lips aren’t as constantly irritated when I brush my teeth.  Maybenot the most refreshing toothpaste flavor out there but way better for me than any other SLS toothpastes I used to use!
• Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy Perfume – omg I love this scent.  It’s one of my all-time favorites.  I might have just found a better scent in the Viva La Juicy Gold, but, this is so yummy.  It is my go-to scent and I’m sad I’m out.  Plus the bottle is so cute with that big, fat pink bow and charm!  The notes are:
  • Lively fragrance features notes of wild berries and juicy mandarin followed by honeysuckle, gardenia, and jasmine. Viva La Juicy Eau de Parfum Spray by Juicy Couture finishes with notes of amber, caramel, vanilla, sandalwood, and praline

xoxo

March 2015 Favorites

Wow, March is almost over – it’s FLYING by. NUTTY!  I can’t believe it!

These are the things I’ve been digging lately 🙂

• Rimmel London ScandalEyes LycraFlex Blackest Black
• Maybelline Volum’ Express Mega Plush
• White Barn Fireside Candle (from Bath and Body Works)
• Viva La Juicy Gold Couture perfume
• Burt’s Bees Lip Crayon in Redwood Forest
• Christian Dior “Lady in Dior” polarized sunglasses

Anything in particular you’ve been in love with?

xoxo

Have you tried…. the Mizon Snail Repair BB cream?

The technical name is Mizon Multi Function Formula Snail Repair Blemish Balm (aka BB) SPF 32/PA++.  YUP, that’s right SNAIL is in the name! Bahaha.  That’s because it’s an Asian product (Korean I believe?) and they are on the cutting edge of skincare.  It is believed that the secretions from snails can help with acne scarring and prevention, help improve elasticity of the skin (reducing fine lines and wrinkles!), help with dryness, and hyperpigmentation among other things.  This is because the snail secretions contain natural acids and elastin which help improve the skin’s texture.  What started out in Korea is slowing moving in the Western market!

Have any of you guys tried this before?  So I’m going out of the country in a few short weeks – slightly over 5 weeks actually, but who is counting? haha.  I will be going to the beach.  HOLLA!  However, I don’t want to bring a whole face because who wants to sit on the beach/swim in the ocean with a full face of makeup on?  Plus you have to reapply sunscreen, it’s just not gonna work!  Then to have to carry all that makeup + brushes down there is so much extra weight and precious space since you pay for everything anymore.  Soooooo I did a little quick research and found some BB creams to test out before I leave.

I tried it for the first time today and it was thicker than I expected – but, I’m used to using the Naked foundation and just now started using Revlon Whipped!  I feel like it had decent coverage and I was only mildly shiny – or I like to think “dewy” by midday.  But I mean if I’m at the beach who cares right?  Plus, as long as the coverage is decent I don’t care if I have that glowy look for lunch or dinner.  It’s kind of sexy, or so they say.

So what are your thoughts? 🙂

ABC news had a store on it in October 2014.  You can read it here.

–xoxo

–

Everyday FOTD

Most days I struggle to get up in the morning before 8 am.  Sometimes I have to be at work at 8 am and sometimes not until midday.  So, I have streamlined my daily makeup when I am rushing out the door and only have 10 minutes or less to spend in the bathroom.  Or when the husband is waiting on me to leave on an errand! haha.

Ps: Ignore the hair that is strung across my face.  I totally didn’t feel it and only saw it after I took the pictures! whoops.  I’m only human 😉

I pretty much never wear eyeshadow to work because well I’m lazy and not that good at it.  I have deep set eyes that sometimes are slightly hooded (at least I think).  So this makes doing eyeshadow tricky and I just don’t have that down pat for when I’m running out the door!  But, I absolutely hate leaving without my mascara!  I am obsessed with tons of mascara on my lashes.  Enough ramblings, here are my products:

Well I forgot to put the primer with the rest of the base face products.  Oh well.  I put Revlon Colorstay on first over the Smashbox primer then set it with the Naked Powder.  I use the two concealers for my undereyes which you can see still need lots of help!  Still finding my HG products here.  I add some Nars Deep Throat Blush (HG! LOVE) and a little Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil on my cheeks.  This is all set with the UD All Nighter spray.

Mascara is the BOMB DIGGITY. I always come back to drugstore mascara though. My favorite at one point was the Tarte Lights Camera Action one but it is just too pricey. I really love almost all Mayelline mascaras that I’ve tried (really just the Volum’ Express line ones). I could go with the Falsies, The Colossal, or The Mega Plush. The other day I grabbed Rimmel ScandalEyes Lycra Flex and I LOVE IT! It adds length but so much volume! ahhhh. I have been layering this lately! First a coat or two of the Mega Plush and then some ScandalEyes Lycra Flex (but not the Retro Glam one!). I make sure to also wiggle the wand from the base up to really add some extra volume.   I love the darkest black you can find as well.  The blackest black you can get and I’ll take it.  None of this brown or brownish black….nope!

I absolutely HATE rubberized wands and thin mascara.  If it is a drier mascara with a thick and ultra plush brush then I’ll probably like it!  I have started using the NYX eyebrow powder in taupe.  I got the brunette first because well I have brunette hair but man it was sooooo orange and warm on me.  Definitely didn’t feel like it matched.  This one I think matches better.  I used the lighter shade today.  The brushes they provide suck though….use your own!

I sometimes add in some lip color if I have time or feel adventurous like today.  I just recently (like the last few months) started to get lip colors and really start wearing them/testing them out.   Instead of chapstick I use Lansinoh (lanolin) that I got at Target.  It is thick and heavy and really moisturizes my lips.  I used to use chapstick and vaseline but most chapsticks just irritated my lips more.  Vaseline really only works well if you have some moisture underneath and my lips were insanely dry because of the winter.  So lanolin it is!  I am in love with the Burt’s Bees lip crayons!  I have the one I’m wearing above (Redwood Forest) and also Napa Vineyard.  I used to have Sedona Sands I think but it did not show up on my lips so I got rid of it.  Oh well.

Products:

• Smashbox Photofinish Color Adjust Primer – meh.  I had it before and I liked it, but, I won’t buy again
• Revlon Colorstay Whipped in Buff 150
• Naked Skin loose powder in Light
• Maybelline Age Rewind in Fair
• Maybelline Dream Lumi Touche Highlighting Concealer in Ivory 
• Nars Deep Throat
• Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil 
• UD 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Empire **** forgot to take a picture of this ***** I don’t always use eyeliner either *****
• Maybelline The Mega Plush mascara in Blackest Black
• Rimmel London ScandalEyes Lycra Flex in Extreme Black
• Lansinoh (lanolin)
• Burt’s Bees Lip Crayon in Redwood Forest 

About 2/3 of these products were purchased at Target and the others at Sephora.

Enjoy your day!

xoxo P&C

First Impression – Revlon Colorstay Whipped foundation

LOVE love LOVE LOVE love so far. 

I was in the market for a new foundation because I was unhappy with my current one.  I had been using Urban Decay Naked Skin in 3.5 (light beige with slight pink undertones).  I felt it was slightly too dark and possibly the wrong color even.  It seemed like it accentuated any flakes in my skin and really didn’t cover well.  Now, I don’t have the worst skin ever, however, I do have quite a bit of redness and some acne scarring to cover up. I was doing some research and decided that I had warm skin or possibly a very pale olive undertone.  The Revlon Colorstay Whipped in 150 Buff and the MUFE HD in 117 Marble kept coming up as the best for pale olive skin.  Since I didn’t want to spend a TON of money I decided to go ahead with the Revlon one.  It was about $11.99 + tax at my local Target compared to $43 + tax for the MUFE HD at Sephora. I’ve used it for about 1 1/2 weeks now and each time I use it I love it even more.  On the Revlon website it is described as:

Finally, truly decadent makeup offers ultimate performance. The mousse-like texture feels like silk on your skin and the time release formula balances skin for a flawless look. All-day, flexible wear without flaking, caking, or feeling heavy.

It comes in a little jar that you unscrew the top and dab a little onto your fingers.  You can spread it onto your face and then use whatever you want to finish applying it.  I normally dab it all around my face and then use a foundation brush – Sigma F60 (similar to the MAC 190 Foundation brush) to “paint it on”.  It still looks too streaky and not as airbrushed as I like so I go ahead and use another brush – RT angled contour (similar to the MAC 193 Angled Foundation brush) to buff it in further and really get it around my nose well.  I feel like this method so far really works well.  I have heard many like to use the RT or Beauty Blender sponge to apply.  Maybe one day I’ll try that, but, for now this is working pretty well.  After it is applied I let it sit and then dust some setting powder on it so it makes it easier to apply blush and bronzer.

OVERALL: It has lasted all day for the most part with great coverage.  I do not like heavy foundations but need that coverage.  I was using the Naked Skin as mentioned above but, this one covers and lasts sooooo much better there is no comparison!  I love it!  I does not appear too “cakey”, however, don’t use a ton – do thin layers and build up if you need.  If you use too much then it will look gross!  My face doesn’t look too oily usually by the end of the day.

There are a few downfalls though, and mostly due to packaging.  Since it is in a jar it can get unsanitary real fast because you have to dip your fingers in it.  It can also get dirty real fast if you’re not careful.  I wish it was a pump.  It does have a cover piece inside that I recommend keeping, but, sometimes that’s a pain to take off to access the foundation.  Also, the jar is really pretty but oh so heavy – so if you have to travel this could weigh down your makeup bag real fast.  Lastly, if you’re sensitive to scents it has a faint fragrance to it.  The fragrance does dissipate fairly fast though once you start to spread it around your face.

REBUY! for sure.  Maybe even a new HG foundation?! 😀