Pretty Sassy

So this is how the whole “I’ll review make-up” thing came around.  I was using Bare Minerals at home and happy enough with it but found it to be a bit messy to carry around.  Even after spending $32.00 on the Bare Minerals Flawless Face Case, I wasn’t happy.  The case was big and heavy, and though it greatly increased the mineral portability, it was awkward and didn’t let my carry any warmth(a brickesh color that totally rocks at giving you a tawny glow) or mineral veil.   

Drugstore Picks

Then there was this morning.  I had gone to the gym and was standing at the counter around all the other women putting their faces on.  The silver sneakers class had just let out and this sweet women was bemoaning her make-up bag because she had filled it with the stuff “she didn’t really like, but couldn’t give away”.  A bell went off.  At that moment I was spreading around Neutrogena Mineral Sheers(I love the brand Neutrogena, hate this makeup) and looking ashen and not covering anything and ending up looking worse than when I started.

I had to find something for the gym and something to keep in my purse for touch-ups.  For the gym I keep a tube of Almay Smart Shade because it’s easy and it works.  For touch-ups I use Jane Be Minerals or Revlon ColorStay Minerals.  I did figure out a very important portability trick.  I started cutting pieces out of round, foam cosmetic sponges and nesting them tightly inside the little, various powder containers and found them to be marvelous for mineral waste issues.

Drugstore Picks
Jane Be Minerals($6.00): A definite best buy.  The nicest minerals I could find at this price.  The portability is exquisite and the color is good.  This is not the best minerals you can find, but they are very good.

 Maybelline Mineral Power($9.00): My personal favorite of the drugstore bunch.  The most like Bare Minerals.

 Revlon ColorStay Minerals($14.00):Travels very well, nice color, more opaque than Maybelline.  Great stuff for touch-up.

Make-Up Counter Picks

The only make-up counter product I tried was MAC Mineralize.  It is actually not a mineral make-up but rather a mineral powder for setting other make-up.  It does an exceptional job of setting make-up. 

Lately I have been listening to the DivaShop Podcast and have been enjoying it.  Lately she’s been talking a lot about Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer(around $4.00).  It’s a tingly minty lipgloss with color and shimmer.

I purchased a tube in Rhubard at my local Wild Oats(a store owned by Whole Foods) and have kept it next to my computer at work.  I haven’t been drinking enough water lately and my lips have become parched and dehydrated.

I’ve been using Burts for the past few days really consistantly(and drinking more water) and my lips feel a lot softer.  Of course whether it is hydration, lipgloss or both I’m not sure.  The tingle I get from the gloss is a lot less than Carmex but more than Chapstick.  The color is probably really bold for Lip Balm, but pretty mild for lipstick.  I purchased Rhubarb which is one of the darkest colors they make and the effect is moisturized and lightly tinted.  There is a shimmer to the product in the tube but I see no shimmer on my lips.  DivaShop sees a shimmer to her lips so it may just be a thing where milage WILL vary.

I like this balm enough, but as a self-proclaimed Carmex addict, I doubt I’ll buy another tube when this runs out.  I’d sort of rather just have Carmex and a tube of lipstick.

More Reviews: Knowledge is Power

http://cupcakelife.blogspot.com/2007/12/burts-bees-wax-lip-shimmer.html

http://color.delush.com/2005/05/burts-bees-lip-shimmer-in-rhub.html

The month of a Million Foundations sure has been fun.  I tried every foundation I could get my hands on and now am ready with my list.  This is the first in a 3 part series of liquid, powder and cream foundation.  This list is just my favorites.

Best Liquid Foundations
Drug Store

1. Almay Smart Shade $12.00(approx) My review
Notes: Smooth, long lasting, medium coverage, good match with a velvet texture. 
2. CoverGirl Advanced Radiance Foundation $10.39(approx) My Review
Notes: Super hydrating, goes smooth over imperfections.  Can be a little heavy, but good for dry skin.

Cosmetic Counter: I didn’t do any cosmetic counter reviews of liquid foundations

Though until now I had never tried Bobbi Brown, I had always admired her.  Her concept that most women have some yellow undertones was a relief for me from pink foundation, her idea of a natural classic face was hopefull.  She seems to do really well for normal, imperfect faces.

At $40.00 this is the most expensive foundation I tried and I really wasn’t sure what to expect.

Packaging: A shiny black compact with crisp lines.  A cosmetic puff hides underneath the base.  There is a mirror on the top perfect for touch-ups.

Consistency: Really creamy and somewhat sheer.  Straight out of the package I thought there was a piece of clear plastic on top of the foundation.  It looks to be plastic smooth and shiny.  After a few wisks with my handy MAC Skunk brush the product started to soften into my brush.  This foundation has a sort of sheerness and clarity in the package that is hard to describe but easy to identify. 

 Application: Goes on like a dream covers redness and just blends, doesn’t settle into fine lines or acne scars.  I don’t look like I have makeup(or pores).  I look at myself at the mirror and I look like one of those girls with fine pores and tight skin.  

Wearing: This is not an extraordinarily long wearing foundation.  Because of it’s creamy nature I needed a little touch-up every 4-5 hours.  This is a foundation that benefits from a primer and a little powder(I like to  use the Maybelline Minerals) to help you get the most mileage from.

Final Analysis: This is good foundation that is really portable.   This might not work for you if you have really oily skin or need extremely long-wearing foundation.  This foundation is gentle and it does a good job without being heavy.  It’s expensive, but if you’re having trouble getting the right foundation, this is worth a peak at.    For me, for my skin that has big pores, acne scares and little “expression lines”, I’m willing to pay more for foundation.

Here is the website and it also has great instructional videos of how to use the products.  I was fascinated in the tutorial of how to use concealer and corrector around the eyes. 

Here are some other reviews(since everyone has different opinions).

http://beaut.ie/blog/?p=4274

Spending a month trying out a boatload of foundations is a very, very fun experience.  Especially when, for the most part they were all pretty good.  It does however make you get a little paranoid about your skin.  So paranoid in fact that when I was seeing my doctor for my regular appointment I fit in the idea that I thought it was high time I get myself on the retinoids(Retin-A, Renova).  She crooked her eyebrow up, looked at my face in a sort of analytical way and said “I don’t think you really need it, but I’ll prescribe it”.  I then explained that she didn’t see anything on account of the excellent foundation I was wearing and then mumbled something along the lines of “you should of seen my skin last week.”

So filled with the glee one can only get by holding onto a prescription for Renova I dropped it off with my friendly Target pharmacy.  The next day when I go to pick it up the man in the white coat says “you don’t got any insurance?”  Well, I pulled out that card out fast and handed it to him.  That’s when he figured out that the Renova would not be covered by insurance(not surprised since it’s more of a vanity thing) and it would be $147.00.  I’ve still got to call Costco and Sams Club and see if they have it any cheaper, but I can’t imagine it will be in my cabinet anytime soon.

My mother did suggest that I can get similar retinoid results by finding a retinol Alpha Hydroxy cream with a super strong percentage.

In my own Rite-Aid I found Alpha Hydrox Souffle(on sale for 6 dollars), that had a 12% concentration. 

Then I was curious if there was something better.  Something with even more AHA.  This pretty much makes me an Alpha Hydroxy Acid Junky.  Where do I sign?

This is CoverGirl Advanced Radiance Restorative Cream Foundation.  I actually heard about this foundation from my Aunt Karen who basically said it was so good it would make you look 12.  During the begining of my project I was really looking for something to smooth out my acne scars.

Scent: This has a definite scent.  I’ve been trying to pin down what the scent is and it’s kind of floral and reminds me of Fabreeze, the original scent.  I sort of like the scent(but don’t love it).  If you dislike your cosmetics having a scent or are sensitive to scents, this might not work for you.

Texture: Thick and creamy.  Almost like a rich face cream.  It applies nice and smooth and finishes to a nice matte finish.  It feels really good on a dry skin day.  In fact if you have oily skin, you might not need this much foundation. 

Coverage: Nice medium coverage.  It does seem to do a better job than most liquid foundations at avoiding lines(it has some reflective particles) and smoothing over.

Overall: My skin is not dry enough to need this much moisturizing foundation and it feels a little heavy.  I keep it in my rotation for days I’ve neglected to exfoiliate and days I feel dry.

Reviews(Though I couldn’t dig up very many)

 http://teamsugar.com/group/88093/blog/138533

I really dig sophisticated, clean scents.  If someone bottled Tide or Downy in an elegant rollarball I’d probably buy it and be very happy.  My husband and bestest friend Heather call my taste in perfume “a little soapy.”  My favorite perfume in the world is Clinique Aromatics.  It smells like the perfume of someone important.  I don’t think “rose” or “verbana”, I think complex and rich.  I think of it as the perfume you might buy on your travels paris. 

And though I really love it, I don’t always want to smell like “Aromatics”.  The problem is whenever I go out looking for something “wild” it either smells like aromatics, or like lavender(which is my favorite single note scent) or I hate it.

So that means my perfume collection is sort of dull.  I requested a sample of Bobbi Brown from their PR department.  I went to FedEx to pick up the package ran to my car and opened the bottle.

It was freaky Bobbi Brown Beach was like smelling the beach.  It reminded me of my honeymoon that started on the pretty beaches of miami.  The perfume smells like salt, surf and suntan lotion.  I’m in love I’ve worn it every day since I bought it.

I went home to my parents this weekend and brought the bottle with me.  Since I have such a narrow love of perfumes, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t crazy.  Everyone who smelt it went “beach”.  This might be one of the nicest, lightest, sense-memory provoking perfumes that has come out in a very long time.

It smells like the beach, it isn’t sweet and cloying, it’s light and good for the office and it’s fun.

I’m totally in love with this.  Try it. 

L’Oreal Bare Naturale was actual the first mineral foundation I ever tried.  I liked it okay, but I didn’t love it and it seemed a little overpriced($15.00).   The $6.00 Maybelline Minerals is like Bare Minerals evil twin and I really think from a mineral viewpoint your money is better with Maybelline.  It should be noted that Maybelline and L’oreal  are actually the same company.  Maybelline is a L’Oreal brand.

Color: L’Oreal is less sheer(more opaque) and more picky about color.  I required two containers to find the right color.  The good news is there are 10 shades, so you will find what you need.  The bad news is if your drugstore doesn’t have a tester it could require a few trips.  If you do go with Bare Naturale buy it from a drugstore with a good return policy(Rite-Aid has been good to me).

Coverage: Good, buildable coverage.  But the product contains talc and gets mask-ey and chalky.  It’s more pronounced chalky-ness if the color is off by a little.  Maybelline and Jane are both more forgiving and don’t get this chalky-ness and cost around 1/2 of Bare Naturale.

Container: Messy.  One solution for traveling is to cut a small circle out of a round foam applicator and place it between the sifter and the lid. 

Brush: Good for an attached brush.  Perhaps the best attached brush in the mineral arena. 

Overall: A little underwhelming.  I feel like the minerals could be milled finer, they could lose the talc in the formulation and make the container easier for travel.  I really like L’Oreal, but I’m just not crazy about this mineral product.  A lot of money(in drugstore terms) for a powder that isn’t much different than a regular loose powder.   It’s not horrible, but I think you can make your buck go further and get better results..

I was listening to the product girl podcast and she had said that she had watched a MAC demonstration where the make-up artist applied the cream compact foundation with a MAC 187 “Skunk” brush for an airbrushed look.The 187 brush is a mix of goat and synthetic fibers.  It’s a two layer brush.  It has short fibers to help keep the brush fat and thick.  But the tall fibers provide the blend.

Oh-my-goodness.  Oh-my-goodness.  It seems to be a wonderful transportation unit for maximum coverage with minimum bulk.  I mean this is great if your a girl like me who needs to really slap some serious product on to look human.

The best way to test this out for yourself would be to go to the MAC counter sans foundation and ask that they apply one of the foundations (I use full coverage cream compact) with the skunk brush and see if it makes a difference.

The only downside is that because you are using crazy little foundation it does seem to melt off a little earlier than a normal application.  So carry powder.

But this technique is beautiful.  Thank you product girl, thank you.

 Kelly

I requested a sample of Jane Mineral Be Pure foundation a few weeks ago and was thrilled when they sent me some samples.  The retail value for this is about $6.00.

Then I was worried.

They sent me “fair”.  I’m more of a medium, a buff beige girl.  So I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to review it well since it might not match so good. 

Which made me a little sad since I’ve always thought good things about Jane.  They make some awesome affordable lipsticks (the reds and berry colors are so wearable and sophisticated they really belong in a Clinique counter, not in the drugstore). 

The container is a brush on top with a resevoir of powder on the bottom.

Application: Just undo the cap and brush.  If you need more powder tap the side.  It works pretty good.  The applicator seems controllable(always my fear with these self feeding things).  The brush is soft but firm.  It feels gentle on my skin but still does a good job of buffing.

Formula: No talc and no wax.  A mineral powder that is true to it’s identity.

Coverage: So I explained I didn’t get the right color?  Well Jane Be Pure has more play with colors(as does Bare Minerals).  The result was I didn’t look cakey or ashen, I just looked like me with good makeup.  The brush makes it tricky to get into corners or really cover a small blemish(since it’s not a concelear brush).  The overall look was really natural, moderate coverage, a little more matte than say Bare Minerals and surprisingly good.  This is a review from somebody who didn’t even get their ideal color.

Portability: Finally a tube of powder that does a good job.  You can toss this in your bag and go!

Overall: This is a good thing for the budget minded girl who is short on time, needs portability and moderate coverage. 

And seriously, check out their lipsticks.  The colors are that good.

Here is what other people thought:
http://www.blog.makeupmoxie.com/2007/08/jane-be-pure-mineral-powder-review.html
http://www.beautyandfashiontech.com/category/mineral-makeup