L'Oréal Magic Nude Liquid Powder : Product Review

This is actually one of three drugstore foundations that I picked up to review for the blog several months ago; the other two can be found here and here and it is the one that I have had the hardest time bringing myself to review. Perhaps you can tell from that last sentence, but this foundation and I have not, do not, and will not get along. Keep reading to see what I disliked about this foundation, because even though it doesn't work for my skin, it doesn't mean that it won't work for yours!

The Facts

Price: $10.99 (this was at Target in Kansas, prices may vary)

Amount of Product: .91 fl oz.

Number of Shades: 12 - there are darker shades, but as per usual, they are limited

Claim: "Get the ultimate un-makeup look with Magic Nude Liquid Powder Bare Skin Perfecting Makeup with SPF 18. Revolutionary liquid transforms on contact, leaving a soft powder like finish. This foundation is so amazingly lightweight it's like wearing no makeup at all! Just shake and apply – it’s magic!"

Shade that I used: 312 Classic Ivory

Shades and the foundation itself: I decided to purchase this in 312 Classic Ivory, because 310 Light Ivory looked way too light in the store. Looking back, I kind of wish I had picked up 310 because it looks (online) to be more yellow, which is my undertone. Oh well, not horrible since this foundation is very thin. Yes, you read that correctly, the foundation is incredibly thin. It's a straight up liquid, not like any other liquid foundation you have probably ever used, this flows like water. It's actually very hard to control and makes application, which I'll touch on below, a bit difficult. It also smells like it has fragrance in it, but I can't find it on the ingredient list, so perhaps it's the alcohol in it. More on my skin's disagreement with this foundation later, but I think one of the biggest issues that my skin has with this foundation is that the first four ingredients are all silicones and alcohols, which isn't unusual when it comes to foundation, but it is unusual compared to the foundations that I use. All of my regular foundations have water as one of the first four ingredients.

Coverage: The coverage on this foundation is sheer to light depending on how much you apply. At a max, and I mean max, it would be considered light.

Application: The directions on the bottle state that you should apply this with your fingers and the L'Oréal website directly states not to use a brush or a sponge. That being said, I've applied this all of these ways and I completely agree with them, if you try to use anything other than your fingers, it immediately absorbs the product. The extreme liquid nature of the product makes it pretty difficult to apply. It says to pour some out, but I think that is quite possibly the worst idea of all time. I simply shook the bottle, tipped it over with my finger plugging the hole, and then took what ended up on my finger and applied it to my face. I worked it in immediately because this dries pretty quickly.

Wear Time: This is going to sound really goofy, but I have no idea. Since I could barely see this on my face, I'm not completely sure how long it wore.

Does it deliver on its claim? I will say that it does in fact deliver on its claim, but for me, it didn't work at all. It is very lightweight, it doesn't feel like you are wearing anything on your skin, and it does leave a soft powder finish... but I also can barely see this on my skin. I mean, I go over areas a few times to help "perfect" my skin. The description that they give is that it is a "bare skin perfecting makeup" and honestly, it's only a perfecting makeup if your skin is almost already perfect. This isn't going to cover up any dark spots, it won't cover any redness, and I don't think it does anything for your pores.

You can see in the pictures above, the areas of my skin that were already ok looking, have just been smoothed out a bit. For the third picture, I applied concealer on my blemishes, which is something I almost never do, because they were still so red looking (to be honest, my skin is overall really red looking right now due to whatever the hell is going on with my face). I shot this a few days ago and obviously, my skin is not happy, but I also wore this foundation when my skin was much, much happier. Even when my skin was behaving, I didn't like this foundation. I find that I have to wear it with a primer because otherwise my skin just turns into a huge oil slick a few hours after application. I used Hourglass's Mineral Veil in these photos and that helped the oil tremendously. 

And... since there is a high alcohol content to this foundation, it makes dry spots even drier or areas with flaky skin even flakier. If you have dry skin, this foundation is most definitely not for you.

Final Verdict: I'm pretty disappointed and bummed to have to write this, but I would say to avoid this foundation unless you already have fairly nice skin that is "normal" or only slightly oily. This has lighter coverage than any of my other foundations and that includes BB creams and tinted moisturizers. If you are looking for something very lightweight and with very light coverage, then this might be the foundation for you.

Questions? Comments? Let me know down below!

Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation : Product Review

I've had a hard time bringing myself to write this review; not because this product was horrible and I didn't want to tell you, but because it was kind of unremarkable to me. I had heard so much hype about the Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation, that I was half expecting to have cherubs fly out of the foundation during the first pump. I don't think you need me to tell, but I will anyway... that didn't happen.

The Facts

Price: $9.49 (this was at Target in Kansas, prices may vary)

Amount of Product: 1 fl oz.

Number of Shades: 14 - there are darker shades, but as per usual, they are limited

Claim: "All-in-one foundation with a long-lasting formula that fuses primer, concealer, and foundation in one easy step! The 3-in-1 formula provides a flawless look that lasts all day long."

Shade that I used: 810 Classic Ivory

Shades and the foundation itself: Having been a former Covergirl foundation user, I know that the shade that best matches my skin is Classic Ivory. Unfortunately for me, I find that the lighter shades can tend to border on pink and my particular shade, while being the best match, is a bit orangey. It's not horrible, it's just something I notice and one of the main reasons I stopped using Covergirl. There are 14 shades, which is starting to get in the more generous category for drugstore. There are two shades which are fairly dark, but there isn't much range. Again, this foundation is mostly for lighter skinned people.

Coverage: The coverage on this foundation is medium to full depending on how you apply it. If you used a Beauty Blender (or other sponge like it), I think that it would probably lean more toward the medium side but if you apply it with a brush and really buff it in, I think it leans more to full.

Application: Since this is a liquid foundation, you can apply it a myriad of ways, but my favorite is with the Real Techniques Expert Face brush. I also used a buffing brush from Sephora (it came in a gift set, so I have no clue what it's called), but it was inferior. One thing that this foundation wins with, hand down, is that it had a pump. I don't understand why any liquid foundation comes without a pump these days, but most are pump-less. Anyway, you turn the pump to its open position (yes, it locks, so it doesn't pump when you don't want it to) and get as much as needed. It smooths on fairly easily and blends nicely.

Wear Time: The wear time on this is pretty decent. I don't know if I would go as far as to say that it wears all day, as in 24 hours, but it does last past the work day. So, you can work all day and then go to happy hour and it will still be on your face.

Does it deliver on its claim? Pretty much. I've never used a foundation and been happy with it concealing my under eye circles, so I don't believe the concealer claim on this, but that's getting kind of picky. Since I have oily skin, I do get shiny areas later in the day, but I'm not an oil slick. I don't really know how to evaluate its primer claim, but I guess you could decide that on your own.

Final Verdict: Like I said up above, I had a hard time deciding to write this review because, regardless of how I just described this foundation, it was still somewhat unremarkable to me. Maybe it's because my usual go-to foundation is Revlon Color Stay and while the Covergirl is good, it would never replace my Revlon. If you love Covergirl products, definitely pick this up, it won't leave you feeling sad. If you're a Revlon girl, you can leave this one behind. If you're neither? It's a good $10 foundation that will last you a while and has nice results. 

Questions? Comments? Let me know down below!

Revlon ColorStay Foundation : Rave

Rather than do a whole product review on this foundation (which this will probably turn into anyway), I thought I would do a rave post on this. I meant to do this when I was in France, but I'm actually very glad that I waited until I came back because that trip just furthered my love for this foundation.

Revlon ColorStay foundation in Normal/Oily is pretty much my holy grail foundation for the summers. I do still wear other foundations, but if I need something to stay put and last all day, this is definitely what I use. I feel as if I've said this one thousand times, but I have oily skin (combo in the winter) and, like most people, the issue gets worse in the summer. I live in Kansas where it gets crazy hot and crazy humid, both disasters for those of us with oily skin. However, this foundation can pretty much live through all of that. It's not the end all be all of oily skin because no matter how much you try to stop it, oil will most likely still leak through, but this controls it so well. It takes hours upon hours for the oil to break through and even at that point, it's minimal. 

Not only have I tested this out in Kansas, but this is the foundation that I took with me to France. I was in the south of France, where it is hot and humid as well and it held up every single day (and my days were often 12+ hours).  

It also doesn't hurt that shade 150, Buff, is pretty much a spot on match for my skin. I love my other foundations, but nothing holds a candle to the staying power and the oil control of the Revlon ColorStay.

I highly suggest this to anyone with oily skin. A+

(all photos copyright Allison Richardson Photography and not available for use without permission)

Foundation Routine : Tutorial

I think I've been saying for a good month or two that I needed to show you guys an updated foundation routine. I really wanted to do this in video format, but I think that I'm going to have to wait a bit on videos until I can get a new camera. Keep reading to see what steps I do for my everyday foundation routine.

Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream : Product Review

 

Remember when I reviewed the Revlon BB cream, I went on about how it wasn't a true BB cream and this and that? Well, I thought it time to review a real BB cream for you! This is the Perfect Cover BB Cream from Missha. Missha is a Korean makeup brand and I actually picked this BB cream up as a free gift with purchase. Does this BB deliver on all of the claims that makes? Keep reading to find out!

Revlon Nearly Naked : Product Review

Growing up, I had one type of foundation that I used and I never veered away from it. It was perfect for me at the time; it matched my skin, it was really affordable, and it covered up my breakouts (it was CoverGirl Smoothers Aqua Smooth in Ivory or Classic Ivory). These days, I jump at the opportunity to try out a new foundation because my skin is under control and I love to explore what the makeup world has to offer. The newest foundation that I picked up is Revlon Nearly Naked in Vanilla. Here's a spoiler: I love this foundation. However, keep reading after the jump to see why I actually like it.