Foundation

11 May 2013 6 Comments

Review: Revlon’s Nearly Naked Foundation

I’ve been curious about Revlon’s Nearly Naked foundation*.

Words I kept hearing about this foundation included: natural, light, and easy to wear. I was able to test drive it myself the past couple of months, and I’m finally ready to give it my two cents.

First, I have to tell you that I tend to prefer higher end foundation. My skin reacted to drug store foundation in the past so I have a bit of a phobia. I was more than relieved when I tried this foundation, which has now made it into my regular rotation.

The Nearly Naked foundation is indeed a nice foundation to wear on days you want lighter coverage. I tend to wear medium to full coverage so it was a bit out of my comfort zone. I felt like it covered what I needed to, and on days where I felt I needed more coverage, I just added a bit of concealer on top of this.

Here’s a before with no makeup (left) and after with foundation (right)…and then an after after with full makeup!

You can still see your skin and it doesn’t look or feel cakey or heavy. The finish is dewy but not shiny. As for the texture, it isn’t watery or thick. My only beef with the product is a lack of a pump dispenser. (Why? why?) It is awkward to have to pour this out of the bottle. I’ve had many a messy situation as a result. But if you can get over this hump, it is lovely to work with. It applies beautifully especially if used with a brush.

So there you have it, a foundation that does live up to the hype.

23 Apr 2012 16 Comments

A Portrait of a Beauty Blogger courtesy of Lancome

Who would have thought you could use foundation to paint a portrait? That’s exactly what Lancome Canada did as part of a campaign for its new Teint Idole Ultra 24H foundation. Yours truly was one of six beauty bloggers whose portraits were painted by Canadian artist, Shane Turner. He used the 20 shades of Teint Idole to paint the portraits. How cool is that?

Check out the video.

I tried two colours, Bisque 340N and Bisque 320W. Both worked well with my skin tone though Bisque 320 was a tad more yellow. The foundation is a dream to work with. The texture is light and it blends quite easily. It hides what I need it to hide, yet it doesn’t feel or look heavy.

The foundation is said to last for 24 hours, but really who would wear it that long? For me, it stood the test of time — a full work day and a few hours into the evening. I felt my skin looked as close to flawless as it can look during that time.

Teint Idole has now become part of my makeup routine. I now have four foundations, including this one, in rotation

Lancome generously sent me the portrait framed, and it is now proudly displayed in my living room. Thanks Lancome!

To see the gallery of all the portraits as well as info about Teint Idole, check out Lancome.ca (link!).

03 Jan 2012 17 Comments

A High Five for High Definition Foundation from MUFE

It’s probably safe to say that the average woman has one go-to foundation that they use daily. For a makeup addict like me, on the other hand, it’s a different story. I have five, yes five foundations, in my current rotation. The newest one that is getting a lot of love from me is Make Up For Ever’s HD Foundation. I’ve been reaching for it almost daily since acquiring it in mid-December. It is one of my new favorite foundations of all time – HG status. For realz.

I tested the foundation as part of the HD Complexion Starter Kit, now available at Sephora for $89. The kit comes with an HD Foundation (matched to your skintone); HD Primer; HD Powder and a mini Kabuki brush. The shade I tested was #127, which is think is pretty good match though maybe a smidgen light and yellowish. For reference I’m an NC37 at MAC and 040 Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua and Chanel Prolumiere. Photographs of me during the holidays with the foundation on didn’t reveal that dreadful eagle neck so I take this as a positive sign the match is good! Being the foundation addict that I am though, I’d still like to try shade #153 which is what Karen at Makeup and Beauty blog wears, and who has a similar skintone as mine.

(Left: no makeup; Middle: with foundation: Right: with foundation, different lighting)

The texture is light and it blends so well whether using your fingers or a brush. Once on, it doesn’t feel like you have makeup on. I use one to two pumps and it covers what I need to cover. What I like about it is that your skin shines through even while providing the coverage. I had read that it photographs beautifully, and I have to say based on the photos from the holidays, it sure does. Check out the picture above where I’m clearly really blotchy in the first photo and smoother in the other photos. Photos have not been retouched at all. Pretty good in my opinion

Along with the foundation, I also used primer. This is the first time for me, and I must say I’m a primer convert. The HD primer is light-weight and oil-free. It helps provide a smooth base for the foundation, keeping it in place all day. I have normal to dry skin so I’m not sure how the primer would fare with oilier skin.

Once the foundation is on, I set it with HD Microfinish Powder, which is made of 100% mineral silica. It not only helps the makeup stay put but also makes the skin look radiant. I never had any issues with the powder photographing white like what we saw with Nicole Kidman and other celebrities in recent times.

Overall, I’m super pumped about the foundation and everything in this kit. It worked very well for me. Two thumbs up.

If you’re interested in finding your HD Foundation shade, MUFE has just launched an interactive shade finder tool. I know buying foundation online can be daunting, but this tool is really useful and easy to use. Check it out here: www.hd.makeupforeverusa.com/shadefinder.

Already a fan of the foundation? Make Up For Ever is also hosting its first-ever casting call to find the model for its next Unretouched Ad Campaign. To enter, all you have to do is create your own look and submit to Make Up For Ever here. All finalists’ photos will be posted on Facebook and the winner will be flown to NYC for a professional photo shoot in late February.

Who’s tried this foundation?

Michelle

P.S. I hope you had a happy New Year. I’m currently on vacation still with the family though I hope to be back in full blogging action this week. I’m excited to use my new camera that Santa (a.k.a. my better half) brought me for Christmas. This is the first post where I’m featuring photos using this camera and I have to say, I’m thrilled with the results. I still have to play around with it and the lighting but so far so good. Was Santa good to you this year?

*Press sample