After years and years of research and trial and error. Hundreds of dollars spent. Hours in The mirror. Days testing. Makeup returns and exchanges. I've finally found the perfect Medium to Full coverage foundations for everyone. That includes those who prefer powder, those who love liquid, those who like liquid but never thought they could wear it because of their skin, etc.
Firstly, a foundation is a great thing to even out the skin, blur large pores, discoloration and acne BUT everything has it's place. For instance, if you're essentially wearing a concealer as your foundation you're sure to break out. Not to mention your acne and discoloration will be a lot more likely to come through throughout the day. To cover these things you need to start with a concealer. Concealer is basically a super pigmented and focused foundation. It will cover blemishes, redness, dark circles, scarring, etc. And last all day if you have the right concealer. There's so many concealers that serve different purposes like color correction (erase paste by Benefit) or under eyes (it cosmetics has a wonderful one.) Or any number of issues. My favorite is going to be an all purpose concealer that will cover all of those problems and stay there. I've tried many different ones from all price points and the very best is Anastasia Beverly hills concealer. Its oil free, blends easily, a little bit goes a looong way and a years worth or longer of concealer only costs you $20. This stuff is $20!! It's pigmented enough to cover tattoos but is still breathable and lasts all day long by itself or on top of primer. On days I'm in a hurry I cover my blemishes with this stuff and pop a translucent powder over it (Laura Mercier Translucent Powder) and I'm confident enough to go. I have extreme acne, redness, scarring, large pores, dark circles etc. So that's really saying something!
Now you can wear a primer and there's plenty of those to serve different purposes like filling in large pores, helping acne, color correction and so much more. I haven't found a holy grail primer that makes a huge difference all day long or makes my makeup last longer or look better but I have been using Benefit Porefessional primer below Benefit Porefessional Matte Rescue which is often mistaken for a primer but it is not. It's meant to go on top of primer to stop oil throughout the day. I honestly don't notice a huge difference but I use it anyway. I really have always loved and come back to Smashbox Photo Finish Primer. They come in a variety of Primers for a variety of skin issues or the original. A little goes a long way but it is a bit spendy. Fortunately they sell smaller sizes that are about $16 so you can buy as you need it.
Next and last before we get into the foundation is another thing that really helps and that is setting sprays and translucent powders. Most of the time we need a matte foundation. Dewy just makes us more oily so I don't recommend powder from the point of finishing your makeup as it will make you look powdery. It is however great for mid day shine control. Swipe a little on mid day and your back to matte.
Setting sprays on the other hand are great! Itkeeps my makeup looking as perfect as it did when I finished it at the end of the day. Even if I sleep on it mid day I wake up and my eye and face makeup hasn't budged. The only one I have tried is Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray Original. Although they also have a B6 spray, a moisturizing spray and an oil control spray. I just love the original so I don't mess with it. This can be a bit spendy as well but it lasts a while. The full size is around $30 and the half size is about $16.
These things all prolong the life of your foundation but these foundations are amazingon their own. I've made sure to test them that way as well although they can be even better with the above products in the way they look and last. Those things are not at all necessary except for the concealer for acne or extreme discoloration.
First and a long time favorite is Christian Dior Airflash Foundation. This was the original airbrush spray foundation that started the fad. It's been well loved ever since. You can either spray evenly over your entire face and then blend by pressing in with finger tips or Beauty Blender or spray onto foundation brush or concentrated spots on your face and treat it as you would any liquid foundation. I have an in depth review of this on the blog so i won't spend too much time but let's get into the good and the bad. The good. This foundation gives a truly airbrush, matte finish. It is full coverage and covers most imperfections all by itself. It looks perfect and lasts all day long without any special products. It's super easy to apply and blend into a natural look. It feels light and like your skin can breathe. The bad. It can show a little bit of texture like a lot of matte foundations. By texture i mean it can show the pores and bumps on your skin. It's nothing major and a primer or setting spray combats this. This foundation is $62 usd.
Next foundation is the Christian Dior Forever Foundation. This is my current love. I was getting really sick of the unnatural mask look of the super matte formula. It seemed that i would never be able to find anything different that would work for me. Finally i did. I got a free sample by asking for it at Sephora. She made it for me right there straight out of the bottle. I used it once and ordered it online immediately. I've been using it daily for a week now with no intentions of stopping. This foundation somehow gives a matte look with a slight dewy or bright finish. The best way to describe the finish is that it looks like skin. Perfect, better than natural skin. It doesn't accentuate any areas that arent smooth or break me out. It also lasts all day long with the same perfect skin look as when you applied it. It's super easy to apply. It's a bit more on the liquid side as opposed to the thick and creamy type. That doesn't detract at all from the coverage though. This stuff is buildable from medium to super full coverage and you need very little to cover your entire face and jaw line. This bottle will last you forever. There is no bad that i can think of other than the high end price which is $50 Usd.
Next up is the Marc Jacobs Remarcable Foundation. This foundation is $55 a bottle but you need a pea sized dot on the four corners of your face and that's it. That will give full coverage to your entire face. This is super full coverage and blends easily. It lasts all day and then some. Like the rest of these oily skin doesn't make it slide around or come off. The bad is that it does have the potential to cause break outs and clog pores. Although unlikely, I have heard this from a couple people.
Next up is Urban Decay All Nighter Foundation. At around $42 Usd this is the highest coverage, longest lasting foundation of them all. Oil and shine will not come through this stuff. It lasts a minumum of 16 hours and covers every blemish and pore and more. This has an ultra matte finish that looks almost like velvet. This is a hard working foundation. If I'm going to be sweating a lot or know I'm having an extremely oily day this is the stuff i wear. Unfortunately, my skin can't breathe. It feels like I'm wearing a bit of a heavy mask. Because of this it's not an every day foundation. I only wear this on special occasions or very sweaty or oily days. Some people complain of break outs and oxidation. That's where the color turns darker after it's hit air and dries. That didn't happen to me but it's probably a good idea to test them first to find a good color match.
Now the last three are going to be full coverage powder foundations.
The first and second cheapest of all of these foundations and the one i wear most often is the Tarte Cosmetics Full Coverage Airbrush Foundation Powder.
This stuff is $36. You apply this with any brush meant for powder. I prefer a Kabuki brush. It applies quickly and evenly and is full coverag3 with not a lot of product. There's a lot of product in this so it's definitely worth the money in my opinion. My skin can breathe, it doesnt clog pores, it helps suck up oil, lasts most of the day and there's a huge selection of colors and undertones for a perfect match. There's absolutely nothing bad i can say about this stuff. This is the best everyday foundation or foundation for during a break out when you need the least amount of product on your face.
Second powder and another Christian Dior Foundation. Diorskin Forever Flawless Fusion Makeup. It's $54 and i have all the same things to say about it as the Tarte. The only difference is that it has finer powder particles so i believe it blurs pores and imperfections even better so there's hardly any texture.
Last but not least is the cheapest. It's Bare Minerals Original Mineral Make up foundation powder. $38 for starter kit with other products, $40 for deluxe size and around $28 for original size. This is exactly the same in my opinion as the Tarte powder but is more of a mineral makeup. Some would say it's more natural. This is a great one but does require touch ups about once or twice a day depending on how oily you are. Love the starter kits and the deluxe size they came out with at an economical price point this holiday season. As of right now it's still available at Sephora.
And that's it every one. Years of drugstore makeup failures, makeup causing break outs, hours of experimenting and so much more i have a list of holy grail products. Hopefully i can help some of you avoid all of that.
Also skincare is so important but that's dor another post. An honourable mention that i can't leave out is Christian Dior Dreamskin perfector cream. It's a primer, an anti aging serum perfector. It immediately takes away all redness, reduces pore size and discoloration and evens skintone. Over time it takes away fine lines and wrinkles and even healed my acne and helped lessen my oil production. It is costly at $115 1oz or $150 1.7oz. There's also a foundation in this line that's full coverage and has this serum in it but i have not had the luxury of trying it yet. That is $82 for the compact and then approx $46 for the refills for the compact when the first one is empty.
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