Make Up For Ever eyeshadows

I love this company!  I have had a professional discount with Make Up For Ever for about 9 months now and I have never ordered anything from them.  I've used their products in the past like their eyeliners and the HD foundation but never really branched out from there.  Let me just say that I will be purchasing their products for a long time to come. 

Christmas time is coming up and being a beauty girl, I tend to give gifts of makeup and other things beauty related.  My older sister asked for makeup for Christmas this year an I thought it would be a good opportunity to order from Make Up For Ever since I haven't in the past.  I called in to their store in New York and was greeted by a very friendly girl on the phone.  She was so helpful and nice and knowledgeable.  I ordered the HD foundation for my sister but I was stuck trying to decide between 3 shades.  She immediately knew the different tone and color of the three shades and was able to accurately recommend the right one. I also wanted to order the Rock For Ever eyeshadow quad but she said that the store does not carry that and it was for Sephora only.  She did offer to make the quad for me using the eyeshadows. 

$45 Sephora.com

I received the package today (Monday).  Shipping was extremely fast and I was not expecting that.  The eyeshadow quad included #307 (a black with silver glitter), #306 (a peach with silver sparkles), #82 (a basic shimmery silver), and #7 (a white with a slight sheen to it).  All of the shadows are very pigmented and beautiful.  They're also much larger than MAC eyeshadows.  MAC eyeshadows are 1.5g and MUFE eyeshadows are 2.5g.  I love this quad.  I love it so much that I'm keeping this one and buying another for my sister.

I was already wearing a silver eye today and thought I'd punch it up a bit and put some black in the outer corner.  Thinking that it would be similar to MAC's Carbon eyeshadow, I was prepared to spend a half hour blending to get it looking only ok.   That was not the case at all.  These eyeshadows are so buttery and so smooth, the only MAC eyeshadows I can compare them to are the Matte2.  If you've ever used Blanc Type or Typographic you know just how buttery and smooth they are.  It was a dream.  This is my new favorite black eyeshadow and I'm afraid Carbon is going to be living in the graveyard of unused makeup like many of my previously loved products. 

$22 Sephora.com

Next on my list to try will be smoky lash mascara.

The Search For The Perfect Foundation

I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while now so I thought why not start now.  I'm on the hunt for the perfect foundation right now.  I've used a lot and I still haven't found my Holy Grail foundation yet.  Having lost my tan from the summer now, I'm in need of my winter color so why not take this time to search for the right formula for my skin as well. A little background on my skin first. I have very oily acne prone skin with dark circles under my eyes, lots of acne scaring, large pores and a few new pimples that my proactive has not taken care of. 

Foundations I'm considering:

$42 NARScosmetics.com

NARS Sheer Glow - I used the color Stromboli in the summer when I had a very deep tan.  In MAC terms I was probably a NW30-NW35.  I thought it was the best foundation ever.  Less noticable pores, excellent full coverage, long lasting.  Seemed to be the holy grail for me.  I am now using the color Deauville which is the perfect color match for me.  Unfortunately, it always seems that when my skin is lighter, foundations don't cover as well.  I've found that my large pores are back and the acne scars aren't being covered as well.  The dark circles aren't being covered as well any more and it doesn't seem to be lasting as long either and my face looks oiler faster. I may be returning this but I think I'll give it a little more time. 

$54 Nordstrom.com

Chanel Pro Lumier - I used the color Cameo.  I like this foundation. It made my skin look even but for $54, it should do a whole lot more than that.  Despite some of the reviews I've read for this foundation, I did not have a problem with it staying.  It covered well enough but I found that I needed to use a concealer for spots on my face too.  It was really liquidy and was kind of messy.  I only had a sample so I can assume that it's not quite as messy when you get the full bottle. Another draw back was that you definatly need to use a setting powder.  There is no way around this.  Powder powder powder.  I had to use a setting powder and a mattifying gel but it looked pretty nice after all of that work.  No real caking.  Overall, it was ok but it's way too much work for a product that I think should do it all at that price point.  I will not be purchasing a full size bottle.

$42 Nordstrom.com

  

Laura Mercier Silk Cream Foundation - Initially I got a sample of the rose ivory which was PINK! Not the right color for me so I kind of ignored it for a while.  I recently got a sample of cream ivory which was the right color for me.  This foundation is also only ok.  It didn't do anything very special.  It looked nice but didn't really stick around either.  Didn't cover as well as I would expect either. Probably not going to get the full size either. 

$40 Sephora.com

MUFE HD foundation - I had this in the summer too and when I first got it, it was the best thing I had ever used.  Since I've tried other foundations, I've found that there are better ones out there.  I wish this was the perfect foundation for me because I get a professional discount at MUFE. Once again, needed concealer, not really buildable, didn't help with the oil.  Just nothing special.  I did however notice that my pores appeared smaller when I used it. 

$26 MACcosmetics.com

MAC Studio Fix Fluid - I used this foundation for really long time.  I never had any problems with it breaking me out or anything.  It lasted for a long time and didn't make me look oily or anything but it sometimes did look a little cakey.  I liked it but the color wasn't exactly right.  I tried NC 15 and NC 20. The NWs were too pink for me so that wasn't an option.  I probaby won't go back to this.







I'm not sure the perfect foundation is out there for me.  It's the one thing that I just can't find that suits me.  I don't like using the matte foundations like NARS Sheer Matte or the MUFE Matte Velvet Plus because I don't find that they keep me matte any longer than other foundations and they tend to looke cakier on me.  Maybe it's out there, maybe it isn't.  Today I'm going to give the Laura Mercier a little more love.  I recently got the LM primer so maybe it'll work with that.  We'll See.