Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua- My Holy Grail Foundation at Last

I realize that I have been absent from the blogging arena for a while now. Some things went down, but the dust has finally settled. Suffice it to say, the reviews, tips and makeup related posts will now a be a more frequent part of your feed.

Right, moving along... as you all know I am a self-professed makeup junkie, but among the makeup categories, foundation takes the prize. The wisdom of all top-makeup artists makes so much more sense; a flawless (or as flawless as can be) base, makes for the ideal canvas for the rest of the paraphernalia on your vanity. I should totally do a post on my humble vanity ( ahem ahem) sometime soon. But I digress.

This puppy has been in my stash all sealed for a while now. Come the dry winter months combined with my prior experience with the big sister of this foundation (find the review and dupe here), I gave it a go.

The Body Shop Oil Free Balancing Foundation

This is one of the very first foundations I used. I remember using it on my engagement day and I remember getting plenty of comments. To this day I love this foundation and the few that I have actually repurchased. The reason is that the climate back home is quite humid and even the a pretty dry skinned girl can end up with unflattering oily skin.

I'm in the shade 03

3 Drugstore Foundation Purchase Regrets

I like a good foundation, who doesn't..but it happens more than often that when you buy a foundation and test it and you're ecstatic that it looks brilliant....you get home and put it to the real test, only to find out that it did not meet your expectations. Some aspect of the foundation did not work for you, whether it was the wear, or the oxidation on it was crazy or that it broke you out or it was simply not your shade. The shade issue is most common because when we buy it, we test it in the glare of the shop lights. Here's a tip, apply it and then check it out in the natural light, away from the shop's bright orange lights.

Since I do a lot of research and deliberate quite a bit before making any purchase, I usually do not get misses, but still, nobody is perfect.

So I'm going to reveal 3 foundations that did not work for me, why and how I am trying to somehow make them work so that they don't go to total waste.

Essentially Natural Foundation by No.7

This one I bought on a whim. Being winter, my skin was dry and even after washing with simple water it tended to get that dreaded stretchy feeling. I was looking for a hydrating formula, nothing heavy duty and something easily won on a day to day basis. Its pretty much what I did get....

Shade Cool Ivory

Revlon Colorstay Foundation for Combination to Oily Skin.

Before starting be warned this is more a rant than a rave. This foundation did not impress me even though contradictory to my above statement, I actually had been using it for years. But in my defense, it was in the days before I found Clinique or Lancome or even Rimmel or Bourjois. I know this foundation has a huge cult following and it is often stated to be a dupe of Makeup Forever HD foundation which I have never tried. But if it is then I'm not inclined to try it.

Shade 180 Sand Beige

 Let’s see about the pros:

1. It has good coverage. I still need concealer for blemishes and under eye circles.
2. Its smell is not unpleasant, though its not entirely pleasant either, I don’t have an issue with it. To me its like a bit soapy sort of and it stays on for quite some time.
3. It is also long lasting, easily lasts the day. But I do notice some oil breaking through after a few hours.
4. It has soft flex, which is supposed to be something good for the skin I am guessing and an SPF of 6.
5. It comes in a wide variety of shades from pale to very dark. 

So it seems to be pretty good right? But…

Clinique Even Better Foundation

As you get older your skin requires even more attention due to sun damage, aging, hyper pigmentation, loss of elasticity. While there are many beauty creams out there that cater to these problems, finding a foundation that can help the outward appearance of the afore mentioned issues is a challenge. Something that will even out, correct and provide a healthy look to the face without the actual look of makeup is something we all look for in a foundation. Add the SPF factor...not too high that it might actually create a film and not too low either and anti oxidants to combat aging, you have yourself a winner.

This is the Clinique Even Better Foundation. I suppose the name means it better than other foundations because it gives you what most foundations do with the added benefits of an SPF and color correction properties.

Chanel Vitalumiere (discontinued) Dupe

One of my first high end foundations and one I love to this day is the Chanel Vitalumiere Foundation which has sadly been discontinued. This is not the other version they have called Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation which is a more recent formulation.

I'm in the shade 15 Opaline

Its so sad they discontinued it since it was truly beautiful. But I just happened upon a foundation which is more or less the dupe of this foundation in terms of the final finish. The Chanel one gives a dewy and soft finish to the skin which I really love for the winter months when the skin is more drier. It has an SPF 15 which the dupe does not but both smell very nice, both are floral and kind of similar. The smell may bother some people who are sensitive to strong smells. But I personally love the smell of both. 

So what is the dupe?

Makeup Brushes 101

When I first got into makeup, brushes were around, only not in the host of types and brands nowadays. Back then good ol' fingers were the main makeup application tool for at lot of your look. I know how overwhelming it can be to go out there and see 10 different types of eyeliner brushes and not know what to do, only to walk out in frustration. I hope this post can help you know what are the basic tools required to apply makeup and then you can shop for brushes with the intent of the brush you want to buy. This is singularly the most important question when buying makeup products...what will this product help me achieve.

Brush overload: Be gone...

Before starting you should know there are 2 types of brushes: Synthetic (man made fibres) and Natural (as apparent from the name, animal hair). The preference is a personal choice mostly. I don't mind either but synthetic brushes are generally more easier to clean and more commonly used.

MAC Face and Body Foundation and MAC Mineralized Skinfinish Natural

So the dry weather is upon us…for oily girls, scratch that, oily skinned girls, this might be a blessing in disguise but for the ones with dry skin or even normal skin, it can bring on flakiness, patches, redness, roughness and so on and so forth. While we do what we can with moisturizers, facial oils, serums and the like, what many people so not know is that it really makes a difference if the type of makeup you’re wearing is adjusted to the changing weather.  Which brings me to these two products which, for normal/ normal to dry skin, are just amazing. A shout out to those gals who have issues with coverage because if you are looking for high coverage to hide that acne, or scarring or prominent discoloration or if MAC products simple break you out then these (or at least one of these) will not be for you.

MAC foundation in N3, powder in Medium+

Price: Both available for about 150 Dhs mark.

Packaging: The foundation has a nozzle and the bottle is slightly squeezable plastic. There is a little cap that twists over the nozzle. There are 2 sizes but I have the smaller one with your regular fluid ounce. The powder is standard MAC packaging. Only thing is it doesn't have is a mirror or a spongy applicator thing that many powders come with. I like that it clicks with a certainty that it won’t open in your bag.