Dermablend Bluring Mousse Camo Foundation

Dermablend Bluring Mousse Camo Foundation

I'm the shade Cameo, which may be a tad light with my summer tan. It will be perfect for winter.

Overview

I have very oily skin, especially on my nose, chin and cheeks, so in other words most of my face. My skin is so oily that keeping glasses up on my nose is a chore, which makes me very thankful that 99% of the time I'm able to wear contacts. Even though I'm 30 I also have very acne prone skin. I've basically given up on having clear skin, but still use washes, creams etc. Since my skin is so oily and acne covered (sigh!) I'm always on the hunt for a full coverage foundation that will cover my acne, last throughout my day or at least 8 hours, and not cause more break outs.
 

The Claim

Dermablend claims this foundation is the best for oily, combination and acne prone skin. The foundation is oil free and supposed to smooth the appearance of bumps, crevices and enlarged pours. It is supposed to camouflage skin concerns such as acne, redness, and scars while having a natural matte finish. They boost up to 18 hours of coverages.

Wear Test

I test all foundations out with only the foundation worn on my skin, no primer, setting spray, concealer or powder etc. I only top it with blush to give a more complete look. The foundation boosts up to 18 hours of coverage, which I tested by wearing for 3 days to work ( I work in an air conditioned office). Each day was about 9.5 hours of wear. I spent all of this time in the air condition in my home or my house except maybe 10 minutes of back and forth to the my car, so I can't make a judgement on how this would hold up in the heat. Each of the three days I did check ins through out the day and then when I got home, I'll post some of the pictures I took below to give a better idea. I usually check the first time around lunch (4ish hours) to see if I have any blush left and to see how oily my skin has gotten . Normally my blush is either very faded or completely gone (doesn't matter how long wearing the blush is) by this time of the day, unless the foundation has extraordinary oil absorbing powers. When I checked at this point in the day for all three days it looked freshly applied. I didn't notice any fading of my blush or oil in my typically spots that are usually oily by now. I kept checking throughout the day and didn't notice any noticeable shine or fading. I didn't test for 18 hours as I'm more concerned about finding a foundation that last through my work day, especially since most non work adventures aren't any longer in time. By the end of the day 9.5 hours later foundation looked great, maybe some slight fading of my blush but not enough for me to worry about. Also very minimal oil. To sum all my blabbering up this foundation passes the test!!  

Coverage

**My eyes were a little irritated for some unknown reason. I'm guessing allergies because they cleared up soon after these pics were taken.**

I think its fair to say the claims are true, as you can see in the before pic I have a lot of redness, scars, and active acne. Very full coverage as my redness is no longer visible and my acne has been blurred out. It also claims to fill in craters and smooth out skin, which as you can see it does. I was already in awe when it covered my redness, since even the fullest of coverage foundations are no match for my acne redness, so imagine how floored I was to see how smooth my skin is.



I'll bring you in even closer to see redness coverage and acne/crater smoothing.  This stuff is nothing short of a miracle worker for an acne suffer.

Can't leave out the right side. Sorry for the bad lighting, but hopefully you can see the amount of coverage still.

 My chin is always the hardest to find the right match.  If I'm lucky enough to find the right match it always wears off before anywhere else on my face.  I'll show pics below of my chin to show it stood the test of my entire work day.

Wear Time Pictures

8:30



5:40

 6:00 Not much different from 5:40 but wanted to show in different lighting.

 

A different day but wanted to use to show beginning of day vs. end of the day.  The left is at 8:30 and the right is at 6:00 at the end of the day.  Only fading I noticed at all was a small amount on my pimple to the left of my chin, which wasn't 100 % covered to start with.

Final Thoughts

 If you have active acne and acne scares run don't walk to get this foundation!  It more than surpasses my expectation to camouflage my acne and acne scars.  I would be happy with coverage alone but I'm even more impressed that it lasts all day long  

Thanks for reading my review. 

Em :)

P.S. sorry for the bad font. It won't let me fix it :(

Urban Decay All Nighter Foundation

Urban Decay All Nighter Foundation

Full Review - Wear Test 14 hours

 

In my previous blog post I posted a  First impression (click link to see ) of the Urban Decay All Nighter foundation in 3.25.  I was so excited to have this new foundation in my hands that I had to test it out, even though Fridays are a shorter day for me.  I wore it 6.5 hours in this first test which gave me a decent idea of how long wearing the foundation is but not long enough to fully test.  In this review I've tested the foundation all day from work all the way through dinner with parents, not removing it until 10:30 PM 14 hours after putting it on

Foundation Vs. my oily skin

I'm going to do a series of mini check-ins.

 

For long wear test I wear nothing but my foundation.  I didn't even use moisturizer (I've really got to get a good skin care routine going).   After my 14 hour day, admittedly mostly in AC foundation was in tact much more than I expected. My skin is very oily and acne prone. It has the most oil on my chin, t-zone and nose, which I know is most of my face lol.  So oily I wear contacts because I can't stand my glasses sliding all around on my nose (okay that's not the only reason) lol. Even the longest of wearing foundations without primer, setting spray and powder tend to show noticeable wear by 4-5 hours (if I'm lucky).  I've never seen my blush make it to lunch time (4-5 hours) unless I use what feels like 1/2 bottle of setting spray and way too much blush.  I check in various times through out the day to see if I could notice how long before it starts wearing off my skin.

First Check in 9:00 (30 minutes wear time, using as starting basis)

I mentioned this in my first impression, but worth noting again.  Coverage is very full.  For someone without a lot to cover up this would be more than enough coverage.  I could stand to use a little concealer but not bad at all for just foundation!

 

 

Second Check in 1:40  5 hours

 

I am so not photogenic lol.  Around 5 hours at this point.  Looks almost as good as it did first thing this morning.  I have the smallest amount of shine on my nose (its not as bad as this shows, a lot of it is the light reflecting on me). My blush has faded slightly (very very slight, as you can see its still very much so there) but t-zone isn't oily at all .  Worth noting by this point my blush is normally completely gone and foundation very blotchy.  Even with a setting powder (not used for this test).

 

Third check in 5:40 9 Hours

 

 

 

End of my work day.  Usually by this point my makeup is gone.  Nothing left but the remnants of my eye shadows/mascara and a little bit of foundation. I know this pic isn't he best lighting, didn't notice that when I snapped it quickly after work.   Some oil/shine on my nose, some on my t-zone but still none on my chin.  Usually by this point everything is gone in these area.  My blush is still there to an extent, it has faded but you can still see it. I'm impressed!!!! I don't think I've ever seen blush after 9 hours!!!

 

Final Check in 14 hours

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Again with my silly faces.  I was really tired by this point .  Monday and I aren't friends lol.   I still only have a slight amount of oil in the same places I did last check-ins which is my t-zone and nose. My chin never did get oily, which is beyond rare for me.  I still have a small amount of blush even after 14 hours.  I'm impressed!!!

 

Comparisons

 

Left is after 14 hours, right is after removing my makeup.  There was some fading by this point but as you can see in the no makeup picture a lot is still there (notice the blush--yes I'm very happy about this).

 

Left after 14 hours, right is after removing makeup.  I think its easier to compare the lasting power  against my bare skin.  Worth noting the shine is the light, not how oily my skin is though admittedly there is some oil.

 

 More unflattering photos--oh the things I do in the name of testing makeup. Lol. 

 Left after 14 hours, right bare face after washing everything off. As you can see most of the foundation is still there.

 

Final Thoughts

 

In a word PASS!!!! This foundation definitely stand up to the All Nighter claim.  Any foundation that can last long enough to hold blush for 14 hours is a winner in my book!!  I'll try it next with powder and concealer to finish off my look. Its already so close to perfect I'm sure that will give me a home run! 

 

Thanks for reading. I would love to hear feed back.  If you decide to get it let me know what you think.

 

~ Em

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Urban Decay All Nighter Foundation

Urdan Decay All Nighter Foundation First Impression

Shade 3.25 Light Neutral

I'm so excited for this foundation that I had to try it out as soon as I got it (well I came last night, I actually had to talk myself out of doing a wear test while I slept lol).  I really like the regular liquid Naked Skin foundation , but I have to admit it wears off my oily skin pretty quickly :(.   In doing a little research before falling hook-line-and-sinker I saw the All Nighter Foundation is Matte where as the Naked Skin foundation is Demi-Matte.  Here's to hoping that makes a difference for us oily skinned girls.

The Claim

The gist I get from Urbandecay.com is that this foundation is a full coverage waterproof  long lasting matte but not flat foundation that will last all day.

Coverage

This foundation is very full coverage.  It covers my redness from my acne and the unevenness from a mixture of too much sun and acne scares.  If this wasn't a first impression (and I wasn't in a hurry--which I often am for work) I would have used a little bit of concealer and some sitting powder.  I like that I can get very full coverage in one step.  Those without as much as I have to cover can most likely skip the concealer and powder. I'm very oily and I've noticed very minimal shine after 6.5 hours. If I had used a setting powder I think that could have been eliminated.  My nose has the smallest amount of shine, but its not even that obvious.  If I were in a hurry I could skip the powder and concealer with confidence.

This is after I just put it on, on the way to work. Its a little obvious outside that its a bit too light for me, Its not too bad though. A little bronzer might help.



Right after I got to work.  5 Minute commute :)

Comparisons

I put this foundation on my bare skin (after washing my face), no primmer, not moisturizer etc.  Only thing I put on top of it was blush.  I was in a bit of a hurry so I kept my makeup look very simple this morning.  The blush is one of the Marc Jacob Air Brush blushes, Eyeshadow is from Moon Dust palette, mascara is Lancôme Grandiose in waterproof.  Please ignore/forgive my awkward faces. I wanted to show very raw pictures of my face.  I've always had acne on my face sometimes worse than now and sometimes better. I wanted to show coverages of the redness and unevenness that comes with a life of acne.

I have this in shade 3.25 Light Neutral.  As you'll see its a bit light for me.  Despite wearing tons of sun screen I end up getting a lot of sun in the summer.  What can I say I love the pool/swimming lol.  I was 1.0 in the Naked Skin Foundation until the summer. I did recently buy it in 3.25 for the summer, before I knew this was coming out. I may do a comparison of the two.  From this first impression I think this is lighter in color than the Naked Skin Foundation.

Enough of my excited babbling on to the swatches/pictures of me wearing this.



Sorry my comparisons do not line up exactly but should be able to get the idea. 

After 6.5 Hours

The left is this morning, the right is now, 6.5 hours later.  The lighting makes me look a bit shiny but its the lights.  There is a small bit of shine, foundation missing off my nose.  Not bad at all for the amount of oil my skin has!  Staring at this picture my blush may be a tad lighter but still looks fine in person.  I can't complain at all with the staying power!!  Looking forward to trying a longer test.

First Impression Recap

I"ve been wearing this foundation for 6.5 hours and it looks almost exactly the same as when I put it on.  I'm really impressed as even the longest wearing foundations are visibly blotchy by 4 to 5 hours.  After really checking my face I noticed the smallest amount of shine on my nose, its so small I can hardly tell.  I could easily address this was a little powder, but really its not even enough to worry about.  My oiliest part of my face--my T-Zone looks as good as it did this morning.  Even my blush is still intact, which is usually eaten up by oil 3-4 hours later max!!  It doesn't even matter if its supposed to be a stain or longer wearing blush. Today is a short day at work so I'll be taking off my makeup to head to the pool.  I'm really curious how long it will last, I'll try it again on my next full work day to see if it really can last 10 plus hours.   I would be curious to hear your thoughts.  Are you going to try it?

Thanks for reading.

Em :)

P.S. please go easy on all the silly faces I made in the making. After all it was to show off the foundation. lol, at least that's what I'm telling myself. 



Lorac Pro 3

Lorac Pro 3

I've been away from this blog for way too long.  Mostly because I didn't have a digital camera but now thanks  to my awesome boyfriend I have one now.  I thought I would start back by adding some first impression type swatches of the Lorac Pro 3 since I haven't seen much on the internet about this palette. I was able to pick it up early for being a platinum member at Ulta.

I'm spare you from a bunch of rambling from me and just mention I'm loving all the shades of brown and gold.  First glance this palette may seem boring but its far from that.  Each shade is highly pigmented with a swipe or two.  My only compliant is the lighter shades didn't show up well on my tanish skin (I'm NW20 fair when not summer time but around mid range of medium now) so this might not be the best palette for darker women, however you may be able to use these for bases etc (I know holly run on batman)

Mini Behind the Scenes primer included.

On to the swatches!!  You'll see the lighter shades didn't show up on my hand.


Blanc, Canvas and Cool Taupe.

 Pink Nude, Clay and Terracotta.

Dk Brown and Jet Black (this black is so pigmented!!! Not the best swatch, sorry).

Lt Gold, Almond Peral and Medallion.

Lt Pewter, Amethyst, Rose Bronze.

Dk. Mocha and Truffle.

 I've been so excited to play with my new digital camera and start blogging again I haven't even tried these on my eyes yet. More later once I've done that. I hope you enjoy the swatches.  Let me know what you think if you decide to pick it up.

Thanks for looking.

Em :)

Lorac Platinum Status Palette

 

This cute little palette is a bargain at $12 for $110 worth of shadow.  I just got it tonight so some quick swatches for now.

 

 

 

Packaging:



 

 

 

 

I just love cute little palette.  Its a nice size for on the go.  I especially love that even though its small there is a mirror.

                                      

Swatches:

I couldn't get the colors to show up on my hand or arm so I did them on a white piece of paper. I took several different angles hoping to show off the colors.

Final Thoughts:

I just got this so I haven't tried it on my eyes yet.  The shadows are very soft and seem like they will blend well. I'll update once I try them :).

Thanks for reading.

Em

Too Faced Joy to the Girl

Too Faced Joy to the Girls

For Holiday 2013

 

Palette contains 15 shadows, a full sized Lash Gasm  mascara, and three looks.



 









 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love the Lash Gasm Mascara. I'll do a separate post to review it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swatches:

Done with my fingers, no primer used.  Pretty colors but you will notice they are a bit powdery and not as pigmented as other Too Faced Shadows.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final thoughts : 

I'm a big fan of Too Faced Shadows because they are soft and very pigmented. I like these but I have to admit they are a little more powdery than most Two Faced Shadows.  Overall all I like the palette but these aren't as pigmented as other Too Faced Shadows so many want to take that into consideration when thinking about this palette.