'Make-up' your face - Part 1 - Face Foundations & Primers

When it comes to make-up I am not a pro but then to think about it I am not a novice either; I am somewhere in between, experimenting, trying out different looks. And now maybe I have reached a point where I know the kind of looks good and suited to the occasion/ time of the day. If I am attending an evening party or a night-out, I trust the smokey-eye-bold-red-or-pink-lip look. For everyday look, I go plain and simple considering there are time constraints; it's usually a kohl-eyes, compact powder for the face, and a bold or subtle lip color. Sometimes, if I am in the mood and I have the time, I amp it up by dabbing my eyelids with bold mascara but nothing more fancy than that.

The make products, I use everyday, are a fair mix of high-end brands and the readily-available-drugstore brands.  I prefer to use the good-quality products for things that play an important role in giving a smooth finish to the whole look. For example, liquid foundation, face powder, lipsticks.
Whereas for the everyday-use makeup products, that usually get swapped per mood swings or even changing color-preferences, I trust the drugstore brands. For example lip balms, lip colors, and even eye shadows (which I don't use that often). So in today's post, I thought of doing a makeup products reviews, list my absolute fave products and also share if a particular product didn't work out and why!

Foundation:  Here in the US, it is so damn difficult to get a foundation in the right shade . And by right shade I mean the ones that suit the Indian wheatish skin tone. I have been literally going nuts finding the perfect shades (and spent quite some $$$ there too!). The foundations always look great in the store, in the jazzy yellow lights, especially when the makeup lady applies them with care and precision. But when I try them at home, in the daylight, the foundation looks a shade lighter or cakey giving me a weird look. Well, one good thing about taking risks and trying different foundations has been that I finally (!)found the light-weight and perfect shade foundation that suits my skin tone. I have had a good streak with the Clinique Even Better makeup with SPF15.

It's priced at USD 27 for a 30 ml bottle (which is quite reasonable for the quality) and the bottle is cute one (it can easily fit in your purse). I am in the Cream Caramel shade, and it is an exact match to my skin tone with a great coverage. It blends well with my combination skin type and spreads more or so like a cream rather than a heavy foundation. Though to be true, I don't wear the foundation daily; its reserved for occasion or weekend outings only. I got it along with me on my trip to India this summer and my mom loved it so much that I kept the bottle for her :) I could definitely spot the difference when she was wearing it; her skin looked fresh and glowing. 

Well, on that topic, while shopping in India, I got a foundation from there from the Lakme ABSOLUT collection (not in the pic below). I can't review it right now since I have used it only once, but here's hoping that it turns out to be good!

I have got the special sponge set from Sephora (as seen in the picture below) to apply the foundation evenly and get a smooth finish. I have been lazy to try them out (as you can see from the full pack) but I am going to use it soon and review it here then :)

Pressed powder / compact: The pressed powder, or as some call it compact,  is something which I wear every single day. Whenever I step out of my house and I am not in my tracks then I have to dab my face with the pressed powder. I have used the  REVLON pressed powder when I lived in India. It was ok and did the job, nothing wow! Usually I have found the pressed powders to be grainy and too light-weight so they don't stay on for the complete day. The MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation brightens up the dull skin without giving the feeling of having too-much-make-up-on. It's priced at USD 27 (yeah same price as the foundation..made for each other, right? ;)) and comes in a black round container. I am in shade NC42. The compact comes with a mirror and a nice soft sponge pad to dab the powder on and it gives a full coverage with a nice matte look. 

Eye-shadow Primers: - I started using a primer - which is almost like foundation base for before applying the eye-shadow - after a recommendation from a friend. She introduced me to Too Faced primer from Sephora. It helps the eye-shadow spread evenly and also stay longer. I got the NARS primer as a gift from a friend recently and I haven't used it much yet..so guess I will review it in an another post.

Lastly, just wanted to mention that I haven't used concealers for once. I mean I have but none have matched up to my expectations or to my skin tone. So that's that. If you have any recommendations, I would absolutely love to know.  

I decided to break up the makeup review into multiple posts so that they are not too long to read in one go. Also, I thought it would be a good idea to divide the posts based on the the different makeup products. Part 2 will include reviews on the eye makeup products.

Do drop me a comment below or shoot me an email if you have any questions or comments on any of the products,
If you want maybe I can do a make-up tutorial, write-up or maybe even a youtube video. I haven't explored that area personally I am wary....but lets see. Who knows, maybe I will finally take the plunge and be able to overcome my video-blogging fears :)