Ok, well not exactly all the way, but I'll get to that in a moment. However, the core foundation products for my face have changed. It's bye-bye mineral foundation, sayonara mineral veil and scooch on over BE brushes...and hellooooo tinted moisturizer and HD powder!
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| My new Fabulous Four! |
Summer was coming and wanted to shave minutes off my swirling, tapping and buffing to get out of the house sooner and mineral veil wasn't exactly giving my warm weather oily skin the glow that I wanted anymore.
So after much scouring of user reviews, I settled on NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer. An even bigger bonus was that it has sunscreen protection of SPF 30. I want sun protection anyway, but especially on my face, given my regular battles with hyperpigmentation.
The NARS tinted moisturizer covers smoothly and evenly and the color match was really good. I had a difficult time choosing my shade at first, unable to choose between Malaga and Seychelles. But thanks to Sephora and their sample giving ways, I eventually settled on the shade Malaga, a medium dark with warm caramel undertones.
I'd purchased the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush a while ago, thinking I could use it dampened with mineral foundation. Not so much. But since I found that the tinted moisturizer didn't really spread as nicely as I'd like with my hands ( and given that I don't really like touching my face with my fingers), I found the Expert Face Brush to be it's match made in heaven.
In order not waste product, I do first apply a squirt of moisturizer to the back of my hand and apply a single dot to the four quadrants of my face, before buffing it on with the brush.
This is probably the best place to explain that I haven't completely given up my love affair with BE. Beyond still loving their brushes and Prime Time Eyeshadows, I've also developed an affection for the Bare Escentuals Correcting Concealer with an SPF of 20 in Dark 2.
To put it simply, I love it.
Didn't think I would, and was reluctant to trade in my Mally Beauty Cancellation Concealer, but I had a gift card to Sephora so I gave it a spin. And never looked back. Although it feels light, the coverage is good for my dark spots and its supposed to contain ingredients that actually decrease the appearance of dark spots and discolorations, which in my opinion actually works.
So, I dot this on and blend it with my e.l.f. Studio Contour brush before applying the NARS moisturizer.
The final piece of my fab four is the e.l.f. High Definition Powder. I'll admit that I'm a little late to the HD powder party. But sometimes I prefer it that way. My initial purchase was almost for the Make Up Forever brand of powder, but when I heard about this waaaaaayyy cheaper alternative, I figured what's the diff? *Kanye shrug*
Six whole dollars later, though my socks had not been knocked off, I was pleased and preferred the HD powder finish to my mineral veil. And I definitely feel I noticed more of a difference as the day wears on and the glow my skin has. Now, it doesn't keep the oilies at bay, I still have to blot around noonish and maybe again around early evening if I'm out and about, but the finish looks soft and it hasn't given my skin any additional problems.
Ultimately, I did also end up purchasing a travel size MUFE HD powder for my purse (which I use with a BE kabuki brush) and I like it, but don't notice much difference between the higher end and more affordable brand.
I'm still an advocate of BE, and now I push their concealer to unsuspecting beauty cuties, plus it's still a part of my beauty kit for doing makeup on others, I've just found something else that works as a better foundation routine for my skin now.
(And I would like to add that I really did send a suggestion email to the Bare Escentuals company suggesting they get into the tinted moisturizer business before I jumped ship).
You ladies have an awesome weekend!
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