i must admit, i've never been a big fan of foundation. my first experiences with foundation were around the junior high years, and they were not very positive. i remember purchasing liquid and cream foundation from the drugstore and never being able to get an exact color match or an even application. so, being that i've been blessed with pretty decent skin, i gave them up! none of the formulas seemed to suit me and i didn't want to put the time into making them work. but my how the times have changed!
technology in makeup is light years ahead of where it was in the 90's and there are so many wonderful foundations to choose from that i've been trying to give them a second chance. for a while, i was a faithful user of Bare Minerals mineral makeup, but then i gave that up because my color match still wasn't perfect and i hated how it could make you look drier and more wrinkly
than you ever knew you were! i then flirted with Prescriptives Virtual Skin foundation, and although this was a great one, it still didn't feel like that perfect fit. since i only wanted light coverage, i began on a quest for a tinted moisturizer. this seemed like the natural choice for me, and i first went to my favorite makeup brand, MAC. their version of a tinted moisturizer is Select Tint SPF 15, and i was sure that this would be the one. i bought my perfect color match (NC20) without having ever even tested the product, and took it home in excited anticipation. once i got out my trust MAC 190 foundation brush and began to apply, i was less than thrilled. the color did match, and the formula was moist and easy to blend, but the coverage was about a 2 on scale from 1-10! it wasn't enough to even out my redness and when i looked very closely in the mirror, i could see the pigment from the Select Tint settled into my pores, which by the way are very small! i was so disappointed, and into the rarely used beauty cupboard the Select Tint disappeared.next there was DuWop's Revolotion Face, a TM i had heard great things about and read a lot of exciting opinions on from Beauty Addict , who i almost always agree with. the shade Nanci was a good match for my pale skin and i really liked the formula of the TM, which was a little drier and more substantial than the Select Tint. however, once again, i found that this TM gave me almost NO coverage whatsoever! i couldn't understand it, when i had read about how well it worked for others, and i was just not seeing it! feeling forlorn, i took a break from my search and hadn't really thought much about it until...
this little gem from the drugstore reached out and grabbed my attention one day! i wouldn't have given it a second thought if it hadn't been for the freshly set up display that included TESTERS of the foundation colors! speaking of which, why don't ALL the drugstores carry testers? don't the cosmetic companies who sell their products from these places (i'm talking to you, Cover Girl, L'oreal, Almay, Neutrogena, etc...) realize that this would dramatically increase their sales AND prevent so many returns to the stores of products that just have to be thrown out after they've been opened, used, and brought back? anyways, this new Maybelline Mineral Power Natural Perfecting Liquid Foundation is a truly amazing find. it totally knocks the other, much more expensive high end formulas i tried out of the ballpark. this was really surprising to me because i was pretty much resigned to the fact that foundation is one beauty product best bought on the higher end. boy, was i wrong! this formula is moisturizing, light-weight, and incredibly comfortable to wear on your skin. it blends in like a DREAM with a minimal amount of effort with my MAC 190 brush. there are no traces of uneven color or un-matching pigment visible anywhere on my face, and i can even go as far as to say that when i'm wearing this, i can't even tell i have any foundation ON at ALL! it gives light-medium coverage, and can be built up a bit for more opacity. i cover my dark undereye circles with concealer first and then smooth this over the rest of my face for a flawless finish. after wearing it for a few hours, my normal to slightly combination skin can use a blotting paper around the t-zone, but that's no problem for me, or any different from when i'm wearing any foundation type product. this is what Maybelline has to say about the product...Discover the power of micro-minerals:
• Only our formula combines micro-minerals with a liquid in a lightweight texture for a healthier, more natural finish
• Naturally breathable, seamlessly blendable
• Provides buildable, even coverage
• Talc-Free
• Oil-free
• Fragrance-Free
• Non pore-clogging
• SPF 18 sunscreen
• Medium Coverage
the foundation is available in 16 (!!!) shades and retails for around $10 for 1 fl. oz. i hope someone will love it as much as i do! what are your favorite foundations or tinted moisturizers?
