When it comes to base, I'm incredibly fussy, to say the least (when I'm bothered, of course). Having oily skin, living in country with tropical country with average humidity of 70%~90%, and temperature averaging from 23°C ~ 26 °C. Even if the sun is not high up there, shining, the humid air still melt my base rather easily. Simply put; it's absolute nightmare for my oily skin.
My search for the perfect base routine has began and I think will continue on until I find my absolute one. The ones I have tried so far have been either hit or a miss; wrong undertone or wrong texture. It does mattify but clings on dry patches. It's the right coverage but no exact color match. It's such a long, arduous (allow me to exaggerate), and money-consuming task.
I tend to research first (endless, and endless of blog reading, video hopping), hit the store, find the closest to my match, and stick with it regardless I'm 100% in love with it or not. So far, I've ended up with 5 foundations and 3 bases/primer. They're either hit or miss, but at least they give me the base (no pun intended) to work from.
R O U T I N E
My base routine itself is pretty simple. After skincare and SPF (absolutely important, especially in where I live), I start my makeup my applying the base first. My current love, and the one I crowned as my holy grail for its ability to give my skin that lovely, healthy, perky glow without being oily, is PAUL AND JOE PROTECTING FOUNDATION PRIMER. After smoothing it all over my face, I leave.
Joke aside, I sometimes do that when I'm feeling really lazy. Next, comes the eye makeup. Whatever mess I make around my eyes is the concealer's job to tidy up. As for now, my concealer of choice is MAYBELLINE FIT ME CONCEALER. As far as drugstore concealer goes, I think this one is the best among the ones I have tried.It's fluid, thin, but still offers decent coverage. Foundation comes after that, applied with damp beauty blender since my mom has taken my foundation brush hostage (she's incredibly in love with it), and finished it with dusting of loose powder with big, fluffy brush.
T H E E S S E N T I A L S
BOBBI BROWN LONG WEAR EVEN FINISH FOUNDATION SPF 15 is not my first proper foundation, but it's my first high-end, and it definitely sets the bar up high. It has incredibly light-weight formula; the most decisive factor for me. I hate the feeling of having a product on my face, I feel stiffed, like my skin cannot properly breath. True to its name, this one has impressive lasting power. The formula is definitely on the fluid side, the most fluid out of all oily-skin targeted foundation I've tried so far. The finish is less than matte but more of a stain, very natural, and like other BB foundations; skin-like. My only problem is it doesn't have my exact color match, but seeing as this is my second bottle, I don't have that much problem with it.
Needing something closer to my skin tone, and generally hungry to try Nars', NARS VELVET MATTE SKIN TINT with SPF 30 entered my collection last year. Considered my effort to get it as extra as I went far to Japan just to have this baby lining up my arsenal (obviously, I didn't go to Japan just for this babe). I had incredibly pleasant experience with the SA, and I fell equally in love with the product itself. It's a fuss-free product, easy to apply (often, I forego tool at all and go with bare hands), and perfect for on the go. It doesn't have impressive coverage as it's never targeted as such, but gives skin major lift up by evening out discoloration, along with satin finish.
MAKEUP FOREVER MAT VELVET+ is highly coveted in the beauty world for being the 'it' foundation for oily skin. It entered local market just this year, and despite the poor shade selection, I bit the bullet and went with darkest shade offered. Alas, of course it's too light for my skin, I have to mix it with NARS to tone down the color. This has the thickest formula so far, and rather hard to blend, or maybe it's because I always deal with fluid foundation that I find this too thick? Either way, sometimes, I thin it down by mixing it with primer or a spritz of facial mist. Coverage wise, this triumph my other foundation (I often use it as under-eye concealer). BUT I find this one cling to my dry patches, so I have to make sure my skin is properly hydrated, even exfoliated, before using this. To be honest, the result is rather underwhelming.
URBAN DECAY is finally available offline around here, and the first product I tried from them is their equivalent of NARS' VELVET MATTE SKIN TINT, which is ONE AND DONE HYBRID COMPLEXTION PERFECTOR SPF 20. I dare say I love this more than NARS (sorry NARS) since its shade is more accurate to mine. On hand, this doesn't feel as drying as NARS', although a little bit sticky. Like MUFE, this one is rather thick, but not the point that I have to thin it down nor giving me blending difficulty. Despite not marketed with full coverage, I find this one hides my blemish quiet well.
T H E F I N I S H I N G
MAYBELLINE FIT ME POWDER is my on the go touch up powder. After trying high-end powder and found rather underwhelming result, I decided that as far as touching powder goes, I'll just stick to drugstore one aka. Maybelline, seeing as this my second purchase already. I don't think I'll switch for a while, this does everything I need as touch up powder; compact, eliminate shine, and adds a tiny bit of coverage I need as I go on with my long day.
Loose powder is, surprise! surprise! a little bit of a faf for me. I used to have one from BARE MINERALS and I find it more or less a dud product? Which is weird since everyone love it to bits and pieces. I rekindled my love for it after trying THE SAEM PERFECT PORE POWDER. Usually, I'd stay away from any white powder since they can give skin a grey cast, but this translucent one has absolutely none, and makes my skin silky soft. I cannot vouch for the pore-blurring effect but it certainly makes my skin look perfect!
A spritz of finishing spray or facial mist to lessen the flatness of my face, then I'm done! I have to say that I'm yet to find the one for me, but it in itself is an exciting thing since it means I have an excuse to try an entirely new product. Have any recommendation?
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