Lately I've been on a hunt to find a new foundation.
I bought Tarte's 12 Hour Amazonian clay foundation with very high hopes.
I did test drive inside the department store before purchasing it. Medium Tan Honey is an amazing color match for my skin tone. If I had to pick a color match over my MAC NC35 Studio Fix, this foundation would be it.
I wanted to use this foundation for a couple of weeks before reviewing it and make sure it's something I really wanted to replace my SF.
I paid $38 for this and some taxes. That's a lot of money, even for me, to splurge on foundation. I usually only use high end foundation 2 times out of the week so I don't normally use up my foundations too quickly.
Lucky for me I have a very understanding husband, who doesn't mind when I do want something bad enough, to allow me without judgement.
The foundation is very thick and but does offer full coverage, however, finding the right technique to apply this is an adventure on it's own. I tried a couple of brushes using this foundation but I didn't like the results. I just ended up using my clean hands and applying it with my finger tips. By the second and third time I didn't mind but it's not very practical applying it this way.
With primer underneath it looked matte and flawless, that is until it started mixing with my natural skin oils.
My forehead started to look shiny. Not greasy but dewy. I do not like this look at all. Warning for oily skinned gals!!!
As the hours progressed my flawlessly matte face became more and more dewy. Instead of matting my face with cakey powder I decided to just blot to keep it it's true foundation form.
Well let me tell you, for it being a thick FULL coverage foundation it has NO staying power. At the end of the day after blotting my face a couple times it looked a little blotchy and the foundation looked pretty thinned out at certain places on my face. Like I could see some of my freckles and redness.
For all the money I spent on this I expected my FULL 12 Hours Coverage!
I think I only saw about a third of that time on a hot Cali summer day. Oh well. Onto the next. Really do love the color match though. (will post pics soon)
About a couple years ago I used to use Rimmel's primer by itself with a light powder over it. There were days where I did not want to wear a full face of makeup when I would be stepping outside of the house for a couple errands, and I wasn't comfortable with a bare face since I have slight discoloration and enlarged pores.
Fast forward 2 years to now, finally the BB cream has crossed overseas! I recently learned what a BB cream is but had no clue what it was less then a month ago. I really wish I could try the original Korean BB creams that were first made and are so highly sought after but since I'm pregnant I can't use "anti-aging" ingredients or skin lighteners.
I did a little research to find out which brands were carrying one and the results kept going back to L'oreals not just by popularity but for function.
For a drugstore brand their BB cream is pretty steep in price. I bought mine for about 12 dollars after taxes. I kept hearing such rave reviews about it that I didn't mind spending the money. Took it home and didn't use it for a couple days.
Then a day came where I really had no time to get ready in the morning and I quickly had to do my makeup. I picked this up and took the shrink wrap off the screw top. Took the top off and my first impression after squeezing a small amount out was- why is this white?
I double checked the squeeze tube and it says medium on it as the shade.
Well it turns out you have to rub these micro beads in the "lotion" that break and then the color appears. Took me a couple applications to get down the right way to apply it.
I use my fingers because the warmth of my hands break the small beads faster and blends it easier. Wash your hands before applying, if you decide to apply it this way, you don't want to get breakouts from the natural oils on your hands or from bactaria.
The only things I don't like about this creme is how watery it first comes out of the tube and you have to use a dime size to cover your whole face. That means I have to buy a new one in maybe less then a month if I use this almost everyday.
I smooth it all over my face as if it was a lotion. In small circles making sure each area is covered well. It dries very matte. Good if you have oily skin but bad if you have dry or combo skin. If you do have some sort of dryness make sure to put a facial lotion on before hand.
I did apply my regular smashbox primer underneath to cover my enlarged pores because the first time I put it on without the primer my pores looked huge in part to the matteness of the bb creme.
The bb creme dries quickly.
The finish product is just as good as a medium coverage foundation. I didnt even need to apply setting powder over it. Color match was good too, mine is in Medium- I'm an nc35, beige medium with yellow undertones.
Right now its winter and I don't get as oily as I normally get during other seasons but from what I've seen so far is that it stays fairly matte. Atleast 4-5 hours for me.
This a great product for ladies in a rush who really have no time in the morning before they have to be out the door. Or even someone who doesn't like to wear a lot of makeup on a regular basis. I hope L'oreal continues to make this and keeps the formula the same for as long as they continue selling it. Love it!
(Here's a picture of me after wearing the BB creme for several hours during the day. Still looks quite matte which is rare on me with any product)
