Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Full Coverage Foundation Review

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)

Kat Von D Lock It Tattoo Foundation Review (UPDATED 2-6-2016) Pics

As much as I wanted to love this foundation, because of all the great reviews I've read, I don't.
Went into Sephora this past week with the intention of buying the Lock It Tattoo Foundation. I needed to be matched to my shade and wasn't about to just buy one and walk out without knowing what they looked like on me first. At $34 bucks, that ain't cheap, and I'm not coming back to return a trial and error.

They don't make an in between shade that's close to what undertone I am. The darker one (shade 58) had too much beige in it and the lighter one (shade m57) was too orange. Anything below those numbers were too light.
A way to know if it matches you well is to compare it to your neck line after it's on your face. If the foundation blends evenly between both your neck and face it's a good match.
When I tried both colors, one on each side of my face, the foundation sank into my pores! 
No thanks. It's bad enough I have enlarged pores I don't need to accentuate them as well. Of course I had no primer underneath but still I have a rule of thumb that if you need too many products your doing too much to make that one product work for you- so move on.
Sadly, I walked away without my beloved Kat Von D products. Sad face.

UPDATE- Alight ladies it's been too long! Drum roll...I am medium 54 in Kat's Lock It liquid Foundation. I am totally obsessed with the coverage after doing a trial of it for a week in the right shade for me. I'm in love with my new routine. I start off with my lotion Gold Bond Aloe, sort of a sticky but moisturizes lotion, but it's awesome because it doubles as a primer.
Then I dotted the Lock It foundation on my face. With a silicone round sponge I smoothed it on in small circles throughout my entire face. Did it twice for full coverage. I can't stop raving about it! Heres some pictures-

(No filters, natural light. One hr wear)

(Different day. After 5 hrs wear. Direct sunlight, no filters)

Highly recommend this to my oily skinned gals. Just make sure to exfoliate the night before and slather on an oil free lotion before applying this foundation on. I did not need a powder after but light blotting sheets were used once in the after noon.

L'oreal MAGIC Skin Beautifier BB Cream Review

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)

Perfect Foundation? And Cheap Too? Revlon Colorstay Review (UPDATE)

It's been well over a year that I decided to stop wearing studio fix not because I didn't like it but because I was sick of trying to be matched to the right color in MAC's foundation and every time walking away feeling unsure of me being correctly matched.
This past week I took it upon myself to go back in and see what 5 makeup artists believed to be my "perfect" color number in MAC's studio fix foundation. I didn't initially let each know that I had already been helped so that their opinion was unbiased and they could tell me each their own opinion of what shade they believed I was.
They took their time and each was extremely helpful in their own way. Four of the five actually tried out the foundations on me. From what came from the outcome was that my shade is NC40-42. NC40 is a little bit off by a hair with it being lighter than my actual skin tone. And NC42 has too much golden undertones and made me feel like my face had  gotten more sun than the rest of my body.
Needless to say I didn't buy either of them. I was not about the buy two bottles at almost 30 bucks each just to blend them and make my own match. Great coverage but couldn't shell out the money.
By now your probably scratching your head thinking "wheres the Revlon review"? And that's exactly where I was heading! :P
After doing extensive research online for something close to MAC's studio fix I came across Revlon colorstay and a chart that showed all the dupes in color match for Revlon's foundation. I was thinking- score!!! Not only is Revlon a third of the price but it comes in an oily/combo formula that will not make me breakout since I have  extremely sensitive skin.
On the chart it said that Revlon's golden caramel would be a good match to NC42. I went to my local CVS (pharmacy) and bought a bottle of it. Thank god there was one left on the shelf. Along with a couple other things (review on those items above) I also got.
I used my E.L.F. all over powder brush and in circular motion buffed the foundation (separate review and demo coming soon for the elf brush). I was really happy with the results. My face really did match my neck and  passed the test of when I took a picture of myself with flash. Usually when a foundation doesn't match in pictures it shows. There's plenty of girls at one point or another who go out and take a ton of pictures with their friends but when the pictures come out there's that one girl who looks like her face is paler then her neck. No thanks! (unedited picture with flash on:)

On me it felt thick but not mask like. Since I have oily skin I added a matte powder over the foundation. Half way through the day my makeup was still in place but a little bit dewy. Not greasy oily but a nice subtle dewiness, almost like highlighting was applied intentionally.
I really do recommend it if someone is interested in full coverage liquid foundation to try Revlon's Colorstay. A perfect and cheaper alternative to a higher end foundation!
UPDATE (Jan28,2016)- still holds true! Awesome coverage, stays matte longer than any other drugstore brand foundations.
After an hour of wear-

(No filter, no flash. Shade early Tan)