Replacing My HG Powder

This smeared, rubbed bare, looks-like-my-cat-got-hold-of-it compact is actually the Dolce & Gabbana powder foundation I've loved for years. It's the softest, most natural, most finely-milled powder I've ever dusted over my dry skin; the shade 50 Ivory was perfect for me, and I could use the product sparingly as a setting powder or apply it a bit heavier in lieu of foundation without looking like a sheet of sandpaper. Unfortunately, Dolce & Gabbana hates my happiness and decided to discontinue the product when my back was turned. Even if it was still in production, I don't know how comfortable I'd feel repurchasing it now that I've discovered that they've done some shit.

So I'm on a quest for a new powder! There's no critical rush, since this compact will still last me a while. (I don't wear makeup every day, and even when I do wear makeup, I tend to skip powder in the cooler months.) But you see, I need to start a list of potential replacements nowbecause I am Hella picky. My short list:

1. It must be pressed. I've tried loose powders, and while I like how some of them look, the mess and the inability to throw it in my purse for touch ups is a downer.
2. It must be light coverage. Again, I like a powder that I can use lightly to set makeup or instead of foundation, ie, if I'm wearing sunscreen and concealer and just want a bit more evening out.
3. It needs to be an NC5-15 shade that doesn't oxidize. Because I have dry, dehydrated skin, I use a lot of rich skincare. I've discovered that moisturizing ingredients can make powders turn a few shades darker within an hour. While I'd prefer something that leans lighter, I'll go for an NC15 shade if it can be sheered out.
4. I shouldn't have to sell my kidney to afford it. $50+ was pushing it for this guy, but it was so damn perfect that I was willing to pay it. But frankly, I'd hate to pay more than $50 for a powder these days.
5. It cannot emphasize dryness or look powdery. I know, I know: it's kind of absurd to insist that a powder not look like powder. But the D&G powder foundation always had the smoothest, most invisible look on my skin while still slightly mattifying and providing a hint of coverage. There HAS to be other powders that can do that for me.

The powder that seems like the best possible replacement is the Charlotte Tilbury Air Brush Finish Skin Perfecting Micro-Powder, which gets nothing but rave reviews, especially from fellow dry-skinned people. However, I'm told that there's not a lot of product in the pan (Nordstrom says it's 0.28oz, which is half the size of the D&G powder), and that what's in the pan is relatively loosely pressed. Pictures showing almost-empty compacts after a mere three months of use are enough to make anyone nervous.

Soooooooo...help? What are your favorite dry skin friendly pressed powders? 

5 Luxury Products I'd Repurchase Without Hesitation

Consider the Byronic hero. He was cynical, critical, and often sulky, the kind of guy you reluctantly cheered for because--while he was certainly a hero of sorts--he was still a major douchebag. But if there's one thing we can't fault a Byronic hero for, its his patience: those guys gave new meaning to the word "brood." They thought long and hard about damn near everything, so much so that their thoughts became 95% of every poem or play they were in.

I think this is why I've always kind of liked Byronic heroes. I am the very definition of a brooder, especially when it comes to my money: I fret and fuss over nearly every penny I spend. It's very rare for me to spend exorbitant amounts of cash on a single piece of makeup, because when I do, I'm often disappointed. (For example, I have yet to try a single $100+ foundation that could top MAC Face & Body, the large bottles of which cost less than $10 per ounce.) There's plenty of great stuff at drugstore and mid-end prices that kicks luxury's ass. But I have found some luxury items that are so wonderful, unique, and perfect-for-me that I would actually pay double for them, should the need arise. Here's a list of them.

Dolce & Gabbana Perfect Finish Powder Foundation, $61 -- Still one of my most popular reviews to date, this is the only powder foundation that has ever worked on my dry skin. The packaging is super luxurious: while it does get scratched up very easily, it's heavy and safe, and you can drop this powder numerous times without it breaking. The product itself is finely milled and can be layered heavily without making your skin look cakey. I'm especially happy about D&G's shade range; they're one of the few brands that creates shades for the very pale all the way up to the moderately dark. I prefer to use this as a matte setting and touch-up powder, but it works just fine as a foundation as well.

Shu Uemura Hard Formula Brow Pencil, $23 -- It's true that the Shu pencil isn't much more expensive than most mid-end options. But because it's quite hard to get in the states these days (which can add a high shipping cost), I consider this a luxury product. You may pay $23 for this pencil, but you're getting something that may very well outlive you. I've sharpened mine 5 or 6 times, and it still looks practically brand new because you get so much product and need so little to fill in your brows. As you can see by the damaged cap, this pencil is a well-loved part of my collection.

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Pearl, $41 -- Yet another product that is seemingly bottomless! $41 is a hefty price for a liquid highlighter, but you get an entire ounce of product in easy-to-use, hygienic plastic packaging with a pump. And an ounce of this stuff really does last: I think I've had my bottle for 3 years now, and even after creating several sample pots for friends and using it regularly, I've hardly made a dent in it. You can use a thin layer of the SSP for a natural glow, pack it on for tons of shine, or even add a dash to your foundation for extra dewiness. It's simply amazing.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Ethereal Light, $45 -- The second powder on my list is this beauty from Hourglass. I purchased my compact second-hand, never expecting the stuff to work out for me. Well...I love it. This is an off-white satin finish powder that makes a fantastic finishing powder for pale skin. It doesn't add shine or make you look matte, it just gives your skin a soft-focus finish. It's especially good for photography.

YSL Creme de Blush in Babydoll, discontinued -- I don't think I'll ever get over this product being discontinued, because it's the most perfect clean pink I've ever owned. The formula is a light, airy mousse that's easy to blend and does not disturb your foundation. The color brightens up my complexion without looking garish or overdone. YSL supposedly discontinued this formula in favor of the Kiss and Blush product, but I don't think it's at all comparable--the Creme de Blush is a thousand times better. I will probably cry when my pot runs out.

My Skin is Mad at Me

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't like summer. Every year, beauty magazines erupt with worshipful odes to the sultry season, farmers markets pop up on side streets, and festivals fill our schedules.

But you know what summer does to me? It eats my skin! Seriously. I'm very fair and am incredibly sensitive to heat and humidity, so I burn in two minutes and look like a beet in half that time. The air conditioning dries out my face. Walking from the bus stop to campus leaves me covered in a heat rash. I sweat like a stuck pig. Bugs, poisonous plants, and wayward children seem boundless. Yes, summer has some perks, like garden-fresh veggies and sleeveless shirts. But for the most part, I see summer as a stepping stone to fall.

Here's how I clean up my complexion when summer is at its cruelest. Fair warning: I look drunk in these pictures. #sorryboutit

First, I take stock of my skin. I have some small pimples on my chin and forehead, a patch of hives on the lower part of my cheek, and a little bit of everyday unevenness, like the sallow spots at the sides of my mouth. My skin also has a bit of an odd texture at this point--partially from the A/C dehydrating my face--so I need to use something as a primer.

I apply a thin layer of my Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Liquid SPF50 ($39, Sephora) all over my face. Normally I use a dryer sunscreen through my T-zone to prevent oil breakthrough, but because I'm dehydrated, I'm sticking with the Shiseido. Then I conceal my undereyes and my red spots with the Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer in Sx01 ($48, Neiman Marcus). (NOTE: the Shiseido SPF50 lotion always has a white cast when freshly applied. I find that said white cast after a little while.)

Now it's time for some overall coverage! I like to use a thin layer of MAC Face & Body foundation ($27, MAC)--click here for my F&B application tips. Right now I'm using about 2 parts N1 to 1 part White; in the winter, I switch that ratio around. I like to let F&B sit on my face for a few seconds so it "melts in" to my skin and becomes less dewy.

For finishing touches, I dab on a small amount of highlighter, like MAC Strobe Cream ($10, MAC). To get a little more coverage and smooth everything out, I use a light dusting of Dolce & Gabbana Perfect Finish Powder Foundation in #50 Ivory ($60, Sephora) through my t-zone.

And there you have it: how I save my skin from summer!


For the record, there are plenty of great drugstore products you could use to replace some of the more expensive items in this blogpost. The only reason why my base products are all mid/high-end is because they're the only brands that make stuff in my shade and/or produce a white corrector. If your shade is easier to find in the drugstore, definitely scope out your options!

BOGL's Current No/Low Makeup Routine

 

"No Makeup Makeup" is a popular breed: makeup so sheer, so seamlessly blended, and so perfectly close to your skintone, nobody realizes you're even wearing makeup. They just think you're practically perfect in every way. After years of testing and trying, I've finally figured out how to achieve this look on my face.

However, I don't really care to look like I'm not wearing ANYTHING if I've taken the time to paint my face. And anybody with decent eye sight and some knowledge of cosmetics is going to look at the above picture and say, "Yeah, she penciled her eyebrows, and there's something on her mouth." That's fine by me...as long as my skin looks completely bare to the naked eye. ;)

I prefer to call this routine "Low Makeup Makeup." Again, I like to pencil my brows, and I like to put something (either a very rich balm or a bright lipstick) on my lips with this routine, and people are going to notice that. But the average person has a hard time spotting any other products on my face, and I kinda dig that. Here's my current routine:

1. Dot NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly where needed, and in very small amounts. Today, that meant a few dots under my eyes, on some forehead and chin blemishes, over my lip scar, and on the tip of my nose. Pat in with fingers.

2. Gently blend a dime-sized amount of Paula's Choice Barely There Sheer Matte Tint in Shade 1 all over face, ears, and neck, skipping only my eyebrows and lips. Doing foundation after concealer is usually a no-no because you may overdo it and apply too much product, and you can rub off your concealer; I find that the NARS concealer stays pretty well put, however, and applying this tinted moisturizer second seems to blend it all together.

3. Pat some MAC Strobe Cream on to the high points of the face. For me, that means under my brows and on the tops of my cheekbones.

4. Apply a very small amount of Becca Beach Tint in Watermelon to the apples of the cheeks. Add more as is necessary; for example, I usually like to blend tiny amounts backwards from my cheekbone towards my temples.

6. Apply a coat of mascara to the top lashes. I usually go for CoverGirl Clump Crusher, and I just use the lightest pressure possible to avoid "overdoing" it.

7. Pencil in brows with Shu Uemura Hard Formula Brow Pencil in Seal Brown. Soften and smooth the pencil with a brow spoolie or fingers. If my brows are being uber-wonky and won't stay in place, I'll glue them down with Anastasia Clear Brow Gel.

8. Dust a small amount of Dolce & Gabbana Perfect Matte powder foundation through the t-zone. I skip this step when my skin is at its driest.

9. For a super-lazy look, I apply a glossy balm like Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream or pure lanolin. If I want to look like I put in a bit more effort--or if I'm just in the mood for a bolder look--I slap on a bright, matte lipstick.

REVIEW: DiorSkin Nude BB Cream

I was beyond sad when I left my boyfriend at the airport last week, so I decided to splurge on one last makeup item in the Duty Free store before starting my No Buy. I haven't used much Dior besides the lash primer, and I've been curious about their base products, so I went straight for this BB cream. Not only did it offer a bit of sun protection and the lighter coverage I prefer, but it also came in an incredibly light shade, 001 Light. (The second shade is 002 Fair, but don't be fooled: 001 is definitely lighter.) It swatched beautifully on my N5-ish jaw, so I didn't hesitate to plonk down the $44.

The packaging for this BB is absolutely flawless: it's a squeeze tube, meaning you can squish out every last drop of product, and it has a pump, which makes it more sanitary. It's very easy to control how much comes out of the pump; I was able to disperse a pump-and-a-half of product to cover my face and the top of my neck without trouble.

The product itself is a very smooth, creamy foundation that feels beautiful when blended on to the skin. I was able to smooth it on with my hands and with a brush without trouble, and I found that it had the same amount of coverage regardless of what method I used: more than most tinted moisturizers, but less than a medium-coverage foundation, with a slight dewy finish. My zits and undereye circles were "softened," but not completely covered.

It absolutely reeks of cheap cucumber melon perfume, though, which I found appalling; if you're going to advertise a product as part skincare, you shouldn't load it up with fragrance. Furthermore, if you're going to claim that a product's main purpose is sun protection--as the back of this product's box claims--you seriously need to do better than SPF10.

At first, I was 95% thrilled with how this product looked on my skin. Although I knew it was a smidge too pink from the get-go, I didn't think it was horribly noticeable, even in these HD photographs. Cream and powder products blend over it very well, and it doesn't transfer on to my clothing. But I also realized that this wasn't a product for certain skin types.

I'm a little sorry for this Super Creepy HD shot of my nose, but I think it illustrates an important point: this is NOT a product for oily skin. I took this picture immediately after applying the product to my oily nose, and you can see that it's already greasy, with the product separating and migrating to my pores. I didn't powder for the sake of this review, but if you have combination skin, you'll want to powder this product down, and if you have straight-up oily skin? It's not the product for you.

Now, it looked absolutely beautiful on the rest of my face, which is quite dry, except for a few spots...

...spots with flaking or textural issues. This close-up shows how lovely the DiorSkin Nude BB Cream looks on areas that are dry-but-smooth, but it also shows the minor flakes on my cheeks and at the corner of my mouth being emphasized. And yes, these are minor flakes brought on by using acne spot treatments, not instances of prolonged textural issues. Hence, I would only recommend this product to people with normal to dry skin and no texture issues.

But again, 95% thrilled! It had the perfect amount of coverage for me, felt nice on my skin, and looked great on 3/4 of my face. And I have no problem powdering and priming my nose, since it's the one "really weird" part of my face. I was willing to overlook the terrible smell and slight pinkness because of how convenient this BB cream would be for my needs, seeing as I travel long distances to work and prefer to do my makeup on-site on those days.

Alas, it was not to be. Not only does this product completely break down on my oily nose (so much so that even blotting powder couldn't save it), but it also darkens up and gets more pink after about 20 minutes. You can really see this happening in the natural light picture on the right: my neck is about N5, and the BB cream has darkened to NW15-20. Many reviews for this product mention the same "darkening" effect, and some foundations are just formulated in such a way that they will get darker shortly after application. This was quite a shade jump, though, seeing as it went from about NW5 to NW15--two full shades darker. If you want to try this product, I highly recommend requesting a sample first.

So alas, this product didn't work for me, and the people it will work for are a small group. While it will probably look beautiful on those people, it's also going to give very little sun protection (regardless of what its advertising states) and reek to high Heaven. Color me disappointed...and two shades too dark.

RATING: 3 out of 5

Note: the Dolce & Gabbana Creamy foundation applies lighter than it swatches. Koh Gen Do Manifashi Moisture foundation oxidized on me, but doesn't on most people.

REVIEW: Dolce & Gabbana Perfect Finish Powder Foundation

We all know that I'm a sucker for three things: bright lipsticks, liquid and cream highlighters, and any foundation that offers a shade conceivably lighter than MAC NW/NC15. This blog's reviews clearly demonstrate my preoccupation with finding base products that are super-pale, relatively neutral, and workable on dry-combination skin. And when these products don't work out for me--when they're pale enough but way too pink, or when they're a beautiful formulation that runs too dark, or when they're the perfect shade but they eat my skin alive--I go through some intense mood swings. It looks something like this:

It's pretty exhausting and more than a little immature, I must admit.

Dolce & Gabbana has been a beacon of hope for me. Granted, the Luminous Liquid Foundation did not work on my oily OR dry areas in the slightest, and the Perfect Finish Creamy Foundation was just a bit too much coverage and work for my tastes (but it's perfect in all other aspects, so if you're a medium-to-full coverage cream foundation kinda person, for serious, check it out). But I continue to flock to the brand because, despite the terrifying price and the formulation discord, they have a super-pale, neutral shade that works for N5-10 skin: #60 Classic.

I should probably make it clear, however, that I didn't buy the D&G Perfect Finish Powder Foundation in 60 Classic. I bought in 50 Ivory. It's not very hard to see why:

While the Classic shade is pretty much identical in the Luminous Liquid and Creamy formulations, it's darker and pinker in the powder formula. You can tell this just by looking at the photos on the website, or by reading reviews: most of the people who report wearing Classic in the powder foundation are NW15, not N5-10 like me. So I went with 50 Ivory, the more neutral-yellow and paler of the two, and I'm glad I did. I'd peg it at about N10, so too dark for me as a foundation when I'm at my lightest, but doable right now (when I'm "slightly tan," ha ha) or when I just want to use it as a sheer setting powder.

This is not a cheap product by any stretch of the imagination: you're paying $59 before taxes for 0.53 oz of product, roughly half the size of most foundations. This is a powder, though, not a liquid, and as far as powder foundations go, the D&G appears to be par for the course in terms of size. Still, definitely a luxury product.

D&G gets this, and their products are made to look beautiful. The compact is a simple but beautiful polished gold, and it comes in a soft black bag. While it's pretty--and probably useful for preventing scratches, which I'm sure this compact will get--that black bag is a major cat hair magnet. I had to lint roll it before I took this picture to avoid feelings of intense cat owner embarrassment. Animal lovers, you have been warned.

The compact has a nice weighty feel to it and comes with a mirror and a sponge. Apparently the sponge applies the product well, but I'm not big on sponges and powder products; they tend to put a bit too much powder on my dry skin, leaving my face looking cakey. It IS nice for touch-ups, though, since my nose can get shiny throughout the day, and if you're in the sponges? There ya go.

Now, there are several ways to apply this foundation. You can press it on with a damp sponge, you can buff it in with a moistened brush, you can buff it on dry with a kabuki, or you can dust it over your face with a bigger, softer brush for super-sheer coverage/setting. Again, I'm not big on sponges, and rubbing a dry product on to my face is just asking for trouble. So I tried it out two ways: as a stand-alone foundation, buffed in to the skin with a dampened brush, and as a setting powder over a liquid foundation.

I used a Real Techniques Expert Face brush and dampened it ever so slightly with a spray bottle full of filtered water. Then I dabbed the brush in to the powder and gently swept it on to my face, working in sections and re-dampening the brush. It wasn't exactly a speedy process--it took me about 5 minutes to do 2 layers--but it gave me nice results. As you can see, I ended up with a satin finish and medium coverage. This was a bit surprising, because the Perfect Finish Powder is touted as a full-coverage product in press releases and reviews, and I found it to be a light to buildable-medium coverage sort of thing. Bear in mind, though, that my idea of "full coverage" revolves around super-intense products like the Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer and Kat von D Lock It foundation. To some people, this might be full coverage.

It photographed beautifully in natural light and flash photography. Sorry about the blurriness of the last picture, by the way; my camera's been a beyotch lately....

...and don't be fooled by this picture, either: the D&G definitely gives me a great effect, but it's not "Photoshop in a pan," despite what that first picture suggests. Again, camera's been a bit wonky, so some of this photos are a tad smeary.

ANYWAY, what you CAN see is how well it wears on me. I had some slight shine and wear after 4 or 5 hours, but nothing too dramatic, and it was easily blotted away. People with super-oily skin may find that this product isn't matte enough for them, or they may want to top it off with an additional mattifying powder. Dry skinned folks who like a little more glow will want to add some setting spray to the mix.

I would also like to note that some of my favorite bloggers and kinda-sorta-skintwins haven't had as much luck with this foundation. If you're dryer than I am, have a lot of problems with skin texture (roughness, flaking, etc), or need a foundation that's completely neutral, the D&G powder won't work for you. I'm more apt to recommend it to people with dry, normal, or slightly oily skin and very few textural issues.

The one issue I, personally, had with this product as a stand-alone foundation is that it can be a bit tricky to blend creams over top. I had zero problems with liquids (Becca Shimmering Skin Perfectors and Beach Tints) or thinner creams (Yves Saint Laurent Creme de Blushes and ye olde Urban Decay highlighters), but tackier, thicker products (MAC Blushcremes) were a pain in the tuckus to blend. I think they just get "dried up" even further in the powder. No major deal; I'll just avoid wearing a few cheek products when I'm rockin' this bad boy out.

So it's nice on my skin and it's good for travel and I like it as a foundation, blah blah, whatever. Now it's time to talk about what I really love it for: setting a liquid foundation.

GLORIOUS.

Lightly dusted over my t-zone with a very soft, fluffy brush, the D&G Perfect Finish Powder foundation is a thing of beauty. It tones down the inevitable shine my nose (the only part of my face that gets super-shiny) and adds a smidge more coverage to the discolored portions of my face. It doesn't look cakey, dry, or thick, and it doesn't feel heavy on top of another foundation. It just sits its finely milled self on my skin like fairy dust. Any doubts I've harbored about matte powders on dryer skins have been silenced.

Bear in mind, however, that I tend to use sheer tinted moisturizers or light-coverage foundation--I was wearing one layer of MAC Face & Body here, which amounts to light, slightly dewy coverage. If you're already using a medium-to-full coverage and/or uber-matte foundation, adding this powder on top might give you some odd-looking skin. (I could've tested it over the D&G Creamy foundation, but I already know that'd be overkill for me, so I didn't bother.)

As further proof of how luxurious this foundation feels and how surprisingly well it sits on my mostly-dry skin, here are some macro shots. Please note that the itty bitty flecks you see in the first photo are not skin flakes or lumps of powder, they're fallout from a Chanel Illusion d'Ombre shadow. You are welcome to click for some super-creepy zoomy-in-ness.

One layer, applied wet.

Two layers, applied wet.

Lightly dusted over MAC Face & Body foundation. I'm currently between MAC N5-10 and mix about 2 parts F&B White to 1 part F&B N1.

 As a final note, the texture of this product is really, unbelievably beautiful. Applied dry, it's soft and smooth; applied wet, it takes on a slightly creamy texture, similar to that of a cream-to-powder blush. It does not dry me out or sit on my skin--it melds.

It's a bit early to label this product a Holy Grail. And I'm pretty conservative with that title, anyway. But this powder has done some incredible things: it's changed my opinion of powder foundations on dry skin, it's become a staple in my daily foundation routine, and it's convinced me to continue to purchase a $60 product without batting an eyelash. Because it's worth it.

And now I'm feeling like:

RATING: 5 out of 5

Not really unemployed? Let's celebrate with swatches!

So now that I'm actually semi-employed versus unemployed, I think it's time to celebrate with MOAR SWATCHES! I actually went a bit crazy and bought a drugstore foundation: the new Maybelline Fit Me Shine-Free foundation, the little ditty in the stick, in the lightest shade (110). Preliminary swatches suggest that it's waaaay too pink for me, but I'll still test it out for reviewing purposes. I'm also way behind on my reviews for these three other foundations--Dolce & Gabbana Perfect Finish Creamy foundation in 60, Kat Von D Lock-It foundation in 42, and Illamasqua Skin Base in 2--so I'm hoping I can do one big comparative blogpost after I've tested them out some more.

Please bear in mind that I walk outside for at least a mile 2-4 times a week, so even with sunscreen, I've managed to tan up from about N5 to N10 on my face and neck and a good N15 on my hands, arms, and shoulders.

More Pale Foundation Swatches!

Thanks to some very kind friends with lots of sample jars at hand and well-priced blogsales, I was able to get a whole slew of new pale/pale-ish foundations to swatch! I did thick swatches with about as much product as I'd use to make up my full face to try and show off the undertones and depth of each product. Bear in mind that I haven't tried most of these products on my face yet, and some foundations blend out lighter or darker on one's face than they do in a swatch.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Armani Lasting Silk foundation in #2 Ivory, Dolce & Gabbana Luminous Liquid foundation in 60 Classic, Flower About Face foundation in LF1, Becca Luminous Skin Color in Sand, Becca Radiant Skin Satin Finish foundation in Shell, Ellis Faas Skin Veil in S101, Illamasqua Skin Base in 2

Based on these swatches and what I've seen in person and in the photos (and just that--the D&G is the only one I've worn!), the D&G liquid and Illamasqua skin base are the lightest and closest to MAC N5-10, followed by the Flower foundation and Becca RSSF, which appear to be about MAC N10-15. The Armani appears to be the darkest, probably around N15-20, followed by Becca LSC, although LSC is notorious for being very sheer and malleable. The Ellis Faas is quite peachy. After washing my hands with soap twice, Skin Base and Lasting Silk were still visible on my skin.

D&G Sadness, Red Lips, and Some Swatches

Guess what I'm doing my first Curvysta Haven post on? Yep, red lipstick! What else would I write about? The lipstick I'm rocking, by the way, is MAC Scarlet Ibis with a bit of Elizabeth Arden Crystal Clear Gloss on top, and the glowy cheeks came from Kevyn Aucoin Creamy Moist Glow in Tansoleil and Makeup Forever Uplight #22.

But you know what I'm not writing about? How three--not one, but THREE--of my black eyeliners all died on me mid-cateye. Now, the Jordana Fabu-liner I can forgive, because I've had it for two years. But the Eyeko Skinny Brush liquid liner I've had for only a couple of months and barely used?! UNFORGIVEABLE! And I know for a fact I got a Wet n' Wild cream eyeliner from a bad batch, so I guess it drying up is no major loss. Still, annoying as heck to have to finish a cat eye with a creamy pencil like Milani Liquid Eyes. I'll be getting some new liquid liner ASAP. Maybe I'll even try a new product...?

And speaking of new products, here's one I had super-high hopes for, and it was such a close match to my skintone straight out of the bottle, and it cost so goddamn much, that I could nearly cry: Dolce & Gabbana Luminous Liquid foundation.

It seemed like a match made in Heaven when I tested it out in my bedroom that first night: perfectly pale and comfortable on my skin, with medium coverage and a luxurious texture. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. In the cold, harsh light of day, I realized that this product melted away on my oily nose and made the rest of my dry-but-well-moisturized skin look flakey and flat. I tried applying it different ways, using more or less product, layering it with primers, moisturizers, powders, and setting sprays...but it always just made my skin look worse. Alas, I must add this $63 purchase to the pile of products that managed to work for my skintone, but not my skin type.

Seriously, though. Why is it so hard for pale people who are also dry-skinned and not banana yellow or Pepto-Bismal pink to have nice foundations?! As soon as you find a foundation pale enough--which is a feat in and of itself--it'll be super-duper yellow or uber-pink. There's never a neutral pale foundation. If you DO manage to find one, it's gonna be a formula that's better suited to normal or oily skin. So if you're dry-skinned, tough shit; it's theater makeup or bust.

/ End rant. Here are some swatches.

Vapour Organic Beauty Atmosphere Luminous foundation in 090, Dolce & Gabbana Luminous Liquid Foundation in 60 Classic, Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer in Sx02, Kevyn Aucoin Liquid Airbrush in Lq02, and MAC Face & Body foundation in N1. Please note that Liquid Airbrush applies slightly lighter than it swatches, and that I always mix MAC N1 with White to get a much lighter shade.