Loreal Magic Perfecting Base: Love it or Lose it?

I grabbed up a sample of this at the dollar store and it just sat for a few months waiting for me to try it. It looked a little scary both because it's in a pot and because of the baby pink color. After having finally pushed myself to try it though I can honestly say I am going to love it. It made my foundation stay on all night at work, despite working in a warehouse with no climate control and it being summer. And to me that's a huge feat!

This primer stood up to sweat and heat, and I came out looking the same as I walked in. I got a ton of compliments on how wonderful my makeup looked, and how natural my foundation appeared. The primer melted into the skin beautifully, had no color, and was a nice silicone texture to grab onto and hold makeup in place. Though the tub looks small it claimed to have 3 weeks of use inside, and with how little I have to use in order to cover my entire face I certainly believe it.

The sample size is .17 ounces of product and is approximately the size of a Maybelline color tattoo. The full size is .5 ounces and is still in pot form. It has a beautiful silky texture and a whipped feeling. It glides onto the skin easily and blends out beautifully. I love that it has no color so that it doesn't change the tone of my skin before my foundation application. It claims to keep the skin matte and minimize pores with lightweight coverage and keep skin looking great all day. I don't particularly care about whether it keeps my skin matte since I have dry skin, but I did like that it minimized the occasionally shiny and oily spots I can get when I am hot or in the sun. It didn't feel like I was wearing makeup like some silicone based products can make it feel heavy on the skin. I struggle with a lot of texture particularly on the tops of my cheeks where my highlighter goes and on my nose where I have larger pores and lots of blackheads, but I did notice that my nose pores were camouflaged much better than usual, and I didn't notice much texture on my cheeks until I applied highlighter.

I'm extremely impressed with the weartime this primer gave me, especially in the heat of my workplace. I will definitely be using this more and maybe even purchasing a full size after I get through my elf hydrating primer.

My only problem with the product is the packaging because it's not all that sanitary when you have to stick your fingers in the entire pot of product, however I will either depot it into a pump canister, or I will use a disposable spatula to get the product out and onto my mixing palette before application.

Stay Flawless and Beautiful!

BNB

Loreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer: Love it or Lose it?

I purchased this when it first came out, in hopes to make my Fit Me Matte and Poreless look less matte since I found out the matte line of that foundation was not for me. On the bottle, they list multiple ways to use the product including mixing it with foundation or wearing it under the foundation as a primer, but they also suggested using it as a liquid highlight. I went ahead and tried it all three ways over the past few months to get a definitive opinion on each method with it, and I've got to say... It's more of a flop than a fave.

I still have a ton of product left despite using it over 20 times, which would be great if I actually wanted to continue using it. It's a little expensive too, which makes me feel like I have to use it up so I'm not wasting my money. I had high hopes for this product being similar to things like the Backlight Primer and Becca's Pearl, but sadly it was not so.

I tried it first as a primer underneath my foundation, and while it gives a luminosity to the skin it's roughly equivalent to wearing a white frosty highlight all over and it completely washes out my skintone. It attracts far too much light to my whole face, and it feels a lot like I appear greasy. It has alright weartime, but I don't feel like it works great as a primer because it doesn't seem to make my foundation last any longer than it does without a primer. The micro-shimmmer is just too much, it feels like a spotlight on my face rather than a healthy glow, and I'm not about looking like the tin man...

I then went for the next suggestion on the bottle, which was to mix it in with the foundation before application for a "soft light illusion". After one pump, it completely disappeared into the foundation and left behind no glow. I added another pump and it still disappeared, and then another disappeared... It successfully lightened the color and coverage of the foundation, which it doesn't claim to do, but I saw no results with adding a glow to my skin.

The texture is very watery, almost too much so for me to want to use it as a highlight, but I went ahead and tried it anyway. I hoped I had found my preferred way of using this product, but unfortunately it was rather underwhelming. Despite applying several layers on top of one another, there was hardly any payoff, even now looking at the swatch on my hand it looks almost invisible despite two applications. It starts out looking wonderful and then seemingly melts into the skin and disappears.

I'm not at all happy with this product, but I will probably continue mixing it with my foundation or using it to help highlight in hopes of using it up one pump at a time. Not at all worth a repurchase or the money I spent on it in the first place.

Stay safe in the sun and enjoy the summer air!

As always, Stay Beautiful!
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Argan Oil Primer: Love or Hate?

I've been using the Physicians Formula Arganwear Argan oil primer with coconut water. It comes in the gold and white ombre glass bottle with the sprayer.
I enjoy the product formula itself, but the way the bottle sprays I often find that the products is badly distributed and I end up having to rub it into my skin to get it to actually melt in. My dry skin loves the coconut water and it does make my skin feel hydrated and prepared for makeup application. It's very easy to overdo this if you're not careful and end up oily. I'm not crazy about the smell, but it goes away shortly after spraying once the product settles.
It gives me a smoother application by removing the dryness from my skin, however I use this more as a skincare product than as a primer since I need a primer that really holds onto my makeup much harder. I definitely more prefer a silicone primer, but this may work as a primer on its own for someone else.
All in all not a fail, but I'm not completely in love with the application for this product. I'm also a bit annoyed with the biphase product because it seems to be hard to get it evenly mixed for long enough to apply it without having to shake it almost every spray. I've purchased the regular argan oil from them as well to see if I prefer that to the spray bottle version. We will see!

As always, Stay Beautiful
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Sun Safety

Now, we all know it's important to wear sunscreen when we're outside in order to prevent cancer and early aging skin. But it's almost impossible to find one that's good for your skin and goes well under makeup. I think I finally solved this problem for myself, but it took all kinds of trial and error. No one sunscreen is right for everyone, and I needed one that had high SPF, no greasy feeling, and wouldn't leave my skin shiny and oily over time. With my sensitive, dry skin, it's important that my sunscreen isn't harsh while still working effectively to protect me from sun damage and sun burn.

On a whim I tried IPKN NewYork's Pore Apple Sun Cream sunscreen makeup primer. It has SPF 40+, is gentle on the skin, and  helps to control oily t-zones. It has a slight silicone feel, which is good for holding makeup on the skin. It claims to be moisturizing, which from my experience is true. It didn't leave my skin feeling tight, dry or tired after wearing it for the day at a festival. It's very lightweight and doesn't break down over time or become greasy out in the heat. It didn't melt and it doesn't have the horrible chemical smell that most sunscreens have.

I would recommend anyone try this product. I picked it up off of Amazon, and it cost only about $26. It's a little expensive for a sunscreen I'll admit, but for how little product you use at a time I find it to be worth it.

of course I haven't tried reapplication over top of makeup, but it worked well with my normal stick sunscreen that I carry for reapplication on the go.

Always remember to care for your skin, and Stay Beautiful.

BNB