Product Review - Hourglass Immaculate Liquid Powder Foundation

Hourglass Immaculate Liquid Powder Foundation is a mattifying foundation that has been designed to absorb oil and last all day, in order to minimize the need for touch-ups. This is exactly the type of results that I look for in a foundation, however, I've never really tried anything that has been able to do this for me. I don't want to say this foundation is perfect, but it is currently the best product that I have ever tried for controlling shine throughout the day. 

I purchased this foundation at the end of last year, however, I have to admit I didn't use it at first. Now that I have been using it, I wanted to give it a good test period before writing a review. Foundation is a tricky subject for a lot of us, and since everyone's skin is so different, everyone has their own preference. As I've mentioned before, I have oily skin that needs blotting by lunchtime, or about every 3-4 hours. I also prefer a medium to full coverage foundation that can be built up, or layered with concealer without looking too cakey. 

When I first purchased this product, Sephora did not have it stocked in my local store. I had to order it from their website. Of course this made me nervous, but I had swatched a few shades when vacationing in the USA, and I generally select the lightest shade in any range, as long as the undertones are on the yellow side. I do have a fair amount of pink in my face, but my neck and body are more yellow, so I tend to try to match my face to my neck. For your reference, I'm a shade 117 Marble in the Makeup Forever HD foundation.

I selected the shade Porcelain, which the Sephora website describes as "very fair with yellow undertones". When I got it home, my initial reaction was that it was not the right shade - much to yellow, and made me feel a bit orange. I did not return it, however, but put it aside, until recently when I tried it again. Now that it is the summer, and I have a bit of colour, it seems to be a much better match. I think in the winter, I will try either Vanilla (pink undertones) or Shell (neutral undertones). 

Now that it is summer and my natural skin colour matches the shade of the foundation a bit better, I have been wearing it pretty much everyday, since the beginning of June. One of my favourite things about this product is the finish. It dries down to a powder finish, like the name suggests, which leaves your face feeling really natural and un-sticky. There really is no need to use a setting powder, which is nice. I have been layering concealer over the foundation in the areas I need it, and haven't had any issues with this.

As for oil control - it really does help with the shine. I can still use a blotting tissue, but there is a noticeable difference between when I am wearing this foundation versus any other foundation. Even if I did not blot, I could actually go through the whole day without feeling disgusting, so that is a major selling point.

I have tried pretty much every matte primer, or mattifying gel, etc. that I have come across, but have never had results like this. I'm very excited to have this product in my life. I should note that I have not yet tried Estee Lauder Double Wear, and have been meaning to for a while now. I know a lot of people with similar skin types like this foundation. I wish I could compare the two, but for now, I'm going to stick with the Hourglass.

If you read my April Favourites post, you may remember that the new Cover Girl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 foundation is something that I have been enjoying using. It also provides a matte finish and dries down to a powder texture. I do stay matte longer with Hourglass, but the Cover Girl foundation is a really good option as well.  Both are really good foundations, but of course Cover Girl is the much more affordable option.

Neither Hourglass in Porcelain nor Cover Girl in Classic Ivory are perfect matches for me. I can make either work, but for me, 117 in Makeup Forever is still the best colour match for my skin that I have found so far.

In natural lighting, top to bottom: Makeup Forever #117,
Cover Girl Classic Ivory, Hourglass Porcelain

Bottom line

This should go without saying, but shade selection is crucial. Unless you are very golden, I would not select the shades with yellow undertones. 

If you have oily skin, I think you need to at least get a sample to test this product out. This foundation really does wonders with controlling the shine, and so it will remain a constant in my routine for this summer, and I'm going to try out another shade once I go back to my winter colour.

Have you tried this product yet?

Thanks for reading!

Favourites - April 2013

I can't believe it is May already! April went so fast for me, but I bought a ton of great things, and all of my April favourites are actually items that I bought in April, but loved so much that have been wearing them basically everyday since. This month was a real mix of both high and low products, which I love because great products can be found at any price point. 

My April faves are:

• Revlon Lip Butters in Sorbet and Juicy Papaya
• YSL Rouge Volupte Shine lipstick in #15 Corail Intuitive
• Cover Girl & Olay Simply Ageless Concealer 
• Cover Girl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation
• Bobbi Brown Blush in Nectar
• NYX Slide On eye pencils

Revlon Lip Butters in Sorbet and Juicy Papaya

Have I ever mentioned on here that I love Revlon Lip Butters? Well I do. And the new colours they recently put out for spring as part of the Pacific Coast collection, are so good. I might have mentioned in a previous post that I just picked up the above two? Well I went back and got the other two as well. I just love these. 

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte
Shine #15 Corail Intuitive

OK, so another lip product. I couldn't choose one! This lipstick is so pretty - it is a very subtle coral that is just lovely. And of course the YSL lipsticks are some of the best. I'm thinking of doing a post on my full YSL lipstick collection as I have accumulated several. This was one of the items in the picture here, that I picked up at the Sephora VIB sale. I like to take advantage of discounts when purchasing pricey items like this one.

Cover GIrl Simply Ageless Concealer in 205 Very
Light and Cover Girl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1
Foundation in 910 Classic Ivory

Honestly, I would never have guessed that I would be putting any Cover Girl products in my monthly favourites. Not because I have anything against drugstore makeup - I love the drugstore, but I used to use Cover Girl foundation when I was 14. And it wasn't very good. I've also tried a lot of other Cover Girl products back in my teen days (what teenage girl didn't have a Cover Girl pressed powder compact in their school bag?), but since then, I've found products that are so much better, whether they are low or high-end. So when both this foundation, as well as this concealer started popping up on beauty blogs, I didn't think it was worth checking out. But my curiosity took over and my frustration with my current foundation drove me to Shoppers Drug Mart where I picked up both of these (on sale, I might add). And I'm really glad I got them. I've been using both products ever since I got them, two weeks ago. The foundation shade Classic Ivory is a perfect match (117 in MUFE HD) and I just love the finish that it gives to my oily skin. Anyways, I don't want to do a full review here, but these are products that I will keep using on a daily basis.

Bobbi Brown Blush in Nectar

You may have received the email a few weeks ago about the Bobbi Brown friends and family sale on the website - the discount lured me in and I picked up two blushes, a bronzer and an eyeshadow. This blush in Nectar is perfect. It is such a gorgeous pink with a hint of coral in it that goes with everything. I can't stop using it! 

NYX Slide On Pencils in Gun Metal, Azure, Golden Bronze and Glitzy Gold

These eyeliner pencils are so good. I'd heard that they were similar to the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils, but had never tried them. I have to say that they seem like the same formula to me. They have the same creaminess, the same great colour payoff, and they last all day for me. These are amazing, and for the price, I highly recommend these. I will be going back for more colours.

So those are my favourites for April. What are yours?

Thanks for reading!

Goodies I Picked Up in Asia - Part 3 - Etude House

Another brand that I was excited to look for in Asia is Etude House. This is a super popular brand - what is not to love - cute packaging, reasonable prices, and the products that seem to work quite well. I saw several stand-alone stores, but made the mistake of going to one in a busy district during the early evening. The store was packed! The last time I saw a store this busy was when H&M finally opened in Canada! But, I think this was just a normal evening at the Etude House store. So I dove in and elbowed my way up to the lipstick testers. I managed to pick up a few items:

• Shini Star Clear BB Lotion - according to the description of this BB Lotion, it provides sheer to medium coverage and prepares the complexion for foundation.  Well, I didn't read this until using this as my actual foundation for several days. Honestly, for a light complexion, you really don't need much more than this if you want a medium coverage. This product comes in only one shade: clear. So I suppose if you had a darker skintone, you would use this just as a base. These days my preference has been to use something with medium coverage and then go back in with concealer where needed, and this product really does the trick. I'm really obsessed with Asian BB creams as the coverage is beautiful.  Shini Star is a product that I would repurchase for sure.

• Magic BB Pact in #2 Natural Beige - I have been using this to set the Shini Star Clear BB Lotion. It is advertised as an oil-absorbing, long-lasting powder with a moist and dewy finish. I don't know if I would say it has a moist and dewy finish, but it doesn't leave me with an extremely powdery look. It provides quite nice coverage. Also, this product is talc, oil and wax-free.

bottom left: Shini Star Clear BB Lotion, applied thick
bottom right: a pump of Shini Star Clear BB Lotion and a swatch of Magic BB Pact pressed powder

• Hand Bouquet Rich Butter Hand Cream - this is a nice hand cream. Smells pretty and does the trick. Not much to really say about this.

• Magic Tint Balm #1 Magic Red - this is just a really pretty sheer red glossy balm. I've been carrying a retractable lip brush around though because I hate sticking my finger straight into the product. But l love the look this gloss provides.

• Dear My Blooming Lips-talk in shades PK001 and RD304 - the lipsticks are my disappointments with the Etude House line. I was excited about these because everyone talks about how cute the packaging is, so I really wanted to love these, but the colours just aren't fantastic. I feel like they look like a lipstick you might have as a child. The colours are opaque and kind of flat. No real dimension. Also, when I rub my lips together, they get a bit patchy, with my natural lips peeking through. I'm going to work with them, and try wearing them with different glosses, but so far, I'm not in love. Also, there were no English names for the colours on the packaging, but I'm assuming that the PK means pink and the RD means red.

• Free gifts - since I spent a certain amount, I received a package containing five mini-sized products. The package contained Collagen Moistful Cream, Real Art Cleansing Oil, Precious Mineral BB Cream, Nymph Aura Volumer (?? have to google this one, as I'm not sure what it is for), and Wonder Pore 7 in 1 Freshner (?? not sure about this either). I haven't tried any of these yet. 

So, I went to Etude House with the intentions of picking up cute lipsticks and blushes, but the real standout products to me were the BB Lotion and the BB Powder. My happiness with these more than makes up for my disappointment in the lipsticks. I actually didn't even try any of the blushes because they didn't appear that pigmented, although I didn't get much of an opportunity to look that closely since the store was so busy. 

Have you ever tried Etude House?

See Part 1 - Shu Uemura here.

See Part 2 - Skinfood here.

This concludes my posts related to Asian beauty products! Hope you've enjoyed them!

Thanks for reading!

Goodies I Picked Up in Asia - Part 2 - Skinfood

Skinfood is a line of skincare and cosmetics that I have been really looking forward to trying. It is a Korean brand sold in Asia. There are freestanding Skinfood stores in Hong Kong, but I also noticed that there were counters in high-end department stores. Their motto is "Food that is good for your health, is also good for your skin" so they use a lot of healthy foods in the products.

I spent about 1000HKD, which converts to approximately $130CAD.

Here is what I got:

• Black Egg Primer Serum
• Black Egg Pore Foundation
• Acorn Jelly Mask
• Black Sugar Scrub Foam
• Fresh Apple Pore Cleansing Oil
• Coconut Milk Rich Hand Cream
• Gold Caviar Collagen Mask Sheet (free gift)
• Body Spray (free gift)

Black Egg Pore Serum and Black Egg Pore Foundation

I am wearing both of these products right now. I applied this morning at about 6 am, so it has been about 6 hours and my skin feels great. Really smooth, and not at all oily. The Black Egg Pore Serum contains egg white extract and is said to tighten enlarged pores while controlling excessive sebum and oiliness. Your skin is supposed to look like a fresh boiled egg upon application! I'm not sure I look like an egg, but I do think my pores appear less visible and I'm happy with the oil control so far. 

I picked up the Black Egg Pore Foundation in shade #1 Light Beige. There are only 2 shades - # 2 Natural Beige was slightly darker, so this is not a product for those with a darker complexion. Once you remove the cap, there is a small buffing brush and then another cap that, once removed, reveals a mousse-like creamy foundation. It is quite unique in texture. Perhaps it can be compared to the old Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse foundation. It is quite light, and blends nicely with the supplied brush. I've been going for a more light foundation look lately and this is something that I have been enjoying using. Recently I've felt that my normal mineral foundations have been leaving me looking a bit cake-y, so this feels a bit more natural.

I'm really happy with both of these products, and would consider finding them online in the future.

Black Sugar Scrub Foam

This product comes out of the tube with the consistency of a cream, with small granules that gently exfoliate, and then gradually foams up and the granules sort of disappear and you are left with a very moisturizing lather. It is hard to explain, but this is a very unique product. After using this, my skin feels smooth, moist, and clean. The scent is lovely as well. It almost has a citrus-y scent that is not overpowering, but just quite refreshing. 

Fresh Apple Pore Cleansing Oil

This cleansing oil is supposed to remove tough makeup and give your pores a deep-cleansing at the same time. You are to apply dry,and then add a bit of water to work it up into a milky consistency. I have not tried this one yet as I'm waiting to be finished my Bioderma first.

Acorn Jelly Mask

This mask contains powdered acorns from Jiri-mountain - this is a mountain in South Korea where the crystal water contains the plant compound, tannin, which apparently, helps to tighten pores. This mask only needs to be left on the skin for one minute to be able to tighten oil-clogged pores and exfoliate the top layers of dead skin cells. I've used this product twice so far. It seems to be gentle enough to use on a regular basis, so I'm going to try to use it about three times a week. Since you only need to leave it on for a minute, it's actually quite convenient to use. After use, my skin felt soft and my pores seemed slightly tightened. I'll have to use it consistently to really know if it is making a difference though.

I also picked up the Coconut Milk Rich Hand Cream, and received a couple of free gifts with purchase - the Gold Caviar Collagen Mask Sheet and a body spray.

Overall, I think this line of products is fantastic. I could have purchased a lot more, but I was afraid I would not be able to zip up my suitcase!

Have you ever tried anything from Skinfood?

See Part 1 - Shu Uemura here.

Thanks for reading!

Current Wishlist - March 2013

What's on my beauty radar these days? Read on to find out. It wasn't hard to put this list together - this is what is currently in my shopping cart on www.sephora.com, just waiting until I can justify purchasing some new products :)

• Make Up For Ever Pro Finish Multi-Use Powder Foundation - I almost purchased this the other day, but was able to redeem my Shoppers Optimum points for the Lancome Dual Finish powder, so I'll pass on this one for a little while. I do want to try this one eventually.

• Too Faced Sweethearts Perfect Flush Blush - this blush is so gorgeous! I think it looks like a perfect colour for pale skin like mine.

• Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzing Powder - I'm currently using up my Make Up For Ever Matte Bronzer, but once it is finished, I will pick this one up.

• Too Faced La Creme lipsticks in Naughty Nude and Spice Spice Baby - I can't decide on  one colour, I may have to pick up two!

• Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Mood Light - I'm just in love with complexion enhancing powders like these. I actually like every colour that Hourglass has put out, but I think I would try this one first. Looks beautiful.

• Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette - I'm kind of surprised I do not have this yet, but I have so many items in my collection that can be considered similar (NYX Butt Naked palette, for one). So I have waited on this. I may pick it up one of these days though.

• Prada Candy - I tested this fragrance the other day and while I did not like it on the card, I did like it once I wore it on my wrist for awhile. It is light and sweet, and perfect for any occasion.

• Victor & Rolf Flowerbomb - rarely have I had two fragrances on my wishlist at the same time, but Flowerbomb is amazing. And it is really popular right now, so I'm not the only one who thinks so!

Yikes, this is quite a list. If I purchase any of these items, I'll be sure to post a review for anyone who is interested!

Thanks for reading!