I’m honestly amazed how quickly base makeup can fall out of favour with one’s skin tone (which explains my never-ending fascination with foundation) and I attempted to save yet another “fail” in my collection.

I went through a mineral makeup phase which lasted all of two to three months last winter until the weather got too humid to wear just powder. During that time I really was pleased with my Meow Cosmetics purchases and bought a full-sized backup, but unfortunately, the shade is just way too dark for me now. I must have been so tanned last winter (weird, I know, but I went to Singapore and Sydney which had a blazing summer)…

Despite my attempts to mix my MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Medium Dark and the Estee Lauder Nutritious Vita-Mineral Loose Powder in Intensity 1.0, I have fallen out of love with the highly powdered look (very aging) and use finishing powder very sparingly these days. So what I have done is to mix the Estee Lauder powder (too light) with my Meow Cosmetics Mineral Foundation (too dark).

Tada! Looks waaaaay better now. It has a slightly ashy undertone still, but when applied lightly, it is hardly noticeable and the pink undertone from the Estee Lauder powder does help heaps.

I tried to photograph the mixed loose powder with my other finishing powders, e.g. Jill Stuart, but the camera emphasizes the contrast so it’s not really accurate. As you can see, the picture with the blended powder alone is lighter than the one above.

I tried to compare it with my HG loose powder by Paul & Joe (by far the most refined powder I’ve ever encountered and a good match for my skin tone) and it also looks so dark.

It’s not a perfect result but this is definitely useable and I don’t feel so bad having products that can’t work for me.

Do you ever try to make products “work” for you? Do you find it annoying and toss it out or do you just deal with it?

This is my first-ever FOTD and my skin has cleared up quite a bit since my last breakout fiasco. I figured that it’s not that often I have okay-looking skin and I’ve “re-discovered” an old foundation that was unloved by me for the last year, so I thought, “Let’s do an FOTD!”

I bought Estee Lauder’s Double Wear Light Foundation Stay-in-Place Makeup SPF 10/PA++ (Intensity 2.0) in January as a “gentle” base during my horrible breakout phase last winter. I looked up Makeup Alley and found that those with acne-prone skin liked this particular foundie because it was light-weight, non-clogging, non-oily, and had decent coverage.

To be honest, I liked it at first and then I didn’t like it because it didn’t give me enough coverage and looked patchy on me. Furthermore, the brand Estee Lauder is not something I usually reach for as I prefer girlier brands, e.g. Jill Stuart and Paul & Joe, but I realized I’m actually smack in the demographic that Estee Lauder markets at – LOL!

But on hindsight, my skin really was a mess and I think I didn’t put enough of it on as I used to have a very light hand with liquid foundation. I just felt it didn’t give me that ultra-smooth complexion that some BB creams can (like the Nanoce one but it’s too rich for non-winter weather). And because it is very light-weight, I think it wasn’t moisturizing enough for the freezing temperatures in Feb and Mar in Tokyo. My skin was flaky at that point in time but I wouldn’t blame it on this foundation because I think I wasn’t moisturizing my skin enough and was using an arsenal of drying acne products.

BUT, in this warm-ish fall weather when it is over 20 degrees C in the day and 16-18 degrees C at night, somehow my skin has been LOVING this foundation. I do use it generously but it doesn’t cake. The only complaint I have is that it is a wee bit too light for me shade-wise but Intensity 3.0 is way too dark for me.

It gives a dewy look if you don’t powder your face after and it gives surprisingly good coverage to redness and freckles.

Other items used in this FOTD:
Lunasol Modeling Eyes 01 Beige Beige
Dollywink Eye Pencil in Brown
Lancome L’Extreme Mascara
Meow Cosmetics Brow Beater in Dark Brown to line brows
Esprique Precious Gradation Layer Cheek 01 Coral Red as blusher and face highlighter
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Medium Dark as bronzer
Revlon ColorStay Pressed Powder 104 Medium
Jurlique Love Lip Balm
Chanel Rouge Coco Cambon 31
Lancome Juicy Tubes mini (sparkly nude)

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Happy Valentine’s Day, my dearies!

January 2011 was a turning point of sorts beauty-wise — I was sick of breaking out and I decided to search for solutions in a serious way. At first, I just included a spot treatment and a gel-based moisturizer to my regime but things came to a head in Singapore where the weather, food, and cosmetics culminated into frustration with a capital “F”.

My elder sister suggested I try mineral makeup because it is more gentle on the skin. Mineral makeup has crossed my mind before but I held back because of its price and mixed reviews. I had also sampled some off-the-shelf brands like Maybelline and L’Oreal (bad idea, I know!!) which aged the texture of my skin, instead of enhancing it. I was also tempted to try Bare Escentuals since they have counters in Tokyo but Makeup Alley reviews were so 50-50 that I thought the hefty price tag was not worth the risk, especially since Bare Escentuals mineral foundations contain mica that causes skin flare-ups for those who have sensitive skin.

But after a sisterly makeover in Singapore, I was won over. The two brands my sis used mainly on me were Meow Cosmetics and Silk Naturals — both extremely affordable even when shipped from the US to Tokyo. They of course do not contain mica and don’t break me out. Happiness.

***This is a photo-heavy post so you are warned.***

Let’s see the end result first and then I’ll take you through what I tried.

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