Photo Filter.

Smashbox –

Photo Filter Powder Foundation

‘The special effects of Light Filter Technology and the performance of long-wear Photoset Polymers blend together to make this powder foundation magic. Not only does it act like your favourite photo filter on your phone, but it also stays true all day.

In today’s super social world where everyone’s a photographer, this product couldn’t have come at a better time. 

WHY YOU’LL LOVE IT:

ALL ABOUT THE FORMULA

1)    LIGHT FILTER TECHNOLOGY: Works just like the filters that make your skin look amazing on the photo app you love. Transparent particles diffuse light in various directions, blurring imperfections while still keeping the subject in focus. We’re not using the usual chalky particles to fuse the formula, which creates a muddy effect. Since the particles in this foundation are translucent, the pigment’s true color always comes through.

2)    PHOTOSET POLYMERS: Taken from medical-grade liquid bandage technology, which sticks to skin for hours on end. You can always count on extended wear with this formula. 

JUST THE FACTS:

•    8-hour wear

•    Non-drying. Non-caking. Non-settling. Oil-free

•    Customisable finish – sheer or full – with a double-sided sponge

•    Buildable coverage’

I am really liking the new Smashbox Photo Filter Powder Foundation. I’ve been wearing this foundation for two weeks now, and I have been very impressed with it. My first WOW moment with this foundation was the amazing black square packaging. Similar to Nars packaging, the all black matte square looks extremely chic. It really stands out against most round powder compacts. The powder is extremely soft and creamy. It literally glides on to your skin. The foundation comes in ten different shades. I ended up going with shade 3. The foundation does oxidize (darken) a bit once applied, so if you are in between shades I would go lighter rather than darker.

The compact comes with a double sided sponge to customize your application. One side is slightly more velvety than the other, and is said to provide a more natural finish. I found that I liked to apply the product with a kabuki style brush-kind of buffing it into the skin for an airbrushed finish. The coverage is pretty fantastic. It really does not take a lot of product to get a flawless finish. I felt like the foundation really did “blur” my imperfections, and smoothed out my face. It does not accentuate dry skin or any dry patches on your face like some powder foundations can do.

Smashbox advertises the foundation as having an 8 hour wear, and I would say it definitely lives up to that claim. I can apply the foundation before work in the morning around 7:15, and I don’t find I really need a touch up until about 3 or 4 o’clock. I honestly have no complaints about this foundation, and I think it may be one of the best powder foundations I’ve used to date!

Oval 8.

ARTIS -

Oval 8

•    The Oval 8 is slightly smaller than the Oval 10 and has 100’s of thousands of fibres in an oval shape to provide applications to a large area of the face

•     The company’s trademarked CosmeFibre® is created by using high-tech machines that produce completely consistent, man-made fibres that make-up the fibre bundle. The structure of the engineered fibre, each with a microscopically tapered end, allows for more consistent application than animal hair used in conventional makeup brushes

•    Each patented brush has on average 3 to 10 times as many individual fibres as conventional animal hair brushes, resulting in superior blending and smooth makeup application 

•    Fibre bundles are shaped to make product pickup and delivery easier and more effective

•    Designed with a special grip surface to provide better control, and tilted brush tip and fibre bundles that give the user the ability to apply, distribute and blend like never before

Oval 8 was launched as the perfect “base brush” and believe me when I say it really is. It distributes and blends liquid products flawlessly and the whole process literally takes seconds. It’s also great to use with powder products to either set the face or apply a sweep of blush or bronzer.

This is THE brush that I’ve had my eye on since I discovered the Artis brand. Used in application of everything base related, this brush is magic! I usually use both a Flat Top Kabuki brush and a Beauty Blender to achieve the flawless airbrushed look when it comes to my base products: Flat top kabuki distributes the product, Beauty Blender buffs it out evenly; this has always been my base tag team.

The Oval 8 brush pretty much combines these two tools to give the most flawless finish I have personally experienced on my own face. It has the distribution qualities of a buffing brush and airbrushed blending of a beauty blender all in one. And as I mentioned earlier, the product did not get lost in the bristles so I ended up using much less foundation than I usually do.

So far I’ve used the Oval 8 brush for my liquid foundation, setting powder, bronzer, blush and highlighter and every single product blended like a dream. I found the trick is: do not press the brush into the skin but rather rest it against it and use soft circular motions until the product fully blends, which literally takes seconds.

This style of brush also comes in Oval 10, which is much larger and could probably be used for body products; the new Oval 7, which is on my must-have list, and also Oval 6 which again is on my list. I feel having this style of brush in slightly different sizes would give me more control of where I concentrate certain products.

Velvet Skin Tint.

Nars –

Velvet Skin Tint

 

“SOFT-FOCUS EFFECT

Transparent Blurring Powders instantly enhance the look of skin by helping to diffuse imperfections with a powerful optical effect.

SOFT-TOUCH FEEL

The powders’ unique, spherical shape compresses like a cushion, delivering a velvety-smooth, touchable feel and superior comfort on application.”

The Velvet Matte Skin Tint (oil-free) comes with broad spectrum SPF 30 just like the Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer. The texture is similar in that it's easy blend, applies smoothly, covers redness and evens out the skin. It dries to a velvety finish without looking flat or too dry like the name matte often implies. It's like skin but better and on me it's lasted an impressive amount of time. All day without separating, fading or creasing. Coverage is medium - enough to even out the skintone but not too heavy. It allows your skin to breathe so to speak and feels slightly hydrating but still weightless.

In addition to evening out the skin, it has Rose Fruit Extract to minimize pores and control shine. Vitamins C and E and broad spectrum SPF to protect the skin from environmental stress.

Bottom line amazing and definitely worth checking out. It's just as good as the Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer without the glow, but still natural looking. You can find the Velvet Matte Skin Tint now online at NARS and at NARS Counters.

Skin Foundation.

Bobbi Brown –

Skin Foundation Stick

“The ultimate nude foundation—Bobbi’s iconic Foundation Stick gets an update with a unique transparent base plus skin tone correct pigments for an incredibly natural look. Its creamy yet weightless texture applies effortlessly and blends seamlessly so all you see is fresh, smooth, even skin. In 24 skin tone correct shades (our broadest shade range).”

Ultra Definition.

Urban Decay -

Naked Skin Ultra Definition Powder Foundation 

So many new and amazing things from Urban Decay recently! This post is all about the brand new Naked Skin Ultra Definition Powder Foundation. It can be used wet or dry and promises amazing, long lasting coverage.

“Want a foundation that delivers amazing coverage, lasts all day and works both wet AND dry? Naked Skin Ultra Definition Powder Foundation delivers. Our advanced, velvety formula provides weightless, build-able coverage with a luminous, demi-matte finish for a Naked Skin feel.

While some traditional powder foundations might look dusty or even cakey on the skin, Naked Skin blends gorgeously and wears comfortably. Like the rest of our Naked Skin line up, Naked Skin Powder Foundation diffuses light to blur fine lines and wrinkles to make you look as if professionally retouched. It’s also ultra-forgiving: apply more in the areas where you need extra coverage and all you’ll see is beautiful, perfected skin. 

Enriched with coated, micro-milled powders and HPP (Highlighter Performing Pigments) technology, Naked Skin Powder Foundation has a creamy feel, rich, long-lasting colour, and a perfect level of coverage to even out the look of your skin tone.” – Urban Decay

Breath of Fresh Air.

Dior -

Diorskin Nude Air Serum Foundation 

“A pioneer in achieving a natural look, Dior innovates and broadens its nude makeup expertise with Diorskin Nude Air: a weightless, ultra-fluid serum as light and beneficial as a breath of fresh air, for an enhanced complexion with sheer correction. Like after a day in the great outdoors, the complexion has all the fresh, radiant beauty of a natural healthy glow.

Its weightless velvety freshness and incredibly fine and exceptional texture, made with oils that evaporate instantly, the talc-free Diorskin Nude Air formula deposits an undetectable film of makeup on the skin. Its high-precision dropper easily delivers exactly the right amount leaving perfectly natural-looking makeup in an instant.

The formula enriched with soft-focus agents and glazed pigments produces an even, radiant complexion in an instant for perfect correction with a sheer finish. The complexion glows with natural beauty and day after day, all the benefits of a breath of pure fresh air for your skin. Dior introduces Oxygen Activ™ technology, an innovative combination of a hyper-oxygenated oil, Cranberry oil, vitamins and minerals. Revitalised, the skin breathes and becomes more beautiful each day.” - Dior

Complexion Rescue.

After my little BareMinerals obsession not long back, I got super exited over news of this new releases from them. This Spring/Summer comes the release of their Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream, which will be released in ten shades. It’s exciting to see BareMinerals taking on another liquid product or in this case a gel one. I’m just hopeful that Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream proves a better experience for me than Bare Skin Serum Foundation, which I wasn’t really too fused on.

Bareminerals explains that this Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream is a hybrid BB Cream, CC Cream, and tinted moisturiser, and is formulated without oils, parabens, fragrances, or silicone. It promises to increase the moisture of your skin by up to 215%, which is pretty exciting for those dry skinned girls. However, I will be excited to see how this reacts and applies on those with a more combination or oily skin type. Bare Minerals says it has dewy sheer to medium coverage with a soft, smooth finish that has an SPF 30 and a gel cream texture that gives skin a natural, radiant finish. It’s formulated with Marine botanicals to help replenish your skin’s moisture.

Shades:

•   Opal 01: Fair Skin, Cool Tone

•   Vanilla 02: Light Skin, Neutral Tone

•   Buttercream 03: Light Skin, Golden Tone

•   Suede 04: Medium Skin, Cool Tone

•   Natural 05: Medium Skin, Neutral Tone

•   Ginger 06: Medium Skin, Golden Tone

•   Tan 07: Tan Skin, Neutral Tone

•   Spice 08: Tan to Dark skin, Golden Tone

•   Chestnut 09: Dark Skin, Golden Tone

•   Sienna 10: Deep Skin, Neutral Tone

I really didn’t like last year’s Serum Foundation release so I’m hopeful Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream proves better. I’m excited to try it out especially since it claims to be so hydrating. All this snow, wind, rain and cold is making my skin look scary!