Ok ladies. Sing along with me to the tune of The Beach Boy’s “Good Vibrations”
“She’s selling me the good foundation”
“It’s coming with high expectations”
“Um bah bah. Good Foundation Ba-ah”
I bought a new foundation. Expectations were high! Actually, I was in Ulta last week to pick up another Mally 24/7 Brow Express. Just my luck Ulta isn’t selling it anymore. My brows are screwed.
But it didn’t stop me from checking out the foundations.
The cool weather is approaching and the time to change up the makeup is upon us. The thing is, I have quite the number of foundations. They range from high-end to low-end.
When I was young—I’m talking in my twenties and thirties. I never wore foundation. If I had a blemish I covered it up with Max Factor’s Erase. Remember that? Best concealer ever made!
My routine was pretty simple. Eye makeup and lip gloss. I didn’t even need blush because I had strong pink undertones.
Truthfully, I didn’t even start wearing foundation until I was in my early forties. My skin started to change. It became a bit drier and a bit—well, blotchy.
My go-to foundation was a drug store brand. L’Oréal’s True Match. I wore it for years. Years! The second I hit the bottom of the bottle, I would run out and replace my C-3, Creamy Natural.
My color was C3, Creamy Natural. But I am “cool”. Oh yeah. I’m cool alright!
That little bottle served me well until I hit menopause. The foundation that once gave me a smooth appearance was suddenly not working for me anymore.
And that’s when I began my search for the perfect foundation. I’m still searching.
I used Makeup Forever’s HD Foundation. This was before they reformulated it and renamed it Ultra HD Foundation. I wore that foundation until they changed it. The Ultra didn’t work for me.
In all fairness, this stopped working for me a bit before they reformulated and changed it up from HD to “Ultra” HD. *Sigh* I swear sometimes I feel I have to change foundation as much as I change underwear!
I couldn’t wear Lancôme foundation because none of the colors are a good match for my skin tone. MAC foundation is just too yellow for me.
It isn’t easy to find a foundation that works.
On a whim, I purchased Tarte’s Amazonian Clay Smoothing Balm. The sales assistant promised me it would smooth out my skin and cover my “fine lines”. When I questioned her on the fact that the “balm” couldn’t possibly be hydrating because it wasn’t liquid, she laughed and told me that it would fill my face with moisture.
She lied. It remains one of the worst products I’ve ever purchased. A complete fail. I use it as a backup concealer. As a concealer it isn’t too bad. But I see that Tarte no longer makes this. Oh. I wonder why???
This “balm” or whatever it is, is certainly NOT older woman friendly. In fact, I don’t think it is ANY woman friendly. Although it is a decent backup concealer.
Another product that I sometimes wonder why I purchased is Estee Lauder’s Double Wear Foundation. The foundation itself isn’t bad. I just wonder why I purchased the gimmicky push compact that the foundation comes in. An incredibly light hand is needed in applying this foundation too. It can get really cakey after a while and enhances not your natural beauty, but enhances every line and crack you have. I guess that’s why the Lauder Company is rebranding themselves more toward youth. I swear if I didn’t spend $45 bucks on this, I would have thrown it in the trash.
Left to right. Marc Jacobs foundation, Becca foundation, and Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation in the gimmicky push down compact.
Givenchy’s Teint Couture Foundation was one that I liked a lot. It never got cakey. It was pretty matte too but not drying. It didn’t cover the fine lines though.
You know, the more I think about it, the more I liked the Givenchy Teint Couture foundation. I think I liked it better than the Marc Jacobs. See–this is the problem with having so many foundations…
Neither does the Marc Jacobs foundation that I have. This happens to be another foundation that I like because of the ability to not cake up. But I think a lot happens to depend on how I apply. I always apply with a blending sponge then buff with a brush.
And as much as I like the Givenchy and the Jacobs foundations, they didn’t achieve Holy Grail status for me. I would like more of a dewy glow. That dewy look just looks nice and hydrating without looking like an oil slick.
e.l.f. cosmetics is so inexpensive that I’ve given their BB cream and tinted moisturizers a try. And I have to say, the tinted moisturizer isn’t bad—I’ve said it before too. It isn’t great either. It’s ok. It’s fine. You really need to build it up to get good coverage—but you can’t build it up too much or it’ll get cakey. And yes—despite the promises of smooth skin, even tinted moisturizers can get cakey if you apply either too much or apply with a heavy hand.
The e.l.f. face makeups. I equate BB’s and tinted moisturizers with foundations–only they are extremely light. As you can see, I’ve used the Flawless Finish Foundation quite a bit. The BB cream looks well-used too but I don’t remember using it all that much. I hope Bonaparte isn’t diggin’ into my makeup!
But—e.l.f. has one of the best foundations ever for the money. Flawless Finish Foundation. At six bucks this is an absolute steal. It’s funny too because on the back of the bottle, the directions state to “Apply generously 15 minutes before sun exposure. Reapply at least every two hours”. I’m sure this is because the foundation contains SPF 15 sunscreen. Look. Any woman in her right mind would never apply a foundation generously. This is not a mask. This is a foundation. If you are that concerned about the sun (as I am because I had skin cancer on my face), you will apply sunscreen before you apply foundation. I’m sorry if I’m sounding snarky here, and I know those directions meal well, but this foundation is so great that you only need a small amount for good coverage. A small amount will last all day and again, won’t hide the fine lines, but if you blend and buff, you won’t get that cakey look. The color I use is “porcelain”. This is the foundation I bring with me if we are going away for a long weekend or a few days. If I leave it behind, I won’t freak out. Honestly, it’s a great travel foundation.
My only con with this is that the pump in the bottle is cheap and on one occasion broke. For six bucks, I can’t really complain though.
And last of all, my newest addition.
Back to Ulta. I was looking around at the foundations and a cute makeup assistant from Becca approached me. We started talking and I told her I was checking out the Becca cosmetics because I’ve heard, but never used! I also told her that cosmetics companies lie when they pontificate about what their products do.
Isn’t Melissa Luna adorable? Look how glowy her skin is! I need to go visit her again!
Well, Melissa Luna, (That’s her name! I love it—it rhymes with Oona!) suggested I try Becca’s “Aqua Luminous Perfecting Foundation”.
Aqua Luminous Perfecting Foundation. Lives up to it’s name–I’ll tell you that much!
She told me that it was a good choice for drier and more mature skin and that it went on smoothly and had good staying power. She never made a promise about disguising “fine lines”. She put a sample of the color “fair” on my cheek and it blended in well. At $44.00 for one ounce, the price was pretty much the average of a higher end foundation. But I figure it this way–it’s as though one ounce of food was 44 Weight Watchers points. I would only eat a teeny bit and make it last a long time. With this foundation, I only use 1 point worth on my face! Isn’t that a great way of looking at it?
It looks darker in the bottle but goes on so naturally and blends with my skin tone!
I’ve been wearing this as my “office” foundation since making the purchase and here’s what I think.
First of all, I am not crazy about the “dropper” method. The foundation comes in a nice looking frosted bottle. And instead of a pump bottle, you use the dropper to apply the makeup. At first I was a bit put off because of the thickness of the product. I thought that there would be an awful lot of waste with this dropper thingy.
My only “con” is this dropper. It looks thick but it isn’t. Oh well, I guess the dropper is better than having a pump break.
But—you only need a drop or two for your entire face. I apply with a dampened blender sponge then I buff. Honestly, it goes on smoothly. It actually gives off a bit of dewiness. Yeah. And, the staying power is great. Does it hide my fine lines? Hell no! But the product doesn’t get all gunky and cakey in those fine lines.
It may not hide my fine lines but this Aqua Luminous Perfecting Foundation did NOT get cakey in those lines!
Ready for work. Ugh. It was dark and pouring rain so the lighting is a bit weird but look closely, on my cheek you can see where the foundation gives a luminosity. I’m really happy with this….AND–get this….
When I came home from work ( I KNOW, I’m cross-eyed as hell. I had a lot of documentation to look over today) and washed my face, all the foundation washed off so that meant it stayed put–from 7:00 AM until 6:00 PM!
This is a tissue with the foundation that I wiped off at 6:00 PM. That is staying power!
I can definitely see a repurchase here. I’m also very happy that Luna was upfront and honest with me. She made no false promises. She agreed that it is hard to find the right foundation too. I will be visiting her again at Ulta to see what other surprises Becca cosmetics may have in store for me.
Could Becca cosmetics be a good choice overall for the mature woman? I honestly don’t know, but I do know that the Aqua Luminous Perfecting Foundation is a good one for older women.
I wasn’t too thrilled with this photo from Becca’s website. Where are the OLDER WOMEN?? I’ve already e-mailed Becca. We’ll see if I get a reply!
If you are looking for a decent foundation for the winter, check out this Becca foundation and let me know what you think? Do you have a favorite foundation? What do you look for in a foundation? I’m nosey! Let me know!
Speaking of “Good Foundations”..I watched “Love and Mercy” yesterday—the movie about Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. Paul Dano was greatness—but John Cusack was a bit miscast. Anyway the movie was great—so today I’ll give you some “Good Vibrations”!! XOXOXOXO
Filed under: Becca cosmetics, e.l.f. Tagged: Beauty, Foundations for older women