September-FundamentalsFoundation and PowderWhat I Tried:
When I first started I really did not know what to look for in a foundation. I didn't know to look for high pigment, coverage, type of finish, or whether it is build-able. This was before going to IMATS, before realizing there were amazing people out there blogging about makeup, and sharing their expertise on you-tube.
So blindly, for my first project, I just went with
L'Oreal True Match foundation. They were really inexpensive, and I had used them personally. I purchased just a few bottles: their lightest and darkest shade and a few in between. They are pretty blendable so they were easy to mix, but really they were so sheer it didn't really matter what color I used. In retrospect, it was probably the worst drugstore one I could have purchased. It was too sheer, had a slightly ashy finish and started to fade and break apart in a few hours.
After that, I went through a lot of videos on the topic and foundation product reviews, both high end and low end. Getting the skin right really is the most important part. Even if you don't like looking all dolled up all the time, everyone wants a beautiful, clear, natural looking complexion. And because it is so important, everyone has a video on it. Here are some of my favorites on this topic.
MakeupbyRenRenI discovered
MakeupbyRenRen recently and I think she is my new favorite. Here she covers everything for a whole face, from priming to finishing with powder and adding a little highlighting and contouring.
I ended up purchasing a smaller version of the palette used in the video so I could get a feel for it before committing to the full size palette. It is so much easier to find the right color by holding it up and then swatching, rather than going through individual bottles and comparing.
Temptress blended right in (4th one down).
PixiwooI like this video by
Pixiwoo because she goes through a few drugstore brands. Not all of them are terrible after all, but they are sometimes hard to pick out since you can't test them. Ultimately, you buy a product for what is on the inside, not the brand on the outside. She takes you through what to look for on the inside. And I love that she actually tests them and lets you see what they look like, rather than just talking about what they are like.
GossMakeup ArtistThis is kind of an older one, but it is true to the title. Basics of Foundation and Powder. I've been watching Goss for a while and have yet to find a video I didn't learn something useful from.
What I learned:
While I would love to own the entire
Make Up For Ever HD foundation, it is not realistically in my price range. Considering it runs $40 a bottle, I couldn't even justify getting even one bottle in my own color. I practice every night, so I needed a cheaper alternative to play with. I opted for
Revlon Color Stay after several reviews stated it was comparable to the MUFE line, at 1/4 the price. Its fairly pigmented and has pretty full coverage. But, you do have to blend quickly or it becomes impossible to blend. It doesn't feel cakey, but I definitely can still feel it on. But it does lasts longer than any other drugstore brand I have tried. MUFE obviously has a wider color range, and the option of trying it on before you buy. But when I took a sample home, I honestly didn't see that much of a difference, not a $30 difference anyway. It's not that MUFE isn't fantastic, it's just that Revlon Color Stay is just fine for what I was doing.
But I won't be toting around all 30 MUFE bottles, or even 15 Revlon bottles around with me. I needed something that would give me a full color range and was cheap enough to practice with. I love Kevin James Bennett's
In My Kit. It is such a great place to start if you are looking for the biggest bang for your buck when stocking your kit.
That being said, Revlon was fine for practicing at home, and even a recent media promo I did, since the actors needed to look like regular people. However, I needed a more professional brand that I could use on various project. The nice people over at
Frends in North Hollywood were great and helped me decide between RCMA and Graftobian. I went with Graftobian because it is a little creamier, so it is easier to handle. It also doesn't require a mixing medium. What a difference using a highly pigmented project makes. Just take a look below.
It covers beautifully, photographs great and a tiny bit goes a long way. For a natural day look, you can just use your fingers to apply it, since the warmth from your hands helps blend it. You could also use a foundation brush to buff it in, like you would with any liquid foundation, for a ultra polished look. I used a dry sponge in the store and loved the coverage. But I like my foundation to take drab skin to just more radiant and even skin, so I use a damp sponge. I then set by dusting on translucent powder, not colored pressed powder which can look a little too made up. The wet sponge helps sheer it out and make it look more like skin, and since it has so much pigment to begin with, it still deposits a lot of color. Even when sheered out, it is still far more pigmented that any drugstore brand, or even high-end department store brand. And the best part is, it is super affordable.
Graftobian, you have made a convert out of me.
