Let's Chat Makeup-Primers & Liquid Foundations- Winter Edition

Confesssion: I am a MAKEUP JUNKIE. Specifically a foundation or mascara junkie.

It's weird b/c it's not like I do all these different "looks" or cool ways to do new things with makeup.

I just like finding the HG products. 

HG=Holy Grail.

Like, the ONLY product you'll EVER use forever kind of products. 

Am I the only one that does that? Please tell me no. 

Sephora is literally like 5 mins away. It's a problem. No really. It is.

They all know my name & my children. One of the girls & I have made "friends" & follow each other on instagram. 

Don't judge. Please. 

So let's chat primer & foundation. 

I feel like this is a good place to start since it's the "canvas" & all. 

First lemme tell you about my skin type. 

Combination with oily t-zone & large pores in other areas & cheeks & some occasional dryness. 

Crazy all over the place & high maintenance when it comes to makeup. My skin care regimen has made a dramatic difference & I'll have a whole separate blog post on that. 

Winter has given me skin that can get dry throughout the day in spots but oily in others. Stupid. Crazy stupid. Right now, it's super dry so I have to moisturize REALLY well if I'm going to wear a mattifying foundation. 

Oddly enough, I'm sampling a certain powder foundation that I'm officially obsessed with that I will be sharing in a post of it's own in the next couple weeks!

So primer has been my best friend for keeping my makeup looking fresh for longer. Heck, I need primer all the time b/c I'm wicked oily in Spring-Fall. 

My favorites are Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer & Benefit POREfessional for this season. Summer is a whole other ball game when it comes to primers for me so when it starts to warm up, you better believe I'll be sharing about my warm weather makeup products. 

To minimize my oil, I dap a tiny bit of Paula's Choice Shine Stopper on my cheek area & my t-zone first. 

**I do have a $10 off your FIRST Paula's Choice order link. It's HERE.**

The Hourglass Veil Mineral primer is dreamy. It's like angel lotion for my face. It's a white velvety lotion type primer that tones down redness, minimizes pores some & can control oil a bit. It creates the most beautifully smooth canvas for applying foundation. It makes foundation last SO much longer & IT'S GLUTEN FREE! Since I have a gluten intolerance that reeks havoc on my skin, that is important to me. 

The Benefit POREfessional is the best thing ever for my large pores on my cheeks & crease of my nose. Seriously amazing. I apply this in a patting motion just in those areas after I have applied my Hourglass Veil Mineral primer everywhere else. 

Now onto my winter foundation favorites. 

Before I buy any makeup product, I consult Paula's Choice Beautypedia Reviews. If it has a rating of good-best, I would consider that product. Anything average or below, I definitely don't purchase.

I love love love Makeup Forever Mat Velvet Plus. I am shade 20 in the winter & shade 30 in the Spring-Summer. I will preface with this. I don't need a full coverage foundation anymore b/c of my new skincare regimen & going gluten free. So no foundation I use is super heavy looking. Mat Velvet is definitely light weight feeling & I love that. I don't want to "feel" like I have makeup on my face...nor do I want to really look super makeup-y. I know that is not a word. Lets move on. Mat Velvet hasn't broken me out either! I am super sensitive to a products ingredients & my skin totally gets mad at me if it doesn't like it. I was testing out a BB cream & it contained alcohol. By the end of the day, I had 4 pimples & they were the kind that I literally felt happening. Alcohol is any face product is NO GOOD! I'll cover that is a different post. So I love Mat Velvet plus! For me, it looks like a perfected layer of skin when I apply it with a light hand using either my stippling brush or my beauty blender. It controls my oil nicely as well. I always have to blot about 4-5 hrs in but wearing this, there is MUCH less oil on the paper & once I've blotted, the foundation looks perfect again. Also, as the day goes on & into the evening, as the oils in my fave break the makeup down, it never looks cakey or heavier than it did earlier in the day. It also lasts a crazy good amount of time. Pretty much all day for me. Now, I still touch up with powder & blot but that is part of having oily/combo skin. 

There are two drug store foundations that I've been loving lately as well. 

Revlon Nearly Naked & L'Oreal True Match. NN is uber light way & super skin like! The finish is lovely & slightly dewy. I really LOVE it. I just had to blot & powder more when I wear it but I don't mind. True Match is a bit more coverage than NN. It leaves a more matte finish than NN too but not as oil controlling as Mat Velvet. Did you follow that? The shade range for NN & True Match definitely out do Mat Velvet. True Match is like the king of all shade matching foundations. They have different "spectrums" for whatever undertone you have. Warm, Neutral, Cool. I use a warm (yellow) one. And within those undertones, they have loads of shades! It wears really well throughout the day too just not has long wearing or oil controlling at Mat Velvet so I have a powder with me & blot papers to take care of that...but again, that is the norm for me. 

My favorite way to apply liquid foundation is my Beauty Blender or my E.L.F. stippling brush. The application is super light as long as you use a light hand & not much foundation. Super natural looking & easy to use. 

I've really enjoyed trying new foundations, even if there are a lot of hit & misses along the way. When you find that HG product or products that you love, it feels so good! Finding something that makes you feel amazing about your skin is HUGE. 

So next post...my skin care regimen maybe? Leave me some comments below on what you'd like to see in the "Lady-Like" category. If you'd like me to do detailed reviews of any of these products, leave that in the comments below as well!