beauty

Skincare – My Routine and Thoughts

Me without makeup. If anyone was curious the breakouts on my forehead were Cetaphil-induced. My skin looks a wee bit better than this most of the time now!
Me without makeup. If anyone was curious the breakouts on my forehead were Cetaphil-induced. My skin looks a wee bit better than this most of the time now!

I was going to wait to do this video until my skin improved and my routine was flawless – like every product would have to be holy grail status – but realistically I’m never going to be using an absolutely flawless routine, nor will I ever have perfect skin (or anything close to it) and I’m the happiest with my skin that I’ve ever been (and I’ve tried a bunch of different things for my skin) so I figured I’d share. I’ve found since using these products that my overall skin clarity increased and my skin appears brightened and most of all it has become notably less irritated.

My skin tends to be rather complicated; it’s rather acne-prone (I always have a few spots on my face), extremely sensitive, and is prone to very dry patches. Although my skin is dry and dehydrated (particularly on my cheeks and sometimes on my forehead and normal to dry on my chin, nose and around my hairline), I tend to clogged pores – those little bumps that sometimes will resolve by turning into painful pimples or otherwise will just stay there. Also if I don’t use the gentlest of products, my cheeks and nose get quite red and my face becomes tight, extremely flaky, burny and itchy. My pale skin also tends to look rather dull and is prone to flaking when dehydrated. Because my rather problematic skin doesn’t simply fall into one of the traditional skin types and faces a multitude of problematic conditions, I think these thoughts, routine and products that I use could benefit people of different skin types.

In my opinion, there are five basic categories of skincare that we should have in our routines but the routines themselves will vastly differ because of our individual skin needs will be different and in my opinion, the best routine will be centered around how your skin actually is rather than how you wish it would be. These five categories are as follows: cleansing, moisturizing, exfoliating, sun-protecting and treating.

Morning routine
Morning Routine
Morning Routine

1. I cleanse my face with Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Cleanser, which is an affordable gentle cleanser with a lotion consistency that does not strip the skin whatsoever but also does not remove makeup well at all. I rinse this off with cool water with my hands to be as gentle as possible. I talk about it in more depth here –

2. I gently exfoliate with Clinique Mild Clarifying Lotion, which is an extremely gentle exfoliating toner with BHA (salicylic acid) – meaning that it can exfoliate your skin (even inside the pore) without being abrasive like a scrub would and is also more effective because the product is left on the skin. [Note: I am not usually a huge fan of Clinique products (I tried the 3 step skincare system and it was an absolute disaster) but I adore this product.] It is one of the rare exfoliating toners that is effective without costing an insane quantity of money or containing irritants such as alcohol and the like. It’s somewhere between $10-15 in the States, I believe, and in Canada it costs $16 for 200 mLs.

3. The moisturizer I use in the morning is Caudalie Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet, which is a lightweight moisturizer marketed at sensitive skin. I think this is an excellent moisturizer — it is one of the rare ones with a good texture that does not make my skin burn or turn red, I find it quite soothing actually — and the ingredients are not too bad. There are no drying alcohols (hallelujah) but still are some antioxidants in a squeezy tube that does not render the ingredients useless. My only irritation with this product is why in the world would they put fragrance in a moisturizer for sensitive skin – arghhhh. All in all it is a quite nice moisturizer for sensitive skin. It costs $39 CDN I believe for 40 mLs.

4. As we’ve all heard a million times, sun-protection is really important so I use Avene High Protection Cream. I have discovered that I tend to be sensitive to chemical sunscreens (they make my skin burn, turn red and develop unsightly bump-pimple things that take forever to go and turn into hardened bumps) so I did some research and decided to try this purely physical sunscreen. It offers really great protection for my fair skin (broad spectrum spf 50) and it is water resistant, although it leaves a rather unattractive whitish pink cast. It does not irritate mt skin in the least and retails in the 20-30 dollars CDN range for 50 mLs.

Morning Routine
Night Routine

Night Routine

1. I begin by removing my makeup on both my eyes and my face with Bioderma Sensibio H20 Micelle Solution and cotton pads. I talk about it more here –

2. I wash my face again with Neutrogena Extra Gentle Cleanser. I think that it is very important to cleanse twice (gently!) at night because there is nothing worse than remaining makeup on your skin in terms of causing acne and the like.

3. Then I move on to my treatment. I use  Stievamycin Gel every one or two days, depending on my skins current state (sensitivity and severity of blemishes). The amount I use is dependent on how my skin is at the moment. The Stievamycin Gel, a is only available if you have a prescription from your doctor and in my experience is very effective, particularly on stubborn blemishes but is very sensitizing. The product contains 0.025% tretinoin (which is a topical retinoid/ vitamin a derivative that exfoliates the outer-surface of the skin to reduce the formation of blemishes) and 4% erythromycin gel (which is an antibiotic that kills the bacteria that cause acne). My only irritation with this product is that it is formulated with an alcohol-gel base and my skin does not tolerate alcohol well, however this product is so effective that I keep on using it!

5. I like to wait at least ten minutes before applying my moisturizer, as to avoid diluting the effect of the active ingredients in the treatments I use. I’ve been using Bee By the Sea Sea Buckthorn and Honey Nourishing Face Cream,  which is a very gentle and hydrating cream that takes a while to absorb into the skin. I do not necessarily think that you must use a night cream at night and a day cream during the day – I just am using this because I have it and it helps compensate for the sensitizing treatments I put my skin through. It is very soothing, all of its fragrance coming from the sweet almond oil and rich in coconut and olive oil. It is a no-frills moisturizer filled with ingredients that work to hydrate  skin. It costs $30 CDN at health stores and beabythesea.ca. This is a godsend for irritated skin!

I’m thinking about continuing with a skincare series as I think it is so important. X

Any thoughts?

Top 13 of June 2013

makeup products
Makeup Beauty Favourites
June Beauty Favourites - Skincare and Haircare
June Beauty Favourites – Skincare and Haircare

 

1.Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in 100 Ivory: I’ve been really into natural looking glowy skin and this seems to be the perfect product for this. It provides excellent effortless light-medium buildable coverage. The shade range is atrocious, however and now that I’ve gained a wee bit of colour the lightest shade is almost perfect for my fair but not porcelain skin – I’d say that this shade is a touch lighter than a MAC NW20 and slightly more yellow.

2. Make Up For Ever 5 Concealer Cream Palette in 1: What I really like about this concealer palette is that the five colours together serve all of my concealing and correcting needs. The lightest colour is a nice brightening shade (particularly when I’m at my fairest), the second lightest shade is a perfect match for my skin which is somewhere around an MAC NW15, the yellow-toned shade is perfect for concealing blemishes that are red-toned or simply red-toned areas without having to layer a corrector with the concealer, the green correcter is perfect for correcting redness and the orange corrector is great at offsetting my frighteningly dark undereye circles. Their lasting power is good, their coverage is definitely full and they can be blended into the skin very easily. The only thing I find is that on my dry undereyes and patches, the concealer is a touch too dry.

3. MAC Harmony Powder Blush: This is a great contouring powder that suits a variety of skintones – fair to medium (and perhaps a bit darker, but I’m not completely sure). It is very pigmented and for this reason, I have to be quite careful with my application of the product and I find it easier to use when I have a bit more colour. The powder contour is a medium-toned brown with reddish undertones (without an ounce of orange in it) that creates a natural yet effective contour especially for those of us with cooler-undertones (although it still looks nice on those with neutral and warm undertones). Although it is not golden, I can use it to both contour and add a bit of colour elsewhere.

4. MAC Dazzlelight eyeshadow: The highlighting shade has a lovely sheen without being overly shimmery – I don’t feel like it contributes to shimmer overkill when worn with other shimmery colours – and is a light golden-champagne that leans quite yellow. I use it both to highlight my eyes (I have also used it as a face highlight and it worked nicely!) and as a light lid colour for everyday. It also has a really nice texture to work with.

5. NARS Kalahari eyeshadow duo: What really stands out about this duo is its smooth and blendable texture and the uniqueness of the shadows. The lighter colour on the left of the duo is a shimmery pale gold that is fairly neutral-toned but it pulls slightly cool. The darker colour on the right of the duo is a medium taupey-brown that has mauve undertones and a sheen to it. For easy and quick everyday makeup I wear the lighter shade on the lid and the darker in the crease and it looks great on my blue eyes but they also are great shadows when playing with other colours. The shadows have really great lasting power under a base/primer on my creasing-prone eye lids.

6. MAC Stereo Rose Mineralize Skinfinish: I’ve used this product in both of my looks that I’ve posted and I’ve really making good use of this product – I use it as a blush but it can also be used as a highlighter, it depends on your skintone – this month. It’s a very smooth, shimmery but not overly glittery pink-based coral with bronze-veining that lasts for a good amount of time on the skin. It’s quite a versatile colour, going with many different looks and does not require additional highlighter. It’s limited edition but has been repromoted several times – I talk about alternatives to this colour in my Naked Palette FOTD.

7. Bobbi Brown Rose Pot Rouge: Lately I’ve been using this warm rose cream product on my lips as an everyday sort of colour – it’s flattering on me without being very dramatic at all. It’s very versatile, as it can be worn with pretty much any look and I apply it in two different ways – patted onto the lips for a bit of colour or applied more intensely with a lip brush.

L-R: Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation, MUFE Concealer palette swatched from l-r as they appear in the palette, MAC Harmony, MAC Dazzlelight, Nars Kalahari, MAC Stereo Rose MSF, Bobbi Brown Rose Pot Rouge, Maybelline On Fire Red
L-R: Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation, MUFE Concealer palette swatched from l-r as they appear in the palette, MAC Harmony, MAC Dazzlelight, Nars Kalahari, MAC Stereo Rose MSF, Bobbi Brown Rose Pot Rouge, Maybelline On Fire Red – without flash
same as above with flash - I apologize for the messy swatches :)
same as above with flash – I apologize for the messy swatches 🙂

8. Maybelline ‘The Vivids’ Colorsensational Lipstick in On Fire Red: I adore the look of a red lip, but I usually find them high-maintenance and difficult to pull of but neither of the aforementioned things are issued with this lipstick. Because of the glossy but not frosty or shimmery finish of the lipstick, it is not particularly long-lasting, however on a more positive note it is a nice moisturizing formula. The colour is a bright red that leans slightly cool – it’s a very true red. Whenever I want to look glamorous and polished, I reach for this lipstick.

Note: So, I’ve been rather skincare obsessed and because of this obsession, a blog post on my routine is underway and therefore I’ll try to keep my descriptions brief.

9. Caudalie Vinosource Quendching Sorbet-Creme: This is a soothing, lightweight, fast-absorbing yet very hydrating moisturizer. I think it may be my favorite moisturizer that I have ever tried (and I’ve tried a lot). It contains antioxidants in stable packaging (which is nice) and the only downside is its inclusion of potentially-irritating fragrance.

10. Clinique Mild Clarifying Lotion: This is a really great exfoliating toner that contains 0.5% BHA (salicylic acid) to exfoliate beneath the surface of the skin and improve clarity of the skin without any of the harsh irritants (fragrance and drying alcohols). This is a very effective yet gentle chemical exfoliant.

11. Neutrogena Extra Gentle Cleanser: This is one of those extremely gentle cleansers that does not contain any of the common irritants (alcohol, detergents, etc.) and does not strip the skin whatsoever, It doesn’t lather, is somewhat difficult to rinse and does not remove makeup well but nevertheless I adore it! I mentioned this before in my Drugstore Essentials post (and will talk about it again when I talk of my routine).

12. L’Oreal Professionnel Intense Repair Nutrition Masque: I’ve always liked the L’Oreal Professional masques (although I’ve always used them as a regular conditioner) but this one by far is my favourite. I have very long hair that is curly, is prone to split ends and is rather dry and using this product I noticed a definite improvement in the health of my hair and it went months longer without developing split ends. My only annoyance is that is does contain silicones (amodimethicone- which is not water soluble but does not build up on the hair and is not an issue for me). It is ultra-hydrating, provides great slip for detangling and does not weigh my hair down. I believe it contains low amounts of protein.

13. Devacurl b’Leave In: I have an insane amount of fine-textured wavy-curly hair and this product really gives my curls a boost, making them bouncier and more voluminous. The name of the product is rather misleading as it is by no means a leave-in conditioner but rather is a leave-in protein treatment (wheat protein so not ideal for those with gluten-sensitivity) but is the only product I’ve ever tried that gives this sort of boost to my hair. It should be followed by a holding product for best results as it has no hold on its own – i also use gel and/or mousse.

I was thinking about making the top 13 essentials for every month a series – any thoughts? I would love to hear about what everybody else has been loving!

FOTD- Day to Night with Urban Decay Naked Palette

products used
products used

In the last few weeks I’ve been trying to be creative and make more use of my neglected Naked palette. The thing is I tend to find the palette too shimmery and too warm to be a palette to use for a bunch of different whole looks but I’ve been managing to create a few that I’ve liked. This one has by far been my favourite as I think it’s really pretty without being overdone, defined and versatile. This is the kind of makeup that I find suits casual days to going-out nights. It’s nothing spectacular, I just thought that I would share! 🙂

The look :)
The look 🙂
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my lip colour is off … whoops 🙂

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If you don’t have the colours I have, I’ll try to give some alternatives at the end; there’s nothing I hate more than a look I like but own none of the colours for.

Eyes:

1. I primed my eyes with Primer Potion and then I used the brush that comes in the Naked Palette to pat a good amount of Sin on the inner half of the lid and Toasted on the outer half and then blended the edges together.

2. So I sort of cheated a little – I used one shadow not in the Naked Palette. I used the darker shade of Nars Kalahari (the right side) in the crease with a fluffy blending brush.

3. I filled in my brows lightly with Buck on an angled brush.

5. I applied Hustle into the outer-v and then blended outwards with my MAC 239.

6. Using my angled liner brush again, I applied Hustle underneath my eye in the outer corner.

7. I lined my upper lashes with same brush using Darkhouse and smudged it. I also applied some on my MAC 239 brush and used it to darken the outer v.

8. I highlighted the browbone and brightened the inner corner with Virgin.

9. I used L’Oreal Voluminous mascara on my upper lashes.

I’m sorry but I maybe sort of used the same cheek and lip products as in the other look … but at least its proof of their excellence? 🙂

10. I used Rimmel Wake Me Up in 100 for my foundation which I really like the colour match for my skin, the glow it provides, its lasting power and that it’s not too noticeable.

11. I put the second-lightest colour of Make Up For Ever 5 Concealer Cream Palette – my shade is 1- underneath my eyes and onto rather pronounced blemishes.

12. I used Rimmel Natural Glow Bronzer in 021 on my cheekbones, forhead, temples, nose and blended it into my neck to bronze my face up slightly with a large blush brush.

13. I placed MAC Stereo Rose MSF on my cheeks with the same brush, blending it into the bronzer. I know this is LE, but I’ll talk about other options below 🙂

14. I put the tiniest bit of Benefit’s Girl Meets Pearl highlighter on the tops of my cheekbones.

15. With my finger, I dabbed some Bobbi Brown Rose Pot Rouge onto my lips.

This sounds long but it wasn’t and was rather quick and easy!

Alternative List

UD Sin – MAC Naked Lunch, MAC All That Glitters for darker skintones

UD Virgin – MAC Shroom, MAC Dazzlelight is a golden alternative

UD Toasted – MAC Sable is slightly darker, MAC All That Glitters is slightly lighter

Nars Kalahari (Darker Shade)  – I can’t think of anything extremely similar but UD Buck could be used in its place (if you’re warmer), MAC Charcoal Brown or Espresso – these are both matte although Kalahari has a sheen

UD Hustle – MAC Satin Taupe is similar

UD Darkhorse – Any brown darker than Hustle would work, I’ve heard Nars Cordura is similar, MAC Handwritten is similar without the shimmer but ever-so-slightly warmer, MAC Embark and Smut are also similar and they have some sheen to them

MAC Stereo Rose – MAC Springsheen is peachier, MAC Orgasm is pinker and lighter (without the bronze-ness) and Milani Coralina is slightly pinker and Rose d’Oro slightly more orange-leaning coral

Any thoughts? 🙂

Rosy Golden Makeup for Summer

products used
products used

I’ve always been interested in the makeup routine or that people tend to go for an everyday basis and I’ve never done one and lately when I want to wear a full face of makeup, I’ve been sticking to this particular look. This routine I find easy to wear and flattering on me – for reference, I’m a pale brunette (somewhere around an NW15) with blue eyes. The makeup seems to follow sort of a golden rosy motif.

note: the cheeks are far more prominent in real life!

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1. Caudalie Vinosource Sorbet-Creme: Because I have dry skin, makeup tends to last a long time on me so I don’t feel the need to use primer for longevity. I thought I’d include my moisturizer because I use it in the place of a primer.

2. Avene High Protection Cream: Because I tend to be sensitive to chemical spf, I use this purely physical one with spf 50 even though it leaves a white cast.

3. Make Up For Ever 5 Concealer Palette (1): I concealed/corrected all of my major blemishes and then touched up the remaining issues after foundation. I also put it underneath my eyes and around the inner corners.

4. Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation (100 Ivory): I applied a pump with my fingers, blending the rest into my neck. This product is rather yellow for my skin tone, by the way (which is around an NW15 or so). It lasts a long time and makes you look really glowy.

5. Rimmel Natural Bronzer (021 Sun Light): I lightly contoured my face with this bronzer.

6. MAC Mineralize Skinfinish (Stereo Rose): I applied this to the apples of my cheeks and blended towards my temples into my contour – this is a limited edition shimmery pink-coral with bronzy veining.

7. MAC Mineralize Skinfinish (Semi-Precious Pearl): I used the outer ring colour to highlight my cheekbones.

8. Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge (Rose): I put a small amount of this on my lips.

9. Maybelline Color Tattoo (Bad to the Bronze): I blended this onto my lids as a base.

10. MAC eye shadows (Dazzlelight, Woodwinked, Charcoal Brown and Club): I put Dazzlelight on the inner third of the lid as well as the browbone and Woodwinked on the rest of the lid and blended them together. I filled in my brows with Charcoal Brown lightly and applied a tiny bit of Club onto the outer corner of my bottom lashline.

11. Urban Decay (Smog and Freestyle) eye shadows: I blended Smog (which is available individually and in the Naked palette) into the outer corner of my lid). I put Freestyle into the crease to help blend the shadows – this shade is only available in the Smoked palette but any transition colour would work.

12. Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner (Perversion): I made a fine line on my top lashes and then smudged lightly.

13. L’Oreal Voluminous Mascara (Carbon Black):I put a coat or two onto my top lashes.

With the exception of the lips, this makeup lasts all day on me. However, as I have extremely oily eyelids, I would apply eye primer and might powder my t-zone if I were to want my makeup to not budge for 16 hours or more and last through blood, sweat and tears kind of thing (well maybe not tears but you get the idea).

Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation Review

Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation is one of those cult products that everyone seems to love and swear by, so when Sephora put on the $15 dollars off promotion last December I was hooked. Everyone on the planet seemed to be raving about this foundation, claiming that it provided flawless coverage while leaving your skin looking incredibly natural. The back of the package reads: “the ultimate in flawless natural coverage. Silk Creme Foundation is a beautiful, light-diffusing formula offering advanced light-reflection properties which cause fine lines and wrinkles to optically vanish. Laura created an innovative foundation that delivers flawless, buildable coverage in a long wearing rich hydrating base”. Summing this up, Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation is marketed as a radiant foundation that can provide full coverage that looks natural without being drying – it most certainly does not cause fine lines and wrinkles to vanish (not that I have any).

On me, this foundation provides medium coverage and it is buildable, but the crux of the problem here is that on my skin (which tends to get dry and flaky), I cannot build the coverage past medium (and I do have to be careful with the product n general) without the foundation looking really unnatural on me. I would agree with the claim that the foundation is hydrating, which is a nice change of pace for a foundation that offers good coverage.

In my humble opinion, the texture of this foundation leaves much to be desired; sure it’s lovely to feel the lightweight silky cream texture on the hand and it does feel lightweight on the face, but if anything comes into contact with your face, the foundation will rub-off and transfer. It strikes to me that this foundation sets but doesn’t feel like it sets; it feels like wearing a coloured cream on your skin that never quite sinks in. For you glasses-wearers out there, (myself included) I will warn you that because this foundation tends to transfer, it will rub the foundation from the bridge of your nose onto your glasses, leaving a rather disgusting film on your glasses and foundation-less red marks on your face – glasses tend to rub product off when I wear other foundations but not to such a degree as when I wear Laura Mercier Silk Creme.

This may seem rather redundant at this point, but because of the feel of the foundation and the fact that it transfers easily, I find that it needs to be set with a powder. However I find that I lose the satin finish of the foundation that I think is quite nice when I powder it (no matter how lightly) – it is worthy to note that powder does help in terms of the feel of the product itself on the skin.

I applied slightly less than a pea-sized amount of the foundation to my face and neck with a dampened sponge in the morning and ten hours later, the product was still going strong albeit a little faded perhaps — I’ve included pictures at the bottom. I think that Laura Mercier Silk Creme has good lasting power but not amazing; on my dry/dehydrated skin, almost anything will last all day. I did find as the foundation wore, the product settled even more into my dry patches. IMO, the lasting power of this foundation does not rival something like Make Up For Ever HD in terms of longevity.

I picked up my Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation in Rose Ivory at Sephora. It retails for $43 in the US and $55 in Canada. The shade range is not great, however the shades tend to be good for fairer skin tones (there are three fair shades) and the shades tend to lean yellow. The foundation comes in ten shades, suitable for fair to medium skintones. Sephora seems to only carry eight of these shades – Soft Ivory (the fairest shade) and Peach Ivory (light to medium rose-toned shade) are missing from their selection. The foundation comes in 35 mL squeezy-top packaging.

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same as above, but this photo is taken in the artificial light of my bathroom
same as above, but this photo is taken in the artificial light of my bathroom
All of my makeup on (inc. powder) three hours after initial application
All of my makeup on (inc. powder) three hours after initial application
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after ten hours (no touch-ups)
Foundation swatches on my arm in natural light, from top to bottom: Laura Mercier Silk Creme in Rose Ivory, Rimmel Wake Me Up in Ivory and MUFE HD in 115
Foundation swatches on my arm in natural light, from top to bottom: Laura Mercier Silk Creme in Rose Ivory, Rimmel Wake Me Up in Ivory and MUFE HD in 115

Verdict: Although this foundation is quite pricy, I do recommend it as a medium-plus coverage foundation for slightly dry to somewhat oily complexions with the warning that it tends to transfer and the longevity is not amazing. I would not recommend it to someone with truly dry skin as it does settle into dry patches (and I would imagine it would do the same with fine lines) or to someone with really oily skin as it is so creamy.

I hope you enjoy and would love to hear for any product recommendations!

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Thank you for your response. ✨

MAC Studio Careblend Pressed Powder Review

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MAC Studio Careblend Pressed Powder in Light
MAC Studio Careblend Pressed Powder in Light

A few weeks ago, I picked up the Studio Careblend pressed powder at MAC and as I knew it had been out for a year or two and I had not heard much about it, I decided to do a review. On their website MAC describes the product as “formulated to provide a smooth, virtually invisible, fresh-looking finish, this soft cream-like powder is carefully blended to provide the skin with extra care, nourishment and comfort” and I was fairly skeptical about the product. However, I needed a new powder and as powders can be fairly problematic for my dry and very sensitive acne-prone skin, I picked this one up, knowing that I could return it when it undoubtedly would either irritate my skin or break me out (and I hate wasting money on products that I can’t use).

Note: In Canada, you generally cannot return products that you’ve used.

After trying this for a few weeks, I can safely say that the Studio Careblend pressed powder from MAC is a good setting powder for those of us with dry and/or sensitive skin. However, take my opinion on this products merit for those of us with sensitive with a grain of salt; any ingredient in any product can break somebody out regardless of whether or not the ingredients are considered non-irritating or non-acnegenic. With that being said, I think this is a good option for sensitive skin regardless — many MAC face products (particularly powders… ahem…. studio fix powder …) either break me out or simply irritate my skin and this one definitely does not.

I am always skeptical of the claims made about beauty products in their descriptions of them — a powder is not ever going to so-called “provide the skin with extra care, nourishment and comfort” in my opinion/ experience. Like any other powder in the universe, this powder has the potential to look cakey and is visible on the skin, however I found Studio Careblend to set makeup excellently with a velvety feel on the skin and provide a surprisingly nice soft matte finish. This powder does not set and mattify your makeup with the cost of losing all of your radiance, somehow it allows both.

It is worthy to note that although this powder is geared towards drier skins, it can highlight flaky patches, similar to most face products that I have ever tried. MAC Studio Careblend provides sheer coverage that I am sure can be built up for fuller coverage. [Note: As I have skin that tends to be dry and flaky, I do not use powders on their own (as foundation) and therefore I cannot attest to their longevity and appearance on their own]. I found that when I used the powder to set my foundation, it made my face makeup feel undetectable on my skin, eliminating that dreaded ‘foundation’ feel, as well as making my makeup look fresher and last all day – keep in mind here, my skin tends to be dry so in general foundations last a long time on my skin.

I generally wear this powder over the top of Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation and occasionally Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation. I picked MAC Studio Careblend powder for $29 dollars CDN in the shade light, which was undetectable on my roughly NC15 skin.

Warning: selfie overload (as much as I loathe that word)

This is how the powder looks on top of Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation (I'm wearing Ivory) in the harsh light of my bathroom.
This is how the powder looks on top of Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation (I’m wearing Ivory) in the harsh light of my bathroom — I apologize about the red eyes
This is how the powder looks topped over Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation (I'm wearing Rose Ivory), photographed in natural light
This is how the powder looks topped over Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation (I’m wearing Rose Ivory), photographed in natural light
Ugh, I cannot believe I'm showing this but here is: late night picture of me wearing the powder over my Rimmel WMU foundation again up close and personal on a not-so-flattering flaky and spotty skin day.
Ugh, I cannot believe I’m showing this but here is: late night picture of me wearing the powder over my Rimmel WMU foundation again up close and personal on a not-so-flattering flaky and spotty skin day.

Verdict: If you are looking for a powder to set your makeup (or offer very minimal coverage) with a natural, soft-matte finish and velvety texture, particularly if you have drier skin, I recommend this powder for you. Any thoughts on this product, or MAC face products in general?

Salutations, as always!