Review| Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Palette

 

Anastasia Beverly Hills and her palettes are wildly popular within the blogging community, but I've never found them to have the *best* formulation or combination of colors and tones...until now. The Modern Renaissance ($42 at Sephora, Ulta, Macy's) palette is divine. It really snuck up on me, because I had sworn to myself that I don't really need another palette of warm neutrals. In reality, I definitely only have dupes of maybe 4 or 5 shades of this palette in the form of single pots.

First Look| the NEW Make Up For Ever Water Blend Foundation

I recently picked up a sample of Make Up For Ever's newest reformulation: the Water Blend Foundation ($43) to replace the very popular Face and Body. I've used through bottles of the old stuff even though #32 was much peachier than my liking. Now, there's a much larger shade range of 20 and the formula doesn't smell like chloroform. 

First Look| Covergirl Clean Matte BB Cream in 530 Light Medium

 In the summertime I tend to oscillate wildly between loving ALL TEH BASE MAKEUPZ solid bulletproof coverage or  #Iwokeuplikedisnobasejustflawless sheer coverage. Base tends to glop up rather quickly in humidity for me and my skin turns into a true combination type when it gets hot.

Covergirl's Ready Set Gorgeous Foundation is a big drugstore hit in my book when it comes to lightweight demi-matte formulas, so I spared no time tracking down their newest Clean Matte BB Cream ($8.49 at drugstores). The only problem with Covergirl, and many other drugstore brands, is often the abysmal shade range and lack of olive undertones.

Somewhat fortunately, the Clean Matte BB comes in 6 shades from Fair to Deep and I chose Light Medium 530 for my NC30 skin. Covergirl's shade range is notoriously pink but Light Medium is a yellow leaning neutral beige that matches me. Light looks to be pink leaning and Medium is much too orange/golden for me. Although it's marketed as a "BB", there is no SPF or skincare benefits in this formula and you should rely on a separate product for sun protection.

I've swatched UD Naked Skin Foundation in 4.0 (most olive), MAC Waterweight in NC30 (most peach), Covergirl Matte BB in 530 Light/Medium, and L'oreal Pro Glow in 205. I think it's a neutral yellow. In direct sunlight, you can tell that it's more "grey" than my cool yellow neck.

This is outdoor lighting. 

Indoor lighting. 

Flash. 

Once again, Covergirl managed to impress me with a budget friendly base that offers great coverage and wears beautifully on the skin. The packaging is simple and sanitary and the product has no strong scent.

Coverage: This BB cream offers a solid medium coverage. It will hide redness and slightly pigmented spots, but a concealer is needed for blemishes. I find that I still need a bit of under eye concealer after one coat, but this BB can also be built up in thin layers. I use about 2 pea size dots for the entire face.

Wear: I choose to set this BB down for maximum wear time, but I've worn it alone for 5 hours of perfect wear and slight oil breakthrough on my t-zone at the 8 hour mark. It's really perfect for running errands, more natural skin days, or anytime you don't want to worry about your skin looking *too* perfected. I find it to be very similar to the RSG foundation, but Light-Medium is decidedly more yellow than the shades from that range.

Finish: The demi-matte finish can look flat on the drier parts of my skin, but it doesn't cake up or bunch into fine lines, textural issues, or pores. You can let change it to a "satin" finish by letting your natural oils peek through, not setting the product, and/or mixing it with a liquid luminizer or lotion. I prefer to wear an iridescent blush with this base to add some life back into my skin.

Here's a freshly applied layer.

Clean Matte BB won't be a great hit for dry skin types this summer, but anyone from normal to oily will find it agreeable. I personally find myself reaching for it on a daily basis! It performs like a mid-range foundation with a wallet friendly price tag.

xo Be

First Look| L'oreal Pro Glow Foundation

The L'oreal Pro Matte Foundation is basically a cult classic at this point and I've ran through two tubes even with a self proclaimed dry skin type. So, when the L'oreal Pro Glow foundation ($12.99) began to blow up on YouTube, I was beyond ecstatic to see if it could be a potential Holy Grail.

Ingredients are listed inside a sticker. 

Based on Trendmood's swatches, I thought that 202 Creamy Natural would be a match for a cool olive NC20. However, it looks to be a neutral NC15! The middle range of shades seem to be very similar, but 205 Natural Beige is the most olive yellow match for NC30-35 and is my current match.

I've got Dior Forever 21, UD Naked in 4.0, L'oreal Pro Glow in 205 and 202 swatched in direct sunlight.

Indoors with flash. I repeat, 202 is NOT a cool yellow/olive!! Looks like a neutral NC17-20 to me. 205 is a true NC30, as MAC formulates their liquid bases, in terms of depth and golden hue. It doesn't look completely stark against my tan body, but I could stand to blend it down my cool boiled chicken neck. 

A lot of bloggers and YouTtubers claim that it gives a medium-full coverage but maintains a satin leaning dewy finish on the skin.  At this point, a lot of drugstore base products are rivaling the performance (and price!) of mid range and high end ones. I'd have to say that a lot of consumers are upset at the abysmal shade range and tonal variety (50 shades of medium pinks, anyone?) The Pro Glow line is generally much less "yellow" than the matte line.

Beware, it smells strongly of alcohol but  the scent dissipates within 10 seconds or so. 

Consistency: The foundation is a true liquid that's easy to blend and easier to over-squeeze. It's much more runny than the Pro Matte, so use a light hand with the squeeze tube. I would suggest using a damp Beauty Blender rather than a buffing brush with this foundation. It seems to like a pounce motion rather than a sweep/swirl motion to blend best with your skin. I like the finish best with a very thin layer applied with a BeautyBlender.

Coverage: Solid medium. It could be full if you don't have major hyper-pigmentation. I found that it only slightly hid my dark spots and blemishes but completely evened out my skin. Concealer is needed for dark circles.

You can decide for yourself how natural it looks on bare skin.

Wear: This is where this base falls short. It tended to pool into my pores (even the smallest ones), patched up by mid-day, and looked absolutely terrible on peach fuzz. Not to mention, it managed to direct eye traffic to sebaceous filaments on my nose! I've tried it with and without moisturizer/primer/powder, but a multitude of layered products couldn't solve the poor wear time and appearance on the skin.

Here it is, looking innocuously smooth upon dry down. I wish it could STAY this way for 9 hours. Can you say miracle drugstore foundation?

The "glow" factor, however, remained true throughout the day without getting greasy. I would say that the Pro Glow will not work with poor skin texture that often comes with dry skin, and it may work better for those with combination skin types who wants a bit of glow without looking absolutely greasy.

Here it is set under makeup after 2-3 hours. It's not full coverage enough for my chin breakouts, and I suspect it may have given me clogged pores. It seems like a dupe of Too Faced Born This Way foundation in terms of texture and wear on the skin if you ask me. If that was a big hit for you, you'll love how this is a cheaper alternative.

WHOMP WHOMP.



Overall, this was a huge miss for me. I would've really preferred something more forgiving to the rough texture that my skin is currently experiencing. Fine lines? In it goes. Pimples? Tada!

xo Be