I'm so obsessed with base products that I can literally get anxious about matching my foundation when the weather starts to change. Why?
Cold and dry air + Lack of sun = Very miserable Be with lots of dry patches, flakes, bumpy skin, and terribly chapped lips. Not to mention I become deathly pale (ok like NC20 but still) and my olive undertones make me look like Lord Voldemort.
Humidity in the air + Lots of sun = I'm sweating buckets in an air conditioned room, my foundation looks like it's melting, I'm tanner than leather and I have to blot every three seconds. My skin rarely burns but instead tans like crazy. I can go from NC30 to NC40 in a single day trip to the park.
But y'know what, Benefit's Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation ($34) has been a good friend through sun and rain.
I actually picked this up because I knew that when I moved back to San Jose I would be maintaining my skin tone or even get lighter. My skin gets drier, so I wanted a dewy finish foundation that would help me maintain a glow. My mom uses this on a daily basis since it has SPF 25 but she has oily skin, so I was curious to know if it could survive the seasons.
Out of the measly 8 colors on display, I swatched Petal and Champagne. The latter seemed to be a smidge more orange but also paler. I guestimated Petal to be around NC25 since it is the second lightest color they had.
Strangely when I went home to swatch it on my face, it was so incredibly yellow that it seemed to mask my super pale face and match more to my neck. It didn't look incredibly off with my chest area either! WTH WITCHCRAFT.
This foundation has risen to the place of my "daily" foundation, replacing my Smashbox CC cream. Everything about it is "just good, not great", but somehow I'm compelled to reach for it every morning.
I think that its strong yellow tones can stretch it from NC25 to NC35 easily. Even if I get a little sun or hide in my troll cave, it still works. I don't know how and I don't know why but me likey...
It has SPF25 which is a good bonus to my moisturizer with SPF30 and I think it's lightweight on the skin for light to medium (buildable) coverage. You can still see some of my darkest broken caps, but any redness or uneven skin tone is covered. It's good for when you want to look polished but not made up.
Right now I like its ultra-dewy finish, so I leave it alone and only powder my T-zone. It looks super healthy and glowy so no need for highlighter afterwards. There is still a dimension to my face with this foundation. If I don't wanna do the dew I simply set with a mattifying powder which also prolongs the wear time.
It's a little on the runny side and I don't like how it gets the white pump dirty so quickly, but I find application with a buffing brush to be the best idea. It lasts for a decent 6 hours and doesn't look like I've dipped my face in bacon grease at the end of the day. It simply fades away slowly and evenly around the face. There isn't any caking around the nose or settling into my lines either. In fact, it hides my laugh line!
This is one coat of the foundation over Smashbox Hydrating Primer and set with Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused.
I know, it sounds like I'm selling it for more than it is. The biggest weakness of Hello Flawless is that it's not flawless, not by a long shot. I still need additional concealer and wish the lasting power was longer. Not to mention, I feel like the drugstore dupe (Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation) is just as good for half the price, with better coverage!
I think that once the dead of winter draws nigh, I'll be clutching onto this foundation for dear life. For now, the extra powdering and concealing will have to do.
xo Be
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