Makeup – Of Foundations and Lip Glosses

It has been some time since I updated and I have Oh!! So much to write about. Shiny shoes fit for Indian weddings. Dull shoes fit for job interviews. Flat shoes for the daily trudge on the awful Indian roads.  Just so, so much! And of course, there are the zillion shoes that I bought and almost-bought.

But then, they will need pictures. And I am not carrying the pictures. And I don’t have time to get more pictures. So what I will do is, retrieve those pictures from my camera, and then write in details about my shoe spree.

Meanwhile, I have really experimented with some make-up stuff. Let me write about that. Afterall, if you like reading about shoes, I am sure you do apply some makeup sometime? Don’t you? And just these last few months I have made some small, but interesting purchases. I am going to break it up into two posts, else it will be just too long!

Foundation

MAC is pretty new in India. However, it has caught my fancy and of-late I needed a foundation. I must say the foundation–concealer of Mac is awesome. It’s long lasting and covers any slight blemishes that you may have. Of course, I am talking about Mac Studio Fix Fluid Foundation.  Just pop into one of the stores and ask the lady there to give you the perfect shade. I would advise going for a darker shade to look more natural once it is on, and then pat on some powder to make it set. Also, note that this is the liquid one I am talking of, and not the powder. The compact / powder one gives a matte finish but I preferred this to act as a slight concealer as well. And liquid foundations (IMO) spread better.

The only thing about this foundation I find a little inhibitory for regular use. It looks like I have some foundation on. Yes, that sounds weird, but that’s how it is. Perhaps this is because I am used to a sunscreen-loose powder look, but still. It makes my face look perfect (which is great) but also a little too perfect for every day. A little on the made-up side, if you can understand what I mean.

So, this purchase has resulted in my foundation count becoming – Three! Yes, I have three foundations. And once upon a time, I just had one, and then at another long point of time, none! Gee.

See, I am a little wary of anything sitting on my skin for more than a couple of hours. Being super sensitive to most products, I rather leave my skin breathe as far as possible. Use of foundation on a daily basis had aggravated my skin trouble and then I had completely stopped, making my skin return to its normal self. But then, for evenings out, for parties, for speakerships, for important work relating to senior customer meetings and for any such formal, important occasions I would still prefer to look a little more perfect than I am, not to mention professional. And hence I went looking for a foundation.

So, after a consultation with my dermatologist, I shortlisted on getting mineral based powder foundation. Rationale? I was using loose powder on a regular basis, and did not want anything that would clog my pores. A powder based foundation fitted the bill perfectly. So, after much deliberation and try-outs, I ended up with the L’Oreal Bare Naturale Powdered Mineral Foundation (that’s a mouthful!)

To test out its suitability on my skin, I left it on for a whole evening before going and purchasing it the next day – to ensure I had no allergic reaction. And I did not.

The foundation is great. It’s not a great cover; it just provides a better finished look than a bare face – if you know what I am talking of. But for my requirements, it was perfect. I needed something light, leaving enough room for my skin to breathe, and looked natural enough for semi-regular wear without looking made-up. And I loved the packaging!

Only problem? In a humid environment, when I would tend to be out in the Mumbai monsoon, or heat, my skin would reject it. I get a little itchy and prefer to wash it off. Also, its not a great base for additional makeup. So, it’s a great wear in autumn/winter months, or for the time when I know I wont be exposed to external humid environment.

The brush is great, and its fun to apply it. If you don’t have a very sensitive skin like mine, you can definitely go for it for daily wear.

And then a few months ago I was traveling, and I needed a foundation – having forgotten mine at home. So I went for a Japanese brand I had not heard of. It was cheap(er), it looked good and I was somehow assured of the quality. And I have conveniently forgotten its name. I will put it up the moment I can. Promise.

So this foundation is packaged in a nice little bottle with the squirt top, covered in a lovely light green packaging – quite attractive. And then, the foundation. It is not as great as the Mac (which is the reason I got it) but it is definitely better than some other I have tried. It really stays on for a long time, and it is a good natural foundation. It does not act as a concealer, but it forms a good base make-up and it feels light and perfect for my skin. This is my favourite foundation for regular wear in any weather! Got to go somewhere quick? I just slap some of the foundation on, and Im set to go!

Lip-wear

Enough about foundations. The other thing that I obsess over is lipwear. I am finicky about lipsticks and love having a variety of colours around. However, my lips crack really fast, and I tend to eat up my lipsticks. Even when I don’t eat them up, they just disappear! I talk – and whoosh! The lipstick’s gone! The ones that stay for a long time dry out my lips faster than any lip balm can cure them. So, though I apply them in the morning and before meetings, I have given up on them for a through-the-day look. For that I rely on my lipbalm.

I have been a faithful user of Himalaya Lip balm. Its awesome. It can heal dry lips in a day if applied every few hours. And its not too sticky. The only problem? I always bought two fo them because I never knew when it will be out of stock. Himalaya needs to sort out their distribution system for their lip balms!

So, once I found them difficult to procure, I started alternating with Vaseline lip balm. It’s good too. Good ole paraffin! But it’s a little sticky. On the plus side, it can be used for any kind of dry skin in a hurry, and many times I have used the lip balm for my hands.

So imagine my delight when I was walking down a shop and saw this lovely pink coloured tube – Vaseline Lip Care, Rosy Glow! This is the same goodness as Vaseline lip balm, but has some added pigment. So, when I apply it, it manages to look like a natural gloss while nourishing my lips. I’m just too thrilled with it! There are a few colour variants and I think you can choose which you want on the basis of your skin colour. This has now become a staple in my purse.

The applicator end is slanted, but it is too runny to use directly from the tube. Then I end up squeezing too much and look like a bloodsucking vampire or something. So I use it with my fingertips (you can see in the picture how liquid-y it is).

On application it feels cool and mentholated, which makes me feel very fresh – a very nice touch on such a simple product. It feels a little sticky on lips, but I think about all the good it is doing, and let it be 🙂

However, a lip gloss look-alike is not good enough when it comes to the need of a full blown lipstick for a meeting. And I have always carried a sturdy one in my purse. With the amount of movement that my purse goes through, a normal gloss container usually cracks and then I have gloss all over the insides of the purse. And most of the times the cover of the lipstick cracks or opens up.

So this time, when my Maybelline gloss-finish natural looking pink lipstick finished, I headed to the store and ended up in…Lakme! When was the last time you bought anything Lakme? Apart from some nailpolish remover and loose powder, I cant remember. But they had this amazing lipstick product called ‘aquashine’.

This is supposed to provide lip balm effects as well, but I don’t know about that. What I do know is, the applicator is amazing. It has a foam applicator which needs you to push out the lipstick gel through small holes in it by twisting the pen. And the angle is perfect for putting it on the lips. The cover closes with a definitive click and as of now I don’t see any chances of it spilling. Its sturdy and looks like a rather fat ball point pen.

The colours are tame – mostly earthy shades, but they have a gloss finish. They are quite thick in consistency and so, even though they are gloss finish, the colour sits long on my lips. Which is just perfect for me! And because it sits long, it is glossy and it imparts colour to my lips, I find it great. Also, the thick consistency ensures that my lips don’t crack too often as evaporation is to a minimum.

As of now, I am loving each of the products and am quite satisfied. They are all meant for different uses, and are motly economical.

Vaseline rosy care serves the purpose of some lip colour in office while hydrating my lips, the himalaya lip balm helps me combat extreme dry lips. the aquashine lip gloss is perfect for a quick application before a meeting!

And I carry all of them in my purse! See how depleted the Himalaya lip balm looks? I will soon need another vaseline rosy glow. This is quite near its end, even though it doesnt show it. The aquashine is still quite new and I hope to get many many applications out of it still! It is the only one above INR 300 here, the other two are in two-digit prices!

For my next installment, I will write about eye shadows and lip liners 🙂 Till then, au revoir, and enjoy your lip glosses and foundations!