Makeup and Beauty Blog: Makeup Reviews, Beauty Tips and Drugstore Beauty Finds

When it comes to finding foundation colors that match my skin tone, I sometimes feel like a brown Goldilocks. Paul & Joe foundation? Too yellow. Maybelline Pure Makeup? Way too pink.

I’ve struggled to find the right in-between shade that doesn’t make my face look ashy or sallow. If you have the same foundation color woes, then you just might dig my two new fave foundations, Becca Luminous Skin Colour tinted moisturizer ($40.00) and Becca Stick Foundation ($39.00). Both create a perfect, natural foundation look for neutral skin tones.

Becca Luminous Skin Colour in the shade Nut, with Becca Stick Foundation in Coffee

Becca Cosmetics, an Australian line known for its extensive range of foundations and powder shades, can help you achieve a flawless, natural-looking and long-lasting foundation look. But be forewarned, Becca believes you’ve got to use multiple products: primer, tinted moisturizer, stick foundation and powder.

In addition to foundation for neutral skin tones, Becca has a wide range of foundation colors — pink, yellow and warm shades — for other skin tones. If you have skin with a neutral tone like I do, with skin that’s neither pink/red nor yellow/gold dominating your skin color, it can be really hard to find a foundation because so many of them are rarely true neutral.

Combining several $40 products seems like an expensive, time-consuming endeavor. The skeptic in me originally thought this was just clever marketing, but after a few weeks of using both the Luminous Skin Colour tinted moisturizer and the Stick Foundation, I’m really digging this combination because the color matches my skin perfectly. They’re also easy to use and don’t break me out.

How to work it

I’m a total lazy beast, so here’s my quick and dirty guide to how I use Becca foundation. These steps take about four minutes if I’m in a hurry.

1. Prep skin with moisturizer and sunscreen.
2. Blot excess.
3. If I have time, I’ll start by applying a layer of Laura Mercier Oil-Free primer, but I usually skip this step.
4. Apply 1-2 pumps of Becca Luminous Skin Color all over face with fingers.
5. Put a few dabs of Stick Foundation on fingers and rub between fingers to warm up product. Apply only to areas where color needs to be evened out; on me that’s the red patches around my nose, on my cheeks and between my brows. Smooth and blend into skin until obvious lines are covered.
6. Apply Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder all over to set foundation.

When applying foundation, I usually like using the MAC 182 brush, but, with Becca products, fingers work better. The Luminous Skin Colour has a thinner consistency and matches my skin tone more closely than Laura Mericer’s Tinted Moisturizer does. It doesn’t look like it’s sitting on top of my skin the way Laura Mercier’s tinted moisturizer does, and I don’t need to worry as much about blending the product with my 182 brush to create a natural look. The Stick Foundation has a thick and waxy consistency, but, again, the color matches my skin so well that warm fingers are all I need to blend it easily and perfectly into my skin.

Neutral Territory

For me, the defining difference between the Becca foundations and Laura Mercier’s tinted moisturizer is color. I’ve always known that Laura Mercier’s “Almond” shade was close to my natural skin tone (albeit a touch too pink), but I liked the coverage and just assumed I’d never find anything closer. But Becca’s Stick Foundation in the Coffee shade is truly neutral, with no dominant yellows or pinks, and melts right into my skin.

Other neutral colors in the Becca Stick Foundation line are:

Light to fair
Latte - pink-neutral/light to fair complexions

Fair to medium
Praline - neutral/fair complexions
Banana - neutral/fair to medium complexions
Tahini - neutral/fair to medium complexions

Medium
Macadamia - neutral/medium complexions
Brulee - neutral/medium complexions
Mallow - neutral/medium complexions

Tan
Toffee - neutral/light tan complexions
Coffee - neutral/tan complexions
Honeycomb - neutral/light tan complexions

Golden Brown
Truffle - neutral/golden brown complexions
Chestnut - neutral/warm brown complexions
Almond - neutral/rich warm brown complexions
Chocolate - neutral/deep chocolate brown complexions

Dark Bronze
Molasses - neutral/very dark bronze complexions
Espresso - neutral-warm/very dark bronze complexions

You can peep all the Becca shades on Sephora.com, where the massive Becca blowout sale continues.

Side note: Don’t the makeup gods have a sick sense of humor? I finally find foundation that matches my skin perfectly and snag it on sale at a deep discount (SCORE!) on Sephora.com … but, of course, the only reason I get it so cheap is ’cause Sephora’s phasing out their entire Becca inventory. CRAP! I did find a few online sites still carrying the line, though, like Dermstore, and the Becca Web site, so all is not lost.

Stick Foundation: Easy, like Sunday morning

I’ve only used liquid foundations in the past, so I thought a stick foundation would be hard to use. I was wrong. I love that I don’t have to spend a lot of time blending. Another thing that surprised me is how the formula can be so thick yet feel so light on my skin. It doesn’t migrate or streak, and it never cakes. I like sheer to medium coverage, so I don’t use much, but if you like a heavier foundation look you can easily layer the product to achieve more coverage.

Even if you don’t have a neutral skin tone, the Becca foundations are worth checking out. They perform well, have a great color selection and are easy to use. With so many colors, you’re bound to find something that works for you!

Pretty young things, repeat after me, say “Nah, nah, nah nah!”

Why are you staring at this old school pic of MJ?

Today I have Michael Jackson’s “PYT” stuck in my head:

Now it’s stuck in yours too, isn’t it?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

December 19, 2007 - Droves of women prepare to pounce on their local MAC counters today to purchase Parrot eye shadow, one of the most highly anticipated products from MAC’s “Originals” collection.

“The claws are coming out today, no doubt,” says Karen of Makeup and Beauty Blog. “Parrot is the stuff of legend! And I’ll lay the smack down on all ya’ll to get my mitts on it - believe me, you b*tches ain’t ready.”

MAC Parrot eyeshadow first hit the scene in Salsabelle, 2004’s limited edition summer collection. A deep aqua blue with bright green and blue pearl, Parrot quickly sold out in stores and online, causing many a MAC fanatic to hopelessly lust after the color. Some (like moi) went so far as to mix and match different shades, while others meticulously hunted for duplicate shadows in other makeup lines. To this day Parrot remains one of the most sought-after colors in the entire MAC line.

MAC Parrot

If you’re curious at all about Parrot, you better snag it now, lest the only parrot you’ll be getting this Christmas will be from the pet store. Frankly, I’d rather have some hella cool blue green shadow in my outer V than a big-ass bird screaming “CAW! CAW!” all day long.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Back to the future

MAC’s promo pic for their Originals Collection, which drops tomorrow, totally made my morning. Behold, your friendly neighborhood beauty addict circa 2050:

This chick is the P.I.M.P.! I love her.

Anyway, let’s get to the good stuff. Tomorrow’s new collection combines best-selling MAC makeup products with old school and discontinued shades from days of yore. Some of your favorite lipsticks, eyeshadows and pigments will even be remixed into new formulations. If you’ve been mourning the loss of a fave MAC shade then this is your chance to stockpile!

You can look forward to …

LIPSTICK ($14.00)
Rozz Revival - Watermelon reddish pink (lustre)
Chintz on Chintz - Sheer mid-tone yellow brown (lustre)
Utter Pervette - Soft pastel pink (lustre)
Back to Del Rio - Deep brown red (lustre)
Nouveau-Frou - Beigey grey pink with white pearl (lustre)
Retrofluid - Sheer dirty deep plum with gold and red pearl
Supersequin - Plummy pink with silver pearl (lustre)
Twig-Twig - Neutral brown plum (lustre)
Sandy B - Light shell pink
Russian Red - Intense bluish-red

LIPGLASS ($14.00)
Full on Lust - Neutral brown pink (cream)
Avarice - Mid-tone yellow red with soft red pearl (cream)
Real Desire - Deep plum with red plum
Nico Now - Mid-tone grey purple with multicoloured pearl (cream)
C-Thru - Soft peached-beige with shimmer (cream)

SMALL EYE SHADOW ($14.00)
Daisychain - Soft yellow beige with soft white pearl (satin)
Ochre Style - Mid-tone yellow brown with gold (frost)
A Little Folie - Mid-tone red brown (matte)
Memorabilia - Dirty purple (matte)
Clue - Mid-tone dirty grey with silver (matte)
Alum - Mid-tone blue grey with soft blue pearl (frost)
Charred - Deep steelgrey with silver pearl (frost)
Frisco - Soft pastel pink (matte)
Parrot - Deep aqua blue with bright green and blue pearl (frost)

PIGMENT ($19.50)
Kitschmas - Light airy shimmering pink/mauve pearl (frost)
Violet - Vivid bright violet-purple (frost)
Melon - Soft bright golden peach (frost)
Golden Olive - High frosted green gold (frost)
Steel Blue - Rich deep turquoise green-blue shone with
small pearl particle (pearl)

GLITTER ($16.50)
Reflects Blackened Red - Sparkling burgundy
Reflects Very Pink - Sparkling fuchsia pink
Reflects Transparent Teal - Sparkling white with turquoise
Reflects Antique Gold - Sparkling taupe

EYE PENCIL ($12.50)
Ebony - Soft black
Coffee - Muted brown
Indigo - Muted greenish-blue

MASCARA X ($12.50)
Black - Black

Any of your discontinued faves on this list? I hope so!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Ghost in the machine

Beauty vending machines are popping up everywhere. Check out this stalker-ish camera pic of the new ProActiv kiosk at my nearby mall:

Shoot, I remember when all you could buy from vending machines were cans of Coke and bags of Corn Nuts.

Remember how a few days ago I bemoaned the loss of the Elizabeth Arden counter at Macy’s? Well, I spoke too soon. Now, even Elizabeth Arden has vending machines:

I can stock up on Ceramide mascara and Eight Hour Cream when I visit the Westfield Shopping Center in San Francisco, hooray. (Side note: Bay Area girls, there are also vending kiosks in Westfield Oakridge Mall in San Jose and Westfield Valley Fair Mall, Santa Clara.)

Could this be the future of the cosmetics counter?

On the one hand I like that I can just walk in, get what I want and then leave without being stopped by a sales associate. Then again, I also really appreciate getting tips and recommendations from real, live, breathing makeup artists. I also like being able to touch and test products in-store, which you can’t do (legally) using these machines.

How do you feel about this trend? Yay or nay?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen