Damn September, sneaking up on us. You can check out the details on my August 2015 favorites after the jump.
My sincere journey into makeup started with the classic bareMinerals by bareEscentuals (ancient post linked). At the time, I wasn’t wowed by the product, but I wasn’t dissatisfied, either. I used up my pot and did not repurchase.
Prior to that, half-assed attempts at evening out my complexion when it could use a little help were met with Physician’s Formula Mineral Wear Loose Powder. I haven’t used it since I started, “sincerely,” using cosmetics, but it is a good product (unless they’ve changed the formula sneakily; I don’t think they have).
At some point, I was curious about Urban Decay’s Surreal Skin loose foundation (long since discontinued), but I never got to check it out because there wasn’t an Urban Decay counter nearby and there was a dearth of Sephora and Ulta locations in my vicinity at the time.
So, what’s the common factor here? Powder. My early forays into makeup were solely about ease-of-use (even if it meant the color match wasn’t quite right, or that it didn’t wear super well). Not that I feel liquid or cream foundation difficult to use…they just take slightly more effort to blend in, usually. A few months back I went to an Urban Decay event at Sephora with a friend; there, they slapped their new Naked Skin Ultra Definition Powder Foundation on me. I liked it, but wasn’t in the market at the time.
Naked Skin Ultra Definition Powder FoundationA dear friend asked for some suggestions on something to help even her out, was lightweight, simple to use, etc. My experience with bareMinerals ended up being that it oxidized quite quickly on me – and other users report the same results, so I am hesitant to recommend it to anyone with more than a modicum of oil in their skin. Based on my experience with the Naked Skin Ultra Definition Powder, I included that in my suggestions to her.
Overall, I enjoy a mostly-even complexion with few skin complaints. One thing I sometimes experience, almost inexplicably, is redness on my cheeks. I don’t have rosacea, and I’m not on any medications that have flushing as a side effect – I just experience occasional blotchy redness on my cheeks. It makes wearing blush a bit of a pain unless I’ve adequately covered the problem areas with a base to cancel them out.
While shopping for my UD Revolution Giveaway on Ulta.com recently, I spotted the new NYX Green CC Cream. I was curious – I’ve seen (but not tried!) green-based primers and concealers. The area on my cheeks where I experience redness are large enough that I don’t think using green concealer to negate them is the answer, and I just haven’t gotten my hands on a green primer yet. I figured it would be nice to try for science (and the blog), so I ordered a tube of the Light/Medium formulation.
The NYX Green CC Cream indicates that it is indeed a color corrector that contains all sorts of things that your skin should like. Skin-friendly ingredients are always good in facial products, after all. Let’s look:
Without Googling every single ingredient, this product doesn’t seem particularly villainous. No parabens or other questionable content with perhaps the exception of the fragrance (I am not a fan of smelly foundation/moisturizer/BB/CC/whatevers). The NYX Green CC Cream does not appear to be vegan (contains beeswax) but is still cruelty free, as are the rest of NYX products.
The tube of NYX Green CC Cream itself says the same things as the box, so there’s nothing else exciting there. The product’s cap screws off revealing a narrow, precise tip from which you can dispense the product for application. I find it curious that they didn’t say, “For best results, apply with fingers/sponge/marshmallows, etc,” but no matter – I winged it.
I popped a tiny pearl of product onto the back of my hand – unfortunately, my camera washed it out a bit, but it is definitely green, albeit pastel. If you look very very closely, you can see little specs in the product; I can only assume those are the green pigment beads mentioned on the side of the box:
Green pigment beads transform into a naturally nude, lightweight foundation upon contact with skin, neutralizing redness and resulting in a fresh, revived complexion.
Dotting the NYX Green CC Cream onto one of my cheeks, I found that it had a relatively thin, light consistency. It spread around well, but I was going to need a lot more than that for my face – I squeezed out more product onto my fingertips, emulsified it, and slapped it onto my face. Never having used a color-changing face product like this, it was kind of neat to see the green fade and blend into my skin. It can be a little difficult to tell, at first, where you have placed the product but I imagine this is an issue with all products of this nature, so I won’t slam this one for it.
Fingers are probably the best way to apply this product, followed by a sponge like the beautyblender; I wouldn’t bust out a brush for this.
Although this product does have fragrance, I did not find it irritating in the slightest – it is light and fresh, and smells of neither foundation nor sunscreen (this product does have titanium dioxide, but does not report any SPF properties). The scent would actually make for a pleasant hand or body lotion, but I won’t be slapping NYX Green CC Cream all over.
Once applied, I could tell it was a very light coverage – like a tinted moisturizer – and although it diminished the redness a little, it was still visible. I resolved to wait a few minutes before looking back into the mirror in case it needed to oxidize or change further. I did note, however, that it felt barely-there on my skin.
When I did look back, well… it had definitely oxidized! My skin tone is already neutral-to-warm but I felt as though I belonged on the Simpsons when I looked. My workday had already begun, so I suffered through it, and was fortunately equipped to distract from the difference (scarves, you know? they’re awesome). Unfortunately, the NYX CC Cream pulled exceptionally yellow; if I hoped to wear this, I’d need to bring and blend it it all the way down my neck – and honestly, that’s too much work for something that is essentially a tinted moisturizer.
On top of all that, the redness on my cheeks showed through. Damn!
Unfortunately, because I do not relish resembling a Simpsons character, the NYX Green CC Cream ($13.99) will be going back to Ulta – and it is damn rare that I return a product. If it hadn’t been so yellow on me, I’d have kept it for days where I wanted to look a little more evened out but wasn’t terribly concerned about coverage, but this just isn’t working out for me. Surprising, too, because I usually love NYX. I still love NYX, and I’ll probably be buying something else in its stead.
Bear in mind that it may oxidize differently on you – so I won’t say, “this is not a good product, don’t buy it.” It feels nice, it just wasn’t the right color for me. I will say, however, not to buy if you cannot for some reason readily return (or give to a friend) in case it isn’t flattering on you, either.
It’s already time for my February 2015 Favorites – and here I was last month mentioning January being cold. That was cute and misguided of me.
We went so long without comically long names, but Sephora Teint Infusion Ethereal Natural Finish Foundation makes two this month.This is foundation I mentioned in my New and Noteworthy at Sephora post last month – the one that I was super excited to try? I wanted it, and in fact almost ordered it when I ordered my Silk’n Flash & Go Freedom – but being unsure of my coloring, I decided not to (yes, I know I can return/exchange it – but if I can also make a little effort before buying to see if its the right color, I’d like to. I don’t want stores to have to trash products because I was lazy. Don’t be that guy, that guy sucks).
During my most-recent Sephora trip I mentioned, before they used ColorIQ to, “match,” me, I mentioned that I was interested in the new Sephora Teint Infusion Ethereal Natural Finish Foundation and lamented its online-only status. One of the bubbly SA’s chimed in that they carried it.
What?! Are you sure?!
She was sure. Her friendly team-mates were sure.
Okay, they carry it. That is fantastic…and probablydefinitely meant I’d be making an unplanned (for that trip, anyway) purchase. ColorIQ matched me to 16 – Linen, which was comically inappropriate for my ghastly-for-me complexion. I had a friend with me and she was highly amused by the, “Oh, no – no no no,” face I made when I tried to blend it out. It probably matches the skin I’m in when I’m, you know, not in winter hibernation mode…but not now. I shook the tester for 12 – Ecru, and dispensed a single drop onto the back of my hand. Like all the other serum foundations out there (YSL Fusion Ink [costs 2.5x as much], Perricone No Foundation-Foundation Serum [more than 2x as much], bareMinerals BareSkin [$5 more, so-so reviews]), it has a very thin consistency. But don’t be dissuaded – one drop went so. damn. far. just on the back of my hand.
Insert whatever choir of angels audio springs to your mind by default. Yeah, I bought it. Is that a question?
ColorIQ by Sephora & Pantone‘Tis winter and hence I am pale. I’m not using my Million Dollar Tan because a faux-glow in February doesn’t mean much to me. Ponds Luminous Finish BB+ is the only thing that has matched me for a while, so on a recent trip to Sephora, I had them bust out the old (okay, it isn’t old at all) ColorIQ to match me.
I really love to see technology intermixing with makeup. In fact, I’ve probably talked about how much I love the idea of ColorIQ, and how innovative it is.
I was able to have the SA assisting me bypass my cheek area because I have non-rosacea redness on my cheeks sometimes that throws off the match by thinking I have pink undertones. Instead, he matched my forehead, jawline, and chin. We did get a yellow-toned match this time, but it assigned me 3Y04. Before even seeing the matches, I knew it would be too dark.
Even though it didn’t match me to an Urban Decay shade, the SA wanted to take a shot at it and grabbed 3.0 (which I’ve tried before and will in no universe match me), and 2.0 – which is actually rated for 3Y03 – which surprisingly turned out to match. But this was luck, not ColorIQ knocking it out of the park.
In what I was looking for, Sephora’s new serum foundation (I spotted it in the new and noteworthy stuff!), it matched me to shade 16 – Linen. Based on what I read online I figured I’d be that or 12 – Ecru. I swatched Teint Infusion Ethereal Natural Finish Foundation in 16, based on my ColorIQ assignment and it was hilariously dark for me. I didn’t even put it on my face – just swatching it on the back of my hand I could tell it was too much. I tried again with 12 – Ecru, and found my match but this was my own guess.
I want to love the device, I do – but it either needs further refinement, or there’s been enough user error every single time I’ve used it to not get a one-hit-one-kill match. I still think it is worth using because it gets you in the ballpark if you’re otherwise lost, but Sephora’s ColorIQ is drunk, sometimes. I’m looking forward to future versions of the device that can give us closer approximations to what we need, but I still applaud Sephora and Pantone for trying.
