The happenings of my hectic and eclectic life!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Fresh Faced and Fancy Free

Next month I’m celebrating my 5 year anniversary of my move to Wichita. I can’t believe it’s been 5 years! Although my Mom says she feels like I’ve been gone forever…

Lots of things changed when I moved here. But one change is that the climate here is way different than it is in Milwaukee. I went from having extremely dry skin, to the point of putting body lotion on my face to fix the flaking to my having my make-up melt off in the humidity here. I also starting exercising more regularly and that caused another whole host of skin problems. In time I’ve figured out what works and what doesn’t. But for a product junkie like me, who doesn’t love to continue on the quest to find the perfect make-up?!

Before I moved here I wore bareMinerals make-up for about 5 years. I continued to wear it once I moved here, but eventually I decided to look for something with more coverage.

So I made the switch to NARS make-up. Some of you may have heard of the famous Orgasm blush that flatters every skin color, which is fantastic by the way! I’ve tried several of their products. I started with the Sheer Glow Foundation and then switched to the Sheer Matte Foundation. I most recently switched to their Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer that they launched this past summer and this is random, but my favorite part about the tinted moisturizer was the smell!

NARS

Although I do recommend NARS, there were a few minor problems. The coverage is so great that if got any kind of tan in the summer my face color no longer matched my neck color and we all know that’s a great look. But, I mixed the tinted moisturizer with the Laguna Body Illuminator and that solved the non-matching skin color problem. I also had problems getting the Sheer Glow and Sheer Matte foundation out of the bottle. I found it was inconsistent in how much would come out and then sometimes I’d get to much. No one wants to waste expensive foundation!! So I did prefer that you squeeze out the tinted moisturizer.

Time for a change

I can’t pinpoint what exactly made me want to go back to bareMinerals. I may have been enticed by the beautiful new store they just put in our mall. Yes, I can be enticed by anything with sparkles and glitter. Or just the fact that it had worked for me for so many years. 

Back in the day…ok 5 years ago…bareMinerals was such a big mess to apply. Yes, you can adjust to the fact that every thing came in a powder form. But it was still difficult to travel with. I’d pack it all and find that once I got to my destination something would get turned over and all the make up would be through the little sifting holes. BIG disaster. So, in the time I was “cheating” with my NARS make-up someone gave them the memo and major changes have been made. Everything comes in compacts now. Yes, you read me right. Pressed powders!

I never really could totally adjust to applying foundation with my hands, so I love that bareMinerals foundation is applied with a brush. And my timing was perfect because in September they introduced their new Hydrating bareMinerals READY SPF 20 Foundation. I’m also loving the new Precision Face Brush, which is shown below. It comes full size and in a retractable size to throw in your purse!



So far I’ve been very impressed! It’s taken me a bit to find my “happy place” in how much product to apply. But the girls as the store kept describing it as a “buildable” foundation and I would completely agree with that. You can start slowly and add as much as you need. The coverage is great! I’ve found it lasts for sure for 8 hours without budging. Also, I had a FANTASTIC experience at the store. The ladies who worked there were super helpful and not only asked my opinion in choosing between three foundation colors, but then when over different application techniques. I was able to go make-up shopping at an off time (7:00pm on a Monday night) so the girls were just hanging out and I think were entertaining themselves by helping me. No complaints there!

On a random side note, I actually dislike the tagline of their new campaign. I only bring this up because it bugs me every time I see it in a magazine. It makes me think they are saying, we don’t like profanity…but we use it anyways. 

BAREMINERALS CAMPAIGN

So I had to do some research and according to www.brandpackaging.com (http://www.brandpackaging.com/articles/84311-makeup-brand-doesn-t-like-using-the-f-word) “'We Don't Like Using the F-Word' aligns with the brand's innate desire to challenge the status quo while offering a unique perspective on what bareMinerals READY SPF 20 Foundation can do for the skin. No visible trace of makeup, no parabens or harsh chemicals, no dreaded line of demarcation — simply smooth, fresh, younger-looking skin.” Still not quite seeing the relation between that and using the “F-word” which does not make me think of the word foundation. 

My only other complaint is that all of the compacts look exactly the same. Since I use 5 different compacts to complete the make-up process I end up having to flip them over each time to figure out which product I’m looking for. I’ve now created a system for putting them to the side, product information up, so there’s a process of elimination in what I’m looking for next.

That aside, it is working wonders and I don’t see myself switching to another make-up line any time soon!

Two more new additions to my make-up routine! I purchased both at Sephora. I was “talked into” the eyelash primer. I’m giving it a try although I haven’t fallen in love with any make-up primer, I
kinda think all primer is a scam. But, if you have a favorite primer I’d love to hear!

Diorshow Extase Mascara ($28.50)
Dior Show Extase

Diorshow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum ($28)

Diorshow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum

The Lash Plumping Serum is applied before you put on your mascara and again at night. I’m loving both so far and a friend of mine told me my eyelashes are going “wah-bam” these days!

Freshening up your look can always be fun! So, take a chance and free yourself!

1 comment:

  1. This really makes me want to start wearing makeup again. I usually just put on mascara, and even that is few and far between! Can't wait to go check this stuff out!

    ReplyDelete