I've tried hundreds of different kinds of foundations. Cheap makeup and expensive makeup, mineral makeup, mouse, compacts, name brands, no name brands.. the list is endless, and I never truly loved any of them. They all had their share of cons that made me search endlessly for the next "perfect foundation"
I have troublesome skin. I need a good medium coverage makeup that will cover my acne scars and redness as well as last through the day on my very oily, with dry patches skin.
My oily T-Zone is so bad that my makeup will melt without fail anywhere from 2-4hrs. Actually if it lasts 4 hours I consider myself extremely lucky. If I have to work a full 8 hour shift, I usually spend my lunch time washing my face and reapplying my foundation, mascara and powder all over again. Huge pain in the ass.
Well a few months ago I stumbled across a drug store foundation called Rimmel 28hr Long Lasting Finish.
I have a love-hate relationship with this foundation. I've gone through about 11 tubes of this stuff cause I keep coming back to it. It is super cheap (less than $10.00) and very easy to apply. Literally fool proof, and blends perfectly. I wear shade Ivory and although I find it just a tiny bit dark on my pale neck, it seems to work well enough on my face. It has a medium-full coverage and hides redness really well.
What I really hate about this makeup though is that even though the finish is nice it would never last. My pores would begin to show as the oil would started to build up and then it would cause my makeup to start separating. It didn't matter what powder I set it with - matte powders would look caked and dry, other powders felt heavy, or didn't seem to work at all. Primers were a battle all on its own, and I shuffled through numerous primers all guaranteed to help makeup last, reduce shine, moisturize, reduce pores.. on and on...
I continued to keep looking for foundations, but would still come back to this Rimmel foundation every so often when I was in a rush ( I could apply this foundation in the dark and it would still look perfectly blended ) Most of the time I would wear it to ballet class so I wouldn't sweat off my more expensive MAC, Estee Lauder or other brand name foundation I was cycling though at the time. It was perfect if I was in a rush, or just going to run around doing errands.
It always got the job done, but was never my "go to" foundation. I wanted "flawless" skin and would look at the people around me wondering what was their secret... what makeup was giving them oil free, even skin tone and why couldn't I find mine.
Until..... I was reading through some makeup review forums and came across a thread about a somewhat new drugstore makeup that had come out called Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme Foundation.
Finding the right shade was a nightmare. I ended up buying 3 different shades.
1) Ivory - too light and too pink for my already pink skin tone
2) Buff - just the right amount of yellow tones
3) Natural Beige - too pink
I really wanted this foundation to work, I loved the matte finish it gave once it set on the skin, but the coverage was way too sheer, and the amount of building up I needed for full coverage looked terrible.
I was disappointed with another $30.00 wasted on makeup that I wasn't able to use.
I don't know how it happened or what even gave me the idea, but one day I decided to combine my easy to blend, full coverage, but melt-able Rimmel foundation with Revlon's matte finish feel, and VIOLA! I found the magic secret!
I'm almost afraid to say or it for fear of jinxing it some how, but I think I finally found MY "perfect flawless foundation"
I apply my Rimmel underneath as a base, cover up what and where I need it. Then I go over my oily T-Zone with the Revlon makeup and it a perfect combination. Just yesterday I was jumping up and down when I hit the 7.5hr mark and my makeup was STILL SET! It's a freaking miracle!
I can now actually trust my makeup to survive a full day. No more rushing to the bathroom at lunch to wash and re-apply. All I have to do, is apply a bit more powder to my T-zone at about the 4hr mark and I'm good to go. No more hideous meltdown. It's a dream come true! (fingers crossed)
