My Top 3 Foundations

Let me start by saying that I am NOT a beauty blogger or a make-up expert, quite the contrary actually, until quite recently I've never cared about anything beyond a good mascara.

Over the summer I realised that I was a grown woman that didn't own a real foundation (I have a tinted moisturiser) and I decided that by my birthday (shout out to all my November babies!) I would rectify that. I had no clue about foundations so I did what any sensible person would have done, I went to MAC! Lol!

I'm sure you can imagine how overwhelmed I felt when I walked into MAC and discovered they had a huge range of foundations and shades! 

The sales assistant took one look at me and said "I think you should probably try samples first". She saved my life. 'The Foundation Hunt' became my personal project and I spent the summer sampling foundations, learning about skin types and undertones, watching Youtube videos, reading blogs and combing through reviews. I sampled a lot of popular brands including MAC, NARS, Estée Lauder, Giorgio Armani and Fashion Fair to name a few. I tried all types of finishes (dewy, satin, semi-matte, matte), consistencies (liquid, powder, gel, stick) and application tools (fingers, beauty blender and foundation/buffing/stippling brushes). 

Some details about my skin:

• Skin type - Normal
• Undertone - Yellow/Golden (Warm)
• Complexion - My complexion varies slightly depending on how much sun I'm exposed to but at my lightest I'm a MAC (most popular reference) NC45 and at my darkest I'm an NC50, my average is between the two shades.

I was looking for a light to medium coverage foundation that wouldn't look 'cakey' (the main reason I've avoided foundation for so long) and would just give me a nice natural finish. The foundation had to look good on its own because I had no intention of contouring or highlighting, I just wanted to feel like a grown up lol. 

My biggest challenge, which I'm sure many women of colour can relate to, was finding the correct shade. Considering how many different skin shades there are, I was quite surprised that many brands had a very narrow spectrum of shades.  The other challenges I faced were the oxidising of foundation (MAC is the biggest culprit of this, I'd leave home with a perfect finish and return with an orange face! Yuck!) and the heavy/clogged feeling certain foundations gave to my skin.

So after all of that, here are my top 3 foundations:  

1.   YSL Le Teint Touche Éclat 

      Shade: B80

      Finish: Satin

      Coverage: Light to medium

      Price: £31.50/$57

This is my absolute favourite foundation because it makes my skin look ah-mazing! I can barely feel it on my skin and its illuminating properties are very subtle yet noticeable. This is definitely the 'my skin but better' foundation for me. This foundation comes in 22 shades and 3 different undertones so it definitely caters to a variety of complexions.

2.   DiorSkin Forever 

      Shade: 060 - Light Mocha

      Finish: Semi-matte

      Coverage: Medium to full

      Price: £32.50/$50

This foundation is so beautiful! The finish is the most natural looking and long lasting of the three. It gives you a very flawless look but doesn't give you that I-have-the-whole-make-up-counter-on-my-face look. As I stated above, I don't contour or highlight but this foundation doesn't take away your face's dimensions nor does it look flat or dull. This isn't a popular foundation amongst women of colour probably because their shade range is so limited, this is their darkest shade.

3.  MAC Studio Face & Body

     Shade: C7

     Finish: Dewy

     Coverage: Sheer to Light

     Price: £22/$27

This foundation sits perfectly between foundation and tinted moisturiser and because it's so sheer, it is the most lightweight product I have tried. It gives me the sun kissed look that I love and although it has a dewy finish it doesn't make me look greasy.

All three of my chosen foundations are easy to work with, have beautifully natural finishes and are very lightweight on the skin. I would recommend all of these foundations and although their price tags are pretty steep in the world of make-up, I think they are worth every penny. Another foundation that I liked but didn't make my top 3 was MAC Matchmaster Foundation in shade 7.5. It has a semi-matte finish and was a great match for my complexion however, it was detectable on my skin which I didn't like, I like to look like I have nothing on. If I ever upgrade to 'face sculpting' I will definitely be purchasing it.

The queen of face sculpting

I have learned a lot about foundation over the summer and I'm glad I embarked on this journey, 'The Foundation Hunt' was really fun and it was definitely worth it. I don't think I'll ever be the kind of girl that wears foundation every day, I'm just glad I've found foundations that I can reach for without the fear of 'cake face'. 

A lot of the widely praised foundations didn't work for me so I would highly recommend sampling your chosen foundation for at least a full day before making a purchase. It was blog posts like this one that helped me with my search so I hope this post helps make the search for a good foundation easier for other make-up newbies like myself.

Happy sampling!


P.S.

Marc Jacobs recently released new shades of its popular 'Re(marc)able Full Cover Foundation Concentrate' and you can imagine how disappointed women of colour all over the globe were when they discovered that they only had 3 (4 if you want to be generous) of the 22 shades to choose from. 

I'm not one to throw the 'r' word around willy nilly but it's hard not to when designers as big as Marc Jacobs enforce segregation. Yes I said it, enforce!  #NotRudeHonest

Although this is the most current example, many make-up and beauty brands display this form of discrimination, not only to darker women but also, less commonly, to women on the very light side of the spectrum. In this instance, Marc Jacobs seems to have considered very pale skin tones.

Considering that the majority of the world is 'coloured' (I hate that word!) and how many different shades of brown skin exist, it is quite ridiculous that in 2015 beauty brands haven't woken up and smelt the coffee. Put simply, they need to do better. That is all.

10 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me As A Child

1. Don't throw away good bras, breast size changes throughout your life: I have a bit of an obsession with lingerie and have spent a small fortune on bras. If only someone had told me that my bra size would fluctuate I wouldn't have given away my good (and expensive!) bras. *sigh*

2. Failure is a part of life: When you are a high achiever and good at everything you do, parents are so busy encouraging you that they forget to tell you that one day, in whatever aspect of your life, you will fail and that it's ok as long as you get back up again.

3. Graduating from university does not mean automatic success: I'm sure many people can relate to this one. You are encouraged to do so well academically and to get an education but nobody tells you anything about life after graduation.

4. How to make AND keep money: Most people's answer to this is still "Get a job and save." I can assure you that that is not the answer.

5. Your 20s are for getting it together: Somewhere along the line we learned that if we didn't have it all figured out by 21 we had somehow failed society. Having babies you can't afford in a marriage based on puppy love and no real way of covering your student loans only equals a very difficult and unnecessarily stressful life. Take your time!

Normal thoughts for a 21 year old

6. There's no such thing as the perfect relationship but there are many examples of bad relationships: Time and time again I see people putting up with absolute nonsense in their relationships all because "No relationship is perfect so you have to settle", many have even suggested I do the same! Joke's on you.

7. Don't throw away clothes just because they are no longer the 'in' style: In our lifetimes we'll see old fashions come back at least once. Has anyone else seen bootcut jeans making a comeback?

8. Honesty is the best policy BUT sometimes silence is even better: If I had been told this I would have held back on being honest in many situations and would have saved myself a lot of hassle. I have learned that people do not like hearing the truth even if they ask for it.

9. Everyone's idea of 'success' is different: Some people believe that they are not successful until they have a six figure balance in the bank and others, more apparent since the birth of bridal accounts on Instagram (no names!), believe that success is in the size of the ring and/or wedding. It's ok to have your own idea of success and you are not 'unsuccessful' for not achieving standards set by others.

10. Not everyone thinks like you: This seems so obvious but, how many times have you been disappointed by the friend you thought would do for you what you would do for them? Exactly.

Giuseppe Zanotti

OMG guys this is my first blog post of 2013! This past year I've been pretty bad at blogging, my life has been so busy that I just haven't had the time. My blog is full of half finished posts *sigh*. Anyway...

As you all know by now, I LOVE heels - from their structure to their materials, to their aesthetics, I love it all! - and for a few years now Mr Zanotti has been creating heel genius. Although other designers have also been creating wonders, Zanotti heels just have that va va voom! He merges innovation, sophistication, fun and elegance seamlessly and I really wish he was my friend!

Gold Detailed Elegance

                                                        

             

           
                 

For The Spike Lovers

         

Colour Pop

      

              

My absolute fave!

Signature Gravity Defying Heels 

              



                                                               

I'm sure after these beauties you agree that Giuseppe Zanotti is an absolute heel genius. My dream is that he'll one day use me as a muse to create a shoe named after me. A girl can dream right?

Heels... Heels... And More Heels!

Viewing Facebook event photo albums is the equivalent of reading a 'Vogue: The Streets' edition of the fashion magazine. The albums show what people consider as current dress up attire, what outfits are being outplayed, what the high street stores are stocking and which celebrities are influencing the fashion in your area/Facebook friend circles.

One thing is very clear in the most recent albums I have viewed: shoes are becoming important. If like me you've appreciated footwear since the beginning of time you may be happy to hear that the rest of the world has finally caught on to the importance of footwear but another thing I have noticed is that many women do not actually understand shoes.

I come from a line of thinking where footwear, both male and female, make the outfit. You could have the nicest dress on but a bad pair of shoes can annihilate all your efforts. Although I have noticed many females have started wearing replicas of  high end designer shoes and taking embarrassingly ankle twisting pictures to prove it, it is clear that although the shoe itself is to die for, the way in which it is being worn may cause the designer to go into early retirement! Poor Mr. Louboutin seems to be getting it the most thanks to the trend set by the Kardashian sisters who by the way, get it right ALL the time.

Is it by force!?

But for the rest of us who truly love and understand shoes, here are some of my faves from the S/S 2012 collections, enjoy!

      

 Gucci Ophelie
T-strap Sandal

                                     

                                   Yves Saint Laurent
                                   Ingenue

 

                   

  

Charlotte Olympia
Leaf Me Alone

Giuseppe Zanotti
Colour Block Sandals

Christian Louboutin
Bollywoody

Christian Louboutin
Asteroid

Giuseppe Zanotti
E26086 001

           

                   Walter Steiger
                Swirl Sandal

Walter Steiger
Prunelle

Christian Louboutin
Summerissima

 

Alexander McQueen

                                           

                                          Giuseppe Zanotti
                                  E20343 003

                              

Iris van Harpen X United Nude
Crystallization

                                   

                                           Iris van Herpen X United Nude
                                    Couture Fang

    

Gianmarco Lorenzi
054

Photoshop Madness

The world of Twitter is truly an entertaining one and with its increasing popularity comes what I call 'Photoshop Madness'.

Twitter, although primarily a micro-blogging device, allows users to upload pictures using applications such as Lockers, YFrog and TwitPic. Most likely influenced by the appreciation males give to video vixens like Bria Myles, what has become very apparent, sometimes embarrassingly so, is the pressure some females feel to all look just like them. 

Baby got back!

Bria Myles

A lot of females have opted to follow in the steps of Buffy the Body and sign up to a gym. After a high protein diet and a few thousand crunches noticeable changes to the derrière have been reported. 

Buffy the Body's Bootynomics workout

A few females however, have decided that they want the gain without the pain and as a result have started using  image enhancement programmes such as Photoshop to... modify... their pictures.

Seriously!?

The convenience of having an app such as Instagram on mobiles has resulted in people selling dreams on the go.

                                                       

You'd think that someone trying to sell the public a dream would at least a) be able to Photoshop properly, improving the chances of the dream being successfully sold 

               

                   The sofa and table are moving for
                her hips yh (-__-)

                   

and b) delete all evidence of the original picture so that no one is tempted to expose you *side eye*

                 

                 The dream

The reality

I'm not sure what kind of world we are in these days but being bootylicious is not by force!

At least hide the original shot so you don't get found out no?

Can you imagine!? (-__-)

Photoshop has also been used to make drastic changes to body size/shape and skin tone. Although retouching has been done my magazines and photographers for years, they didn't make the changes to their subject's original appearance quite so drastic.

                                         

Don't be fooled, males also seem under pressure to impress the public and they too have gone to... extreme... measures to achieve the dream.

Is this what Jesus died for?

Is it that deep?

People need to stop living in a virtual world and start accepting themselves as they are. If you are not happy with the way you look or the life you live just work hard at making a change, Photoshopping your images will not make your life outside of the world wide web any better.

Other than the new trade of selling dreams, Twitter is indeed a fun place to be so follow me @notrude_honest!