Fab Take: Palladio Herbal Foundation

Palladio is a mass cosmetics brand that many people haven't heard of but I wish it was more well know because it's kind of awesome!  I have a few of their products in my kit and enjoy them all.  If I recall, Sally Beauty used to be the sole distributor of Palladio, but it is now also available at Ulta and online at www.palladiobeauty.com, HERE. 

Today let's look at the Palladio Herbal Foundation.  It is an oil-free, light-medium coverage, matte liquid that is buildable and leaves a nice pretty finish.  BUT, the fun doesn't stop there!  No, this foundation has great skin benefits too!  Ginseng and Ginko extracts, along with Vitamins A & E provide anti-aging benefits, reducing the look of fine-lines...score.  Cucumber, Aloe Vera, and Chamomile help to soothe the skin, which my ridiculously sensitive and reactive skin LOVES!  I can use this several days in a row without swelling eyes whereas I have to change up with other foundations to prevent overload and reactivity...score again!

The shade range is limited, only 8 to choose from but I'm OK because the lightest color, Ivory, suits my just fine.  And, here's the most ridiculous, best part...Palladio Herbal Foundation is ONLY $10!!!!!!!!!

The Fab Take: Give it a try!  It's oil-free and suitable for all skin types.  And, at $10, it can't hurt!!

A Story of Three Foundations

Good evening everybody!  At the moment I have three foundations on my face.  Yes, three foundations on my face, at once.  I recently decided to find a foundation that covers my face like no foundation has covered any ones face before.  Then I got lazy so now I am wearing three, one on each cheek and one on my forehead, to see which one I like best.  Um, I may or may not (may) have already bought two of them so it's more of a "who do I like better" contest at this point.  

On the left cheek:  Smashbox Studio Skin 15 Hour Wear Hydrating Foundation.  This was my first choice and the first lucky lady to be slathered all over 1/3 of my face.  I have used Studio Skin on hundreds of clients who wanted medium/full coverage and I have loved it.  On me, it was slightly less perfect than I wanted...but just slightly.  1.1, the lightest color was great on my white-as-a-sheet-of-paper skin and I love the texture, it feels the creamiest and the lightest of the three...but the coverage, while good, is still not as hard core as I am looking for.  I want to have to peel this foundation off with a putty knife.

On the right cheek: Stila Stay All Day Foundation.  Now we're talkin'.  This foundation looks scary, it dispenses with a spatula (I kid you not) and looks SO thick but you don't need very much to go a LONG way.  BONUS...there is a coordinating concealer hiding in the cap of this little gem.  It also comes with a tiny, weird foundation brush that I anticipate never using.  I will through it in my freelance kit immediately, for emergencies.  When I first put this on, it looked so similar to the Smashbox, but then I put a bit more on and let them both set...get to know my skin a little bit.  While the Smashbox seemed to sheer out a tad, the Stila covered like a champ, without looking cakey.  Word of warning...this sucker dries FAST!  In-store, I used my fingers to blend on one cheek and it was drying before I could un-streakify it.  We got the problem solved by touching up and working in smaller areas but holy moley, work quick kids.  After getting a few opinions about which cheek looked better, since I can't make up my mind, I decided to go with the Stila and am excited to welcome it into my home and my makeup family.

On the forehead: Revlon Colorstay (I had an unopened bottle in my kit).  Once home from the store I realized I didn't have any foundation on my forehead and I wanted to slather on some Colorstay anyway so, well, I did.  It feels similar to the Stila, heavier, but has a dewier finish, which I don't seek out.  I definitely wouldn't say it has a true dewy finish, just not as matte as the Stila.  (I am doing a weird side-by-side, this would never happen in the real world, comparison here)  After a couple hours of wear, the feel of the Revlon is lighter than the Stila, but nothing I would base a purchasing decision on.  Coverage is still nice on both. 

The Fab Take:  Going in to this experiment, I knew I was dealing with some industry heavy hitters so none of them would be awful.  Definitely true.  If you want a true full coverage liquid, I recommend trying either the Revlon Colorstay or the Stila Stay All Day, whichever fits your budget.  Don't forget about the concealer that comes with the Stila!  Smashbox Studio Skin is a beautiful foundation, but I would not put it in the full-coverage foundation category, definitely medium-full...whatever floats your boat. 

Just Your Average Daily Routine

 Hello, my name is Erin and I have a makeup problem.  Hey, at least it's not coke.  I'd like to introduce you to my "everyday" makeup kit.  This doesn't include my back stock...Junkie/Hoarder/Lover of Makeup...call it what you will (just please don't call that hoarders show, that would be embarrassing).  I anticipate another post on that later.  I know you will be waiting for that one with bated breath...get excited.  My go-to's live in the giant train case and I have a side bag of Bare Minerals, I only use this to put over light foundations to achieve greater coverage or when I'm going to the Dr. with snot running down my face...pretty much my Bare usage.

I'll deconstruct the train case of makeup madness as we merrily roll along but I'll be hitting my faves and most-used loves RIGHT NOW!

• Primer: Too Faced Primed and Poreless Pure - this one really does what primers are supposed to do: even out skin tone, give a smooth surface to work on, help makeup last longer, mattify, reduce the look of fine lines and pores...all without making my skin look greasy (I'm looking at YOU POREfessional!)
• Foundation:  Good grief, this is embarassing.  The ones that are in my case at the moment are: Urban Decay Naked Skin, Smashbox BB Cream, Benefit Some-Kind-A-Gorgeous, Palladio Wet/Dry Foundation, Palladio Herbal Foundation (um, haven't taken this out of the package yet) and Bare Minerals Original.  Also Clinique translucent setting powder and about three different Bare Mineral Veils.  Honestly, apart from the Palladio, none of these give me the coverage I want so I always wear two because that makes sense.  I will probably go for Smashbox Studio Skin and Halo Powder when I run out of these and go through the back stock, which will be in ten years.  Because I clearly wait until I need something to buy more.  I should work on that.
• I LOVE eye makeup!!!  I always start with Urban Decay Primer.  I have the Original in my case now but I prefer Sin...guess where that is, yep, in the back stock.  I use Urban and Smashbox sticks A LOT and my Naked II Palette the most, but occasionally I make myself use my Stila Palette.  Honestly, I'm generally to lazy to work with my UD Black Palette but when I'm not being a bum I'll bust out with my more fun colors.  
• Cheeks - I have been totally obsessed with TARTE Gel Blushes for years.  They are the best and rock my world.  You should love them too.  I wear them under every powder blush, every day.  Word of warning: despite appearances, they WILL flush down the toilet and you will have to pay a plumber $250 to get your $30 gel blush out of the toilet.  Just keep an eye on that.  I am also obsessed with the Benefit Box O' Powders.  Bella Bomba and Sugar Bomb are my faves.  Devastated when they discontinued It's A 10.  How could you Benefit, how could you?  I also love to use Smashbox Softlights for highlight and definition.  Cheeks are so yummy to me.  
• If I'm not feeling lips I'll use my Korres Lip Butters.  They are the only tinted balms I have found that make my lips happy AND give me color.

My real lips, liners, brows, and mascaras live on my magnetic (with other cheeks and eyes) board so that's why they aren't in the case, I know you were wondering.  Yes, I know I'm ridiculous and, yes, I love it.   

Falalala la la la Retraction

The enthusiasm from my last post has waned, majorly.  I feel like I have let my readers down and must now issue a retraction, I apologize.

Boo on The POREfessional.  I applied it as I would any primer, small pea-sized amount all over my face prior to my foundation...big mistake on several fronts.  Initially it felt very similar to my other go-to primers and was consistent with my use  of it on clients so I didn't think twice.  Problem number one, within the hour I was literally wiping grease off my face.  This was not just oil, I could have fried a Twinkie with this stuff, very disgusting.  I will try this again, using maybe a half-pea size and see the results but I'm not optimistic...we'll see.  Problem number two, my pores are not noticeably large so the alternate use of this (only applying it to problem areas) really doesn't apply and/or help me much.  I wanted this to be a great mattifying primer, and it still might be, in tiny doses, like doses for babies, but should not be used as you would most other primers.

I can not for the life of me remember why I thought this was my second favorite foundation.  Maybe it's been reformulated since I last used it?  Perhaps it went all over the place because of the load of POREfessional underneath?  Whatever the reason, I just had to quit my face today and cover that hot mess up with LORAC Porefection powder foundation.  I like at least a medium coverage and this was less than light coverage.  I remember this having a gorgeous buildable powder finish, um, no.  Not buildable, not powder.  After I had this on over the POREfessional, my skin tone still looked uneven and my skin looked almost wet...not luminescent or illuminated from within...just greasy.  I'm incredibly sad, my heart hurts.  I am going to keep playing with this, I am determined to make it work.  On a side note, the sponge applicator that comes with this is pretty much equivalent to a wadded up tissue...oh, the sad.

Eeeehhh on the BAD Gal Waterproof.  I won't judge the non-waterproof off of this but, just, ehhh.  This mascara didn't give me 1950's starlet lashes like I was hoping for, it didn't even give me lashes comparable at all to They're Real or Voluminous Lashes.  My lashes were a little darker, maybe a little longer but that's about it.  I'll use this because I have it now but definitely won't buy it again.  I generally don't choose waterproof mascara anyway, but if I need it for outside work when it's boiling outside I'll stick with my Voluminous Lashes Million Lashes Waterproof.  Yes it flakes, but at least my lashes look fab while I'm sweating like a pig (it's HOT in Alabama!).

In other news, I'm growing out my bangs!!!!!

Falalala Flawless!

So, this amazing gem came home with me today.  Merry early Christmas to me!  Benefit's falalala Flawless kit!  Check it: Some-Kind-A-Gorgeous Foundation in LIGHT (that's capitalized for a reason I'll get to in a minute) $30, Bad Gal Lash Waterproof $19, POREfessional Primer $30.  You might be saying to yourself, "Erin, that's $79 you spent on makeup."  WELL, being that this is a holiday kit and is the best value EVER, I did get $79 worth of makeup for, get ready for it, $25.  Yes, twenty-five dollars, $25, twenty and five buckaroos.  There might be a few more of these for stockpiling/hoarding purposes in my future.

You might also be asking yourself why I felt it necessary to capitalize the word LIGHT in the description of this super amazing incredible kit.  Well, here's why.  I love, love, love Benefit but they apparently think everyone, and I do mean everyone, wears the foundation color MEDIUM.  Every kit they come out with is medium this and medium that.  Medium, medium, medium!  This is the first kit I can remember in months and months that actually has a color in it that won't make my white as paper skin look like I have a serious illness.  Plus, this is my second favorite foundation in the world (behind MAC Studio Skin compact, N5 BTW) so my overwhelming joy of finding this one foundation that is not usually available in my immediate area cannot be contained!

My cache of primers is insanely large but I just couldn't not buy this.  That just wouldn't make sense.  The POREfessional is already on my list of favorite primers so I'll throw this in the bag with my extra Urban Decay Pore Tightening, Smashbox, and Too Faced Primed and Poreless Pure.  One benefit (haha, see what I did there?) of the POREfessional is that it can be used throughout the day to mattify (suck up the oil) without messing up your makeup too terribly.  But personally I would rather touch up with powder...something about tapping primer on my face to absorb oil just grosses me out.  No, there is absolutely no rational reason for this and it's fantastic for some people, just not for this chick.

I have been so completely obsessed with They're Real Mascara since it came out that I honestly haven't given Bad Gal a chance, so I'm excited to try it.  Bummed that it's waterproof, but I'll live.  I'll have to update later after I've given it a test wear.  I am VERY partial to short plastic bristles on my wands like those in They're Real (also in L'oreal Voluminous Lashes Million Lashes) but I know that, in theory, big fluffy brushes give big fluffy lashes so, we'll see.  Update to follow...I know you're waiting with bated breath.