What is the Best Foundation for Ultra Pale Skin?

I wouldn't say that I have the palest skin. It's light for sure, and lighter than nearly any company's lightest foundation color, but I'm not the pure pure Irish white I've seen on other people. Regardless, buying foundation for my skin tone is a pain and even the brands mentioned by gurus like Lisa Eldridge as being particularly inclusive of the "trickier" skin tones (including Bourjois's otherwise amazing Healthy Mix foundation) aren't quite pale enough for me.

Recently I spent a frustrating two hours scouring the shelves of Sephora for any foundation I could wear without looking visibly orange. Surely I just hadn't looked hard enough in the past and now, under the warming glow of Sephora's lights, I would find my HG foundation at last.

I tried Armani, Nars, YSL, Clinique, Tarte, Benefit, Stila, Kat Von D, Bare Minerals, Make Up For Ever, Urban Decay, Laura Mercier, Guerlain, Dior, Givenchy, Smashbox and Lancome. And after all of that swatching, only one actually worked.

Bobbi Brown's 00 (yes, double zero) shade Alabaster is the first foundation I have ever found that is my actual, honest-to-God, creamy-white color. And -- even more fun -- it comes in a stick form which means that it doubles as a perfectly-matching concealer.

I LOVE this foundation. The formula is nice and thick, so I usually dot it over my skin and then buff it in with a beauty blender. Then I go back over the spots that need a little more coverage (under my eyes, around my nose and on top of any small spots I might have). And that's it. No need for an extra concealer and it leaves my skin natural enough that it needs neither patting down nor further illuminating.

It's not cheap, but given the tiny amount that you need for each application, I imagine I'll be using this for a year at least. Compared with the three-to-four months that the average liquid foundation lasts a regular user, that's not bad value.

Rating: A+

London Haul: The Preview

 

 I said nothing about it on this blog, sadly, but I was in London for two weeks last month and, needless to say, I may have raided an entire Boots.

Reviews to follow.

TMI Recommendations: Deodorant for Girls Who Can't Use Anti-Perspirants

If you can't handle antiperspirants and the gross, itchy, flaky, chalky mess that comes with them, put down your weird hippie crystals and rejoice: Nivea makes deodorants for women. 

No more will you have to grudgingly use something that smells like Old Spice wrapped in seaweed or a hunk of painful salt rock that promises to let your "natural smell" come through. Nay -- this is all of the artificial flowery smell you want with (nearly) the lasting wear of an antiperspirant.

Please do mark that "nearly." I have two -- I keep one at home for the initial application and another in my desk for a mid-day check-up. If you can't afford two (but probably you can -- they're reasonably-priced), then just keep it in your bag.

But you also won't have to deal with painful, chapped under-arms (thanks, Jason in "Apricot") or sweaters that need to be burned after one wear because your beautiful natural woman stink managed to permeate them in some unholy way.

Anyway. Nivea Sheer Comfort: a lifesaver for delicate ladypits.

Is Your Eyeliner So Sharp You Could Kill a Man?

The delightful and cherubic tadelesmith has been going viral with this satirical feminist makeup tutorial which she promises will smash the patriarchy and have you lookin' fine.

The video is hilarious and, jokes aside, the tutorial itself is actually very good.

June 2013 TopBox Review

 

I started my TopBox subscription a few months ago, but truth be told I wasn't impressed enough by its offerings to post a review until this month. This month was a huge and very pleasant surprise -- not only did I like every single thing I received, but three of the four items were full-sized.

For those who can't read the ingredients list above, this month's regular, non-Prive box included the following:

Belvada Cosmetics Mini Eyelash Curler

 A very cute little portable eyelash curler which Belvada sells on their own website for $5.99.

Benefit Cosmetics' Sugarbomb Ultra Plus Gloss

  As the name would suggest, it's a sweet-smelling, non-sticky, rose-colored gloss. Can't wait to properly try it out. Full size (15mL) is $19.00, so this 6.5mL sample is valued at $8.23.

Jelly Pong Pont Cosmetics Fairy Lashes Mascara

 

A cute, basic mascara with a normal wand. Apparently this full-sized sample is valued at £15 on the company's website and $24.00 in Canada. Another one I can't wait to test out.

Lise Watier Solo Eyeshadow in Blue Cuaraco

 Another full-sized sample, this Lise Watier solo shadow is a gorgeous light '60s-style blue. I've actually been wanting something identical to it for ages. Valued at $18.00.

So this month's TopBox not only looks impressive, but comes to a whopping $56.22. Not bad for $12 a month.

Review: SENKA White Milky Lotion

I bought this during a long-standing obsession with the cosmetics section of T&T last fall. The obvious problem with this obsession is that I don't speak Cantonese, Mandarin or Japanese, and had to rely on the always suspect English descriptions to figure out what I was buying.

Though labelled in English as a "lotion," this was more of a cloudy-looking toner. The full description goes: "SKENKA White Milky Lotion - Fresh/Lotion. Facial moisturizing lotion, prevents blots and freckles, and brightens skin tone. Apply to cleansed face. Gently pat to absorb." So no further clues there.

It wasn't until after I bought it that I noticed the "brightening" part, which did concern me a bit as I'm wary of the chemicals in some "skin lighteners" (bleaches). I will say that after using up the whole bottle, I felt like my skin did look noticeably whiter/brighter, but then I was also going from fall into winter.

In any event, I'm sorry that I stopped using asian products and went back to drug store, because I felt like -- bleach or no bleach -- my skin did genuinely look better and feel fresher using $10.00 T&T toners/moisturziers than their more expensive western counterparts.

I'm still confused as to whether this is a toner or a moisturizer. I tended to use it as both or either. But if that question doesn't concern you too much, I would recommend it.

Grade: B+