Author’s Skin
Skin Type: Dry/Sensitive
Skin Concern: Dryness/Texture
Skin Color: Medium/Deep
Sephora Skin IQ: 1Y11
Nothing about skincare or makeup is easy. If it were, there wouldn’t be so many conflicting reviews under a product. Like you, there’s a voice in the back of my head that says, Of course there are bad reviews. That means it’s not that great of a product. Kinda . . .
Reviews can be insightful. However, they’re also misleading because the wrong people tend to use the wrong product for them. I typically take five to ten minutes out of my day to sift through for keywords that pertain to my skin and the formula. SPF is mandatory for me, as is affordability.
P.S. Buckle up cause this is wordy.
Main Products Mentioned: Fenty & BareMinerals
Pro Tip: search for what you’re looking for (i.e. matte, coverage, finish, etc)
What’s Your Skin Type?
Think of your skin as a new dress you just stained. You have no idea how to wash it, so you check the tag (I hope you do. Please check your tags!). Every fabric has a set way it should be washed and dried. Your skin is the same way. Most people fall into five categories: dry, oily, combination, sensitive, or normal.
I have dry, sensitive skin aka certain formulas will break me out for any number of reasons ranging from the type of plants they’re using to an actual chemical. Since my skin craves moisture, my primary skin concern is dryness.
The other concern that I had to account for was my skin complexion. I have trouble matching so I gave in and succumbed to Sephora’s Skin IQ Finder. This cut the actual leg work down to minimal. You get a list of what brands they carry have a shade that matches you. I took that list and knocked out anything with a price tag over $40, a matte finish, and exclusively labeled as full coverage.
Foundation Time!
Now that you know your skin basics (and mine), you can approach the looming tower of foundations with some idea of what to look for. If you’re anything like me, you thought about getting that matte finish, transfer-resistant, 24 hour formula. For me, it was Fenty. It’s an amazing line made by an amazing woman who seems to understand my makeup struggle. And it is all wrong for me. I should mention I tried a few drugstore brands before I got my IQ and settled on two: Fenty vs. BareMinerals.
Matte Finish
Matte is the enemy to dry skin. I tried Fenty’s Pro Filt’r Foundation. Everything was great – shade, texture, transfer resistant, long lasting – with the exception of how it showed off my dry skin in a bad way. No amount of primer could spare me. I suppose you could use setting spray and hydration mist throughout the day, but it’s not worth it.
I accepted that matte finish wasn’t for me and went back to the drawing board to see what was left: natural and radiant finishes.
Natural vs. Radiant
A natural finish is exactly that – a controlled, natural look. No excess shine or flaws. Just a pretty second skin people are envious of. Where as a radiant finish is what others may call dewy or bright and glowing. I prefer natural so I went with that. But what’s this about coverage?
Coverage
There is light, medium, and full. Full covers everything. Medium covers most but maybe not the dark pigmentations all that well. Light is barely there and perfect if you don’t have much to hide.
Some are buildable. For dry skin, you want to stay away from full. Apparently, it takes a toll on your already stressed out skin. For myself, I decided to go with a medium to full coverage that is buildable (aka I can control how light it is).
Target Acquired
I didn’t mention it earlier, so let me address it now. Creams and liquids tend to have some moisturizing component. Which brings me to my choice in foundations.
I turned to BareMinerals’ BarePro Performance Wear Liquid foundation. I’ve used their serum foundation (which is being discontinued fyi) and liquid complexion rescue in the past, so I knew they’d have a shade I could rely on. It also has an SPF of 20. Ignoring reviews, I tried it.
It didn’t dry me out or oxidize into a weird color. No lines or setting problems. Not even a small breakout. Did I finally do it? Did I find my next foundation? I had one last test: transferability. I rubbed (normally) against my skin, fabrics, paper, and my phone. Some did transfer, mainly to the phone, but not the normal amount of past foundations.
It’s still early, but I can safely say that BareMinerals Pro in Chai 26 will be my next foundation. When I want the matte finish back, I’ll dust on some translucent setting powder (Cover FX or Laura Mercier) and revel in it.
The Take Away
Stay away from matte finishes, full coverage when possible, SPF is your friend, and anything outside of creams and liquids. Stick with those and you should be good to go.
Have you had a similar experience? Share it below in a comment.
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