Favorite foundations at all price points series

 I have really been thinking about breaking up my blog into two parts; the beauty, and the foodie. For now, however, I will continue to write about both themes together. Thus, if you are only interested in the food, I apologize in advance. This is a blog about my life, my musings on the mundane, and ultimately, how to both live and eat beautifully. This will be the first entry in a foundation review series. I will feature foundations in different formats and price points. Back in the day, when I was but a wee youngster I worked for the now defunct Prescriptives line owned by none other than the cosmetics giant Estee Lauder. Their niche was their huge range of foundation shades, and custom blend formulas. I learned that one of the most common mistakes women make is their foundation. Often times women choose the wrong undertone, depth of shade, or a foundation that is too heavy/light of coverage. Foundation can be a challenge to be sure. I will begin by describing my skin to readers to establish a reference point for comparisons. I am fortunate to have mostly normal skin with a tendency for redness in the T-zone from sensitivity and slightly dilated capillaries. It is reasonably finely pored and has a tendency to dryness in severe dry heat, or harsh winters. I have recently moved to South Texas land of  hot, steamy weather and have noticed my skin to be slightly oilier in the T-zone. It may just be the weather melting product off of my face. I have found it very beneficial in these weather conditions to apply a primer under my foundation for both tenacity and longevity. I have recently revisited an old favorite of mine called Revlon Photoready. I believe this retails for about 12 Dollars at the drugstore and is often on sale or available with a coupon.

This foundation is very similar to MAC's mineralized liquid foundation in that it has a little bit of mica/luminescence in it. This lends the skin glow and radiance. Under normal lighting you will not notice the sparkles, but in the following unretouched pictures of my skin taken with a Macro lens you will detect it. The reason I like this foundation so much is that it looks so darn pretty without a ton of work. It has medium/full buildable coverage and never looks flaky or dry. It also comes a great hygienic pump bottle. The color range is okay with about 8 shades. I am wearing the second lightest in 02 Vanilla for reference and probably could even go up to the lightest shade. My other caveat for this foundation is that it's not suitable for oily skin, unless you want to look like a shiny disco ball. I will review a sister foundation from Revlon from the Colorstay line, which is great for oily skin, in the near future. Overall rating 8/10. Below a picture taken
 in normal light.

Below is a picture taken with flash which is the ultimate test for a foundation.