Monday, November 29, 2010

Review: Coastal Scents Undercover Liquid Color Corrector - Yellow + Photos & Swatches!

Coastal Scents Undercover Liquid Color Corrector
(in the shade yellow)

Product Description: "
These are used when making custom color changes to foundation, concealer and blush are needed. Pro Color Correctors mix easily together and with liquid cosmetic products. You can also create custom color correctors such as peach, salmon, lavender and pastel green.  The use of color correctors will assist you in hiding a persons flaws and highlighting their facial strengths.

There are six velvety correctors, used in cosmetic products to lighten, darken, contour, add new tint and tone to products, and cover hyper pigmentation. If a custom fit is what you need when applying your makeup in business or at home, this set is indispensable. The viscosity is thick, highly pigmented, has good coverage and is easy to control when dispensing. " - http://www.coastalscents.com/



Why I found this product necessary to purchase - If you have been a follower of my blog and you keep up with my posts, you probably already know what skin tone I have and how often I stress about finding foundations that have enough yellow in them. Although this isn't always an issue as I have found good color matches in all of my favorite foundations, there are some foundations that fall short of my exact color match. I do own some foundations that I don't wear as often as others because of the sole reason, my face will not match my neck. Yes.. darkness or lightness wise, but the undertone will not match. Foundations that are too beige/neutral will leave me gray, cool foundations will leave me pink, too olive of foundations will leave me green and sometimes warm foundations can have too much red in the and leave me looking sunburned. I mostly run into the problem of some foundations being too neutral and they will give me a gray cast. Seeing this product on Coastal Scents made me really think that this problem can possibly be eliminated for good and I can use this product on my foundations that are missing a little yellow.

 Red - used when needing to add more pink in foundation for caucasian skin or shade of red in some darker skin tones. (Do not add more than a tiny dot of this at a time to your product, it is very strong. )
Blue - Simply mix equal amounts of yellow, red and blue (primary colors) together to make brown, known as a neutral color. The amount of each primary color used will make a specific shade of brown: more yellow, less red, less blue and so on.
Green - Adds extra coverage and color correcting for skin with too much redness from inflammation, such as rosacea and broken capillaries.
Yellow - excellent for under eye circles; used to add yellow tones; Yellow also counteracts purple blemishes and bruising. 
Black - is not a color, it is actually absent of color, it is used in the art and cosmetic industry to darken colors-absorb the light in them. Use this to darken your foundation shade, a darker shade of foundation is also used to diminish flaws and highlight strengths.
White - This is not a color, it is a tint, tints are used to lighten all colors. When you are in between shades in your color range white can be used to lighten, black to darken. White can be used to create a foundation one or two shades lighter than your regular makeup and to be used for highlighting.

So, I put it to the test. I used a foundation that is a little too neutral for me. (Rimmel Lasting Finish #200 Soft Beige) fyi, it's one of the lighter foundations I own for when I'm not very tan.
This was just a test run. I ended up putting a little more corrector than needed.. but as you can see from the final result, the foundation matches my skin much better than the original foundation. 

Review: I tested it again yesterday when I went out. I used a foundation that was again, a little too neutral for me and I used just a drop of the corrector and mixed it in with the dab of foundation I poured onto a clean palette and the foundation had transformed into a shade more suitable for me. Applied to my face, it looked like a completely different foundation. Matching your undertone perfectly is really something that can make or break a foundation. The corrector has a thin consistency.. It is not watery, nor is is creamy. It's somewhere in between. It did not change the texture or finish of my foundations. Just purely, the undertone. I highly recommend this product if you struggle with the same issues as me with foundations. I'm very happy I purchased this, and I will be using it with all of my foundations that don't have enough yellow. What's best about it is, it's only $3.95. View all shades here.

Have you used this product or a product like this?

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Coastal Scents. I was not paid or compensated in any way for this review. I paid for this product myself and as always, my reviews are honest and are based on my personal experience in using the product.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!! Plus a recipe to share :)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving.. I just finished eating with my family and now I'm about to make the frosting for the red velvet cake I baked last night :) Then, in a little while I'll be having another meal at George's house & spending some time there. I'm so exhausted from yesterday. I baked for 12 hours straight! I made lots of traditional Swedish (or scandinavian) cookies, Snickerdoodles and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies. My favorite were the Chocolate Chocolate Chip. If you're a lover of chocolate, you should definitely try baking them.. they are soo easy to make and they only take 8 minutes in the oven! Believe me, DELICIOUS. They taste like brownies in cookie form. I made half of the batch with only semi-sweet chocolate chips and the other half with chocolate chips and chopped walnuts. I got the recipe from here.
  • 1 1/4 cups butter or 1 1/4 cups margarine, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup cocoa
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups peanut butter chips (12 oz. pkg.) or 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (12 oz. pkg.)
  1. Heat oven to 350°.
  2. In large mixer bowl; cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
  4. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually blend into creamed mixture. Stir in peanut butter or chocolate chips.
  5. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-9 minutes. (Do not overbake; cookies will be soft. They will puff while baking and flatten while cooling.).
  6. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet onto wire rack. Cool completely.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

E.L.F Studio Products are 50% OFF!!!! Today is the last day!

50% off all ELF Studio Items. (minimum $20 purchase) 
The sale lasts through today (11/24)
Code: HOLSTU

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with elf.

MAC Pro Longwear Foundation Review, Swatches & FOTD!

mac pro longwear foundation review

MAC Pro Longwear Foundation

MAC Pro Longwear Foundation ($29.50) is one of MAC's newest foundations that is promised to provide up to 15 hours of wear in any environment and condition. It provides a lightweight, sheer to medium coverage and will keep the skin looking natural and flawless. *Contains SPF 10

I've only worn this foundation twice so far, but I couldn't wait to write my review!

*For reference, it's a couple dollars more expensive than Studio Fix Fluid, which retails for $26. I'm guessing because it includes a pump. (Satinfinish also has a pump and retails for $29.50.)

The texture is nice and creamy, but slightly lighter/thinner in comparison to MAC Studio Fix Fluid - yet it's not watery at all. 

The coverage is light to medium - one pump will give me sheer coverage, and an additional pump will give me light-medium coverage. It's buildable to a solid medium, but if you have any blemishes or hyperpigmentation, you may find that spot concealing is necessary. 

I will say this foundation is a bit difficult to work with. It's kind of hard to explain, because the foundation itself isn't thick at all, but once it hits the skin, it doesn't move around that easily - causing me to use excess foundation. I've found that using a primer beforehand really helps smooth the foundation all over my face without wasting product.

The finish is semi-matte, and it doesn't leave my face feeling moist, so I don't find it necessary for me to set the foundation with a powder. Just a little under my eyes to set my concealer.

(Wearing MAC Pro Longwear Foundation in NC35)