MAC Matchmaster Foundation is a new offering for the permanent collection that focuses on adaptable pigment and buildable shades numbered from 01 to 10 instead of using MAC’s other/older shade naming conventions. The foundations are meant to adapt to you skin shade and can be worn from sheer to full coverage through building. They also provide SPF 15 sunscreen protection.

I found that the 02 and 03 foundations, the lightest that I was sent, worked ok with my fair skin. I usually wear the second to lightest shade in any collection and I appear to be close to the same here. 02 was a bit more yellow than I care for though, while 03 appeared to be a bit cooler toned but slightly darker than I wanted on my face (It matched my arm well though in the swatch).  The foundation covers well, especially if you do build it a bit. It wore as good for me as a number of other foundations. I liked 02 just fine, but am not sure that I would necessarily buy another bottle of it. I think it could be of most interest to people with either very fair or very dark skin because the collection include formulations of MAC’s lightest and darkest shades ever. So if you fall into the very light or very dark skin tone category and have had trouble finding a foundation shade, this might be the place to look.

Below are indoor and outdoor MAC Matchmaster Foundation swatches of the following numbers  02, 03, 06,, 07, 08, 09,10. Please note that I did not try to blend these  in for the photos, so this is how they look right out of the bottle. when blended, they even out and mix in with the natural skin tone pretty well. For example, even though 02 and 03 don’t look like matches for me on my arm when put on that thick, both did blend into a pretty good match for me when I actually wore them on my face. This is one product that you really should test in the store fro best results though. It is hard to get a gauge for the best shade for any given person based on the swatches and when you can’t really use the old MAC naming system as a guide.

The MAC Matchmaster collection will be available beginning September 15 and will be part of the permanent collection.

Disclosure: This post is based on items provided by a representative of the company. For more, please see the disclosure page.

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Update: You can see product swatches from the collection here: MAC Fall 2011 Swatches

The MAC Me Over collection for fall 2011 is based on MAC cosmetics’s online makeover contest. Below are images from the upcoming collection and a video about the people selected and their new looks.

I’ll have MAC Me Over swatches and photos  when I get some of the products. The collection includes makeup and brushes centered around three different fall looks.

Black Trend

Icelandic Cool

MAC Me Over Basics

Below is the video about the Mac Me Over collection. I’m loving the photos from it, so I am excited to do a review and some swatches of some of the products when they area available! I’ll post an update link here when that happens.

The MAC Me Over collection will be available beginning August 25, 2011.

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Avoid Makeup Melt With These Top Summer Makeup Tips

From melting and dripping to sticky messes, the summer months can really take a toll on your makeup. As the temperatures rise and summer creeps in, it is important to remember some important summer makeup tips to keep you looking your best, even in the heat. Different makeup products perform differently in the heat, so it pays to know how your makeup will deal with the summer months. By following some simple and easy summer makeup tips, you can still look your best, even in the heat.

Summer Makeup Tip 1: Less is More

One of the easiest things that you can do to avoid melty messes in the heat is to go easy on your makeup. Think about how much time you will be spending outdoors and consider the amount of makeup you usually apply. Apply less makeup for each hour spent outside in the heat. You may want to use a tinted moisturizer instead of your usual foundation. LORAC protecTINT comes in 4 different shades and includes SPF 30 sunscreen. This is not to say that you can’t use foundation, but a small amount of powder foundation can be placed where you don’t feel like using the moisturizer. You may also want to consider a light primer to go on after the moisturizer. A light primer is a perfect summer makeup product in that it helps to keep your makeup in place all day, even in the heat. You can use a primer for eye shadow, as well as blush. Photo Finish Foundation Primer SPF 15 with Dermaxyl Complex is a great way to get the benefits of primer and sunscreen.

Summer Makeup Tip 2: Use Bronzer

In order to keep your eyes bright, you may want to consider applying some powder bronzer to your cheek bones, forehead, nose, and your chin. Apply lightly with a loose brush, so as not to have a dense pattern on your face. Make sure to lightly dust your neck and ears in order to have a uniform look.  For a great waterproof, matte bronzer, check out Tarte’s Waterproof Matte Bronzer. It has been getting rave reviews!

Summer Beauty Tip 3: Consider Eyelash Extensions and Waterproof Eye Liner

When it comes to mascara, a great alternative is to have eyelash extensions applied. Done properly, eyelash extensions can last for weeks and you can swim and sweat all day with no worries of gunky messes.

Waterproof makeup has also made great strides in recent years. Gone are the days of flaky, crumbling messes.

If you are applying eyeliner, you may want to try Make Up Forever Aqua Eyes eyeliners (also see our previous review: Make Up Forever Aqua Eyes Swatches). This award winning line of eyeliners keeps you from turning into a raccoon, in the water or out. Whether you are performing a water ballet or just hanging out at the park, Make Up Forever Aqua Eyes eyeliners are a great choice to keep you looking beautiful all day. Make Up Forever Aqua Eyes eyeliners are completely waterproof, they glide on easily, and come in 25 shades.

Summer Beauty Tip 4: Avoid Heavy Lipstick

Instead of using lipstick, consider using a lipliner topped with some gloss. Find a shade that matches your natural lip color the closest, then apply and use a sheer gloss on top. This will keep your lips looking fresh all day while avoiding the sticky mess that can happen with heavy lipsticks in the Summer.

Summer Makeup Tip 5: Beat the Heat with Blotting Papers and Hydration

For your skin, carry around some blotting papers. From oily skin to light sweat, blotting papers can be a life saver in keeping your skin glowing without being shiny. Remember to keep yourself hydrated in order to keep your skin from drying and getting oily. Hydration will also help keep your makeup fresh and glowing. Also, when packing your makeup, keep in mind that even if your makeup bag won’t be in direct sunlight, the heat can still melt it. Consider using a an insulated carrying case to avoid sticky messes.

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I have been asked a lot recently about basic makeup tips and application. So I decided to present a few how to articles from guest authors as part of a back to basics series. The first in the series looks at how to apply makeup foundation.

Cream to Powder Foundation: Many consider a creme-to-powder, such as Make Up Forever Duo Matte (editors note: highly recommended, read previous review here: Make Up Forever Foundation) to be the best foundation for most skin types.  Apply a creme-to-power foundation by using the enclosed sponge. Dab to sponge onto the make up and pick up a small amount. Then, starting with your nose, spread the foundation gently across your nose and onto the cheek areas. Make sure your application is smooth and even (you should not be able to see any lines.) Once the nose and cheeks are covered, spread more foundation evenly across the rest of your face. You want to make sure it all blends and has an even look. Applying foundation with more pressure on the sponge will create a more full coverage, less pressure will result in lighter coverage. Avoid pure powder foundation if you have dry skin, as it can make you look chalky.

Liquid Foundation: Folks with oily skin, or skin that is oily in places and dry in places, will probably prefer an oil-free, liquid product such as Stila Natural Finish Oil-Free Makeup. Those with very dry skin might prefer a moisturizing brand. To apply the foundation, remove the cap from the bottle, and place a small amount of foundation on your fingertip. Depending on your coverage preference, place between one and three dots of foundation each on your nose, cheeks, forehead and chin.

Next, use a foundation sponge ( we particularly love the Beauty Blender Sponge) or your fingers to smooth the dots together so that your whole face is covered. Add more foundation as necessary to create an even finish.

There are also several options for folks with uneven skin-tone or freckles. One option is to use a foundation primer concealer or a BB cream underneath the foundation. You would place the primer or concealer only over the area(s) that needed attention, and then cover your full face with the foundation. Alternately, you may choose a sheer powder or very light foundation and let your natural beauty shine through.  Women who tan in the summer will find they need seasonal foundations. However, it is not a good idea to use a darker foundation to mimic a tan. The solution for that is a self-tanner specially formulated for faces.

The biggest secret, whichever type you choose, is to make sure the coverage has no streaks or dark/ light spots, and that the shade you choose matches your skin. The best foundation is the one that makes you feel beautiful.

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In honor of being trapped in Detroit this week because of problems with a Delta Airlines plane, I bring you this post on traveling  with makeup in your carry on luggage. You can also read the TSA rules here.  When I set out on my trip, I decided to take only carry on luggage to avoid Delta’s checked baggage fee and because I had short connections that made me worry about losing my luggage. Since I got stranded, I am very glad that I made that choice!  Anyway, bringing some basic makeup on the airplane was important to me, so this post is about what I did. But first, here are the basic carryon rules and cosmetic items that fall under them:

• Liquids and gels are limited to items on 3.4 ounces (100ml) or less and to the amount that can fit in a single one quart plastic baggie: This includes fragrances, liquid foundations, liquid concealer, mascara,  and lip gloss.
• Special note about fragrances and hairspray: aerosols and flammable liquids generally are not allowed. However, TSA states they are OK in the limited amount of personal care items.  This means only less than 3.4 ounces and what will fit in your plastic bag for liquids.  To be safe,  pack non-aerosol hairspray samples and only very small fragrance samples.
• Solids are OK: This includes pressed powders. I have always considered balms and lipsticks to be solids and never had a problem carrying them on.  To be safe, I tend to stick a plastic bag in my purse so I can put them in it if a question arises.
• Remove the  plastic bag of liquids from your carryon and send it through the scanner in a bin. Pressed powder items and other solids can stay in your bag.

Here are a few tips for carry on cosmetics:

• Pack powder makeup when possible. Consider bringing a good powder foundation instead of liquid. For example, I love my MAKE UP FOR EVER Duo Mat Powder Foundation. I also like Sephora Matifying Compact Foundation and Velvet Mineral Pressed Powder Foundation From Amazing Cosmetics.
• Bring sample sizes of liquid items. A regular mascara is going to be under 3.4 ounces, but why take up a ton of space, especially when all you get is a one quart bag? Try packing a sample sized mascara and lip gloss. I love getting sample kits from Sephora Favorties for things like this. Samples are also great for you skin care needs! In particular, check out this sampler, which contains a variety of makeup items: Sephora Favorites Best of Basics Makeup Starter Deluxe Sampler ($107 Value) Best of Basics Makeup Starter Deluxe Sampler.
• Pack an eye shadow palette. Individual pots of shadow take up more space. Pick a palette with multiple shades that you like and everything will be more compact. Even for solids, sample sizes or multi-function palettes save space and are easier to pack.
• Pack light. This isn’t the time to bring your entire lipstick collection! (This coming from the person who puts 6 lipsticks in her purse plus a few balms).

Here is what I brought on my trip:

In my packed luggage, I took a Sephora powder foundation, a sample sized powder blush, and a MAC eye shadow palette from last year’s MAC holiday collection.  I picked the MAC eye palette because it came with a small brush instead of a sponge applicator, so I didn’t need to pack a brush, and because it happens to have several favorite fairly neutral fall/winter shades in it.

In my bag of liquids for TSA inspection: A benefit bad gal sample mascara, a sample sized high pigment Dior lip gloss, and a full sized Hard Candy sheer lip gloss (because I just can’t live without it). I also packed a few samples of cleanser and and moisturizer.  That left room for toothpaste, deodorant and  any other miscellaneous liquids and gels. I used the shampoo at my hotel (not great stuff, but it was fine for the short trip).

The packing worked quite well. Everything fit and TSA did not question anything.

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I have been focusing for awhile now on accumulating lists of the best makeup and cosmetics (and sometimes lists of the worst as well). Total Beauty is often rather helpful in that regard since they have many such lists themselves. The article below, which is syndicated from Total Beauty lists the top 12 foundation from their editors.

Some of these I haven’t tried and I am pretty darn curious about the Milani foundation now, since I generally have high regard for the Milani brand (they are on my best eye shadow list) and really good drugstore foundations can be hard to find. I also am interested in picking up Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse Makeup because I already love their Dream Matte Mousse.

As for ones that I have tried, I definitely agree with the Stila, Lancome, and MAC Pro Longwear recommendations. To see the entire list click on through below.

The 12 Best Editor-Tested Foundations

See which foundations won over these hard-to-please editors the most

This is a TotalBeauty.com face makeup article Total Beauty editors tried out boatloads of different foundation formulas to bring you their faves. See products

What is your favorite foundation? Share it in the comments!

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Revlon has entered the fray into high definition style makeup with Revlon Photo Ready Makeup and Revlon Photo Ready Powders. I bought one of each to review.

Revlon Photo Ready Foundation has a nice smooth consistency that provides medium coverage.  Although it is oil free, it feels rather moisturizing, and I felt that it was a bit too much moisture for my currently very oily skin. So I recommend it more for normal to dry skin types. Photochromatic pigments reflect light, and the makeup comes with SPF 20 protection. I got all day wear from it. It sits nicely on the skin and does remind me quite a bit of my favorite Make Up Forever High Definition Makeup (link is to previous review), in that gives the skin a very smooth appearance without looking too heavy, while also simply feeling pretty nice.  However, I will still take my Make Up Forever over it any day.

Revlon Photo Ready Powder provides a nice finish for the Photo Ready Makeup. It provides illuminating pigments and a soft finish. As far as powders go I like it quite a bit. However in the drugstore brands Maybelline’s Dream Matte Powder has really stood out for me the most lately.  Revlon’s powder also recently came out in multiple shades, which provide a fair amount of extra cover. With those, I found that by combining the tinted powder with the liquid foundation, I could cover my areas of melasma pretty well and still get a somewhat natural/sheer look. That is always a fine line—achieving cover v. not getting overdone—so Revlon’s new tinted Photo Ready powders are particularly good for that.

Revlon is available at most drugstores and big box retailers. Links above are to drugstore.com, which also carries the line.

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Elizabeth Arden has a set of new Pure Finish Mineral Tinted Moisturizers.  These tinted mineral makeup moisturizers have SPF 15 protection and give medium coverage. Many, if not most, tinted moisturizers  are very sheer, so it is refreshing to come across ones that actually provide some real coverage, and these are more akin to a liquid mineral makeup than to a standard sheer tinted moisturizer. Four shades are available.

Below are swatches of the Elizabeth Arden Pure Finish shades. They do blend in pretty well, so even though they might stand out on the skin in the swatch, they do blend in to match quite well with any skin tone that is generally close to the shade. I added powder over mine as well, which blended things seamlessly.  For example, I actually wear the second level shade, even though it looks too dark or too yellow in the swatch.  Once blended though, it matches me perfectly.

From left to right: Fair, Light, Medium, Deep:

I found that the product wore quite well. It give the skin a luminous look and provides a comfortable, light moisture.  Ingredients in Elizabeth Arden Pure Finish Mineral Tinted Moisturizer include:

• Microlight Minerals – Natural mineral pigments that  incorporate Mineral Mica, which acts as an optical diffuser to soften the look of fine lines and wrinkles.
• Antioxidants and Vitamins A, C and E – Moisturize and provide antioxidant protection.
• Dionysis Extract – An extract of the Sea Campion Plant which acts to slow the effects of free radicals and provide strong antioxidant protection.
• Squalane – Botanically derived from olives, this ingredient brings back the natural feel of your skin’s own moisture.
• Jojoba Esters – Act as a barrier for water loss to keep moisture in the skin.
• Sodium Hyaluronate – A powerful skin moisturizer.
• Oil free, talc free and fragrance free.

You can buy these at the Elizabeth Arden website linked above or look for them in department stores and at specialty makeup stores. Most of those do not seem to have them online yet.

Disclosure: This review in based on products given to me by a representative of the company. For more, please se my disclosure page.

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As far as I am concerned, this is the must buy product of the summer: Physician’s Formula Healthy Wear!  I absolutely love these two items, and I am so happy that I bought them on a whim for review while out running errands!

OK, so you know how important sunscreen is, and if you are like me and have oily skin with melasma or hyperpigmentation, getting oil free high SPF products that can also provide some coverage is all the more important. Perhaps you also want some light moisture or sheer powder foundation coverage (that is bismuth free to boot)? Well, of all the various tinted moisturizers and mineral makeup items out there, Physicians Formula Healthy Wear™ SPF 50 Tinted Moisturizer and Physicians Formula Healthy Wear™ SPF 50 Powder Foundation, are the best I have found for nice coverage with high sun protection. The products go to SPF 50 .

Aside from running up to SPF 50,  Physician’s Formula Healthy Wear also is oil free, safe for acne prone skin, and the pressed powder does not contain irritating bismuth. On top of it the packaging is really cute! The tinted moisturizer swatch below is the shade fair to light.

A few more details on each:

Physician’s Formula Healthy Wear Tinted Moisturizer: Considering that it is SPF 50 and is  also sweat resistant, this tinted moisturizer feels pretty light and absorbed better than I expected. Usually such things feel heavy. Also a pleasant surprise was that I actually got decent coverage from it. Often with tinted moisturizers I feel like any real coverage is non-existent. But Healthy Wear did give a nice sheer cover. Then, in areas where I have melasma, I got additional coverage by applying the pressed powder over it. The moisturizer wears well and does indeed seem to be sweat resistant. It isn’t totally sweat or waterproof, but it won’t wear off instantly either. Frankly, it is the best tinted moisturizer I have used to date. Physician’s Formula has a winner with this one!

Physician’s Formula Healthy Wear Powder Foundation: I love pressed powder foundations. They are great for oily skin, and often provide good sun protection. I also like to use them over liquid makeup to cover pigmented areas a bit better. Healthy Wear is sheer in coverage, but has enough tint to be used alone.  It is soft and light, 50 SPF, and bismuth free.  Forget expensive mineral makeup packed with bismuth and lower SPF when you can just get this stuff! Although,  to be fair, there are some good bismuth free mineral makeup choices out there.  Anyway, I imagine I will be using Healthy Wear all summer as a sunscreen touch up, since applying new powder won’t ruin an existing makeup look.

I bought both of these items at my local CVS store, and you should be able to find them at any drugstore or big box retailer. I also provided a couple of Amazon.com affiliate links if you want to buy online.

Or, you can use Bizrate to:

Comparison Shop For Physician’s Formula Cosmetics

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I am already in love with Makeup Forever Duo Matte Powder Foundation (link is to previous review). Now I equally love their MAKE UP FOR EVER High Definition Foundation.

Makeup Forever High Definition Makeup provides beautiful coverage that sits well on the skin, provides a powder feeling finish, and is designed to give a soft focus effect to hide imperfections. It is oil free and comes in 25 shades.

My crazy skin goes from oily days to dry days and I tried Makeup Forever High Definition on it during both. I liked it best when my skin was on the dry side, but it worked fine when I was oily as well. However, I prefer the Duo Matte powder foundation during the oily times.

Coverage from the foundation was lovely. It initially has a medium amount of coverage, but you can build this foundation to achieve higher cover over problems areas. I found that I could hide melasma spots with it pretty well, especially if I applied a bit of Makeup Forever Duo Matte powder on top of in those areas.  Mostly though, the foundation simply feels nice and looks very natural. The finish is streak free and provides a great base for other makeup. If you have particularly pale skin you might also particularly want to check out Makeup Forever High Definition—it has some very pale shades. I often use the second lightest of any given brand and actually ended up with the 5th in line (118 Flesh) with this one!   Price is on the high side at $40, but I think it is worth it.

In general, I am finding that Make Up For Ever is a quality line all around. I have yet to try something from them I didn’t like and they have quickly become my first stop every time that I go into Sephora. I am looking forward to trying more items from them.

Note: This review uses an affiliate link. For more, please see my disclosure page.

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