Foundation : Beauty and Fashion Tech

Makeup from DHC Skincare: Moist Color Base, Q10 Foundation, and Q10 Powder

DHC skincare is a Japanese skin care and cosmetics company. I have been a long time fan of DHC skincare products, especially their Olive Oil cleanser (read previous DHC review), but until recently, I had not tried much of DHC’s Makeup. So I decide to change that and sent in an order.

I decided to try out a combination of DHC foundation and makeup products to see how well I could achieve a look using them that would hopefully lessen the appearance of my melasma, but without using a full coverage foundation. I found a good mix for that. These item also contain Coenzyme Q as an anti-aging ingredient. So you can get some double duty action out of them!

First off, I applied DHC Q10 Moist Color Base . This product comes in several varieties:

Pink: Lends a rosy glow to diminish yellow undertones
Apricot: Adds warmth to liven pale, dull complexions
Beige: Balances uneven tones for a natural neutral look
Yellow: Ideal for moderate redness and unwanted pinkness
Green: Helps conceal severe redness issues

I used beige, which was advertised to help even out the appearance of discoloration. I found that it worked fairly well for that. The base is a light beige tone that doesn’t really tint much, but does help lessen the look of hyperpigmentation. Despite the term “moist” in the name, It came out quite matte, which I liked since I was fairly oily at the time that I tried it. Because of its shade, I think it would work for fair to medium skin, but those with truly porcelain skin or with brown skin might not find it very useful. The base acts quite well as a basic makeup primer, but if you want a true silicon primer, try out DHC Velvet Skin Coat instead (read review). That one is also clear, so it works well with all skin colors.

Next, I applied DHC Q10 Liquid Foundation. This is a sheer foundation with Coenzyme Q10 to add anti-aging properties. I appreciate double duty products, so I liked the idea of this item before I even tried it. Once I did try it, I loved the product. DHC Q10 foundation is sheer and a bit moisturizing, making it very comfortable to wear. Coverage is sheer, so while this doesn’t cover my melasma well alone, I found that it worked well in conjunction with the moist color base. For those wanting just a bit of sheer evening of redness and such, this foundation would be a good choice. One downside though is that the container rather small for the price point.

My favorite of the bunch was the DHC Q10 Face Powder . In fact, this has become my favorite facial powder, replacing my previous and more expensive favorite, Laura Mercier powder. This powder has a wonderful silky feeling to it and it sits well on the skin without overly settling into wrinkles and pores. The container is also of a decent size. I love it and will be a repeat purchaser.

Items from DHC skincare are generally available only online or through mail order. You are allowed to select four DHC samples with each order and their catalog comes with samples included, so it is a good mailing list to be on!

Popularity: 7% [?]

Weekend Reading From Total Beauty

I am always on a quest for the perfect foundation. For a look at fourteen well rated once from a variety of companies, check out the article below on Total Beauty.

Top-Rated Foundations

One of these 14 crowd pleasers from Revlon, Prescriptives, MAC and more could give your skin a flawless finish — sans airbrush experts

We’ve heard complaints about foundation ranging from too heavy and drying to too light and oily, not to mention “too few shades” and “too expensive.” So we made a list of the foundations that garnered praise from TotalBeauty.com members.

See reviews

Popularity: 11% [?]

Nars Makeup Technique Video: A Healthy Radiant Complexion

Nars is releasing a set of short makeup technique videos. In this first one, you can learn how to use Nars foundation, powder, and bronzer.

Nars Makeup Technique Video: A Healthy Radiant Complexion

Note the application of the bronzer in a number 3 movement. This is the best way to apply bronzer and the video shows it very well.

Comparison Shop for Nars Cosmetics

Popularity: 27% [?]

Jane Be Pure Cosmetics Liquid Mineral Foundation SPF 30

Jane Cosmetics has a new SPF 30 Jane be Pure Liquid Mineral Foundation at that I really love, although I think it is mislabeled a bit. Why mislabeled? Well, this one really seems like a tinted moisturizer to me. It is very sheer and high in moisture factor. So I wish they had just labeled it as such.

As far as tinted moisturizers go, this one is nice. It feels great and it provides just enough tint to even things out. It left me wishing that I didn’t have dark pigmented patches to cover, because then I would wear this all the time! As it is, I have been wearing it quite a bit with some concealer and touch of powder mineral makeup on the areas where I have melasma. The light shade is perfect for me and although it is a moisture product, it hasn’t left me looking greasy like some other tinted moisturizers do. Best of all, this item is only around $5!

The SPF 30 foundation is not yet on the Jane website and I can’t seem to find anyone selling it online yet. But you can find Jane Cosmetics at Walgreens stores.

Comparison Shop for Jane Cosmetics

Popularity: 14% [?]

Dr. Michele Copeland Skin Care Foundation and Concealer

Dr. Michele Copeland Skin Care has an extensive line of skin care products, along with some quite lovely cosmetics with anti-aging ingredients. Being a fan of double duty types of products, I gave the Ageless Foundation and Concealer a try and loved them both.

Dr. Michelle Copeland Skin Care Ageless Skin Under Eye Concealer with Anti-Wrinkle Complex, comes in a tube with a wand applicator. It is creamy in texture, as a good under eye concealer should be. The concealer contains the ingredients found in Copeland’s Rewind Eye Formula for anti-aging treatment.

Dr. Michelle Copeland Ageless Foundation Dr. Michelle Copeland Skin Care Ageless Skin Foundation is wonderful. The makeup covers fairly well and has a nice moisturizing feel to it. I found that it looked very nice and did not settle into lines and wrinkles. Best of all it contains a bunch of anti-aging ingredients. From the Dr. Michele Copeland website:

Developed by renowned New York Plastic surgeon, Dr. Michelle Copeland, the Ageless Skin Foundation Cameo contains Dr. Copeland’s Age-Defying ERASE Complex, which has an exclusive blend of age-defying ingredients and SPF 15 protection. You just [can't] find this in other foundations! Like Ageless Skin Concealer, this lightweight foundation not only covers up but also helps solve skin issues with powerful anti-aging ingredients like Argireline, DMAE and Coenzyme Q10. Contains Aloe, a natural moisturizer. Blends in easily and evenly to provide a smooth, natural finish.

I’m a big DMAE fan, and with SPF 15 and moisturizing properties, this foundation goes high on my favorites list.

Comparison Shop for Dr. Michele Copeland Skin Care Products

Popularity: 12% [?]

Callas Light Up Makeup Base

Callas Cosmetics is a French Company that has cosmetics designed in Japan and France, but made in Korea. I gave a bunch of their products a try and was quite impressed.

Callas Light Up Makeup Base is a rather interesting item because it can work both as a foundation or as a primer. The Callas base provides moisture and UV skin protection and is available in a couple of color correcting shades, plus in the shade Milk, which is a light natural tint. The base feels great and when used as a primer, works quite well as a base for further makeup.

But the milk shade of the base also gives decent light coverage–similar to a sheer tinted moisturizer. So while it can be worn as a primer, I found that it also was perfect alone for some moisturizing, sheer coverage. My favorite use has been as a foundation on my upper face, and as a base for mineral makeup on my lower face where I have some redness and pigmentation.

I linked to the order page from Amazon.com, but I actually ordered mine from Yesstyle, which is my favorite Japanese and Korean fashion, beauty, and accessories site. You can also view Callas items at Callas.com.

For more on Callas Cosmetics and YesStyle see my previous Callas eye shadow post.

Popularity: 13% [?]

DIY Mineral Makeup Kits From Bramble Berry

Here is fun item for the do it yourselfer, mineral makeup lover, or craft maven: Make Your Own Mineral Makeup Kits from Bramble and Berry. I spent a morning playing with the neutral and metallics kit and had a lot of fun. I also got some decent eye shadow from the process.

Below are some of the items before I got started (I supplied the larger measuring spoons and larger baggie). The entire kit contains: Titanium Dioxide, Dry Flo, Kaolin Clay, Sericite Mica, Super Pearly White, and the following pigments: Gold Sparkle, Bronze, Honeyed Beige, Sparkle Copper, Cappucino, Heavy Metal Gold, Vintage Grey, Patina Sheen, & Luster Black Mica. There are also 2 eyeshadow brushes, 5 mini measuring scoops, and 10 black containers to fill with your creations.

The kit contains all that you need to custom blend mineral foundation in varying levels of coverage and a variety of eye shadow shades. It also includes a booklet with recipes for various shades and well written instructions. I decided to make a light, medium and dark brown.

To get started, I followed the directions for a matte base and then added color from the included pigments according to recommendations in the book. It is fairly easy to increase or decrease shimmer by changing the mix of the base. The kit also contained a light brown sample. I didn’t end up matching that, but I liked what I got. My attempt at light was more of a neutral beige and my medium and dark turned out to be differing shades of taupe. Then I decided to make a darker brown/gray by adding a bunch of the darkest pigment. Mixing is pretty easy. Simply measure into a ziplock baggie, seal it, and shake! However, for mineral foundation, using a food processor or coffee blender to thoroughly mix the makeup is recommended.

Below are my finished eye shadows, the one on the far left is the light brown sample that came with the kit:

Here are skin swatches in the same order:

Oh, and I made a mess. Clutzy people like me probably should be more careful with shimmery loose powders! Fortunately it also was very easy to clean up.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this kit and I liked the results. It would be a great gift or something fun for your inner do it yourselfer. There is also a kit for vivid eye shadow shades.

Bramble and Berry actually specializes in soap making supplies, so if you have an interest in that, also take a look at the rest of their site. In addition, they have a lip balm kit, that I just might have to try for Girl Gloss!

Comparison Shop for Mineral Makeup

Popularity: 16% [?]