If you’re in need of a quick lip scrub or exfoliant but don’t have anything handy, just grab an extra-soft bristled toothbrush - or one of the fancier toothbrushes that have cheek/tongue scrubbers on the back - and rub it gently along your lips.
The 5 Most Popular Finishing Powders Online
As people expressed interest in my previous, “most hyped”/”most talked about” eyeliners on the internet, I thought I might do the same for other types of products. Like before, this is simply a compilation of my understanding of the most popular and well-reviewed products online; it doesn’t necessarily indicate personal experience. I reckon this list is best used as a guide when you are shopping for new products to try, or are curious about why some products are as popular as they are.
So, this post is about FINISHING POWDER (often also called setting powder), mainly because I’ve recently done a LOT of research into the whys and hows and whats of a good setting powder. From what I’m reading in reviews (both good and bad) is that the “best” setting powders suit what you need for your skin. This ranges from oil control to minimizing the appearance of pores, to mattifying your makeup, to giving your face a nice glow, and even bringing the different elements of your makeup together, giving a smooth and even finish (i.e., “setting” your makeup).
What generally pops up as “pros” for these products are how finely milled the powders are, how well they do their stated jobs, how long they last (both on the face and in the pot/compact), and the impact they have on your overall look. “Bad” or at least unpopular finishing powders tend to make your face look paler (especially where flash photos are involved), change the color of your skin/foundation, cause irritation, or are just difficult or messy to apply.
There’s a difference between loose powders and pressed powders, as well. Generally speaking pressed powders are much easier to apply and are far more portable, but loose powders win in almost every other category beyond that, except in ONE case, which I list in this post.
Now, I tried to write this post with prices in mind, but I’ve found that because you need so little powder for every application of makeup, people tend not to harp on about the price like they would with other products. By and large, the most popular finishing powders sit at US$27-$32 RRP.
The Beautyblender PURE
Those of you who’ve read this blog since about January this year will know that I’ve recently come into the possession of the Beautyblender PURE. This is the latest version of a very popular, well-hyped beauty product that has become the talk of the beauty blogosphere.
For the record, I don’t own the WHOLE kit, just the sponge and the solid soap; I gave the “air” carry bag a miss for price’s sake.
The Beautyblender was originally developed by makeup artist Rea Ann Silva, and you can read all about it here. But in short, it is a reusable, latex-free sponge that is used to apply foundation and other face products. It is typically used wet (and when it’s wet it swells to like twice the size, it’s awesome) and is pretty easy to clean; I’ve used both the solid soap that comes with it and my BECCA soap and they work very well. It’s been around for a few years now and has won quite a few beauty industry awards.
Okay, enough of that introduction; you can always read more of its history on your own if you’re curious. What this article will talk about is how I came to end up using and really liking this sponge, as well as how I find it justifies its own cost (which is pretty high, at US$20 RRP for a single).
Beware the Undertones
Since my investigation into the “girly” world began with a look at foundation, it didn’t take very long for me to come across the term “undertone.” Being that every other “HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT FOUNDATION FOR YOU” article included some kind of reference to undertones, I felt this warranted investigation.
As with 85% of my research thus far, a wealth of not-always-consistent information is out there just waiting to be found. If you’re an arty person, much of this is already known to you, but basically the undertone thing is linked with color theory.
Makeup, as in art, is a composition of color rather than colors in isolation. A yellow circle on a red background looks very different from that same yellow on a blue background. By that same token, looking at someone’s face (and even their whole outfit and hair color) runs along the same veins: you’re looking at a whole PERSON, not just one part of their face. Understanding undertones is a way for people to make sense of what colors work to achieve what kind of look.
Makeup in a Hot, Australian Summer
Let me clarify precisely what I mean by “hot, Australian summer.” In Western Australia, at the height of summer, temperatures average at the 39-41 degrees Celsius level. With low humidity, this is surprisingly bearable as long as you are not trying to walk barefoot on the beach. However, this year (the year I began PROJECT: GIRLY) was surprisingly humid, resulting in sticky, sweating sensations the likes of which I haven’t experienced since the last time I was in Singapore.
Now, I usually apply makeup in the bathroom. It’s bright, spacious, and the mirror is gigantic. My makeup stuff is all in there, too. Thing is, there’s no air conditioning in there and I can’t figure out how to unlock the window (long story), and even with the door open it can get very, VERY stuffy. And sweaty.
What this usually means is that my makeup is melting off my face even as I try to apply it, coating my brushes with sweat (my forehead sweats more than the rest of my body put together) and all-round grossness.
And even if I DO manage to get my makeup on in friendlier environs (our air conditioned bedroom, for instance), this doesn’t stop stuff from just sloughing off my face once I do step back into hot, humid weather.
Following a few weeks of this (and some notable days with some notable looks when I got to work), I learned a few valuable lessons, which I will now share with you. As always, this is personal experience and should be treated as such! YMMV.
How I Take Care of My Makeup Brushes
Those of you who’ve read my brush collection posts will know that I have a substantial number of makeup brushes. Given that number, there are plenty of other beauty enthusiasts and makeup artists who have quadruple that amount. Soooooo… yeah. I don’t feel too bad, but it can be hard not to look at your brushes and just see dollar signs.
That said, it makes sense that if you’ve spent a lot of money on something you use several times a week (possibly more if you really like that “something”), you should take good care of it. When that thing touches your face every day and has a high chance of spreading bacteria and causing breakouts, you should take good care of it properly. Basically, clean your damn brushes.
Now, in this area, there’s a lot of information. From Youtube, blogs, books, and magazines, the number of “best methods” I’ve found is staggering. When should you wash them? How often? With what? How? Mind-blowing.
Distilling all this down, I found a method of brush care that works for me and that makes me feel like I’m doing the best for my brushes. I do not profess for this to be the best way or the most popular way or even the cheapest way, but it’s certainly a way that seems to work for me and that I feel satisfies many of the points raised by beauty gurus the world over. Basically, I use this:
This is BECCA’s Professional Brush Soap, which is made from plant oils that get in there and break down product (even better than most other things I’ve tried!) and also serves to clean and condition brushes. I watched my old Ecotools Concealer Brush, caked in concealer that no amount of olive oil or shampoo could get out, come back to life after just one swipe of it into this soap!
Now, this soap costs dollahs: about $15 in the US and $18 here in Australia. For a product that serves a single function, that’s not so impressive. But what is impressive is how little soap you need to clean a whole brush! You seriously just wet the brush, swipe it across the soap once or twice, and it picks up all it needs just like that to build a lather and break down the gunk that’s stuck on your brush! Neat!
But how did I even figure out to use this soap in the first place?
My Makeup Dictionary: Face Edition
As I had done for the eyes version of this dictionary, I picked out terms that I’d never heard of (or completely misunderstood) prior to doing my research into the beauty world. Some of these may seem pretty obvious or self-explanatory, but they’re included here because, at least at first, they mystified me from the get-go and had me googling left and right to find out what these things actually are.
How I Learned to Always Set My Makeup
Okay let me paint you guys a brain-picture here. I’ve put on a nice primer, my foundation looks great, I’ve contoured my face perfectly, but in my rush to get out the door I didn’t use a setting spray or setting powder.
2 hours later, in a warm nightclub, I walk into the ladies’ room to do lady things and I look in the mirror and I freeze in abject horror.
My foundation, mingled with what I imagine must be sweat, is sliding off my face. There is no other way to describe it. You can see beads of sweat, stained in the color of my foundation, rolling down my forehead and face. It was… not a good look.
After dabbing the hell out of my face with paper towel and fixing the damage by blending what I could back into my skin, the very first thing I did the next morning (after chugging three glasses of water and cussing at my headache) was look up what went wrong.
Prior to that incident, I’d always thought that setting sprays and powders were totally optional. And to some extent, they are, particularly when you are in climate-controlled, air conditioned environs for most of your day. But I did find out that when the air gets stuffy, humid, or just plain hot, either the moisture in the air or the sweat of your own face will begin to yank off your foundation.
from a tom boy to a girly girl at the tender old age of 28
