Revlon Photo Ready Foundation Review

When you read the reviews of pale skinned people for Revlon Photo Ready on Make Up Alley, you hear the same word over and over:  Cullen.  What is a Cullen?  Cullen is the family name of the vampires in the Twilight books/movies.  The vampires in that series are pale and sparkle in the sunlight.  I planned only to wear this in the winter when I’m mostly indoors and there is a lot of cloud cover..  My plan did not work out.  Despite not being in direct sunlight, I’m still a Cullen with this foundation.  

Revlon Photo Ready Foundation
My Skin Type:  My skin type is normal to slightly dry in the winter.  But, my skin doesn’t seem to like a lot of lotion-y/moisturizing products.  Those products will make my skin act more like oily skin.   
My experience with this type of product. I’ve tried lots of different foundations and different styles of foundations.  I’ve only tried drugstore foundations.
     
What I am looking for in a foundation:  Number one, I’m looking for a foundation that matches my very pale, warm toned skin (NC 10).  There aren’t many drugstore options, and I really want to stay with inexpensive foundations.  I want a medium to full coverage.  I hate light coverage foundations.  I put them on and I can’t tell that I did anything at all.  What’s the point?  I tend to prefer cream to powder formulas in winter.

My rating:

   
What I like about it.  This is the exact right color for me!!!  And it looks nice when I first apply it (although too sparkly).  I love that this is in a pump bottle.  It is easier to use and more hygienic that way.  I plan to keep the bottle when I finish the foundation to pour another foundation into. .

What I hate about it.  Obviously I’m not a fan of the sparkling.  The sparkles and foundation eventually settle in my wrinkles and pores.  After a few hours, this will often start to look slimy on my skin.  This is probably a better foundation formula for dryer and darker skin types then mine. (almost everyone is a darker skin type then me:)) This formula is not terrible, it just isn’t for me.

Would you buy this again?  No.  I have winter foundation options that I like better.

Find Your Foundation Color in Almost Any Brand

I'm still on a quest for a winter foundation.  I used to think that I was only really pale in February and March and my foundation was only a tad too dark for my skin in the fall.  Lies!!!  I start to get really pale in the end of September  I can admit that now.  The Temptalia Foundation Matrix has been very helpful in searching for a new foundation. If you have a foundation color you like,  you can use the Foundation Matrix to figure out what skin tone "number" of that foundation is.  I knew I needed one shade lighter then the foundation I was using.  So I found the one I was using on the chart and looked for foundations that were a shade lighter.  My shades are NC10.  If you want to try a new foundation, you find that foundation on the chart and see what the shade name is for your skin tone "number".  There are some shade recommendations that are slightly off, but all and all the foundation matrix is a great place to start any foundation quest.

The letter and number combinations are based on the MAC cosmetics system for classifying skin tones. Think of NC and "not cool".  These are the warm shades.  Think of NW as "not warm".  These are the cool shades.  It is totally backwards and confusing, but this is the most commonly used system on make-up sites.  The numbers start at 5 for very pale and go up 55 for dark skinned people.  I think most people from North Dakota will be between 20 and 30.  Some brands have mostly cool foundation shades and some have mostly warm ones.  This helps explain why I could never find my color in some brands.  The Foundation Matrix has been very helpful in narrowing down my choices because there are not many drugstore NC10 options available.

The foundation matrix asks are you warm toned or cool toned?  Most people are warm toned.  Even if you are cool toned, you may be warm toned when you have tanned skin. 

Warm toned skin (NC): Gold jewlery looks better on you.  You look better in tomato reds.  Olive skin is warm.
Cool toned skin(NW):  Silver jewelry looks better on you.  You look better in brick reds.  If you have a dark hair and pale skin like Snow White, you are probably cool toned.  Nordic blondes are often cool toned. 
Neutral toned skin (N):  If both descriptions seem to fit, you are probably neutral toned.  Neutral skin tones can wear silver and gold jewelry equally well.
There is actually a range of skin tones, rather then it being either/or proposition.  I'm warm toned, but lean neutral.  Someone may be neutral, but lean cool.  I say just make your best guess when searching the foundation matrix. Have fun!

Revlon New Complexion Foundation Review

Product Name Revlon New Complexion One Step Compact SPF 15
My skin type Normal
My experience with this type of product. I'm a bit of a project junkie when it comes to foundation. I'm always looking for the new latest and greatest. Even if I find a foundation I like, I buy the "shiny new one" the next time. I mean, what if it is better? I've tried several of the cream to powder style foundations. I like using cream to powder foundations from fall to spring. When worn over sun block in the summer, my skin seems too oily for this type of foundation.
What I look for in this product. I want a nice color and a medium coverage.
Who should use cream to powder foundation? These are best for slightly oily to slightly dry skin. If your skin is dry, it will highlight it's dryness. If your skin is oily, it will make it look oilier.
My rating: 5 sit and spins







What I like about it. I love how this style of foundation tends to give you a dewy look. I like that you don't have to apply powder right away. You can add powder as you need it for touch ups. This color is really nice. Mine is 01, ivory beige. It errs on the yellow side, which is good. Being slightly too peach or slightly too pink is not flattering for most people's skin tones. The color my mother uses is also nice. Good packaging and applicator. This foundation has a proper sun screen, 4% titanium dioxide SPF 15. Titanium Dioxide is one of the 4 sunscreen ingredients that give you good UVA/UVB protection. This has a good medium coverage.
What I hate about it. There is not a very pale option if you are pale. This color is good for me, but slightly lighter might be better for my "pale of February" skin.
Would you buy this again?I actually think I will stick with this foundation.........ya know, unless I spy a shiny new kind.
Click here for more cream to powder foundation reviews.

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Cream Foundation Review

Product Name Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Cream Compact Foundation SPF 18
My skin type Normal
My experience with this type of product. I'm a bit of a project junkie when it comes to foundation. I'm always looking for the new latest and greatest. Even if I find a foundation I like, I buy the "shiny new one" the next time. I mean, what if it is better? I've tried several of the cream to powder style foundations. I like using cream to powder foundations from the fall to the spring. When worn over sun block in the summer, my skin seems too oily for this type of foundation.
What I look for in this product. I want a nice color and a medium coverage.
Who should use cream to powder foundation? These are best for slightly oily to slightly dry skin. If your skin is dry, it will highlight it's dryness. If your skin is oily, it will make it look oilier.
My rating: 4 sit and spins








What I like about it. I love how this style of foundation tends to give you a dewy look. I like that you don't have to apply powder right away. You can add powder as you need it for touch ups. This color is really nice. It is natural ivory, light 3. It errs on the yellow side, which is good. Being slightly too peach or slightly too pink is bad for most people's skin tones. It has a proper sun screen, 10.5% titanium dioxide SPF 18. Titanium Dioxide is one of the 4 sunscreen ingredients that give you goodUVA/UVB protection. This has a good medium coverage, but less coverage then Revlon New Complexion.
What I hate about it. There is not a very light option if you are pale. I used this color in the fall and will use it again in the spring when my skin gets a tad darker (despite my best sunscreen application efforts). I haven't tried their lightest color, but I don't think this brand has a great "pale of February" option for me. The packaging is weird, but not awful. The top that has the foundation flips open, like you would expect. The bottom twists open for the applicator. I forget this every day. I don't like the applicator. Instead of a sponge applicator that I prefer, it has a applicator like you find in pressed powder. It isn't terrible, but I like the sponge applicator much, much better.
Would you buy this again?I live the Revlon New Complexion better because of the packaging and applicator. The Revlon also has slightly more coverage, which I prefer. I would have bought this again if I hadn't found the Revlon...ya know,unless I had seen something shiny and new.
More of my cream to powder foundation reviews.

Cover Girl Simply Ageless Foundation Review

Product Name Cover Girl Simply Ageless Foundation SPF 22
My skin type Normal
My experience with this type of product. I a bit of a project junkie when it comes to foundation. I'm always looking for the new latest and greatest. Even if I find a foundation I like, I buy the "shiny new one" the next time. I mean, what if it is better? I've tried several of the cream to powder style foundations. I like using cream to powder foundations from the fall to the spring. When worn over sun block in the summer, my skin seems too oily for this type of foundation.
What I look for in this product. I want a nice color and a medium coverage.
Who should use cream to powder foundation? These are best for slightly oily to slightly dry skin. If your skin is dry, it will highlight it's dryness. If your skin is oily, it will make it look oilier.
My rating: 2 sit and spins







What I like about it. I like that you don't have to apply powder right away. You can add powder as you need it for touch ups. It has a proper sun screen, titanium dioxide SPF 22. Titanium Dioxide is one of the 4 sunscreen ingredients that give you good UVA/UVB protection. It also has olay regenerist serum mixed it. This way you can skip a step in your skin care routine.
What I hate about it. The packaging is stupid, plain and simple. I actually had to go to the website to figure out how to open it. I'm stubborn and it took me a while to admit I couldn't figure it out. I'm not the only person with the problem, because they have a "click here to figure out how open our stupid packaging" link. You turn it completely upside down (opposite of the picture) and then it screws open. Once you've figured that out it is fine, but I still think it is stupid. Your foundation color is hard to pick with this foundation. If you have used another cover girl foundation, you can select the same color you used in that foundation. Cover Girl's foundation colors are standardized from foundation to foundation. If you are trying to figure out what color you want, pick the darker color. The swirl of white Olay serum throws you off. It makes you think a foundation that is too light is just right. My color 210 was sold out, so I bought 205 because it looked right. It was too light. I then bought the 210. (It's not my foundation in the picture) The 210 was slightly too peach and the 205 was slightly too pink. They advertise the foundation as being able to "float" over your wrinkles. This foundation settled into my wrinkles and make them more noticeable. I thought the coverage was uneven as well.
Would you buy this again? No. There are much better cream to powder foundations out there.
More cream to powder foundation reviews.
Watch Simply Ageless's spokesperson Ellen Degeneres try to open the foundation.