Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen WOW

For practical purpose, I have been a loyal devotee to waterproof, no-touch-up needed foundation when I have heavy duty job. I am talking about my ol' reliable Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation. Heavy? Yes. Need a quick hand because it tends to be dry and flaky during application? Yes. Flat matte finish? Yes. Heck, my face is gonna be tad oily by noon anyway!

Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow, is quite the opposite of Estee Lauder Double Wear. The formula is lightweight, and definitely will not suffocate pores. Thanks for it's non oil formula, this foundation would suit any skin type. The coverage is light to medium, and it will not look cakey on layering.The formula contains titanium oxide as sunscreen (SPF 25PA+++), vitamin C and E derivatives.

Known for their cute and practical packaging, Benefit delivers this product in a plastic pump bottle with a cap, means it’s travel friendly because it's quite light to carry on your luggage and will not spill everywhere, thanks to the plastic cap. AND I love the pump! It's so easy to squirt and control the amount of the foundation. It's waaayyy much better than Make Up Forever Face & Body Foundation. Did I mention I like the fragrance?

The application of this product is super easy. It blends seamlessly to my skin, even in the dry area at my cheeks and forehead. I thought the coverage will not be enough to even out my skin tone, but I am surprised with the result. The result is pretty close to flawless and I love how luminous my face after wearing this! I have my match in Beige (I am NC 40 on MAC). However, Benefit only provides 9 shades and most of the shades fall into medium skin-tone. So, olive skin tones girl is quite lucky now.

Actually, this is my second bottle of Hello Flawless.Last year, I had myself match in Toasted Beige when I was super-tan! It's bottled for $36 each, but the price is quite hefty in Indonesia (around 400 thousand rupiahs...). However, I keep coming back to this foundation time and again. Definitely in my top 5 foundation. Tell me.. What's your favorite?

My Favorite Drugstore Finds!

Buying skincare and make up at drugstore can be quite tricky. The lighting was so harsh/almost impossible to review certain  color such as foundation and usually these stores do not provide take home samples. 

However, I believe that there are a lot of excellent products in drugstore waiting to be explored, and I do find a few things, which sometimes could be a real dupe, and even better than high end brands! Here is my take on drugstore best buys!

1. Bioderma Crealine H2O

One of the best cleanser ever! It takes off make up without feeling icky or oily. Plus, it does not sting into my eyes, so it's very good to use. The micellar water really do wonders as cleanser and toner. 

2. Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum

It is the first foundation that I use since the first time I am into make-up, which is 3 years ago. The foundation has a gel characteristics, and spreads easily and evenly to face. The coverage is light/medium but it's buildable. I never look cakey when I use this, and this foundation has a soft fragrance that evaporates quickly. Some says it's a dupe for Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua, but... I think this foundation has speak for it self. The downside is, in Indonesia, there are only 3 colors: no 51, 52, and 53. I use number 53, a light beige color.  I believe they should import more shades here since it's too good to be passed on. Available at Watsons, Guardian or other department stores. Price:  Rp 264.000

3. Wet n Wild Coverall Foundation

Another foundation gem in drugstore counter. I think Wet n Wild products have a more neutral base, so the foundations are not looking too yellow-y. Being gel-ish, this foundation spread easily to my skin, but make sure to use moisturizer first! This medium to full cover foundation can be a bit patchy for people with dry skin. Always use a setting powder, otherwise, this will wear off pretty quick.  The shade in this foundation unfortunately is quite limited too. 

Available at Watsons, Guardian or other department stores. Price: Rp. 99.000.

4. Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick

Seriously, this is lipstick done right. Pigmentation is good, nice vanilla fragrance, with just the right balm-y texture. It's semi matte and it does not feel dry on my lips. The color range  is quite formidable..

5. Maybelline Liquid Dream Mousse Foundation

This pump-bottled foundation is really good. Blend beautifully into skin and the texture is just right. 

FOUNDATION 101: Pilah pilih alas bedak

Kalau menurut statistik (dengan gaya ngomong cak lontong he he he...) produk make up yang paling banyak dibeli adalah foundation. Di sini saya akan sharing pengalaman saya dengan si alas bedak ini, yang ternyata... butuh beberapa waktu buat saya untuk tahu mana yang pas buat sehari-hari.

1. Kenali tipe kulit muka, dan kira-kira kita bakal berada di lingkungan seperti apa.
Ini pinting banget. Apakah kulit muka kita bermiyak? kering? kombinasi. 

Kalau sudah tahu jenis kulitnya kira-kira apakah kita bakalan sering indoor di tempat AC yang bikin kulit kering? Atau memang bakalan banyak kegiatan outdoor yang bikin kita gampang keringatan dan berminyak ? 

Untung kulit kering, selalu pakai moisturizer sebelum memakai alas bedak, karena kalau kulit kering foundation seringkali jadi ceplak ceplok alias patchy! Pastikan kalau moisturizer ini benar-benar take alias terserap di kulit! 

Kalau memang kulit berminyak/kombinasi dan seringkali kerja outdoor, mending pakai jenis HD foundation Make Up For Ever yang oil-free dan tahan lama! Baiknya juga pakai primer yang mattifying terlebih dahulu. 

2. Coverage

Kalau coverage sih, menurut gw soal selera. ada yang memang ingin full coverage, ada juga yang pingin medium atau sheer coverage. Kalau pas kulit nggak problematik atau tone kulit cukup rata, saya selalu milih yang light coverage. Favorit saya: Estee Lauder Invisible teint atau Make Up Forever Face and Body Foundation. 

Foundation medium coverage banyak pilihan: Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum, Maybelline Liquid Mousse, atau Benefit Oxygen. Wet n Wild foundation juga oke! 

Kalau yang full coverage: MAC studio fix, MakeUp For Ever HD, atau yang budget friendly : Revlon colorstay. Waktu saya masih tugas di Palembang sebagai dokter bedah yang sering gawean outdoor juga.. satu-satunya foundation yang gak lumer kena panas keringat adalah MUFE HD Foundation.

3. Warna

Beberapa jenis foundation menegluarkan 3 warna undertone: rose, neutral dan beige. Tapi gak usah bingung. Perhatikan saja warna kulit, dan mana yang paling masuk ke kulit wajah. Warna kulit memang terkadang berubah sesuai lingkungan dan musim, jadi foundation yang sudah dibeli gak akan cocok 100% selamanya. 

Beberapa brand rata-rata meiliki undertone kuning yang kuat seperti Bobbi Brown, dan MAC yang NC. Berhubung saya lebih cenderung netral, saya harus makai make  up ini tipis-tipis dulu, kalau nggak muka bisa keliatan oranye terang hi hi hi. Maybelline, Revlon, dan Wet n Wild punya warna dasar yang lebih netral di kulit.

4. Finish

Hasil akhir foundation ada yang matte (bebas kilap), dewy (kesan lembab), luminous (sedikit bercahaya, biasanya ada micro shimmer). Ini sih tergantung selera saja. Kalau saya lebih senang yang dewy dan matte untuk siang hari, sementara acara malam saya senang yang luminous.

All by all, alas bedak harusnya seperti second skin, dan bukan kayak dempul. Kalau liat foundation pecah karena dipakai overdosis serem deh... So.. go out and have fun!!