product rec
(Side note not about products: my performance eval was, as predicted, a doddle. I see from the document I signed with today's date on it that we had a mid-period review meeting that I signed off on as well. I have no memory of having attended such a meeting, but that's probably because it was apparently on November 15, and there's a lot about last fall that has escaped me.)
Some time ago, in a cough-medicine-induced haze, I got a lot of the way through signing up for some free-Starbucks-card scam before realizing it was a scam and backing the hell out. I was still on the hook for a small amount of shipping costs regarding samples of things that had been shipped to me, but ultimately it ended as well as something that stupid could have ended. Of the samples of things they shipped to me, two places allowed me to send them back (but fought about refunding me the subscription prices of their items) and two said not to bother and I should keep them (but cancelled my subscriptions with no trouble). One of those I was to keep was a Bare Minerals (or some such thing) makeup sampler, and one of the items in it was a makeup primer - a thing that goes under your foundation (ironically) in order to smooth everything out nicely.
That stuff was pretty good! So although I didn't care about any of the rest of it - and I'm certainly not going to mix different quantities of different colors of translucent powder in a mixing cap - I thought I'd get a little primer to go on with, because the older I get the less smooth my skin is (natch) and the less even is its tone.
Couldn't find the same stuff, though. So I did a sort of scientific dab-at-a-time search through Ulta and Sephora until I hit Urban Decay's Pore Perfect (or something) primer, which does appear to be tinted white-girl-colored but which they insist is a visibility tint (I guess) and works on every skin tone. Okay. It did even out the appearance of my skin, when I looked at my face after primer but before foundation - surely by creating an even-textured surface for the light to bounce off, rather than by slapping color over the slightly redder patches, because one thing it didn't do was cake in the creases or giant pores I've got in various locations around my face. And it made a wonderfully smooth surface for the foundation (I'm using Maybelline "Dream Matte" mousse these days, because it works well for my oily skin) to go over.
Then I ran out. And I went to Ulta to get more, and they didn't have any, and they said they weren't going to be getting any because the next shipment they got from Urban Decay would be of their spring line, which would doubtless involve a new and improved product! and blah. Fine, I'm sure it may be better, though in my life it will probably be enough different that I'll actually hate it (see also: brown eyeliner) and in any case, I'm out right now, so what am I to do in the meantime?
On the way to the checkout I picked up a tiny sample size of Smashbox Photo Ready Oil-Free makeup base, and it is better! The Urban Decay thing was good but I did find I'd be glistening through it by afternoon - still probably looked okay to others, but when I looked in the mirror, all I could see was how oily my skin is. (Oily sheen, I mean. It didn't clog up my pores and make me break out, so that's something.) This stuff isn't quite as awesome in the evening-out-skin-tone area - I'd be less inclined to use it on its own without foundation over it than the Urban Decay stuff - but it is fantastic in the mattifying area. It gets a hearty thumbs up from me.
Some time ago, in a cough-medicine-induced haze, I got a lot of the way through signing up for some free-Starbucks-card scam before realizing it was a scam and backing the hell out. I was still on the hook for a small amount of shipping costs regarding samples of things that had been shipped to me, but ultimately it ended as well as something that stupid could have ended. Of the samples of things they shipped to me, two places allowed me to send them back (but fought about refunding me the subscription prices of their items) and two said not to bother and I should keep them (but cancelled my subscriptions with no trouble). One of those I was to keep was a Bare Minerals (or some such thing) makeup sampler, and one of the items in it was a makeup primer - a thing that goes under your foundation (ironically) in order to smooth everything out nicely.
That stuff was pretty good! So although I didn't care about any of the rest of it - and I'm certainly not going to mix different quantities of different colors of translucent powder in a mixing cap - I thought I'd get a little primer to go on with, because the older I get the less smooth my skin is (natch) and the less even is its tone.
Couldn't find the same stuff, though. So I did a sort of scientific dab-at-a-time search through Ulta and Sephora until I hit Urban Decay's Pore Perfect (or something) primer, which does appear to be tinted white-girl-colored but which they insist is a visibility tint (I guess) and works on every skin tone. Okay. It did even out the appearance of my skin, when I looked at my face after primer but before foundation - surely by creating an even-textured surface for the light to bounce off, rather than by slapping color over the slightly redder patches, because one thing it didn't do was cake in the creases or giant pores I've got in various locations around my face. And it made a wonderfully smooth surface for the foundation (I'm using Maybelline "Dream Matte" mousse these days, because it works well for my oily skin) to go over.
Then I ran out. And I went to Ulta to get more, and they didn't have any, and they said they weren't going to be getting any because the next shipment they got from Urban Decay would be of their spring line, which would doubtless involve a new and improved product! and blah. Fine, I'm sure it may be better, though in my life it will probably be enough different that I'll actually hate it (see also: brown eyeliner) and in any case, I'm out right now, so what am I to do in the meantime?
On the way to the checkout I picked up a tiny sample size of Smashbox Photo Ready Oil-Free makeup base, and it is better! The Urban Decay thing was good but I did find I'd be glistening through it by afternoon - still probably looked okay to others, but when I looked in the mirror, all I could see was how oily my skin is. (Oily sheen, I mean. It didn't clog up my pores and make me break out, so that's something.) This stuff isn't quite as awesome in the evening-out-skin-tone area - I'd be less inclined to use it on its own without foundation over it than the Urban Decay stuff - but it is fantastic in the mattifying area. It gets a hearty thumbs up from me.