Review: Chanel Vitalumiere Eclat de Chanel compact makeup

This compact is probably my second most expensive powder foundation. It retails around $85 something plus tax. I got it almost free at murale, since I had some shoppers’ points to redeem.

The compact comes with a sponge, a nice brush and a nice peachy scent. However I usually do not use the included sponge and brush to apply for my makeup.

The whole powder compact weighs at 13 gram, which is a lot for a powder compact. Normally powder compact comes with approximately 10 grams.

Despite the eye catching packaging and the accessories comes with, I am not fan of this powder compact.

The compact, like all Chanel’s powder products, has very finely milled powders in it. The texture is close to Diorskin flawless compact, but not as creamy as Diorskin though.

I like the fact that it’s very hydrating. It does not accentuate any dry areas on my skin. But that is the only benefit to me. The coverage is sheer, much worse than mat lumiere powder compact.

The lightest shade they offer here in Canada, B20, is too orange and dark for me. I know there are lighter shades such as BO10 and B10 available in some other countries. I hope they can bring more shades here in the future.

In a nutshell, it’s a high quality powder compact which does not suit me. Nevertheless if you are looking for a low coverage powder with decent hydration, and if you love Chanel, it’s your best choice.

 

Review: Chanel Mat Lumiere Luminous Powder Makeup Spf 10

Chanel products are famous for the quality and the high price. The case of this powder foundation is with a simple black design, yet very classy and identical.

 

The powders are super finely milled. The texture is smooth and silky. There’s no scent to it.

The powder foundation is slightly dry for me in the winter time. The finish is towards to matte side when you just finish applying the makeup. But if you look into your skin closely, you can feel there's somewhat luminous effect to it. Just like its name—mat lumiere luminous powder.

The coverage is medium to the most. It can even out the skin tone, it can conceal around 80% of dark circles-- if you try to build the coverage up hard enough.

In my view, Chanel mat lumiere powder is more like a setting powder than a foundation. I never use any liquid foundation or bb cream underneath it, but I am sure it will do the job very well as a setting powder.

All in all, this mat lumiere luminous powder should be used as a setting powder, rather than being used as a foundation by its own. If you are looking for a great setting powder with some spf, it’s the best choice.

Review: Shiseido The Makeup Perfect Smoothing Compact Foundation

It seems that this item had been discontinued here in Canada in 2012. But it is still available on the US website. The US version has Spf 15 in it while Canadian version has none.

I feel the smoothing compact foundation is the mixture of Clinique almost powder makeup and Dior flawless compact. It has the glitter in the pan like Clinique and the same buttery and creamy texture as Dior.

Among all the shades, Shade O20 seems to be the best match to my skin tone while I20 looks a little bit darker and more pink than O20. Both shades look a little bit darker than my skin tone when first applied on. Nonetheless, this illusion does not last long. After an hour or so, the powder beautifully melts into my skin, and both shades look very natural on my face.

The smoothing compact has as high coverage as Cle de Peau’s powder foundation. It actually performs very similar to (maybe even better than) Cle de Peau. It does not dry my skin and the lasting power is superb. In my view, it’s a hydrating powder for normal to dry skin.

The finish is matte in the first few hours, after 4 hours of applying, my skin looks glowy (but not oily at all) as if I have highlighted my skin.

The refill cost around $38 CAD plus tax. The price is almost one-third cheaper than CdP. If you prefer the finish of CdP’s powder foundation and do not want to spend that much, the smoothing compact could be a dupe for it—they are born to the same mother Shiseido, after all.

Review: Skin79 BB compact SPF 35 PA+++

What comes into your mind when you see the word “BB”? People might think it has something to do with bb cream. This compact I am going to review has nothing to do with cream, it’s a compact powder foundation.

The Skin79 BB compact reminds me of Laneige sliding pact, which is also based on the mobile phone’s design.

 

The powder looks pink at the first sight. However when I apply it onto my skin, it matches my skin beautifully. As time goes by, it looks more and more natural on me.

The coverage is medium to me. It does not conceal the imperfections on my face totally, but it looks natural as if I do not wear makeup at all. The powders just melt into my skin. The finish is not flawless nor glowy, it shows some minor imperfections with a natural skin look. It evens out skin tone perfectly.

It claims to have SPF 35 and PA+++ in the powder. However I do not see any active ingredients there. Probably it’s only available in Korean language which I do not understand at all.

It’s a good everyday powder foundation. It covers skin up lightly with natural look while provide high uv protection. I like how it evens my skin tone naturally and beautifully.

Review: Shiseido sun protection compact powder foundation spf 35

This is probably by far the powder foundation with the highest protection available here in Canada. I know Physicians Formula has a powder foundation with spf 50, but sadly I have never seen it here in any drugstore.

The sun protection powder foundation seems to be as long as Shiseido’s sun screen in history. It has the same scent as Shiseido's sun screen which I dislike-- It makes me dizzy when I apply it in the sleepy morning.  Fortunately the smell does not stay long in the pan.

The shades look very dark on the display, but ones you put it on the face it’s another story. SP20 and SP30 both work for my Asian NC 20 skin tone. The color match is not as horrible as its rival sister-Cle de Peau’s powder foundation.

The powder is smooth and creamy when you touch it. There’s no powders flying everywhere or fallout when I dip the brushes into the powder, which is a big plus. One of the powder foundation I experience with the most powder fallout when I dip the brush into the pan is its another rival sister—Shiseido sheer matifying powder compact.

In terms of the coverage, it can go from medium to fall. It easily covers up my menstrual acnes and dark circles. The finish is not natural. If you are looking for some nude finish this is definitely not your choice.

The powder foundation probably has the best staying powder.  I wore it to walk and run under sun in very hot summer time, the foundation did not transform at all. What I needed was a little blotting on my t-zone.

There are 12 grams in the pan, which is a big value. Most of the powder foundations have only 10 grams. The refill retails at $35 CAD plus tax. I am not fan of the blue case design, so I put into empty Clinique almost powder makeup case. As you can see from the picture below that the case is slightly larger than the refill, but it stays well so far.

 

All in all, if you are trying to find a big sized powder foundation with high coverage, high UVA/UVBprotection, high staying power, good texture with the reasonable price as a department store brand, this is yours!

  

Review: Cle de Peau powder foundation

Cle de Peau belongs to Shiseido company, and the prices are almost twice more expensive than average department store products. This powder foundation (REFILL ONLY) retails at $95 CAD plus tax. The sponge and case are sold separately.

The powder foundation has no spf in it, which is a big disadvantage to me. However the US version shows that it has spf 21 in it.

Both shade I10 and O10 are too pink to me; while BF 20 and O 20 are too dark for me. There’s no perfect shade match to my skin though this powder foundation is supposed to be suitable for Asian skins.

The powder texture is fine and smooth, but not as finely milled as Clarins’ everlasting powder foundation. The coverage is great. It can cover up menstrual acnes without problem. Nontheless it’s too dry for my under eye area, it accentuates fine lines.

I expect more on a powder foundation with such high price tag, but it seems that it does nothing special to me. There are so many products which cost 1/3 of its price do better jobs. Though it covers up really well, it is not hydrating enough for my under eye area. What is worse is that it offers no UVA/UVB protection to me. I do not think I will spend so much money again on an OK product.

Review: Clinique Almost Powder Makeup spf 15

Clinique Almost Powder Makeup spf 15 can be a cheaper (but not the cheapest ) dupe for diorskin flawless compact.

There are very finely milled light- reflecting particles in the foundation that isn’t obvious. This powder foundation has a buttery and creamy texture.  The coverage can be almost full. You can get a glowy and dewy skin after 3 hours of applying this foundation, yet the coverage is above medium. It looks like that you applied some very hydrating cream or liquid foundation instead of powder foundation. I guess it’s because of the glitter in the pan.

 

Sadly, I am not impressive with its shade selection. The colors tend to be more pink and neutral, it seems there’s no perfect match for my Asian olive NC 20 skin tone. The shade 02 is too pink to me while shade 03 one shade darker.

Overall, it’s still a good powder foundation. If you are looking for a powder foundation that offers you a glowy and dewy skin without any highlight or cream foundation, this is for you. It can work well for almost all skin types. It offers decent UV protection with active UVA/UVB ingredients. What’s more, it can save you around 20 bucks to have close finish to diorskin flawless compact!

 

Review: Clarins everlasting compact foundation spf 15

Clarins is famous for its body products, and its cosmetics seem to be less known by the public. If I am not a powder foundation junkie and always look for new items to try, I probably will not notice that Clarins has powder foundation.

 

If memory serves me right, it was released in 2011. The price was around $34, and the price rises up to $38 CAD plus tax this year.

There are 4 shades available in Canada. The lightest shade, 105 nude, seems to be slightly darker and more pink than my skin tone.

The active ingredient of this powder foundation is 3% of titanium oxide. The physical sun screen protection can be good to everyone. However the powder has slight scent to it, which I am not fond of.

 

The powder has an ultra-fine and silky-soft texture though it’s not as creamy as Diorskin flawless compact. Like all high end powder foundation, the powder is so finely milled that you can glide your finger on the pan smoothly and pick the right amount of powder on your finger.

Almost all powder foundation can be used both wet and dry. I personally do not apply powder foundations on skin with wet sponge, rather, I prefer to use brushes to apply.

The powder foundation offers medium to full coverage. It really gives me a flawless look. When first applied on, it looks very matte. After about 3 hours of applying it, it comes with some luminous finish, but the finish is still matte and well-made look. It looks like that you have been spending more than one hour on your makeup, but actually you just apply one layer of powder foundation.

It’s not a hydrating powder foundation to me, but it’s not dry either. It last quite long to me--up to 6 hours. I have never tried to wear any makeup up to 15 hours, so I cannot say if it really lasts that long. But it is definitely a long lasting powder.

If you have to prepare yourself for an important party or meeting in a short time with flawless skin look, the everlasting compact powder foundation can be your best choice. With its slightly dry texture, I would recommend it to normal to combination to oily skin.

 

Review: Diorskin Forever Compact Flawless Perfection Fusion Wear Makeup SPF 25

--> I love powder foundations more than liquid or cream foundations. To me it's essential that a powder foundation has spf in it though I never put makeup on without sunscreen as base. I prefer powder foundation with high coverage since I normally do not use concealer.

The diorskin's compact caught my attention when it was released in 2011. As a powder foundation junkie, I do not hesitate to try any powder foundation with spf & high coverage. I got shades in 010, 021 and 023 since I had some rewards to redeem at the bay. The compact foundation retails at$49 plus tax in Canada.

My thoughts on diorskin flawless compact:

1. It has a wide range of color selection for powder foundations. 020 claims to be neutural undertone; 021 is for golden undertone ; 023 leans towards to peachy while 022 is more pink undertone.

2. Though shade 023 claims to be peachy beige, it does not look super peachy on my skin. Actually it looks as natural as shade 021 on my Asian olive undertone skin. I have never tried shade 020 though many people use this shade. I use 010 to put on my undereye area to create a three-dimentional face.

3. Texture: The texture is extremely fine. When you touch the pan with your finger, you feel it's very buttery and creamy-- almost like a cream to powder foundation feel. When you apply it to your face, you do not feel it dry or powdery at all.

4. The finish: The finish is very beautiful after one hour of applying. It looks a little bit heavy when I first apply it on. However as the time passed, it looks as you naturally have flawless skin. Not super glowy or matte at all. I've gotten many compliments on my skin with this powder.

5. The lasting power is good in winter time with my normal to dry skin. When I did it in summer time, it did not looks as impressive as in winter time. I guess it's because I get oily t-zone in the summer. I also use it as under eye concealor. It conceals very well. However, as time goes by, it tend to slightly accentuate fine line under my right eye area.

Overall, it's a good powder foundation for people with normal to dry skin. It has flawless coverage as it claims. It covers dark circle and menstrual acnes. It does not look heavy. It's a good powder foundation to wear for some special occasions. Personally I do not touch up my makeup and the powder stays well around 6 hours. It has spf 25 and pa++ to build up the protection from sun damage. I feel I am protected when I put sun screen with powder foundation at the same time. All in all, it's a greate powder foundation with high coverage and decent hydration. It performs the best on dry skin in dry climates.

Review: Origins Bright by Nature SPF 30 Skin correcting makeup powder

Origins brighter by nature powder foundation has spf 30.

The active ingredients are octinoxate 7.50%; titanium dioxide 3.00% and Octocrylene 1:00%, which means it has UVA&UVB protection.

My thoughts on Origins Brighter by nature Spf 30:

1. It has quite high spf protection for a powder foundation.

2. COVERAGE: It has medium to full coverage. It can conceal my dark
circles, minor imperfections & menstrual acne.

3. TEXTURE: To me it's quite powdery. It has no buttery texture like some other high end products (though it's quite expensive here in Canada-$37 CAD plus tax).

The texture feels like Japanese drug store powder foundations--if you've tried any Japanese products you know what I mean. BTW, this product is
made in Japan.

4. FINISH: Matte finish. I think those who have oily to combination skin could have more beautiful finish with it.

5. SHADE: I have both very light warm and light warm. Light warm is
slightly darker than my Asian olive NC 20 skin, but I use it very often as
(natural/everyday)concour.

IN CONCLUSION:This is an ok product to me.

I like it's coverage. However because of it's dry&powdery texure, it makes
me feeling dry.

I like it has spf.As a everyday powder foundation to protect you from uv
damage, this is a good product. But if you are looking for beautiful finish for a special occasion, it might not be the best choice for normal to dry skin.

I recommend it to those to are looking for full coverage with high spf powder foundation. For those who have oily to combination skin & tend
to use powder as foundation, this could be your best choice.

ABOUT ME: I love powder foundations.I usually use powder foundation
because it's quick n easy to apply.

Before applying powder foundation, I moisturize my skin and put sun screen. I do not use liquid or cream
foundation.
My Skin Type : Normal to dry in the winter; Normal to combination in
the summer.