Review: Sana covercom face powder spf 50

This powder has a very good coverage. However it's too dry and too cakey for my skin. If you are to apply this powder, you have to put it alone on your well moisturized face. Don't try to apply any primer or sunscreen prior to it, otherwise your face will look super cakey and chalky.

  I applied a thin layer on it and you can see it sinks into lines. 

                           It seems to be not very blendable.
This powder may work better for oily skin.

Review: Guerlain Parure Gold Powder Foundation

Guerlain has a makeup base with concentrated pure gold. It says gold is one of the best

 anti-ageing ingredients. It may be true, but I do not care if makeup products are multi-functional or not. What really matters to me is the finish. 

This powder compact is ultra luxury. The black color gives it a classy look. The compact contains only 9g of powder, which is very expensive--especially the price tag is above $80 CAD.

The powder is ultra creamy, therefore I can apply it easily with my fingers without being cakey or uneven. 

The above is the swatch of this powder. The finish is luminous and glowy like cream foundation. 

It feels very comfortable on the skin and it does not accentuate dry patches on the skin at all. 

The coverage is medium and buildable. However it seems not to stay long on the

 skin. After 6 hours of wearing this powder I feel it spread a little bit. 

Overall, this is the best powder foundation for normal to dry skin in the winter time. The finish is great but the staying power does not impress me. 

Review: Gurlain Parure Pearly White compact foundation spf 20 pa++

Guerlain Parure Pearly White compact is not a new product. It has many different generations and I am not sure which generation I got. What I can be sure is that it's not the latest one. It's an Asia exclusive product and I bought it from Strawberrynet.

Housed in an elegant silver compact, this powder is slightly scented. There are 3 different types of compact. Guerlain claims that the silver compact has the brightening effect; while gold and black ones are more hydrating.

As you can see from the above picture, the compact has two parts. The upper one is the foundation while the bottom one is for highlighting. This design reminds me of RMK's compact foundation. The highlighting part of RMK's compact foundation is more shimmery while Gurlains' has a satin finish.

See how finely milled the powder is.

The above is the swatch of the powder and the highlighter. The left one is the highlighting powder, which reminds me of Shiseido luminizing satin face color inWT905.


I feel the powder is a little bit dry on my face. If I do not put enough moisturizer prior to applying for the foundation it can be a little bit cakey. But the cakiness is not obvious, only if you look at the face very closely can you notice that.

The coverage is above medium. It has the potential to be full coverage if you moisturize well your skin.


The shade 32 ambre cristal white is a light color with yellow under tone, which is best for nc 20 Asian people.


What I like about this compact is I can have both highlighter and foundation in a small portable compact. The great coverage with the spf are big plus to me since I do not apply any cream or liquid foundation before powder foundation. With the body shops' s mineral kabuki brush, it speeds up my makeup time. The sponge included in the compact does not work as well as brushes.

I think people with oily to combination would enjoy this powder foundation. However, people with normal to dry skin can wear it in the summer time--as long as you moisturize your skin well.

Review: Maybelline fit me pressed powder-A dupe for Cle de peau loose powder?

(photo courtesy: maybelline.ca)

Maybelline fit me pressed powder is not a new product. Somehow it did not impress me a lot when the first time I tried it. 

I have been search for a setting powder that does not mattify my skin. I found most powders tend to make my skin matte. 

Maybelline fit me pressed powder has some tiny tiny sparkles in it. It is almost difficult to detect it if you do not look it carefully. It does not make your face a disco ball but gives you a healthy young glowy skin. 

Fit me pressed powder comes in many shades. The texture is creamy. It does not have a dry or flaky feeling like some pressed powders. 

The packaging is quite "professional makeup" look. The pressed powder is stored in a square black case with mirror and puff inside. I do not use that puff comes with it, instead, I use The body shop mineral powder brush to apply this powder. 

The powder has light to medium coverage, depending on how you apply it. It's buildable and does cake on the skin. Because of its good coverage, you can even use it alone as a powder foundation. 

I use this pressed powder to set my Yves Rocher foundation and it does a really good job. It does not take away the beautiful glow of the foundation. The finish reminds me of cle de peau loose  powder. Though Maybelline's powder is not as finely milled as Cle de peau, it has the similar effect. 

The powder stays all day on my normal to dry skin. I think fit me foundation and powder are for dry skin types. I am not sure if people with combination to oily skin with enjoy this pressed powder since it does not mattify skin. 

To sum up, this pressed powder is for normal to dry skin types. If you like the finish of cle de peau's loose powder and do not want to spend another 150 cad like me for setting powder, this is your best choice! 

Review: Sana pore putty BB Mineral Powder spf 35 pa+++

(photo courtesy: adambeauty.com)
This mineral powder is too dry for my normal skin in the summer.

This compact comes with the powder, mirror and a puff. There's only one shade and the shade is light ocher. It's best for nc 20 to nc 25 skin.

The powder is quite creamy. Since it has such a creamy touch than dry feel to it, I though it would be moisturizing for the skin. To my surprise, it's quite dry for my skin. At this time of the year -mid August in Canada, my skin is in normal condition. If I do not moisturize enough before applying this powder, it accentuates dry flaky spots on my skin.

The finish is not very matte nor glowy, it's just in between. The finish reminds me of the covergirl clean whipped cream foundation.

The staying power is quite good, it does not transfer.

The coverage is medium. I do not recommend to use the puff to apply the powder if you are going to use it as a foundation. With the puff it gives light to medium coverage; with mineral powder foundation brush it can build up to full coverage.

Overall, this powder is best for people with oily to combination skin. I am sure it can keep your oil on the bay in the summer. Plus, it has spf 35 protection, you can add it on top of your sunscreen and it will give better protection from sun.

Review: Yves Rocher Velvety Loose Powder

(photo courtesy: yvesrocher.ca)

I got this loose powder in Beige Transparency. 

The loose powder is stored in a plastic purple jar. The puff comes with is not ultra soft-- but as a free puff the quality is nice enough . It is not as good as cle de peau's loose powder puff which you should spend more than 20 dollars for one. 

To be honest, I was a little bit disappointed with this loose powder. I thought it was transparent, but it's not. It's actually quite pigmented. I was looking for a loose powder that does not take away the beautiful glow from my cream foundation and unfortunately, it fails to do so.

The powders is very finely milled and airy light. It fixes make-up well. The staying power is good, it does not transfer for more than 6 hours.

The finish is too matte for my liking. The Beige Transparency is a little bit darker than my nc 20 light skin. However, since it's so light, it does not leave marks on the skin. 

It has the same scent and same coverage as the Yves Rocher's Matte Comfort Powder. It's actually the loose powder version of Matte Comfort Powder. The compact is 8g while this loose powder is 20 g. 

I would say this powder is for those who prefer light buildable coverage with matte finish and for those who are not sensitive to fragrance and have combination skin. 

Review: Yves Rocher Matte Comfort Powder

(photo courtesy: yvesrocher.ca)
I am a big powder person.

Though I have slightly dry skin, I  prefer to wear powder as my foundation routine because it's convenient to apply and good powder foundations save me a lot of time on makeup.

I bought this powder 3 years ago. Somehow it did not impress me that much and I stored it somewhere and forgot about it. Recently I have been starting shopping with my stash and I digged it out and try to rediscover it.

The shade I got is 100 very light mat. It's light enough for my skin, however it's more towards to a slightly pink-y side on my skin. I probably will try the 200 light shade next time when it's on sale.

This powder is stored in a very elegant and sleek case. This compact has a big mirror in it yet manages to be light weight and portable. The sponge that comes with it is too small and I do not use it to apply my powders.

This powder foundation gives a light to medium coverage. It covers better than most of the liquid foundations such as revlon nearly naked or revlon photo ready bb cream. I use Shiseido's foundation brush and The Body Shop mineral foundation brush to apply this powder.

The finish is a matte but not flat. I agree with what it claimed on Yves Rocher's site: It gives bright, velvety and powdery finish. It reminds me of Loreal True Match powder. They both can work as pressed setting powder and light powder foundation. The Yves Rocher powder is also creamy and finely-milled.

The only thing that I dislike and cannot stand is the scent. It has too strong scent to it --even after 3 hours of applying the smell lingers. I wish it can  be fragrance free as most of the Japanese powder foundations are.

It retails at 30 CAD plus tax, but you can get it when it's 45% off. It can be cheaper than Loreal's true match powder since Loreal cots around 13.99-19.99 in Canada plux 13% tax.

All in all, it's a good pressed powder/powder foundation and gives a adjustable coverage.

Reveiw: KATE Concealing Cover Powder Foundation

(photo courtesy: Adambeauty.com)
Japanese foundations are famous for their coverage and sun protection facts. I always use a liberal amount of sunscreen before any makeup. It seems that Japanese powder foundations are usually get alone well with any sunscreens. This Kate Concealing Cover Powder Foundation is no exception.

I remember years ago when I bought Kate powder foundation first time, I was not very impressed by its quality. The powders were chalky and the shade did not match well. The foundation seem to oxidize.

Kanebo Corporation has been improving a lot over the years with with every products, especially their drugstore foundations (Note: Kate is owned by Kanebo). Somehow Kanabo has become one of my favorite Japanese cosmetics company. The powders become creamier and softer. The shades matches better and the rate of oxidation is almost zero.

The shade I got this time is BE-C. It's matches perfectly with my skin tone. I also got a OC-B, will try it later.  Japanese BE shade has a truly yellow under tone, which conceals the redness and imperfections very well. I also found the BE hue to be lighter than OC tone.


The finish of this powder foundation is a satin finish. It's not as powdery or matte looking like other powder foundations I have tried. It gives you a youthful and healthy look. The staying power is excellent, never oxidize, no transfer and it stays on face for more than 6 hours.

I have a normal to dry skin in the winter and normal to combination in the summer. At this time of year in Canada (I started using this powder foundation from May to August), this powder foundation performs well on my skin. I am a lazy person to do touch up and I don't not feel I need do it most of the time. This powder foundation does not require me to touch it up either.

I don't  feel dry when wearing this powder foundation at all. Japanese powder foundations seem to be more moist and cater to more different skin types, while most western brands powder foundations are for oilier skins.

I tried to use Olay sensitive moisturizer spf 30, Clarins mineral sunscreen spf 40 and Loreal ombrelle spf 50 before applying this powder foundation and they all work well with this powder foundation.

I apply this powder foundation with TBS extra minerals powder foundation brush and it gives a flawless finish in 30 seconds.

Overall, I am very pleased with this powder foundation. I wish KATE does not discontinue this powder foundation soon.

Chanel Les Beiges healthy glow sheer powder poudre belle mine naturelle

Chanel's powder foundation is famous for its sheer coverage and natural looking, this powder is no exception.

(photo courtesy: www.chanel.com)

The shades of this powder seems to be too dark and pink. N10 is too pink for my skin so I picked N20. Though it looks dark, and it swatches darker than my skin tone, it's not really pigmented when I use kabuki brush to apply on my face.

I do not agree with Chanel who claims it can be a powder foundation. No it cannot be working as foundation at all. But it can be a good touch up powder for my sunscreen. This powder has a very classy Chanel scent which I like--though I prefer makeup to be fragrance.

All in all, it is a very expensive sunscreen powder to me. It retails at $60 CAD plux tax. It can be a good pressed powder to set makeup. I do not think it can be used as a powder foundation.

Cle de peau brightening powder foundation vs Clinique Almost Powder makeup review

(photo courtesy: http://www.cledepeau-beaute.com&Thebay.com)

I love to try different types of powder foundations. I always look for powder foundations with spf (higher than spf15) and good coverage. To me, good powder foundations can offer better coverage than any other liquid and cream foundations. I also use powder foundations as part of my sun protection.

I do not use primer. Sometimes I do, if a primer has contains good spf. Otherwise I use only sunscreen with powder foundation as my base makeup.

The sunscreen I used yesterday was the brightening enhancer base by Cle de peau. There's no spf on the packaging. But looking through the ingredients list, titanium dioxide is on the third of the list. I know some Japanese- made sunscreen products do not list the sunscreen drug facts like Canadian's products do. I suppose it's because of the law to enforce companies to do that here. The sales lady told me the brightening enhancer base has spf 35.

The CdP brightening enhancer base has thin consistency. It's like lots of Japanese made sunscreen texture. The color is light yellow undertone (it's around loreal true match's w1 to w2 shade) with some tiny tiny sparkle that we can never detect. It contains very light smell. I personally prefer cosmetics to be no scent, but because it's so light and so nice, so I do not mind.

I would not suggest anyone to use this base as a sunscreen. Since you need to put certain amount of the sunscreen to make it effective. When I put a tea spoon amount of this brightening enhancer base on, I feel it's too pale. It's remind me the older CdP's blue tube base, which also creates lots of white case on the face. You'd better to use it like a make up base to bright up the face.

However, if you have the same make up routine like me--sunscreen and powder foundation, you can still use this brightening enhancer base as your sunscreen. Since this white case does not show anymore after you put a powder on.

The shade I choose for new CdP brightening powder foundation was BF 20. It's a light yellow undertone shade. I compared this BF20 with my another older CdP powder foundation O10, the shade BF20 is surprisingly lighter than O10.

For your reference, I am around MAC NC 20.

I applied CdP brightening powder foundation on my right side of my face and Clinique almost powder makeup in light on my left side of my face. The two shade look no difference on my face.

The best brush to apply for powder foundation is The Body Shop Extra Virgin Minerals kabuki brush. It not only offers even and great coverage, but also speed up my makeup time.

A good powder foundation with a TBS kabuki brush, my makeup look very polished, as if I have spent a long time on the process (from primer, to liquid foundation, to concealer and to powder)--which I don't.

The coverage of both foundations on my face were great. They are medium to full coverage to me. I also use them to cover my dark circles and they conceal pretty well.

The finish is not matte nor glowy dewy. It's more like a satin finish on the face.

The staying power was really good. I am do not touch them up after 6 hours of wearing them both on my face.

The CdP brightening powder foundation did not perform anything special to me. I cannot tell any difference between this powder foundation and the Clinique one. Maybe I will be finding something new after I finish this powder foundation.

So far I do not recommend people to spend so much money on a powder foundation. The CdP powder foundation is $95 CAD plus tax for 11g, while the Clinique one is $31 CAD plus tax for 10g. Three times more expensive, but does not perform 3 times better so far.

The CdP brightening enhancer base is $65 CAD plus tax for 30 ml.  It's too expensive to be a sunscreen and for being a makeup base, it's a good but not a superb product.

Review: ESTEE LAUDER Double Wear StayinPlace Powder Makeup SPF 10

(photo from thebay.com)


Comparing to other higher end powder foundation I owned, this is an OK product.

The coverage can be built up to full, the staying power is more than 8 hours and it does not change colour.

However I found it is a little bit dry for my skin during cold weather.  

Sadly, there's only SPF 10 in this powder, and there's no refill available.

For $45 CAD plus tax, I can find a better dupe in the department store such as Clarins everlasting compact SPF 15 or Shiseido sun powder SPF 35.

Review: LANCOME DualFinish Versatile Powder Makeup

(photo credit to thebay.com)

This powder foundation does not impress me too much. The sales lady said it has been on the market for more than 30 years. Well, maybe it was a nice products at that time. After trying and collecting so many powder foundations, this is not something I would buy again.

The coverage can build up to full-coverage as it claims-from soft matte to flawless matte finish. 

However there's one big con that I cannot stand at all.

What bothers me the most is the smell of the powder. It's so overpowering that I feel so sick after applying it on. It seems that the scent can stay there forever.

As a department store brand, it's not that expensive. The pressed powder has 19 grams for 49 CAD plus tax. Sadly there's no sunscreen ingredients in it.

We can easily find the dupe for it at the body shop. The body shop all in one face base works exactly the same as this lancome dual finish powder without overpowering perfume in it, and the tbs powder has quite wide selection of shades as well.

Review: KATE mineral powder foundation spf15

The powder foundation has a light to medium coverage and can be built up ( but not to full coverage). The powder is smooth and silky. It has SPF 15 in it.

I am very fond of this product because the performance is average among Japanese powder foundation.

It's not cheap. It costs around $15 USD for refill only.  I can find better choices with a cheaper price.

Review: Clarins Daily Energizer WakeUp Booster

(photo credit to thebay.com)

Toners have many nicknames. Cosmetic companies call them lotion, softener, and booster......

This wakeup booster is supposed to be a morning toner. But of course I do not use it in the morning only.

It claims to enhance skin radiance. Since the toner is hydrating, it makes me feel that my complexion is radiant and luminous.

 

Clarins is famous for plant extracts ingredients, and this is no exception. I am not sure if there's any natural ingredients there, but I can be sure that there's artificial smell in almost all Clarins' products.

 

I prefer fragrance free products in general. But this smell does not bother me that much.  It does not break me out but make my skin healthy and hydrating.

 

This is a rather cheaper department store toner. It retails at $15 CAD plus tax for 125 ml. Very good value. Because some drugstore toner can cost this much or even more ( if you buy toners at shoppers.) ......

 

Review: Lunasol FUSING POWDER FOUNDATION spf 20

(photo from adambeauty.com)
It's one of my favourite powder foundation. Sadly it's only available in Asia.

Lunasol is a department store brand, it belongs to Kanebo's higher end products.

This powder foundation has a very creamy and silky texture. When I apply it on I do not feel it's powder on my face. The powder does not suck the moisture or oil out from my skin, instead, it keeps the moisture inside of it. So it's best for dryer skin types.

The coverage is superb. Really good coverage, yet the face does not look flat after applying it on.

The shade I use is yo02, it matches my skin tone perfectly.

The longer I apply it on, the more beautiful my skin looks.

It has a similar finish as Albion's powder foundation, but the lunasol powder stays longer and better on me.

I wish there's kanebo counter available here.

The body shop all in one face base

The body shop is famous for its body care products. However I found its makeup lines more interesting.

There are wide selections of shades. I found the colour 045 is very similar to my diorskin 021 linen.

The coverage is great, it covers up everything without feeling heavy at all. It does not accentuate fine line under my eyes.

It's not dry for my skin even apply it in the winter time.

The staying power is great, it can hold up to 8 hours without touch ups.

It comes with a mirror and sponge, and the refill is store in a portable round case.

The only one downside is that  there's no sunscreen in it.

Otherwise it's a perfect powder foundation!

The body shop nutriganics softening cleansing gel-dupe for clinique take the day off

This is probably one of my favourite the body shop skin care products.

The cleansing gel is with thick gel consistency. When I am lazy to use eye makeup remover, I use only this to remove everything on my face. It works wonders.

It can be the best dupe for clinique take the day off cleansing balm. The only problem is that I use up this very fast, while clinique cleansing balm stays long with me.

Shiseido Ultra Sun protection Lotion spf 50

(photo credit to thebay.com)

I wish I could like this sunscreen, because it's so affordable comparing to other higher end sunscreens, it retails at $49 CAD plus tax for 100 ml!

The sunscreen is like it claims, very water resistant. Except being affordable and water resistant, I cannot find other pros in it.

First, the scent is so overpowering that I can still feel it before I remove my makeup at the end of the day. I do not mind some smell in cosmetics when I apply it on my face. But I do not want to feel it whole day. The scent makes me feel sick.

Second, it seems not compatible with any of my powder foundations. I normally do not use makeup base. I apply sunscreen and powder as my everyday base makeup. If I apply any powder foundation right after this sunscreen, the powder foundation becomes cakey and not easy to blend; if I apply powder foundation sometime after apply this sunscreen, it makes my foundation look a lot more thick than it should be.

So the best way to use this sunscreen, is to apply it alone on the body instead of face (or neck).

I really wish to like this sunscreen, because it has bigger size than other (department store) sunscreens. But it always makes problem for me when I apply it on my face. Otherwise it has such good value and sometimes I can get bonus with buying it.

Review: Olay complete spf 30 daily moisturizer

This is a sunscreen with very good value. It's around $16 CAD plus tax at walmart for 75ml.

I use it mostly in winter time. I would not use it in strong sunlight. Because of its hydrating and very affordable price. I think it's the best dupe for the new Estee Lauder day wear SPF 50.

Clarins uv plus hp multi-protection spf 40--dupe for Chanel sunscreen

(photo credit to thebay.com)

It's the dupe for Chanel sunscreen. A lot cheaper than other department sunscreens who have only 30ml available. Not the cheapest choice of course. It retails at $40 CAD plus tax for 50 ml.

It's a very light liquid sunscreen, much lighter than Chanel's. It reminds me some Japanese sunscreens. I cannot say it's not hydrating in the winter time, but it can be slightly dry for me in very cold days. So I always put a lot of cream before applying for this sunscreen. But it works wonders in the summer time.

To my surprise, it holds my powder foundation as good as Chanel's sun screen. The powder foundations stay very well over 6 hours without touch ups.

Though it has scent in it, it never breaks me out.  I have been using more than 5 bottles of this sunscreen and will keep using it until I find a better and cheaper dupe--a sunscreen that can protect my skin from UV rays and hold my powder foundation well.