Empty Review: Skin Food Red Orange Sun Pact SPF 50 PA+++

Compact foundation is one of the makeup items that I use up most quickly. I like the convenience and easiness of applying compact foundations since it saves me a lot time to get myself ready. 

One of the reasons why I prefer to buy compacts instead of liquid or cream foundation is because compact foundation usually comes in different and unique packaging. Each compact has different personalities inside and outside, and this Skin Food Sun Pact is no exception. 

It seems that Asian cosmetics companies take more care about the packaging than the Western companies. They go with every detail no matter it's higher end products or cheaper ones. SkinFood is not a makeup brand with high price tags, however, they do make their products look fancy. 

Look at the packaging below, how cute and elegant the compact is! Would you ever throw away this compact when you finish the products inside? I will never do that. 

Skin Food Red Orange Sun Pact is a sunscreen in the pressed powder form. Though Health Canada does not recognize sunscreen powders, I use powder with sunscreen very often. I always put liquid or cream sunscreen before applying sun powder because I feel it protect my skin better. 

The Orange Sun Pact works very well as a finishing powder. It's translucent. Though it can be a little bit pale and pink when you swatch it heavily, the powder is usually very forgiving on the skin because of it's ultra light weight and finely-milled powders. 

The powder locks the makeup very well, it extends the makeup life on the face. However since it's with sunscreen ingredients, the powder can be a bit dry if you apply it too much. Therefore I do not suggest to use this sun pact as a sunscreen since the more you reapply it, the more you feel dry and pasty on your skin. 

The powder had a sweet scent but it does not linger on the skin once you apply it on. Actually I can barely feel the scent after 3 months of using it. 

I am not sure if it protects skin well from sun damage because I do not use it as a sunscreen. It is for sure a very high quality pressed powder. The finish is very beautiful if you apply it very lightly; if you apply it heavier you it can make you look very matte, which I think oily people would enjoy. 

Overall,  a very good quality pressed powder which sets makeup very well with a beautiful finish. 

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.

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.

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.

Chanel UV essentiel spf 50

This sunscreen retails at $57 CAD plus tax for 30 ml only, it is probably the most expensive sunscreen I have ever had.

The sunscreen is in a light liquid formula, yet not drying for my skin. I can wear it in the winter time without feeling uncomfortable. It has the most beautiful scent in it. It's with white cast, but once I put powder over it, it's disappears.

I like the feeling with this sunscreen on my skin. But it's too expensive. Clarins UV plus is the dupe for it.

Estee lauder day wear bb multi-perfecting beauty benefit cream spf 35

(photo credit to thebay.com)

This cream retails at $45 CAD plus tax for only 30 ml, quite expensive!

I normally do not use liquid foundation or BB cream as my makeup. I use this cream as a sunscreen.

This cream has a slight cucumber scent, which I am not fond of. But the cream is more hydrating than other sunscreens. I use it in cold winter, and it does not make my skin dry or tight. SPF 35 is more than enough to protect our skin from UV rays in winter time--if you do not ski.

I got the cream in light colour, which is the lightest shade available. However the shade is slightly darker than my skin tone (nc20). The coverage is quite good, it evens out skin and covers some imperfections.

All in all, it's a nice sunscreen for dry skin. It's for people want to skip the foundation step while having some coverage on the skin. I wish it could be fragrance-free and have one shade lighter available.