Shu Uemura Foundation Powder

I decided to try a new foundation last week.  I used to use the Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation for years, which is a really nice product.  But I lost my latest one at the gym - aha!  Apparently brushes aren't the only things I lose at the gym!  Anyway, while I like the Laura Mercier foundation - it offers great coverage, and a little bit goes a long way so the whole tube lasts me about a year - great for $42 - I just find it a little too "silky" after a few hours.  When it's first applied, it always looks so nice.  It gives the flawless supple skin effect.  And it offers the most coverage of all Laura Mercier foundations, so it covers any blemish like a concealer would.  I would always use very little of it (like 1/4 of a pea size for my whole face!) so that it didn't look heavy on my face - it spreads extremely well - and even still the coverage was excellent.

Sometimes the coverage is just too much for me, especially for everyday wear.  After about 2 hours or so, my face would always turn super shiny.  I don't have especially oily skin.  I think I have combination skin type, so my T-zone tends to get more oily while the rest stays dry.  But this foundation always made me shiny everywhere so I would always have to remember to dab my face off.  Plus I was getting a lot more pimples, which I wasn't sure if was due to the foundation or not.  So I figured trying something new wouldn't hurt! 

I was doing research last week on the best foundation or powder on the market.  Laura Mercier's Foundation Powder actually showed up a lot as the #1 product. 

I read lots of great reviews about it and was tempted to get it, but I was afraid that it would have the same problem as the Silk Creme Foundation.  

I love Shu Uemura's products, namely the Cleansing Beauty Oil, their false lashes, and of course their #1 seller the eye lash curler.  I love all their products that I've tried, so I decided to give their foundation a try. 

I didn't want to buy stuff online that I haven't tried for fear that the color wouldn't match well.  But the only places to buy Shu Uemura products in LA are the Barneys and Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills.  Lame because in San Francisco or New York they have Shu Uemura stores and even Nordstrom sells their products.  What's up with LA?  The nearest Shu Uemura store is in Irvine 40 miles away.  Ugh. 

Anyway, I didn't feel like making a trip to Beverly Hills and having to valet my car just to try some products.  So I decided to buy online, especially since they were having free shipping offers and additional free products as gifts.  So after looking through everything, I decided on the Foundation Powder. 

It has great reviews online as well.  The foundation is refillable, but it means I had to buy the compact separately for $12.50.  Whatever, at least I could reuse it.  The foundation itself is $32.50.  So it's actually cheaper than most of the other premium makeup brands.  The compact is actually pretty nice.  It's a pretty good size so you can actually see your face in the mirror.  The only thing I don't like about it is that there's no magnet on the bottom of the foundation that rests in the compact slot, so it will fall out if you accidentally tipped it upside down.  MAC's eye shadows all come with a little magnet on the bottom to stick to the compact's metal bottom, which is a very nice feature.  I wish Shu Uemura would have copied that idea!

Anyways, so my Shu Uemura stuff arrived in the mail yesterday and I had a chance to try it out today.  I absolutely LOVE this foundation powder!!  First of all, the color I picked actually matches me really well.  I first tried to apply it with a powder brush directly on my face without any primer, which worked fine and gave a more matte finish.  Then I decided to wet the sponge and apply it to my face that way, and I loved the effect even more.  It became a softer, more ethereal and air brushed kind of look.  It made my pores disappear instantly and skin tone even and smooth, and at the same time looked very natural.  It even smelled great!  It was super easy to apply - I finished within a minute or 2.  Oh, and it has SPF 22!  

It is seriously the perfect thing for me.  I'm so glad because the description on their website says that this product is perfect for people who have concerns about shine on the t zone area, prefer portable compact foundation with glow finish like liquid foundation, and medium coverage.  Those are exactly what I was looking for and it delivered the results perfectly!

I even went running tonight with it still on my face, and even after sweating my skin still looked great and not very shiny at all.  This foundation powder has passed all the tests!  I'm so glad it worked out since I can just buy the refill from now on and save $$$!

In order to get free shipping, I had to reach $50 total, so I also got some pentagon sponges for $5 for 4 of them, which are great for applying to edges and curves on the face.  

I got two free gifts with my purchase on top of the free shipping.  One was a full sized Glow On Blush.  I've never used this either but read good reviews about it.  A lot of the fun colors are sold out online.  I didn't get to choose my own color since it was a free gift.  The one I received is like a tan color, it's called M Amber 85.

I normally use pinkish colors for my cheeks.  But I do have some goldish and darker taupe colors that I use sometimes to make my face look tanner and skinnier.  Darker blushes are great for giving the illusion of higher cheek bones and skinnier face when applied to the area right below each cheek bone.  But this color wasn't quite dark enough for that.  It actually just looks like a powder color almost.  So I'm not too sure what effect it would have.  I will have to try it out and see.  Maybe it will just be slightly darker and give me a really natural looking tan. 

The other freebie I got was the White Recovery Brightening Cream.

I'm not exactly sure what a "brightening cream" does.  Presumably makes skin look brighter?  The description on the website states "fights against visible spots & skin complexion for impeccable translucent skin", and "Skin looks radiant, uniform and supple by the next morning".  

The direction doesn't say when or how many times a day it should be applied, but I guessed just overnight since the above states "by next morning".  

I've used it last night and applied it again just now.  It smelled really good.  But I haven't noticed any difference really.  Maybe need to give it a couple weeks and see.  I don't know, I used to be into expensive eye cream and night facial cream and all that stuff.  But I really can't even tell if any of the products actually made my skin better...??  Maybe my skin would look much worse now if I never used any of them, but I guess I will never know.  I stopped using them because I just didn't see the point of throwing my money away - the recession made me more conscious of my spending habits.  But perhaps I should start using them again since I want to look youthful for as long as I can!  I will thank myself when I get older hehe.  Anyway, the brightening cream will last me a while, so we'll see if I notice anything!  Always great to get free stuff though.