I was able to find this Physicians Formula bronzer at Ulta. It was $15.99 with a $3 off coupon attached to it. It looked very shiny and metallic in the packaging, but so did my beloved Mineral Glow Pearls powder and that turned out to just have a top layer of shimmer and was lovely and dewy looking after you brushed that shimmer off the top. So I decided to take a chance with this product as well. Turns out it does have a layer of shimmer on top, but underneath it still has a little bit of very fine shimmer. Not nearly as bad as a lot of their other bronzers, this shimmer is barely even noticeable indoors, mostly outside in sunlight. I got Light to Medium and it is a nice color for me with more of a golden tone to it, Medium to Dark looked like it had more of a red tone. Here is what the product looks like: (you can see it look less shiny in the center where I rubbed some of that top shimmer layer off)
And here are swatches: outside in direct sunlight
Indoors by a window:
First impression: I think it is nice. I do kind of wish it had a satin finish. But I guess if Physicians Formula insists on having shimmer in their bronzers, this is some of the finest, least noticeable shimmer I have come across so far, so I'll take it.
I have been testing a sample of the Kat Von D foundation for a while now, and just recently got a full size. I will have a review coming shortly, but in the meantime I have some swatches for you comparing those two shades, which are the lightest two shades in the range. The sample I have is # 44 and as you can see it is way too dark for me. So I decided to buy the full size in # 42, which they were out of in my local Sephora so I had to buy it without testing. As you can see there is a HUGE difference between the two colors. I am really surprised there is no color in between.
42, 44, Jane Iredale BB Cream #1(for comparison):
I think I will have to mix 42 and 44 together to get a wearable color, otherwise my face is either going to be too light or too dark. Besides the difficultly finding a color match I am loving the foundation though, and will have a review coming shortly. EDIT: I actually ended up returning the foundation, 42 was too light and too pink, and so looked off on me, and I didn't want to buy another full size to mix with it just to get the right color. This foundation had amazing coverage, which was a huge plus, but it also ended up breaking me out. So unfortunately it was just not for me.
I recently got samples of the Jane Iredale primer and BB cream, and I actually just also received the full size BB cream in the mail as well. The Smooth Affair primer is tinted pink, but goes on clear. It is very moisturizing and glides on smooth, but not as smooth as your typical silicone primer(even though Smooth Affair does contain silicones). It feels more like a moisturizer on the skin, rather than that super slick slippery feeling you get with something like the Smashbox primer. It has a nice grapefruit smell, and although it is moisturizing, it is not greasy at all. It also does not make any visible difference when applied, there is no shimmer or pearl to the product, it is clear. I personally really like this primer because I have dry skin and it really helps moisturize and smooth away some of the rough flaky patches of skin and prep skin for makeup, without being greasy and breaking me out(I have very preakout prone skin, too much oil and it goes bonkers!).
The Glow Time BB cream I got in the color BB #1, the lightest shade. And it is perfectly pale and neutral, just what I needed! It is thick and creamy like a typical Asian BB cream. It is also moisturizing, but not as much as the primer. It blends easily, I like to use an angled flat top brush. After I applied it, it gave me heavy coverage, yet did not look like I was wearing makeup. It was not cakey or heavy, and was not greasy. It also did not have any shimmery or pearly particles. It look like the glow of your natural skin, because it is not mattifying or drying. I really really like it for dry skin. If you have flaky, dry, and rough skin the combination of the primer and BB cream will be perfect for you! Most other makeup makes dry skin look more obvious or makes it noticeable that you have makeup on, this is the exception. Since it is heavy coverage, if you do look hard enough and close enough in the mirror you can obviously tell that you are indeed wearing some makeup, but at a normal distance you really can't tell. I wore these products for a whole day, and it was actually unexpectedly warm here(74 degrees, in January!) and ridiculously humid. I also happened to go for a walk outside. Probably not the best day to test how this would typically wear as I was sweating and even got a little oily in the T zone. The BB cream lasted well though, I did get some oil breakthrough on my nose, and it did make the coverage there fade a bit, but this really wouldn't happen to me on a typical winter day, and it is nothing a little powder can't fix. I also noticed that right after I applied it, it settled into a smile line I have. I blended it out of there using my brush, and it didn't come back for the rest of the day. I am super duper pleased with these products! However, in the summer when my skin get more combination, I think these will be too much moisture for me, especially both primer and BB cream together. Maybe just the BB cream alone plus some powder will be what I will need to do. I also love that this is the first US BB cream that is actually what BB creams are supposed to be like. They are not supposed to be a primer or tinted moisturizer like pretty much all the other US BB creams have been(with the exception of Physicians formula, which is more medium coverage). They are supposed to be a multitasking, heavy coverage product, that gives you your sunscreen and moisturizer and skin care benefits all in one. Both the primer and BB cream have plant extracts, vitamins, and anti oxidants, to care for your skin and improve its condition over time. So they are not just makeup, they are skin care, which I love the concept of. And the BB cream has a broad spectrum SPF of 25. I conclusion, if you have dry skin I highly recommend both these products. If you have combo or oily skin and still want to try this BB cream, I recommend using a mattifying oil control primer underneath instead of the Smooth Affair, and possibly also setting with an oil control powder.
Jane Iredale Smooth Affair Facial Primer & Brightener
Applied to my arm
Blended
Jane Iredale Glow Time Full Coverage Mineral BB Cream in BB # 1
Swatch on my arm(over the primer)
Blended just a tiny bit
Completely blended
I thought I'd show you the coverage up close on my face. Here is my chin, I have some problems with hyper-pigmentation in that area so I though it would be a good example.
And here it is with the BB cream on:
And finally, here is my full face with the primer, BB cream, and the rest of my makeup. I am not wearing any powder, just blush, as I did not want to change the look of the BB cream, so you can see it on its own.
I was going to compare Maybelline Color Tattoo in Barely Beige to the new Barely Branded, and then I thought, why don't I throw some of my other cream shadows in there and just have a nice large comparison of beige cream shadows. So here it is, I will describe the colors for you and also let you know how these wear on me. But just keep in mind most things crease on me, so if I say it wears for 4 hours, that's actually really good for me, and if you don't have oily hooded lids like mine it will probably last much longer on you. I test these with no primer, since I think of a cream shadow as kind of a primer + shadow in one.
Maybelline Color Tattoo in Barely Beige - light pearly beige, more pink than Barely Branded, lasts 2-3 hours on me. Maybelline Color Tattoo in Barely Branded - light pearly beige, more of a yellow toned beige and a tiny bit lighter than Barely Beige, lasts 2-3 hours on me.
Clinique Lid Smoothie 8 Hour Eye Color in Bit 'O Honey - Similar color to Barely Branded, but not as metallic, lasts 3-4 hours on me.
L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in 888 Iced Latte - Light yellow toned beige, very metallic shiny finish, lasts about 2 hours on me.
Mary Kay Cream Eye Color in Beach Blonde - Darkest of all of these shadows, brownish-beige, lasts 2-3 hours on me.
Bellame Cream Shadow in Creamy Vanilla - Lightest of all of the shadows, yellow based pearly beige, lasts 2-3 hours on me.
I got both in the color Light Bronzer, there was also one more color called Bronzer. They were $13.99 each, but both had a $3 off coupon on them, and were on sale for BOGO 50% off. So I spent about $15 on the both of them prior to taxes.
I was thrilled these no longer had talc in them, like the previous Happy Booster products. Talc breaks me out and can be irritating to sensitive skin and if you are acne prone, so I avoid it. These smell really really nice, you don't necesarily smell it on your face for very long, but it is nice when you open the product. It is a very floral smell. The one thing I am not thrilled about is they both have a gold colored component to them which has shimmer. It is larger pieces of shimmer, which you would be able to see on your face, and I just hate having shimmer randomly all over my face. In blush it can be fine, but not in something like a bronzer that you wear all over. In the bronzing veil this is an easy fix, just remove the gold colored hearts. But in the other product it is a little harder, you have to use a small brush and try to go around the heart and not touch the center. However, the bronze component in these gives a very nice dewy glow with no shimmer. The loose hearts are slightly dark, while the baked bronzer is very light, just a beautiful beige glow, this will not be too dark for even fair skin. Here are pictures of the products and swatches:
The swatches are as follows: Left to Right: Beige then Gold from Baked Bronzer; Beige then Gold from Bronzing Veil
