I haven’t tried Mary Kay makeup in forever despite the fact I hear about so much awesomeness from the brand, but recently I was sent some products from the line and see I need to get on the good foot!

As an oily girl, Mary Kay TimeWise Matte-Wear Liquid Foundation spoke to me before I even put it on…lol.

Infused with vitamin E and a patented blend of collagen-building peptides, the result is skin that instantly looks firmer, younger and healthier. It’s the perfect age-fighting foundation for combination to oily skin, visibly reducing the appearance of pores, fine lines, wrinkles and skin imperfections.

I wasn’t sure what my shade would be since the MK site doesn’t go into depth with shade descriptions (though I guess you could go to a MK consultant and get matched), so they sent over Bronze 6 and 7 in Matte-Wear and Bronze 8 in Mary Kay TimeWise Luminous-Wear Liquid Foundation.

OMG the Luminous-Wear.

Infused with vitamin E and a patented blend of collagen-building peptides, the result is skin that instantly looks firmer, younger and healthier. It’s the perfect age-fighting foundation for normal to dry skin, visibly reducing the appearance of pores, fine lines, wrinkles and skin imperfections for skin that looks luminous, radiant and immediately brightened as skin texture appears visibly improved.

OK—let me do this in order…lol. I can get carried away with a review when I like something. Back to Matte-Wear. So Bronze 7 was a good match for my NW47 skin. It’s the perfect deep brown with NEUTRAL undertones (sorry—had to put that in caps because sometimes brands whose foundations I really want to love go too red when they get to darker skin tones, so I get excited when there’s a neutral undertone for my skin…lol). It’s a medium to fuller coverage depending on how much you use. It covers pretty well in terms of giving the skin a more even tone, but I still needed to use a concealer for the few dark spots on my forehead and chin (as I usually do with foundations anyway). Though it’s winter, it’s not quite cold enough where my skin would need something more moisturizing (this will change when I get back home to NYC where it’s on average 20 degrees colder than it is in Georgia) and of course it’s not hot enough at all for me to need major oil control coverage, but I still find myself getting a little shiny. I loved that when wearing Matte-Wear I didn’t need to touch-up my makeup at all when I went out (I was wearing the makeup for six hours and didn’t notice I needed a touch-up—this could change in the warmer months though). I used the Mary Kay Mineral Powder Foundation in Bronze 4 (comes in 12 shades altogether) to set it (I used a little since this also doubles as foundation—but has buildable coverage. I’d probably use something like it as my sole foundation in the summer, but right now I want more coverage)

Mineral Powder Foundation details:
Mary Kay® Mineral Powder Foundation is a weightless, skin-perfecting powder that makes lines, wrinkles and other imperfections seem to disappear. You get the coverage of a foundation with the comfort of a powder.

For the record, Bronze 6 in Matte-Wear is a deep brown with yellow undertones which looks similar to MAC NC50. Bronze 5 in Mineral Powder Foundation looks like a good match for NW50. Though I’m good at helping you guys find foundation matches, I unfortunately can’t help with these beyond the samples I was given since the site doesn’t give shade descriptions and I haven’t seen the other shades.

OK—now back to the Luminous-Wear Foundation. BOY is the finish on this gorgeous BUT it’s not formulated for oily skin. It’s for normal to dry skin and I *could* use it when it’s really, really cold out, but despite it giving the skin a dewy, healthy glow—on my oily skin I would look like Jermaine Jackson during the hottest day in Georgia if I tried to wear it all day…lol. It’s definitely something you want to try out if you have normal to dry skin though. It has such a GREAT finish.

Bronze 8 in Luminous Wear was a tad too dark for me, but not by a lot. Don’t let the swatch of it fool you (as Bronze 7 in Matte-Wear appears darker than Bronze 8 in Luminous-Wear), different formulas can look completely different in color. I’d estimate it as maybe a shade deeper than my skin but maybe a little lighter than NW50. It has a neutral undertone that veers slightly red but isn’t completely red.

Bottom line: Both foundations are worth checking out—-just choose depending on your skin type (or current weather conditions where you live) to ensure that it performs as it should. The Mineral Powder Foundation I’d say is worth checking out if you have oilier skin. I look forward to wearing it in the summer. I love that all three come in a good range of shades (Matte-Wear and Luminous-Wear come in 23, Mineral Powder in 12).

Prices and where to buy: Luminous-Wear and Matte-Wear are $20 each for 1 fl oz. Mineral Powder Foundation is $18 for .28 oz. Get it all at MaryKay.com.

Do you have any Mary Kay favorites? Tell me in the comments!