Answers to YOUR Foundation, Concealer, and Powder Questions Part 2

Here’s part 2 of the answers to your foundation, concealer, and powder questions! I took to my Facebook and Instagram to ask you what questions you had regarding complexion makeup products and you guys had some really good questions. You can check out part 1 here.

The theme for part 2 seems to be drugstore foundation for dark skin—check out the questions some of you asked and my answers :)

Best inexpensive foundations/concealers

I’m generally a “splurge” on foundation and concealer kind of girl, but I’ve come across some amazing inexpensive foundations and concealers. You can search through my drugstore makeup category to see them all, but here’s a few that immediately come to mind:

L.A. Girl foundation
L.A. Girl concealer
Maybelline Fit Me
Sleek MakeUP Corrector & Concealer Palette + Hide It Concealer
Covergirl TruBlend foundation
Black Opal True Color Liquid Foundation
IMAN BB Creme

What are the best drugstore brands and when shopping drugstore brands and unable to sample or try colors, what’s the most effective way to find your color match?

Ugh. This is why when I first started wearing makeup I went straight to department stores—also because drugstore makeup was nowhere where it used to be back then than it is now. What’s tough with drugstore makeup is shades are often named things that don’t help describe the color nor do they say what the undertones are. And then what’s even more difficult is you can’t really see the product in the packaging sometimes.

But there are some ways to getting closer to a good match and thankfully most drugstores have a lenient return policy on makeup purchases (always check the store’s policy before you buy). If you have a foundation that matches you already, bring it with you so you can match it up with what you see on the drugstore displays. Of course this will only work with foundations that have clear packaging, but it’ll get you pretty close. If you’re stuck in between two shades, buy them both and then return the one that doesn’t work (although sometimes some of us can actually use two different shades to get a shade that best matches OR because many women of color are naturally darker around the perimeter of the face and lighter in the center so you’ll get a more natural look using two different colors to accommodate those areas—see also Why I Now Highlight and Contour My Face Every Time I Do My Makeup).

Thankfully the explosion of the internet beauty scene has made it a bit easier to shop drugstore makeup. You can Google to find bloggers or search Youtube for vloggers who may have reviewed a certain foundation in a certain shade. This can also help you narrow down a shade or two. You can also check my Drugstore Makeup category to see which foundations I’ve reviewed.

I’m actually drawn more to department store foundations because it’s just so much easier to try and test before buying, but I’ve tried a bunch of drugstore foundations for the blog. Brands that I’ve loved over the years include Sleek MakeUP, Maybelline, Covergirl, Black Radiance, Black Opal, Iman, and now newcomer SheaMoisture.

Preventing the mask look: is that because of wrong shade or just the brand. Been using Ben Nye Coco Tan to set highlight it doesn’t seem to blend well. Lastly how do you use BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed?

I covered the first part of this in Part 1 of this series but wanted to answer the second and third parts of your questions as well. I use Ben Nye Coco Tan to set my highlight and it blends perfectly for me (see a look I did with it here). I think either you’re using the wrong shade, too much product, or aren’t properly blending because I can’t see it not blending well otherwise. Try it again using less product (you can always add more if you need). I sometimes use a makeup wedge to press the product into the area and then I use a small fluffy brush to blend and dust off any excess.

I use BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed as a cheek highlight. So I take a fluffy makeup brush and dust it along the tops of my cheekbones. You can also lightly dust it along the temples, VERY lightly down the bridge of the nose and the tip of the chin if you want more of a glow.

What is a good concealer for covering dark under eye circles on dark skins?

For darker skins (say NW43 and darker), you want any concealer you’re using to cover dark circles to have a honey undertone to it. If you have lighter skin, you want something with a peachy or salmon undertone. The honey (or peach) undertone helps to cancel out the darkness.

I have a number of faves (you can see all my concealer reviews here), but one I came across most recently that’s amazing for the under eye is Laura Mercier High Coverage Concealer for Under Eye. I’m also a huge fan of Cover FX Cream Concealer—you can see others I use here.

If you’re on a budget, I really like L.A. Girl Pro Conceal Concealer but it can be a bit hard to track in stores depending on where you live, but is sold on many websites (including L.A. Girl’s own site).

Check out more concealers I’ve reviewed here.

What’s your fave matte foundation?

There’s so many! Here’s some I’ve tried and really liked…

Dolce & Gabbana Perfect Matte Liquid Foundation
BECCA Ever Matte Shine Proof
Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet
Make Up For Ever Duo Mat
Cover FX Pressed Mineral Foundation

That’s that for that! Many of your questions got my wheels turning for some really amazing blog post ideas (that will take me some time to put together), so stay tuned :)