Lily Lolo Finishing Powder: Flawless Matte

I bought Lily Lolo Finishing Powder in Flawless Matte together with some sample size mineral foundations. It's been a long day for me, travelling to other town and sorting out some stuffs in anticipation of another move to another place. So I'll keep my review short and direct.

The blurb on the webpage, "A white mineral powder with oil absorbing properties for a flawless matte finish."

Is it a white mineral powder? Yes - see the ingredients list below.

Does it absorb oil? Yes - must be the kaolin absorbing all the oil. It kept my face matte for an hour or two before my face started shining again. Have to keep on re-applying: not so practical.

Does it give flawless finish? Kind of. IMO it works just like other mattifying powders.

What do I use it for? To lighten the shade of mineral foundations that are too dark for me.

Verdict: my normal powder works as well as this finishing powder. The only reason I would purchase it again is because it contains minimum amount of ingredients. Which means lesser chance of my skin being irritated by it. Perfect for sensitive skin.

Ingredients: Kaolin, Mica, Cl77019

Mixed Heritage, Mineral Foundations, and Turning Orange

As you know it's not easy to find a perfect foundation. Especially if you have light Chinese colouring that's more pinky than yellow, thanks to a mixed-blood heritage way up in the ancestry line. To avoid repeating myself, read here if you're curious about how I turned out this way.

I found my most favourite mineral foundation (read here) when living overseas. I ran out of it, so I've been on the mission to find a decent replacement. I wanted to find something that's available locally (read: UK) so that I don't need to spend a bomb on postage cost.

After some research I ordered Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation. I bought 4 sample sizes (0.75gr each) of Blondie, In the Buff, Candy Cane, and Warm Peach. I also bought the Finishing Powder in Flawless Matte - out of curiosity and in case I need it to tone down the colour.

I've been experimenting with them for a month. So here's what I think, with the description taken from the website in italic.

1. Blondie: "A light neutral shade with balanced undertones for paler skins." This seemed to be the closest one to my skintone. Good enough but not to the point of being HG.

2. In the Buff: "A light-medium neutral shade with balanced undertones." It's supposed to be the darker version of Blondie. It's way too dark for my skin. When mixed with the Finishing Powder it's obvious that it has different tone to Blondie, slightly pinker. IMO it might suit me if I've acquired plenty of holiday tan, which is very unlikely to happen, as I'm scared of getting skin cancer from too much sun exposure.

3. Candy Cane: "A light pinkish shade with cool undertones for paler skins." To fussy me it's a tiny winy bit too pinky. The difference of the colour on my neck and my face is a little obvious, so it's not too bad for when I'm wearing turtleneck shirts.

4. Warm Peach: "A light peachy shade with warm undertones for paler skins." You know when you're wearing a foundation shade that make you look orangey? This is it. Doesn't make me look like I'm having badly-applied-tan orange, but still a little orange. For not wanting to waste it, I'm considering using it for eyelid primer. Having said that, everyone's skin is different, the shade might work perfectly for your skintone.

I guess having Oriental blood doesn't mean I have warm undertones, like what some sales assistants insisted on. I've turned orange thanks to past experience with said SAs from Shiseido, Revlon, and Dior counters. If my memory serves me right, the most orangey award goes to Diorskin medium beige. I shocked myself, I shocked hubby, and I shocked everyone else that day. Since then I refused to try anything that said "medium beige" or anything that's not "light" when foundation is concerned. Enough said.

Back to topic. Lily Lolo foundation gives light/medium coverage, so it's not for people with lots of blemishes. I have to apply many extra layers (using concealer brush) on the areas of my face that has brownish chicken pox marks from 6 months ago.

I've read reviews from people who said the foundation makes their face looked "flat". It's true. I have to use blusher (on my forehead, cheeks, and chin) when I'm using this foundation, otherwise my face looked one dimensional. Perhaps because it doesn't contain enough shimmering agent like bismuth oxychloride (which can cause itchiness on some people). I'm not an expert, but if I'm guessing putting more Mica could make it more shimmery, thus eradicating the flat-face effect.

Verdict: personally I like Blondie for everyday use. For special occasions I would stick to using non-powder foundation.

Ingredients: Mica, Zinc Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Ultramarine Blue.

kit cosmetics Mineral Foundation

One of my best finds from OZ is kit cosmetics Mineral Foundation. This smooth powder is buildable to provide sheer to medium coverage. The lightest shade (Fair 01) suits me perfectly.

There are two tricks I use to cover blemishes using this same product:

1. Apply powder to the whole face with a kabuki brush. Then I dip a slightly wet lip brush to the powder, dabbing it on the areas I want to cover. I would let it dry before smoothing the edges using dry brush.

2. Apply powder with sponge on the areas I want to cover, then apply more powder to the whole face area using a kabuki brush.

I like the fact that it's easy to apply, doesn't contain sparkly bits (I shine enough! LOL), and doesn't give white-face effect in photograph.

What I don't like: it doesn't last the whole day, I have to re-apply lightly after about half-a-day, especially after I perspire in hot weather.

In a nutshell:

- BC (Before Chickenpox): it made my skin looked better than it was, giving a great no-makeup look for every day wear AND special occasions.

- AC (After Chickenpox): though it doesn't cover my recent pox marks perfectly, it lightens them enough so as to make them not so noticeable.

Verdict: I'm on my second pot, so it's definitely a keeper!

Ingredients: bismuth oxychloride CI 77163, mica CI 77019, kaolin. (+/-: titanium dioxide CI 77891, iron oxides CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499)