Example used: MAC Studio Fix Fluid foundation

Did you fall in to the trap not too long ago when everyone was raving about the MAC Studio Fix Fluid, only to find that it dried out your skin, broke you out and carried the peculiar whiff of paint, to mention a few? Even worse, do you have it in the wrong shade all together? These are among some of my own complaints against the now shunned full coverage foundation. Having said that, I am aware that there are many who love this product, if you do that's great! However if it is not entirely suitable for you, then do not fret.

My own  bottle has been lying around rejected and dejected for far too long. I use it very rarely, and considering a little goes a long way with this product, I have a lot of it left. It is such a shame considering it is not the cheapest foundation in the world and that I had bought it back in my college days as an investment when I was considerably skint. For that reason I am reluctant to throw it out.

Mulling over professional makeup, it occurred to me that makeup artists do not buy foundation expecting it to match a client. Rather they buy a palette of a range of shades and mix them up to create the perfect skin color. Both drugstore and premium brands have enticed us to believe and worse still, expect that they can deliver the perfect skin shade for us, nicely package in a single magic bottle. However as many of us are beginning to realize, this is not the case. It goes for finishes too, let me explain what I mean.

Customise Your Color:

Left to right: Bourjois Healthy Mix, MAC SFF

My Studio Fix is far too light a shade for me, an inevitable consequence of buying online without consultation and my newest drugstore foundation Bourjois Healthy Mix is a shade too dark. By mixing these two in appropriate proportions I can  create a shade somewhere in between that will match me much better. Furthermore, as Healthy Mix is a much creamier foundation, it lends that quality to the Studio Fix so the final product is also creamy and moisturizing, This will work with any similar foundation.

Alternatively if the coverage and consistency happens to be perfect for you, then just dust a small amount of bronzer all over the face to give it a natural tinge. I have here Natural Collection's Sun Tint Bronzing Powder in Golden Glow.

Another options I have recently stumbled upon is Bourjois' Bronzing Primer. In the description is says that is can be used in two way. Either as a thin layer under your foundation or used as a traditional bronzer on top of it in the hollow of your cheek. As this product is very soft and very creamy, you should also be able to mix it up with your foundation to darken it.

To lighten mix with a lighter foundation or - read section: Finish

Customize the Consistency:

You've seen this before, it is my Korean moisturizer. If you haven't hop over here for more info and a summarized review!

To thin out my foundation and to give it a lightweight dewy look, I like to mix in a proportion of moisturizer with it. The more moisturizer you add the sheerer and creamier it becomes

 You can also, once again, mix it with any similar shade of drugstore foundation. This obviously works vice-versa. So if you wanted to give your normal foundation a bit more coverage you would throw in the Studio Fix to the mix..

Customize your Finish:


The Studio Fix is a completely matte foundation. In order to give it a radiant, glowing finish, you can mix in a small amount of liquid highlighter such as this Illuminator in Slay from Illamasqua. Popular alternatives to this are the Benefit High Beam and MAC Lustre drops. Most of these products have tiny amounts of shimmer which have light reflecting properties.

Break Out No More!

Although originally the Studio Fix would break me out, by mixing it with other products it feel far kinder to my skin and I know longer need to worry about unpleasant zits! That is for all 3 of these steps!

These tips are not exclusive to the MAC Studio Fix Fluid, I used it as an example only because that is my cause-of-concern foundation. If you too have problems with specific foundations that you have unwittingly bought, or have any neat tricks of your own, please do share it down below, it is much appreciated! And if you enjoyed this post then please +1 it and follow my blog for my updates!

Ta for now!xx

Summer calls for some major adjustments to not only what form of makeup we wear but also how we wear it in order to stay looking flawless in the heat, humidity and exposure to the sun. As not everyday is the same, I have come up with 3 ways to wear your face to suit how your skin is feeling, moving from sheer to heavier coverage.

1. Sheer Coverage:
I actually only tried this yesterday. I have noticed that my skin has gradually become ever so slightly tanned, not a great deal, but enough for my foundation to look sickly strange on my face. Without foundation my face had some glow to it and my yellow undertones were more prominent.

In order to make the most of it, I applied my usual moisturizer, followed by my Garnier Ambre Solaire sunscreen, something I have now incorporated into my morning skincare routine. It has a thick creamy moisturizing consistency which makes my face feel less bare. There is also a lotion-y milk version of this is prefer something more lightweight. While it is not oily it does leave a shine.

I then applied my Rimmel Stay Matte powder with a soft all over face brush, concentrating on my T Zone and lightly dusting over the rest of my face. This will both reduce the shine and gently even out the skin tone leaving no patches or streaks.

This is great if you want to let your skin show through but still want even skin without feeling cake-y. Amazingly lightweight and natural.

Those of you with dry skin, such as myself, we tend to be weary of applying powder directly to the skin, but the double moisturizing will prevent your skin from drying out.

2. Light Coverage
I use my Missha B Perfect Cover BB cream when I want a small amount of coverage and to reduce pigmentation. Again I apply it straight after moisturizer, the creamy consistency of this makes it best applied with your fingertips. Follow this with powder to set and reduce shine.

3. Medium Coverage:
This method is for when I have increased imperfections on your skin but still need something moisturizing and light. Take your daily foundation, mine is currently Bourjois Healthy Mix, pump out a single pump on to the back of your hand and mix it with the same amount of your moisturizer. it can now be applied either with fingers or a brush all over the face. Then powder and go!

Of course, with any of these method you can use concealer to problem areas which requires extra coverage i.e. under the eyes, around nose and mouth and on any blemishes and imperfections before you powder.

I find each of these techniques give me a lovel healthy and flawless finish and still allow my skin to breath.

No makeup natural dewy look:
If you do not want to wear much more makeup, then you can finish your look by blending a lighter colored concealer before powder to the top of your cheekbones, bringing it down and pointing up towards the highest point of your nose in a V shape and also down the ridge of your nose, chin area and forehead. An additional contour color is not required as the highlighter automatically creates shadows everywhere else on the face. This way you can give your face shape without having to use many products.

Follow this with curled lashes and apply mascara to open up your eyes and give you the look of being wide awake.

Blend in a soft natural blush color to your cheek bones, I like to use a cream based one.

and finish with a slick of tinted lip balm!

I would love to know which of the 3 foundation routines you prefer this summer or let me how you would apply it differently.

I cannot recall the last time I had gone through and hit the bottom of a single product; it is a rare occurrence indeed, so you can understand my excitement when I came to the final spluttering pumps of my Maybelline foundation. Finishing a product strongly signifies one thing, it is well loved. Many things in my make-up collection are loved, but are either difficult to work with to wear regularly or require a certain look or a particular climate. This foundation however, has gotten me through my hair tear-ingly stressful last year of college and the excitement and buzz (and again, let us not forget stress) of first year of university, without a single mishap or mayhem.

So moving onto the particulars-

The facts:

The product comes in 30ml quantity, packaged in a glass bottle with a hard plastic pump dispenser and a soft plastic clear lid. It is a good size and fits in the hand well. The pump dispenser makes application that little bit more hygienic and is easy to control, pumping out only as much as you need (the main concern when it comes to pump dispensers). The look may be considered outdated, but for the time it was purchased and still now it is quite sweet. It retails at £7.99 (Boots/Superdrug).

Source: own product image Retail price: £7.99 (please excuse the poor quality)

It may be of some use to readers for me to own up to my skin type which is, regrettably, blemish prone and combination (literally), oily T Zone, dry on cheeks and around the mouth. To top it off, I also have centrally aligned visible pores concentrated on my forehead - delightful.

Personal verdict:

The product is described by Maybelline as 'air-whipped, light and luminous'. As I have already mentioned previously the texture is soft, it also wears on the face weightlessly and has a somewhat of a dewy finish, this is not a matt foundation. The coverage can be described as light-to-medium, perfect for me when using on a daily basis. It tends to last relatively well throughout the day and is kind to my dryer areas. I had noticed though that at the end of the day my T zone became quite oily, even under powder so this may not be best for those with primarily oily skin. On the Boots website, it is also described as giving '100% poreless skin', over the course of my using this product, I had not once noticed a difference in either the quantity nor the size of my pores. It also claims on the packaging that the foundation gives an 'airbrushed' finish, although I thought this product to be very good, I do not personally think it is quite that good, particularly on those occasions involving flashing cameras when we most certainly would wish to be looking airbrushed.

This foundation has served me well and has lasted me a decent length of time, to the point I could not wait to get rid of it (in a good way). And while I cannot fault it, I am open and eager to shop around and experiment with other brands with the hope of finding something... exquisite. Whether this search will prove fruitful, who knows? One thing for sure though, if all I strike are moisture-suckers and pimple-provokers, I am rest assured, knowing I have the Maybelline Dream Satin to fall back on as my failsafe, all-year-round foundation.