Review: Kanebo Sensai Fluid Finish Lasting Velvet Foundation

This was an impulse buy on my trip to Germany -- I've heard great things about Kanebo before, and I was really excited to try this.  I justified the purchase by telling myself it would be cheaper in an airport than anywhere else.

The foundation comes housed in a glass bottle, so it has that touch of luxury.  Foundation also tends to keep better in glass, and I feel like this one will age especially well, since it has a pump.  The SPF 15 will probably expire in about a year, but I'm comfortable keeping pump-bottle foundation as long as it doesn't look or smell odd.

The colour is called Amber Beige -- it's extremely warm and golden, but it has just enough neutral beige in it that it doesn't go orange.  While I wouldn't call my skin neutral, it does need a less warm shade to accommodate the olive in my skin.

As for the texture...oh, the texture.  It's magical.  It feels better on the skin than even my beloved MUFE HD.  I'm pretty sure there's no added benefit to this foundation, but it has a buildable medium coverage, which usually means that it doesn't feel like naked skin, even with the most expensive foundation.  This doesn't feel like nothing, but it feels like a treatment for your skin.  I rub it in with my fingers and it absorbs like a serum.  And not to make any sweeping declarations, but my skin feels even better with it on than without.  Even Tod thinks so and she's patently against foundation.

I still need to use a dab of concealer after this, but the finish is so natural -- not a cakey or fake matte at all.  It's classed a semi-matte, and I couldn't agree more.  This really is one of those "your skin but better" textures.  I picked the Velvet version because with such a dark colour, I knew I would only wear it in the summer.

I paid 40E at the Vienna airport, but I've seen it at other airports for 35E.  Definitely not a cheap foundation, but for that texture, it's well worth it. 

my new favourite red lipstick.

I've swatched some of my red lipsticks before (I need to do a collection...not unlike my red nail polish collection), and if you've been following me for sometime, you know that I love everything blue-based. I've never been one for coral, brick or peach, simply because it usually makes my skin look dirty.

Until now.

A couple weeks ago, my friend (and regular blog model) Peruana dropped off a NARS lipstick that she was struggling with -- we have a similar skin tint, but I'm more olive and she's that fantastic mixture of mauve and gold that can wear every nude lip I've wanted my whole life.  

And thus Heat Wave made its way into my life.  If I'm going to start off with an orange-red, why wouldn't it be so bright it's almost neon?  That's just how I roll, kids.  This intense, fire-engine-but-oranger red will pop right off your face.  I tried to Instagram a photo and my camera turned it neon pink -- that's how bright it is.  The texture is the same as my other NARS semi-matte, Schiap.  I do find NARS's lipsticks to be a tad drying, but the colours I have I love to pieces, so I can't complain.  I typically run a lipbalm over my lips, let it sink in for a minute and wipe off all the excess.  You can do this with a cotton swab, but I usually just grab a tissue and really soak up all the excess moisture.  Then I apply straight from the bullet to get that ultra opaque, bright finish.  A lip brush will just tone down any neon potential this sort of colour can give you.

Since this is so bright, I try to tone down the rest of my face.  Starting with a very sheer base (usually just enough concealer to get rid of any blemishes), I pair it with NARS cream eye shadow in Etrusque.  If I want to be super NARS-y, I'll run the South Beach Multiple over my cheekbones and finish with a black pencil liner.  Don't forget to layer a couple of mascaras for an extra-feathery look.

I'm already itching for another NARS lip.  Any recommendations?

Inglot, revisited.

Note: My July Favourites are coming, Youtube is just really not cooperating with me.  Must have started this upload at least four or five times now!  Will try again tomorrow!

So near the very very very very very beginnings of this blog, I wrote a little piece about Inglot where I called it the Coach of high-end makeup.  Take that as you will and read the rest here.

I wrote that piece way before Inglot got popular with the Youtube crowd, when they had only the one store in Manhattan.  However, since starting the blog and dreaming of a streamlined collection (quite the conundrum, as I continue to purchase more product in order to find the next 'it' thing that will beat out my need for everything else), I've been meaning to get one of those Freedom palettes for myself.

The idea is that they have set palettes in varying sizes, with or without mirrors, and you can customize to your heart's delight.  With Inglot's extensive choices of tints, tones and finishes, you're sure to find something you like.

I've always wanted something that would hold a brow colour, a cheek colour, a daytime look and a nighttime look.  I think I've come pretty close with the combination I chose.

I wanted matte eye shadows that I use every day for a neutral, office-appropriate look.  I have a million and one shimmery neutrals, but I'm severely lacking in mattes. The eye trio in the lower right hand corner is their Rainbow shadow in 117R -- they have three of these trios that look basically exactly the same, and this is the coolest one, so it works well for my brows.

The texture of the matte shadows is a tiny bit chalky, but I think that's to be expected with mattes.  I don't suggest using your fingers for these, they'll apply much less patchy with a brush.

I've been looking for a light pink blush for a while, since most of mine tend to lean very dusty, mauvey or hot pink.   I used this this morning and when I brushed my MAC 168 over it, it kicked up a TON of powder.  They're extremely pigmented.

I maintain that only one of these is neutral.  I've been lemming an olive and purple shimmery shadow for a while -- I was thinking Sumptuous Olive from MAC for a while, but that was a little yellow for my liking.  P419 is quite a gray-green, I see myself using this under the eye.  As for a rich, royal purple, I couldn't find one I liked from any of my usual haunts and when the SA swatched P446 for me, I knew I was sold.  The brown on the right is fairly basic, but it has just enough copper and silver shimmer in that it'll suit most skin tones and eye colours.  As for the finish, the shimmer is not at all frosty -- the tiny glitter particles make up a beautiful shimmer, just pearly enough to bring a little light to the eye.

Blush in 20, Eyeshadow in P419, P446, P422, R117 (last group of three)

I know a lot of you have indulged in Inglot, would love to hear what combinations you've made, or any products you love from them.  Anyone tried their brushes?  I was recommended the eyeliner brush!

Current Beauty Pairings

This summer I've been staying inside, playing with makeup and mixing pitcher after pitcher of Starbucks' passion tea lemonade.  Here are some things I've been going back to over and over again, because they just work so well with summer colouring.  Despite not having gone out that much, my face has darkened somewhat, almost to the colour my body normally is (NC35-40), so I've been pulling out every kind of peach, coral, bronze and gold.

1. Orange lip + brown smokey eye -- Since making my lip palette, I'm obsessed with orange everything.  It really does prove that to use products, you need to see them. I used to use orange only in this look, but now I'm loving using this MAC Pro Longwear Lip Creme in Good to Go as a light stain on my lips and cheeks, paired with a smudgy brown smokey eye using Cocoa Puff and Push-Up the TooFaced Natural Eye palette.

2.  Viva Glam Gaga + Revlon Nude Lustre -- I know Viva Glam Gaga is one of those lipsticks that people hunt down in blog sales and on eBay (I used to be one of them), but after purchasing one...I just don't get it. I think maybe it's the gold/olive undertone in my skin?  It pulls all the life out of my skin and makes me look a little like a street walker the way concealer-filled lips do.  However, I knew there was a way to make it work.  After layering every single gloss I own over it, I finally realized that the peachiness of Revlon's Nude Lustre was the way to make me not look like a zombie hooker.

3.  Tarte Natural Siren + Bobbi Brown Pink Pout -- I've been so into layering blush.  It reminds me of my 9 year old self mixing eight different brown lipsticks (remember the 90s?  Good times).  Layering a cream blush under a powder one makes for great staying power, but I've been enjoying mixing my own colours.  Both these colours show up fairly natural on me, but in different ways.  Tarte shimmery coral makes me look like I'm 'glowing from within' and Bobbi Brown's mauvey lip and cheek colour is almost a natural sculpt on me, kind of like Benefit Dallas.  To get a dusty flush, I use a foundation brush and apply to the top of my cheekbone, blending down to the apple.

What products do you layer?  I'm think I want to start learning how to layer fragrance, so I'd love to hear your advice!