Sheer Foundation Makeup - My Top 5 Picks

Sheer foundation makeup has been around for awhile. Ever since Bare Escentuals invaded late night infomercials, people just can't seem to get enough. Now you see mineral makeup everywhere. If you haven't jumped on the Bare Escentuals bandwagon, you may be considering other brands that you trust. That is understandable. I must be honest, I've been using Bare Escentuals for years now and it kind of makes my face itchy. This could be from the hair on the brush that irritates my skin or from me buffing my face too hard, but I haven't changed brands because I'm comfortable with what I know. Even if it makes me itch. (IMPORTANT TIP: It is not recommended to be comfortable with something that makes you ITCH, specifically in private areas.) I just feel like I want a makeup that makes my skin look crazy flawless. Bare Escentuals is great for everyday, but what about on those special occasions where you want to look like a porcelain doll? I need a foundation to use in addition to my loose powder makeup. So I start searching for other sheer foundation makeup and found that there are a ton of other highly rated products that I have been missing out on. Here are the top 5 products that really caught my attention:

#1 Neutrogena Skin Clearing Oil-Free Makeup (7.2 Star Rating)
Buy it on Amazon for only $15
Ok, so the reason why this caught my eye is because Neutrogena products have never let me down before. I only dabbled in their face wash, but their whole basis is improving your skin. Lot of other foundations clog your pores causing more acne. With this skin clearing sheer foundation, it actually works with your skin and covers up your blemishes. People have given this product a 7.2 star out of 10 star rating, but I figure with the price tag of only $15.00, it's worth a shot!

#2 MAC Studio Mist Foundation (8.3 Star Rating)
Buy it on Amazon for only $16.50
Call me a label whore, but everyone and anyone swears by MAC makeup. MAC Studio Mist Foundation just sounds professional! It's an aerosol foundation that you spray on without all the extra equipment that is required with airbrush makeup. People have reviewed that it provides lightweight medium coverage and you'll probably need to touch up once or twice throughout the day. The downside is that it dries a little too quickly, so you may still need a makeup sponge to control the areas that you really want to cover. I would highly advise that if you want to try this sheer foundation aerosol can, look on ebay. It's pretty cheap, you can find it for about $17.

#3 Avon PERSONAL MATCH Natural Liquid Foundation (9.8 Star Rating)
Avon is another brand that has never let me down. I like them because they're cheap and everytime someone gives me an Avon catalog, I buy something on every page and my total will be like $10. So I found that they had a personal match natural liquid foundation that got rave reviews. The upside, very breathable sheer foundation makeup that is lightweight and makes your skin look natural and healthy. The downside, unless you're at a physical location that Avon has, how can you determine a personal color match? But with the price tag of under $10 and on ebay you can buy a lot of the foundation and try out different colors, it's a win win situation.

#4 Shu Uemura Face Architect Smoothing Fluid Foundation(10 Star Rating)
Buy it from eBay starting from $24.95
Now this foundation caught my eye because the reviews were raving and I don't think they ever got less than 10 star rating. People who never normally use foundation tried out this product and just fell absolutely in love. I can relate because I'm not normally a foundation wearer myself, so it's nice that I found reviews I could relate to. This foundation doesn't dry up, it goes on evenly and smoothly and is light and natural. Shu Uemura is also a very reputable brand, so I will probably eventually buckle down and spend the $55 to try out this product out. Try eBay for a little discount. You can easily find the foundation for about $42.

#5 Borghese Hydro-Mineral Creme Finish Makeup (10 Star Rating)
Buy it on Amazon for $10.99
Ok, so I'm interested in trying this because it contains no animal, vegetable or mineral oil. That to me says, "Will not clog my pores". I've read consistent reviews that it is lightweight, natural, long wearing and great for sensitive skin types. It's a higher end product without the super high end price tag. A tube will cost you about $34 on borghese.com, but I found it on Amazon for average price of around $15. I've even seen it as low as $7.99. Worth a shot! That is all I have to say.

If you’ve tried other sheer foundation makeup that you absolutely love, feel free to chime in!

How to Grow Longer Eyelashes

Just the tip that all Asians (or at least this Asian) has been waiting for! How to grow out your eyelashes! I don't know about you, but fake eyelashes are itchy and scratchy and I'm too impatient and lazy to wear them everyday. If only I could grow out my own natural lashes, life would be so lovely wouldn't it? So I sat down and did some research on how to grow out your eyelashes and it was like, why didn't I think of this before? Ultimately eyelashes are just hairs that extend out from your eyelids. Same kind of hair that grows on your head. So why not condition it and treat it the same as you would your hair, and they'll become stronger, thicker and fuller.

Vaseline / Olive Oil
Oh yea, you heard me right. Olive oil. Olive oil strengthens the hair making it stronger and least likely to break off. So you can salvage the very few hairs you have on your eyelids and stimulate the roots to grow even more hair. All you got to do is lightly coat your eyelashes with some olive oil before you go to bed at night and stick to it for awhile. You may see a difference in your eyelashes. (Please also note that olive oil does wonders for strengthening and whitening your fingernails as well. But I'll save that for a later post.) If you do not have olive oil around, Vaseline will do the same as far as conditioning and moisturizing your lashes. Throw this into your nightly ritual and it could be the answer to your eyelash problems.

Combing
If combing your hair stimulates your hair follicles and the result is hair growth, then it must be the same for your eyelashes. You know those eyelash comb that come in your make up brush kit you never knew quite to do with? Well, it's time to find that brush and use it to gently comb your eyelashes about 3 times a week and you may notice results in about a month. How sweet is that?

Commercial Products
If you are not a complete believer in these homeopathic ideas on how to naturally grow out your lashes, there are many products out there that can assist in your eyelash hair growth process. Latisse (an eyelash conditioner proven to stimulate hair growth) is probably the best product with the most positive reviews. I tried Latisse when it first came out and it definitely made my eyelashes thicker. However, I didn't stick to it, as it caused some eye irritation and redness. The product has worked very well for some of my other friends however. Guess I have super sensitive eyes. Still, it couldn't hurt to try Latisse for yourself. It's a little on the pricey side and you may need to get it from a doctor's office.

Before I leave you, I want to make sure you DO NOT do the following things if you want your eyelashes to grow:

• Pull them
• Yank on them
• Pull them with mascara on

Do you pull out the hair on your head in order to make it grow out? No. Do you spray hairspray on your hair and pull it out? Definitely not. So why would you do that to your lashes? This will only thin them out or make them fall out. Refrain from the abuse, care for them and they will grow.

Make Up Glasses: Apply Eye Makeup With Ease!

All I can say is, why didn't anyone think of these before? So many people have given up on applying eye makeup simply because they cannot see. Well, no excuses no more! Here we have makeup glasses that allows you to magnify your eyes in order to apply makeup accurately and meticulously.

Magnifying makeup glasses make great Christmas gifts for anyone and at $8.99 + free shipping on ebay, you can't beat that! And I don't know about you, but these glasses are kind of Lady Gagaish aren't they? Kind of weird looking, kind of futuristic.....no?...anyone with me on this?....

How to Make Your Eyes Bigger with LED Eyelashes

O M frickin G...LED eyelashes?? It's kind of funny, but kind of cool. I don't know whether to laugh or run to the store and buy me a pair.

As an Asian, we grow up with our cultures' obsession to have bigger eyes. So much so that artist Soomi Park designed these eyelashes that are made to make your eyes look bigger. There's a mercury switch that turns on and off depending on how you tilt your head. Wouldn't it be funny if you were on a date and some guy was looking into your eyes and it kept shutting on and off. That would be awesome. Anyhoo, I thought initially that these eyelashes would be fun. I am attending a Lady Gaga concert and a pair of these babies would be perfect for the occasion. That is, until I watched the video on how they worked. Apparently you have to wear an ear piece and they have wires and it's just a hot mess. So until they perfect and create wireless LED eyelashes, I will stick to my usual falseys. The eyelashes with the crystals will give you the same light as the LED eyelashes without turning on and off.