Makeup/Beauty

The Promenade

May 9, 2013 · 4 comments

in Church, Cute and/or Pretty, Family, Good Things, Hair, Kids, Makeup/Beauty, Nails, Other People, Why Hildie's tired

It’s been Prom time around here. We have a no-dating-til-age-16 rule which means this was the first year that York and India were both old enough to go. India went with her boyfriend, Ethan, to both the school Prom and MoPro (Mormon Prom) where there aren’t so many skanky dresses and hoochie dancing. York just went to MoPro. Boys have a really easy time as far as the Prom is concerned: we bought him a nice suit, got his haircut, picked up a corsage and voilà! He was all set. For girls it is another story entirely. First there is the dress. It’s bad enough finding a dress that is cute and affordable, but when you’re Mormon it’s supposed to be modest too, meaning no crazy cleavage and shoulders must be covered. Choices are very limited locally. (I wish there were some sort of modest Prom Dress Excahange!) One of India’s friends loaned her a really pretty navy dress that we managed to modest-ize and I think it turned out well. Now that the Prom’s over we have to unpick all the modest additions so we can return it. Good thing they were just basted on.

It’s also a good thing that I know how to do nails, hair and makeup. There were a lot of girls who didn’t even bother to put on lipstick! For the Prom! It’s a good teaching opportunity to explain the difference between daytime and nighttime makeup. Of course India’s face showed up the best in all the pictures. I don’t take my beauty responsibilities lightly! Because India went to two Proms, that meant I got to spend two Saturdays in a row getting her all ready. (Luckily I used Angel Pro nail polish–with some silver glitter on the tips–so her manicure looked just as nice the second weekend as the first.)

Mister waited for India’s date to show up.

India’s boyfriend is the nicest boy. Terribly sweet and gentlemanly. Even so I had a little chat and told him that I’d punch him in the face if he drank any alcohol. I like to make sure that we’re on the same page.  I was sort of kidding, but not really.

The Prom was pretty nice and a good time was had until things started to get crazy and everyone was grinding on the dance floor.

The next weekend was MoPro. Since York doesn’t have his driver’s license yet, India had to drive him to pick up his date, Taylor. It was like some sort of bad Brady Bunch episode. Taylor is a pretty low-key, casual girl and York likes hanging out with her so they had a fun time.

I especially love this picture because York never–and I mean never–smiles for pictures. But lookie here! What a nice smile! I knew he could do it. York is not really into looking good (I picked him up from track practice a few weeks ago and he was wearing a dark green t-shirt, orange silky basketball shorts and black knee-high dress socks. He wears this ugly stuff proudly!). Finn, who is 14, is super into his looks. He actually had to tie York’s bow tie for him, help York style his hair and loaned him a nice watch to wear. It was pretty funny to see.

All the people going to MoPro together came over to our neighborhood and took pictures before heading off to dinner. What a cute bunch of kids!

Makeup Monday–Polka Dot Nails

May 6, 2013 · 4 comments

in Cute and/or Pretty, Good Things, Hildie Likes, How-To, Makeup/Beauty, Making Stuff, Nails

I’m wild about polka dots. I love them always, on everything. Polka dot nail art was the first thing I wanted to learn how to do when I started getting more into nail design a couple of years ago. I would read all these nail blogs and wonder how in the world the nail artists could make such perfect and uniform dots. It’s pretty impossible to do with a brush. And then I found the secret: dotting tools. These are plastic sticks, kind of like shortish pencils. On each end is a metal ball. There are different sized balls depending on how big you want your dots to be. They almost always come in a set of five with graduated sizes of tips

All you have to do is put a tiny bit of nail polish or acrylic paint on a palette or plate, then dip the dotting tool into the paint and tap it on your nail. It makes a perfectly round circle instantly. There is no swirling, no trying to match up both sides of the circle to make it look right. Just dip the tool in polish, then touch it to the nail. Really, that’s all there is to it. If it’s not the right size, just wipe it off and try again.

It really couldn’t be easier. It takes a smidge of practice to figure out what size dot you want and how to get consistent results, but honestly an eight-year-old could do this. It’s that simple.

All you have to do is make sure that you apply at least one layer of a topcoat when you’ve finished your dots.

A variation on the dot is an outline of a circle, which is what I’ve done on the pink nails in the photo collage above. It isn’t actually an outline of a circle at all, it just looks that way. I made a large dot, then added a smaller dot in the center of the main background nail polish. It only appears to be an outline; it’s actually a dot sandwich.

So the big question is where to buy your own set of dotting tools. I have some good news and some bad news: The good news is that there are a million sellers on ebay who offer sets of these for $2-3 (shipping included!). The bad news is that they’re mostly in China so it takes about two weeks to get them. That’s where I got mine and have been perfectly happy with them. Just search for “dotting tools” on ebay.

Dotting tools are really wonderful and can be used for all sorts of art projects where small polka dots are needed, not just on nails. I have an odd little hobby of painting teensy peg dolls and dotting tools are perfect for the details.

For such a cheap price, it’s a great idea to have a set of these in your drawer.

 

Makeup Monday–Painting Nail Art Roses

April 15, 2013 · 3 comments

in Cute and/or Pretty, How-To, Makeup/Beauty, Nails

More than any other nail art question, I get asked how to paint roses on fingernails. Everyone assumes that since roses are so pretty, they must be incredibly difficult to make. Not so!  Making a straight line is about a million times harder! This tutorial will show you how to make a perfect rose garden on your fingernails using nail polish and acrylic paint.

 

There are only a couple of tools you’ll need: A fine, flat-tipped paint brush and a super-duper-fine pointy paint brush. I’ve bought a ton of paintbrushes over the years hoping to find one with an incredibly fine tip for doing detailed nail art. My favorite brushes so far have been from this set of 5 brushes by Martha Stewart that I got at Michaels. They’re for painting glass, of all things. Who cares what you use them for! They’re great (especially if you have a Michael’s Coupon). I really only use the two finest ones but the other three might come in handy for other things.

You’ll also need either nail polish or acrylic paint for the flowers (Yes, I’m telling you that you can use plain old acrylic paints that they sell at the craft store). For the base of the flower I usually use the same nail polish that I use for my other fingers so it will match perfectly. This yellow is gel polish (Angel Pro Gelly #20). For the darker-colored detail on my yellow roses I used Delta brand acrylic craft paint.

Step 1. Paint your nails. Make sure they’re nice and dry if you’re using traditional polish. If you’re using gel polish, cure them but don’t use the top coat.

Using a flat-tipped brush (this is the crappy brush from one of my kids’ watercolor paint sets), put a few blobby-looking circles on each nail. You don’t want these to be perfect circles; that looks weird.

Let the circles dry/cure completely.

Step 2. Find a color about 3-4 shades lighter/darker than the flower base. On this nail I’ve used a medium pink so I could either use a pale pink or a really dark pink. I did a few flowers of each so you can see the different look of each one. Basically, though, if you have a pale flower base, you’ll use a darker color. If you have a dark flower (red, for example), you’ll use a pale color as the accent.

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What you’ll do is use your super fine brush to make about two or three lines. One towards the top of the rose, one towards the bottom that kind of swirls into the middle. You don’t need to be really scientific about this. I promise that you will be kind of disappointed by your roses. It’s not until you do the leaves that they actually look like pretty flowers.

photo 1320752e-08c1-4083-8ab3-2556c7ed6cfa_zpsacf620c8.jpg

Step 3. Rinse out your superfine brush and make some leaves. They need to look a little like teardrops.

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If you really want to go for broke you can add a darker shade of green to the top of every leaf.

 

Step 4. Apply a top coat. Acrylic paint flakes off very badly. Apply at least one layer of clear topcoat. Now get ready to enjoy all the compliments!

Makeup Monday: Gel Nail Polish, An Update

March 25, 2013 · 3 comments

in Good Things, Makeup/Beauty, Nails

It’s been a couple of years since I first started doing my nails with gel nail polish (not to be confused with UV gel overlays which are not very common anymore. I’m talking about systems like Gelish, Shellac, OPI Axxium, etc.). I get asked the same questions again and again so I though I might give you some answers to FAQs. Here’s the original post describing what gel polish is in case you are wondering what the heck I’m talking about. Here’s my latest pedicure that I did with Gel Polish*:

The most common thing I’m asked is if it’s possible to use regular nail polish with a Gel polish base coat and top coat. While I certainly understand wanting to do this–gel polish is about 2-3 times more expensive than regular polishes and comes in very limited colors–it’s really the worst of both worlds. One of the great benefits of using gel polish is that it doesn’t dry, it cures. Meaning once it’s been under the UV/LED lamp for a couple of minutes it’s throughly cured; it’s perfectly dry and touchable. There is absolutely no fear of smearing or smudging anything. Hallelujah! This is most certainly NOT the case with traditional nail polish. It takes a while to dry. After you’ve done a couple of coats you have to wait up to half and hour. In addition to that you have to take it easy or you can STILL end up with messed up polish. It’s such a pain!

Traditional nail polish also chips like mad, even sandwiched between the gel base and topcoats. There’s a reason the gel polish companies make their own nail polish colors; it’s not just to get all your money. The gel type of polish actually lasts longer. I’ve sandwiched regular nail polish before when I’ve needed a color I simply can’t find in a gel and I can get maybe 3-5 days of wear before everything starts chipping like crazy. Hardly worth the trouble. So while layering regular polish between gel base and top coats is possible, it’s not much of a solution. Just bite the bullet and buy some colored gel polishes. That’s the whole point of using this nail system: you want nails that look great for a long time.

Another question I get asked is what brands I like the best. Pretty much every high end nail company has come up with their own version of gel polish and I simply can’t try every one. There are great forums on the internet that discuss the pros and cons of different brands so you might want to google those. I’ve tried Shellac and Gelish and out of those two I definitely prefer Gelish. It’s thicker and stronger which is ideal for my thin, peely nails. Shellac doesn’t seem to protect the nail as well. I buy most of my Gelish products on Amazon. The prices are great and it’s nice to read reviews of each color because the Gelish color swatches and charts are way off base. Last month I bought the most adorable Gelish green polish (kind of a muted green apple color) and my daughters can’t get enough of it. At less than $13 for this polish Amazon beats the pants off of stores like Sally (sorry Sally!)

I have to tell you that I am not a fan of the Red Carpet system. The polish is incredibly thin and watery which, as you can imagine, does not hold up as well. It is made by the same company that makes Gelish but it’s definitely not the same quality (kind of like Old Navy vs. Gap). I have a Red Carpet LED lamp that is OK in a pinch but is so small that only four fingers fit at a time. The light barely reaches the sides of each nail which means that they aren’t fully cured. That leads to polish rubbing off. Not good! I have about six Red Carpet colors and each one has been disappointing.

I subscribe to nail blogs all over the world and my favorite blog is by a Singaporean girl named Ying (her blog is here).  She does the most fantastic nail art! She has moved away from Gelish to a Korean brand called  Angel Pro Gelly. She raved about the quality and the amazing amount of colors so I scoured the internet hoping to find it somewhere. No dice. This stuff is pretty hard to find. I contacted Angel Pro and they were more than happy to sell their polish to me directly. As a matter of fact they were offering orders with no shipping and handling charges, even though I’m on a different continent. The prices are a little steep ($20-$26 per bottle) but I had some Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket so I thought, “what the heck?” and ordered a few bottles (plus the base and top coats). Let me tell you, I am madly in love!!! This stuff is quite thick (which means fewer coats) and it lasts like you wouldn’t believe. I’ve tried five of the colors now and this stuff stays on without chipping for 2-3 weeks easily. I could never get my Gelish to last for even two weeks. Especially the reds. Those seem to chip especially badly. But my Angel Pro Gelly red (A gorgeous blood red, #147) lasted like a champ. I just can’t say enough great things about this brand. And the colors! They have everything! Check them out here. I’m sticking with Angel Pro from now on. Kind of a bummer that it’s so hard to obtain but it’s so worth it. Here’s just a fraction of AngelPro’s colors:

Let’s talk about lamps: You can’t do gel nail polish without one! The prices of UV and LED lights are going down all the time. UV’s are cheaper but they take longer to cure nails. The UV lamp that I’ve been really happy with (that you can get here) has gone down in price to around $50. You can do two hands at once too, so I’m very fond of it. LEDs cut way down on curing time (45 seconds vs. 2-3 minutes) but they cost more than twice as much ($100-$300). I prefer a lamp that lets me do both hands at once and so far only UV lamps have that option. As I said, I have the Red Carpet LED lamp which is quite tiny (not a good thing unless you’re traveling). It does a decent job provided you can expose all angles of your nails to the light. It’s less than $50 (even cheaper if you buy it from Ulta with a coupon) so I can’t really complain. I place mine on top of a sheet of tin foil to make it even more reflective.

Removal is probably the biggest pain of gel nail polish. The top coat of the polish should be filed briefly, then soaked for about 15 minutes. If you get bored with your color or it starts peeling resist the urge to peel it all off!!! It will take the top layer of your nail with it and that is no good at all. Instead just take the time to give it a nice soak in pure acetone. Some people soak cotton balls with acetone then wrap the cotton with tin foil. I just put the acetone in a small dish and soak one hand at a time while I’m browsing the internet (Pinterest is perfect for this! It’s a time suck that requires almost no typing). Both removal styles work just fine; I find the whole tin foil thing a bit of a pain, personally. The important thing is to allow the polish to bubble up, then scrape it off with an orange stick. If it’s being stubborn, place the nails back in acetone for a few minutes. You don’t want to be too forceful about scraping off the polish; you’ll take a layer of your nails with you if you do. As long as you let the acetone do it’s job, the quality of your fingernails won’t be compromised.

Since I’ve switched almost exclusively to AngelPro Gelly polish my nails are longer and stronger than they’ve ever been. My ring fingernail on my right hand has been permanently peeling for about five years but the gel polish keeps it in place and looking good. I’m super happy to find a polish system that makes it look like I have perfect nails. Don’t tell anyone that I do it myself and it takes only a couple of hours every two weeks to maintain!

* colors used for my paisley pedicure: background pale pink (angel pro gelly #40), white (APG #124), black (APG #29), very bright pink (Gelish “Gossip Girl”), brownish pink (Gelish “Exhale”) and medium pink (APG #21)

I get no money from Angel Pro or Gelish for liking their products, but I do get a few pennies if you buy products through my links to Amazon. Let me tell you, I could use all the pennies I can get!

Makeup Monday–Must-Have Item

February 11, 2013 · 4 comments

in Good Things, Health, Makeup/Beauty, Skin, Uncategorized

I know you’re expecting me to tell you about that mascara or lipstick that you simply must have. Here’s the absolute most important thing you need:

Sunscreen

Yep. Every single day. Winter, summer, even if you live in Oregon and the sun hasn’t come out in days. If you can see without a flashlight, your skin is getting bombarded with UV rays. Don’t believe me? Take a look at this truck driver who spent decades with only one side of his face exposed to the sun. And this is through a window! It’s not even full-on sun exposure!

If you’re under 30 you may think, “meh, I’ll worry about my skin when I’m older.” No, no, no, no, no. If you worry about your skin now, you’ll thank yourself each and every day.

You’re never too old to start wearing sunscreen. Take it from someone who is 41 and has no wrinkles. I wear sunscreen (both in my lotion–28 SPF–and in my foundation–15 SPF) and moisturize ever single day.

If you’re one of those people who insists they look so much better tan, yes. Yes, I’m sure you do. We all look better tan. But when you get tan you’re choosing wrinkles. It’s as simple as that. So if you’re OK with that then tan away.

You’ll never meet a 50 year old who wished she laid out a lot more as a teenager. But you’ll meet a ton of 50-year-olds who wished they took better care of their skin. I’m just telling you what you already know, right? So do it. Buy some skincare products with sunscreen. You can thank me in ten years.

Makeup Monday–Exfoliating

February 4, 2013 · 3 comments

in Good Things, Makeup/Beauty, Skin

Whether you wear makeup every single day of your life or wear it just for special occasions, there is something that you need to be doing on a very regular basis: exfoliating.  As I’m sure you remember from 8th grade biology, your body sloughs it’s skin all the time. Sometimes the skin falls off (hello dust!) and sometimes it sticks around. I’m sure you can imagine how unattractive it would be to have makeup, especially foundation, clinging to your dead bits of skin. Not pretty.

We all want perfect, smooth skin. Exfoliating gets you one big step closer to that. Have you ever seen someone whose foundation just looks so . . . obvious? A lot of the time it’s because they’ve got their makeup spread over rough, dry, dead skin. Sounds pleasant, no?

So how are you going to exfoliate and get rid of all this dead skin? There are some really fancy long, term solutions like chemical peels (which I love!) and microdermabrasion. But those are costly and not a day-to-day solution. Some people swear by swirly battery-powered brushes that cost upwards of a $100. Uh, no thanks.  Instead I’d like to recommend facial scrubs that have lots of scrubby ingredients like seeds or ground nuts. My favorite is the Citrus Facial Scrub by Burts Bees. It’s about $7 and I get it at Target. It’s made of natural goodies and smells like actual dried oranges and spice, not like fake-scented orange cleaner. It comes out of the jar very dry so it needs to be mixed with a bit of water to form a paste. Unlike other scrubs Burts Bees leaves behind a nice bit of moisture. Your face won’t feel parched and dry when it’s rinsed off.  This product can be a little on the messy side so I only use it in the shower. It really leaves my skin looking glowy and smooth.

Everyone’s skin is different so you’ll have to figure out how often you need it. At the bare minimum you ought to exfoliate once a week. Pay special attention to your nose and cheeks. This seems to be the area where dead skin seems to stick around the most.

No matter how young or old you are, exfoliating will help your skin look as fabulous as possible.

 

 

* I received no compensation for this review. I bought this scrub with my very own money and wanted to tell you how much I like it.

Makeup Monday: Long-Wearing Lipstick

October 22, 2012 · 15 comments

in Good Things, Hildie Likes, Makeup/Beauty

It’s Makeup Monday and I’m here to preach the gospel of lipstick (especially long-wearing lipstick that lasts all day). If you’re a long-time reader of my blog, you’ve heard me rant about this before but I simply must insist that all women wear lipstick. Really. Unless you’re fourteen and have naturally red lips you really ought to be wearing it every day.  It makes your face look brighter, your skin look clearer and lights your smile right up.

If you’re not a regular lipstick wearer, there are few things that seem as daunting as walking up to the makeup department. Why are there so many colors and why do some cost $2 and some cost $25?  Honestly, there’s not that much of a difference. Yes, fancy brands use better pigments but it’s not a big deal. Mostly you’re paying for a wider selection of colors, especially colors that are very current. But cheapo brands are getting better every day. Don’t be afraid!

Most companies make sheer lipstick that is kind of like the training wheels of makeup. I currently like Revlon Lip Butters (Fig Jam is a nice pinkish brown that would suit most caucasian complexions. If you’re a lipstick coward this is a great place to start).  I use these later on in the evening when my lips are feeling dry and my long-wearing lipstick is needing a little oomph.

Every single morning I put on long-wearing lipstick and that carries me through most of the day. Gone are the days when you have to reapply lipstick after every meal and each time you leave the house. No wonder so many women hate to wear the regular stuff! Long-wearing lipstick seems scary (“what if I mess up?”) but after you get the hang of it you’ll be in love. Put it on in the morning and look lovely until bedtime. What could be dreamier?

Strangely the luxury brands don’t make super-long wearing lipstick; you’ll have to stick to drugstore brands (yay! They’re cheaper!)  Long-wearing lipstick is my number one favorite cosmetic item. I simply would never go without it. I currently wear Maybelline Super Stay. I’ve done not-very-scientific tests involving putting different brands on my hands and seeing how they wear throughout the day. The victor by far is Maybelline Super Stay. It stayed on my hand without budging for over 24 hours. The absolute worst was the Revlon Colorstay. Even on my hand it started smudging immediately and wearing off after about three hours. L’Oreal makes a decent version that lasts pretty well too.

It’s hard to tell what colors will look good without actually wearing them on your lips. My skin has warmish undertones and my lips are naturally quite pink so I know that all colors will seem pinker on my lips than on my hand. You’ll learn these things about yourself the more you wear lipstick. If you want to try some Maybelline Superstay but are nervous about colors, try Forever Chestnut. It’s one of the paler colors and is a neutral pinkish-brown that looks like the color of your tongue. I imagine this would be a good fit for most Caucasian women.

If I’m in the mood for red lipstick, I won’t wear it except in a long-wearing formulation. Regular red lipstick smears all over the place, smudges on anything your lips touch and looks hideous after about three hours. I’ve found that Everlasting Wine (Maybelline Super Stay) is perfect with my coloring and will last all day. It’s the only red lipstick I would dream of wearing to church (Sunday is typically my longest and most intense day and involves a lot of talking).

If you’re new to the world of long-wearing lipstick, let me give you a few tips:

1. Practice applying it in front of a mirror in good light. But don’t put it on in the car while you’re at a stoplight. Ask me how I know!

2. Your lips need to be a smooth and dry. I brush my teeth right before applying lipstick and brush my lips as well. Your toothbrush is great at getting rid of dead skin! Make sure you dry your lips throughly!

3. Buy some makeup remover. This will take off your lipstick at the end of the day or in case you make a mistake.

4. Have a square of toilet paper handy. Darker colors need blotting, especially around the edges, and this stuff dries fast.

5. Before you decide that you hate a color, wear it all day. It will look different in all kinds of light and it’s a good idea to get other people’s feedback. A lot of times a new lipstick will make you feel like your lips look like a neon sign, but as you go throughout the day you’ll get a dozen compliments. So just relax and let people give you feedback before you decide that your new lipstick is no good. (Just don’t ask a man. They’re dumb when it comes to makeup.)

 

Makeup Monday–Sonia Kashuk

October 8, 2012 · 5 comments

in Good Things, Hildie Likes, Makeup/Beauty

For years I noticed the Sonia Kashuk line at Target (my second home). But because I was silly and picky about makeup I never tried any of it. But one day a couple of years ago I happened to notice that the Sonia Kashuk mascara had a built in eyelash brush and at a pretty cheap price I decided to give it a try. What a find!  There are always a bunch of new mascaras at the store claiming to make your lashes thicker, longer and completely mind-blowing. Pretty much all they do is coat my lashes with goo and make me feel like I’ve got spider legs coming out of my eyelids. But the Sonia Kashuk mascara never makes my lashes clump or stick together. It just makes them look prettier than normal. If you want something that coats your lashes with tons of black gunk (which apparently gives the appearance of thick lashes? But I find fakey-looking and gross) then this isn’t for you. But if you want nice, natural lashes that look real–but way better–then give the Sonia Kashuk a try. At about $7 per tube its a bargain.

When I got really obsessed with having flawless skin and making my foundation look perfect I checked out Sonya Kashuk’s line of makeup brushes. There are a ton to choose from and they are fantastic.  Makeup brushes are NOT cheap. It’s not unusual to spend more than $50 for one brush at Sephora. But the Sonia Kashuk brushes are every bit as good quality as more expensive brushes. My favorite foundation brush is the flat-topped synthetic brush. It applies foundation in a way that combines great coverage without looking mask-y (of course, what foundation you use makes a huge difference too). This one is less than $16 and worth every penny. You can get it at the store or online.

Another strength of the Sonya Kashuk line are her concealers. They are very high quality but not expensive. I’ve used both her Take Cover Concealing Stick and her new All Covered Up Concealer. The latter must be a newer addition to the line because I can’t find it online. It comes in a small pot and is best applied with your finger. The coverage is really fantastic and is quite moist and dewy-looking. Unfortunately both concealers settle into any fine lines you might have. I can’t wear these under my eyes but they cover blemishes and zits really well. If you are younger and don’t need to worry about wrinkles then either of these products would work for you. The concealer stick is quite a bit drier than the All Covered Up Concealer.  I gave the All Covered Up to India and she really likes it.

I’ve also tried the Sonia Krashuk brow gel (very nice) and Brightening Powder (lovely! Especially for us pale girls.) Love them both. If you are tired of spending lots of money on crappy make-up, give the Sonia Kashuk line a try. I think you’ll be impressed with the products. Now you have yet another reason to go to Target! If there isn’t a store near you most of the items (plus more!) are available online.

 

I was not compensated in any way for my reviews. I simply like the products.

Independence Day Toenails

July 4, 2012 · 4 comments

in Holidays, Makeup/Beauty, Nails

To celebrate the festivities I’ve made a Lemon Truffle Pie and painted my toenails. Hope your day is fun, not too hot, full of deliciousness and that nothing around you catches on fire!

 

Makeup Monday–Primer

June 18, 2012 · 14 comments

in Hildie Likes, Makeup/Beauty, Skin

Today we’re going to talk about makeup primer. For a lot of you the response will be “say what?”. Primer is one of my favorite products; the whole point of it is to make your skin perfect for applying makeup. It goes on after your moisturizer/sunscreen (you’d better be wearing something with sunscreen in it or else I’m going to spank you!). It’s made out of who-knows-what but it glides on and makes your skin feel like velvet. Seriously, I could sit and pet my face for hours after I put this on. But instead I put on my foundation. Or if I’m having a less-is-more makeup day, I put on my blush, concealer and powder over the top. Either way, it helps the makeup do its job better by keeping your face smooth and silky-looking. It also helps the makeup stay in place and not look too shiny. If you live in a hot sweaty climate, it’s a must in the summertime. Especially since it’s oil-free.

Another great benefit of primer is that it sinks down into any fine lines you have, making you look a little less wrinkly. Perfect for light lines like crows feet. It also works well on big pores.

My favorite brand is by Smashbox. It’s called Photo Primer and the product I like best is the basic clear primer. (There are tinted ones as well, but I don’t like to mess with colors; I’d rather use my makeup to color-correct.) It’s not cheap ($36.00 for one ounce) but it lasts a long time. Sadly this is kind of an upscale item and the drugstore brands haven’t really jumped on the bandwagon yet. But they will! This is such a great product that it’s only a matter of time.

If you want skin that stays dewy and radiant looking all day and keeps your makeup in place, this is the thing for you. If you want to try it out first and make sure it’s something that you like, try buying a sample tube of it on ebay. Sephora sells it too and you might be able to snag some samples there.

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