Bare Necessities.

It's time for another review! Let's talk about foundation for a bit.
Now, I've tried many different foundations from Covergirl to Dior, I'm gonna talk about some of the high-end foundations that I've tried, and give you some drugstore equivalents of these products. Keep in mind that everyone has different skin types, and this is my personal experience with these items, yours could be completely different. Just for reference, my skin type is quite average, not too oily and not too dry, and I am very fair.

My skin tone is quite difficult to match since I'm so fair, so foundation shopping can be kind of tedious for me. The first high end-ish base that I ever tried was the Bare Minerals mineral foundation, which is a light powder mixture made purely of minerals and skin-healthy materials. This foundation comes in a powder and a liquid form, but I've only tried the powder as of yet. For a long time it was my holy grail foundation, it matched my skin tone perfectly, gave me from light all the way to heavy coverage. Upon using this item I also noticed the condition of my skin improved over the span of a couple weeks. I used this product for a year before I found any sort of problem with it. It was when I began dance lessons that I noticed the product never lasted. I used both moisturizer and primer before applying it, I even used hairspray. Nothing would stop this product from rubbing off, or sweating off. All in all it was a great foundation, but it wasn't what I needed makeup wise for my new lifestyle. In the end I had to say goodbye to my first makeup love. Even if I wanted to I couldn't compare this product to any drugstore item, because nothing will give you such spectacular color matching and coverage without becoming either too pigmented or cakey. Still one of my favorites though, some things just weren't meant to be.
Rating: 5/5 

Let's get heavy duty and talk about my experience with Diorskin Forever Flawless Perfection Wear Makeup. I went to Sephora to find a liquid foundation that would stay on my skin through the heavy stress on my skin, and a lovely man directed me towards the Dior section of the various foundation counters, he proceeded to test a product on my skin and the results were amazing it matched my skin perfectly, the potion almost felt like velvet, even when I went outside it didn't change shade slightly as it adjusted to the warmth, I had such high hopes for this foundation. So the next day I apply it with great eagerness and the results were ever so disappointing. I looked like a pumpkin. The mixture didn't feel anything like what I had felt in the store, it was thick, goopey and gross. My complexion declined horribly with using this product, and over the summer while I tried to tan, the color got even worse. This particular foundation is color-matching, so when my skin started to adjust to the tan I was getting, it became almost a whole 3 shades too dark/yellow. It had an odd scent to it, which I thought I'd mention for those of you who are particularly sensitive to that sort of thing. The bottle was so small, it only lasted for about a month before I had to get a new foundation. Keep in mind that this is my own personal experience, all I hear about from others is rave reviews about this product, and my skin is picky to begin with. So if you're still interested, give it a shot and tell me how it works for you!
If I had to compare this to a drugstore liquid foundation, it'd be Almay TLC  Truly Lasting Color. It's just as thick, with just as much cakeyness.

Rating: 2/5  

The next foundation I want to talk about is the Sephora Collection 10 Hour Wear Perfection which I purchased in shade 02 light porcelain. This product was the first liquid foundation that matched my skintone almost perfectly. After looking for something for months, I was increadibly pleased to find this foundation! The coverage was beautiful, from medium to full coverage with using very little product. My only qualm with it is that the foundation was quite heavy. Not heavy feeling, but heavy for your skin. My complexion didn't agree with this at all, it's taken me almost two months and I'm still struggling with unwanted blemishes. So unfortunately, I ended up having to ditch this product as well. However, as I said before, my skin is a little pickier than average, so perhaps this foundation will produce different results for you. That, and it also wore of my nose a little more easily than I would've liked. But you can only expect so much out of a foundation, I was simply happy it matched my skin color, got me through my performances with reasonable ease, and stayed on my face through days that Noah's Flood of sweat was not battering my skin. All in all? A good product, I was pleased. To equate this to a drugstore product, I'd have to say the Maybelline Fit me foundation is the only thing that comes close, but it's not a very good equivalent to this product because there are just so many elements in this particular base that you won't find in a drugstore counterpart.
Rating: 3/5

Now let's talk about Urban Decay's Naked Skin. 

Here I'm going to read you the product description strait from the Sephora website.
"This formula helps skin achieve a natural, illuminated and bright finish— like the beautiful skin you were born with. Naked Skin is formulated with light-diffusing spheres, transforming you to look professionally retouched. Buildable coverage allows women to customize their look. Available in a meticulously calibrated range of shades, Urban Decay’s precise shade numbering system does poetic justice to both warm tones (ending in “.0”) and cool skin tones (ending in “.5”). The finish is matte, never flat, and luminous, but not shiny."
Now this isn't claiming to do anything to spectacular, like stick to your skin for 24 hours or anything, it's simply claiming to be good for your skin; I'm going to go through all the promises listed in this particular quote and add my own comments on the reality of this product's performance.It's first claim to fame is that it's "formulated to help skin-." Considering that I found this product after my horrible breakouts while using the Sephora foundation, almost anything would've been an improvement. However, I did notice a significant decrease in my new found blemishes using this formula. My skin, overall did make a tremendous comeback, so I'd say that it definitely lives up to that promise.
"Buildable coverage-." Now this one I'd say is a bit of a stretch. With this foundation I found that the coverage was only light/medium at best. During exercise my face has a tendency to become quite red, and by observing how much redness breaks through the foundation, is one great way for me to approximate the coverage I'm getting with this base. This hid next to no redness, which is a problem especially for me, because I have to perform on stage, and all that extra strawberry-face is not gonna fly. But on the other hand, with a foundation that's so skin-friendly, how much heavier coverage can you get, realistically? Lets be real. So for that claim, I'd say it doesn't deliver.
"Available in a meticulously calibrated range of shades-." As I have mentioned before, my skin tone is a nightmare to match, so this sounds to me like a bit of a boast.  But it really isn't! This product did infact match my skin quite well, so I was very happy about that.
And last but not least "Matte finish, never flat, and luminous, but not shiny." This is probably the greatest truth about this foundation, the finish is a really silky sort of matte that I find I quite adore. So if you're picky about finish, and are searching for a very particular kind of end result, I recommend you wholeheartedly to this product.
I would, however, like to warn you about a few things that a lot of people find quite unappealing in a product.
This base has absolutely no stamina. I go to put it on in a given morning, and no more than 2 hours later, it's rubbed completely off my nose, cheeks and chin area. I usually don't do too much activity right after applying, I take special care to set it with a good powder, and reputable setting spray. Which leads me to my next largest complaint. No matter how great of a powder you use this with, it will cake like a bitch. I've used high-end powders, drugstore powders, minuscule amount of powder, or a bit more than I usually would, just for giggles. And nothing works. This, and the stamina issue, is why I definitely won't be repurchasing this product.
Rating: 3/5
You can expect in the next couple weeks a M.A.C/Sephora haul post! I'll be giving you my personal experiences with each product as I've used them, and recommend that you either pick it, or kick it! I can't wait to see what surprises me this month.
Ta-ta for now lovelies!
            God Bless.