Foundation Review #3: Sally Hansen's Carmindy Foundation
Written: Apr 25 '09 (Updated May 01 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Pump bottle (yey!), paraben-free
Cons: Too mask-like, and gave me "smile lines" that I didn't know I had
The Bottom Line: I wanted to love this, but I didn't.
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| mashimaru's Full Review: Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Your Skin Makeup Found... |
I began watching the show What Not To Wear recently. In the show, someone is given a makeover - clothes, hair, and makeup. My absolute favorite part of the show is the makeup part. The makeup artist is named Carmindy, and she's pretty awesome. She should get her own show! I can seriously watch a whole hour of her giving people makeovers.
So I was excited to learn that Carmindy sort of has her own makeup line. It's actually by Sally Hansen, which in the past made mostly nail care and depilatory products. But now they have a full line of makeup - eyes, foundation, lipstick, etc. - and it's called Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired by Carmindy.
Sheesh, what a long name. Anyway, I just call it "Carmindy," and everyone understands me. So that's good. It's supposed to have a lot of natural ingredients and also be paraben free.
Unfortunately, while you can find some Sally Hansen products just about everywhere, the Carmindy makeup isn't available everywhere. I don't think it's available at the Target or Walgreens near me. But I did find it at CVS and Rite-Aid.
I recently bought the Face Fix concealer from this line, and it was pretty awesome. It was my first Carmindy makeup experiment, and I liked it a lot. I wanted to try something else, so I decided to try the Your Skin Makeup foundation and had pretty high expectations.
Pros:
- Packaging: The first thing about Your Skin Makeup is the nice packaging. It comes in a pump bottle. I know packaging isn't everything, but I think pump bottles are the best packaging for liquid foundations.
The bottle is frosted glass. This looks quite pretty, but it makes it harder to tell what color the foundation is, for some reason. However, I'm usually bad at guessing my color anyway, so I did some research on the internet and learned that based on anecdotal experience of others who've tried this makeup, "Ecru Beige" is a good color for me. (I wear MAC NC20.)
- Fragrance: Your Skin Makeup has almost no scent that I can detect. This is nice because I don't like too much fragrance in my makeup.
- Paraben-free: Another great thing about the whole Carmindy line is that they are all paraben free. Paraben is a synthetic preservative that is found in soooo many cosmetic products. I don't think it's conclusive that it's harmful, but it's nice to know that Carmindy is formulated without it. Definitely a plus.
Cons:
- Texture: Well, this liquid foundation felt awfully stiff to me. Thick, chalky, and difficult to blend.
The worst thing about it was that the makeup felt stiff in the areas around my mouth. It's not a good thing if you can feel your makeup pulling at your skin every time you move your mouth. And when I looked into the mirror, I could actually see the makeup cracking a little, giving me all sorts of fine lines and ridges around my mouth that I have never seen before. Almost like a clay mask that has dried. Not a good look.
I thought maybe my skin was just very dry that day - but after washing the makeup off, that didn't seem to be the problem, either. And it didn't happen when I wore other liquid foundations the next day.
I can imagine that wearing a lot of moisturizer or a moisturizing primer probably helps. Or mixing the foundation with a bit of lotion. But why go through all that work when other products work better for me?
Another thing I noticed is that it was very hard to clean my foundation brush afterwards. I had the same problems with BB creams - they have great staying power, but also great staying power on my brushes - so I needed to use cleansing oil to work it off when I cleaned my brushes. The Carmindy foundation was the same. It just got really stuck onto my brush after just one use. Staying power isn't a bad thing when it comes to makeup, but this liquid foundation was noticeably more tacky than any others I've used.
One advantage of the chalky texture is that it really helps hold any powder I apply on my face afterwards. But that only adds to the overall mask-like, too-much-makeup look, though, so I guess it's not a good thing.
On the plus side, this makeup probably does look good on TV. If you've ever seen TV makeup up close, you'd see that it's quite a lot of heavy, matte makeup. I think you can achieve a lot of coverage with the Carmindy foundation, and the combination of this foundation and a powder would probably photograph pretty well.
Conclusion:
This wasn't an awful product. It just wasn't my cup of tea. Perhaps it's just a matter of preference - I like foundations that have a more pliable texture. And this one does not.
This hasn't quite turned me off to Carmindy products. I love the concealer, and I love the natural, preservative-free approach behind this brand. Also, Carmindy has a spray foundation that I'm dying to try. (She uses a spray foundation often in the show.) I'm disappointed that the Your Skin Makeup foundation didn't work for me, but I'm looking forward to trying more products from this line.
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FYI - my other foundation reviews:
Foundation Review #1: Prescriptives Virtual Matte Oil Control Makeup
Foundation Review #2: Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Cream Foundation
Recommended:
Yes
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mashimaru
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