Category: Reviews

On the Search for the Perfect Foundation: Guerlain Lingerie de Peau

Posted on Posted in Beauty, ReviewsTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Guerlain’s Lingerie de Peau

Cost: $59.00 US Dollars

Available at Sephora, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Dillard’s, and Bloomingdale’s.

Lingerie de Peau by Guerlain. My shade is 04 Beige Moyen.
Lingerie de Peau by Guerlain. My shade is 04 Beige Moyen.

Description: An invisible foundation that wears like a second skin. This unbelievably silky formula creates a natural radiance that captures and reflects light to reveal the look of naturally perfect skin. Imperfections are erased and coverage lasts all day long.

First Impression: Lingerie de Peau from Guerlain is one of the most luxurious foundations you’ll ever come across. True to its description, it “wears like a second skin” but looks like you have nothing on. It has a very pleasant fragrance that isn’t as necessarily as noticeable as something like the Chanel foundations. I would say it did have a tinge of an astringent scent, kind of like witch hazel. I was surprised at how easy it was to apply and how nice the finish was. I think there should be a larger shade variety and I love the name

SPF: 20. It’s low enough to look good in photos and it’s definitely higher than the SPF 15 you’ll find in most foundations. I didn’t have any issue with flashback when it came to this foundation. of this foundation which literally translates to “lingerie of the skin”. When it comes to the oxidation factor, I think it’s relatively low. The shade stayed the same throughout the day without turning orange or darker.

Shade: Nine shades available (04 Beige Moyen for me) although not all 9 will be available at your local Sephora (there were only five at my local Sephora).

WP_000323
Foundation sample from Sephora in Shade 04.

Finish: Naturally radiant. Just to explain myself, I would say that it is very natural-looking and the foundation will provide the user with a slight glow (not a disco ball of course). I would say that Lingerie de Peau’s finish is slightly less radiant than NARS Sheer Glow. I believe this foundation has light-reflecting particles which produce a beautiful, airbrushed look.

Texture: Light. The texture of this foundation is very light and slightly watery. It reminded me of a tinted moisturizer. Once you apply it, I feels “wet” and slightly damp. However, it does set within a matter of minutes.

WP_000326

Coverage: Medium to Full. On how well it covers problem areas such as my broken capillaries and the occasional blemish , I give this a 9. I think this foundation is highly-pigmented and less is really more. I’m going to say that it is even more pigmented than NARS Sheer Glow despite its light texture (and NARS is known for how pigmented their products are).

Workable: This foundation is very workable and a little really does go a long way. I’d say that a nickel-sized drop would be sufficient for the entire face including problem areas such as acne scars and ruddiness. The foundation blends easily and can be layered if desired although I believe the coverage is more than enough when it comes to Lingerie de Peau. I find this foundation to be easy to blend and the opacity can be easily controlled.

Longevity: This foundation is very long-wearing even though Guerlain does not market this product as a long-wear foundation. I wore it for about 12 hours (as I will do with all of the foundations I review) and despite how dry my skin is, the foundation stayed put and did not emphasize my dry patches at all. Even after I picked at the dry patches on my face (still trying to kick the habit), Lingerie de Peau did not crack whatsoever (even Peter noticed that it stayed put). I did not wear powder during my test run of this foundation so I will have to say that it has great staying power although you may be slightly shinier if you are an oily type (It shouldn’t deter you from powdering if you need to). I didn’t even want to put powder because the finish was so natural and healthy-looking. I also want to say that this foundation is great when it comes to not transferring even without the usage of setting powder. I blow my nose throughout the day and the foundation had little to no issue when it comes to transferring.

Application: I used a dense mineral makeup brush for this application. It is Sephora’s Classic Mineral Powder Brush #45 ($24). I typically use this brush because it wastes less product, blends, and stipples all at once. It is not a flat-top but more of a dome-shaped brush. I feel like it has the benefits of a stippling brush without all of the disadvantages such as micro-exfoliation that we dry skin people avoid like the plague because we hate those flakes. Guerlain advises that you use your hands but I think that it is up to the consumer and what type of coverage you are going for. Since the texture of this foundation is so light, it would be fairly easy to apply with your fingers. Also, be sure to shake your foundation!

Type of skin: I would say that this foundation is perfect for all types unless you are extremely oily or very sensitive (due to the added fragrance in this foundation).

Packaging: I like the bottle because it is dense, clear, and the fact that it has a pump. I have owned foundations packaged in glass bottles before and I can only hope that Guerlain’s bottle is much more durable than Lancome’s (I had one break on me one day after I dropped it on my bathroom tile). I can see why glass would be the packaging of choice (think luxury!). However, a squeeze-tube version would be great for touch-ups and application-on-the-go.

WP_000257
Before makeup. Excuse my face lol.
WP_000330
Here is what I look like after applying all of my makeup. I look super tired. (DIdn’t sleep well.)

The Verdict: I think this is a great foundation. A lot of thought has been put into its formulation and packaging. Like a demure lace bra, I think Guerlain’s Lingerie de Peau is a foundation every woman (and teenager) should own. This foundation makes putting on your makeup a delightful and ritualistic treat. I honestly feel glamorous wearing Lingerie de Peau (and nothing about my skin is glamorous). Guerlain hit the nail on the head with Lingerie de Peau and I’m glad to say this will definitely be replacing NARS Sheer Glow as my every day foundation. It has exceptional coverage, a light texture (that even foundation haters will love), and provides a flawless finish. Not once were my dry patches beginning to flake off during the 12-hour test run and that to me is truly amazing. So what if it’s $59? It’ll probably last you a year or so and you’ll look beautiful every day that you’re wearing it.

I hope you enjoyed this review and this is the first of the eight foundations I’ll be reviewing this month. I just can’t wait to trying out all of them so I can go purchase my own bottle of Lingerie de Peau.

A Night to Myself: ASUS, TOSHIBA, and Xbox One Thoughts

Posted on Posted in Blog, Reviews, TechnologyTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

I have to admit that I haven’t been up this late in ages. I’m not going to say that work is tiring or anything because it’s not stressful enough to be tiring. It’s just the that fact I enjoy going to bed earlier nowadays. Tonight, I’m waiting for a certain program to finish and I don’t feel like sleeping, setting my alarm for five in the morning and having to drag myself back on the computer. My notebook is downstairs, uncharged, and yet I am too lazy to even consider charging it.

I just finished my nighttime ritual of taking out my contact lenses and washing my face. I can literally feel my thick moisturizer being soaked up by my skin. I got Peter’s older Nokia Lumia 900 to use until the Note 3 comes out. At this rate, I think I’ll get it although the Galaxy S4 is never far from my mind. I checked out the two new Nokia Windows phones and I’m adding them to the list as well. I got to play with the Toshiba’s KIRAbook yesterday. The Microsoft Store has it for $1999 and I must say it seems almost worth the price. At the end of the day, you have to pay premium to get premium, you know? I’ve played with a lot of notebooks, tablets, ultrabooks, etc., and not much has really caught my attention other than the KIRAbook and the ASUS Vivobook. Originally, I’ve been looking for an extremely light and portable notebook. I have thought about the tablets but I figure I just get a touchscreen notebook that is perhaps 11″ more or less, I’d be set with the stability that a notebook provides with the portability of a tablet. I work with a 27″ monitor (and sometimes a 32″) on a regular basis so I wonder how well I’ll transition if I get something that small.

ASUS Vivobook

The ASUS Vivobook X202E provides the quality I’ve come to expect from ASUS which is just about always decent. I would much prefer Samsung but the one they currently have at the store is just not cutting it for me. It essentially was an updated version of my current Samsung Chronos 7. 8 GB of RAM, check. A dedicated AMD graphics card and a third generation i7 processor, check and check. Just about the same except instead of 1 TB of hard drive space which my current has, the new one come with a solid state (not sure what the amount of storage it came with, I’m guess 128 GB). Anyway, so the Vivobook comes with a 1.80 Ghz i3 processor, 4 GB RAM, and 500 GB hard drive at 5400 rpm which is a bit slow compared to what’s in other machines these days. It’s going for $399 and at 2.86 lbs., I can’t really beat that. It has a 11.6 LED LCD touch display which makes life a whole lot easier for me. So when it comes down to it, I’m really considering getting it and I’ve been thinking about it for about a month now.

Toshiba KIRAbook

The Toshiba KIRAbook on the other hand, I actually just got to play with it on Wednesday. Man, it is so fast and snappy. It actually makes me want to stay on the computer and not do anything else all day. Everything about this ultrabook screams “PREMIUM” to me. From it’s extremely sleek finish and design, to the Harmon Kardon speakers, to the 256 GB SSD, and its i7 processor that overclocks from 2.00 to a 3.10 Ghz. It has 8 GB RAM (DDR3). It does not have a dedicated video card and I admit that the battery life is on the low to average end compared to the 11 hours I get with my Samsung while the KIRAbook gets a measly 6 hours. Toshiba isn’t new to the industry but they been floating by and have been off the radar for the past couple of years. I have to say that my opinion is changing slightly due to my recent experience but we will have to see. Further testing is required. :) At 2.97 lbs., it outweighs the Vivobook by .11 lbs. I’m not trying to exclusively compare them because they are in completely different classes of their own and it would be stupid for me to compare a $400 computer with a $2000. However, I do mention them together just because there are the only two I have been debating on purchasing. I’m sure I’ll check out a few more notebooks on the way.

At the end of the day, I’m probably more comfortable losing a $400 notebook over an overpriced $2K ultrabook. Oh yes, I forgot to mention earlier that I would be using this for work. I could technically bring my Samsung, but I wouldn’t feel great about losing that either. I liken my Samsung notebook to a workhouse as it carries most of the workload although I am making the effort not to neglect my desktop. My Samsung is kind of like my spouse … so I may look at other notebooks and ultrabooks, but at the end of the day, I know that my 700Z is perfect for me and has the capabilities that I need and want. Not saying I wouldn’t but=y the KIRAbook on a whim though ;P. I think a lot of new products will be introduced very soon so it would be wiser for me to wait lest the Vivobook drops even more on its current price. At that point, I would use my student discount and “BAM” I’d be in heaven.

Random Thoughts and the Xbox One

How in the world did I end up talking about technology and electronics again? Anyway, I am quite tired but I’m glad nevertheless that I got to sit down and get some of my thoughts out. I’m looking forward to my day off and of doing absolutely nothing. So much has been on my mind and I have to say that the Xbox Reveal on Tuesday has gotten me really hyped up and I usually don’t get hyped up for anything. I’ll probably be one of the first ones to buy it though because unless it’s such a failure of a product, I can’t see why not. I think a lot of people are worried about the wrong things such as how it looks, and whether or not it will still be a good gaming console, etc. Some people did not get the impression that it was a “gaming console” and that’s because it’s not just a gaming console anymore. It’s an all-in-one, an entertainment center. Xbox Reveal was more of a trailer and a strategic move on Microsoft’s part.

First off, who cares if it looks boxier, inorganic, etc.? It seems a lot sturdier to me, uniform, and better ventilated to me. I’d rather my Xbox One not overheat or topple over because someone prioritized form over function. Secondly and continuing my thoughts about it being an entertainment center, this is going to be the product for the next ten years. Microsoft had to make such dramatic changes to the architecture that it would be a step backwards to play it safe and make an Xbox  360 sister product. If you really think about it, you won’t need a Roku or an Apple TV, six different remotes, or even a Smart TV anymore because you will have it all if the Xbox One works they way they’re intending it to. I think the Xbox One really simplifies it and they weren’t kidding about that at all. For all the people concerned about how it’s no longer a gaming console, hold your horses and wait for E3. It wouldn’t have made ANY sense to reveal most (or any) of the Xbox One’s gaming capabilities before E3.

My thoughts are that Microsoft already has the info and details on the PS4 and put out the Xbox Reveal only a month before E3 for two reasons possibly: one, to hype up consumers and therefore invoke a lot of discussion by the media, and two, to put Sony on their toes because Microsoft knows that the Xbox One is going to trump the PS4 (and the fact that it’s too late for Sony to change anything). From the responses and prompt actions of Sony following the Xbox Reveal last Tuesday, I’d sat Sony is pulling their hair out right now. So this is why I think it was more of a strategic move for Microsoft.

As E3 approaches us, only time will tell. Maybe Sony has a card up their sleeve, but regardless of whether it’s Sony or Microsoft, we’re all anticipating.

Enough about technology. I’m going to head off to bed and hopefully blog about make up tomorrow. Also, if there are any typos or grammatical errors, it’s way too late for that right now so just deal with it. :)