Ok, fine, I haven’t technically found THE Holy Grail, but whatever.  For any beauty junkie (or anyone who wears makeup, quite frankly), the search for the perfect foundation and concealer is never ending.  It’s all about coverage and finish without making you look old, ashy or shiny. You also want “ease of use”, as in, easy application and infrequent-to-zero touch-ups.  After years and years, I’ve FINALLY found the perfect products that meet these demands: Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Foundation and Dream Mousse Concealer.  For anyone who has read this blog, you are probably a little surprised by this revelation since I panned the blush from the Dream Mousse line last summer (too glittery, too much silicone).

I happened to try the foundation while I was in San Jose with my younger brother. He wanted to do a photo shoot with me so he could beef up his “head shot” portfolio, so I immediately went into “crazy stylist” mode.  There was NO WAY I was going to have photos of myself on his website without making a decent attempt to look GOOD.  Unfortunately, in REAL LIFE, I wear tinted moisturizer with SPF or just sunscreen with a little concealer (less is more, ladies! less is MORE.), so I don’t ever have “photoshoot” makeup in my arsenal of products. My brother rented this “paparazzi” camera that takes such hi res photos, you can zoom in and see the individual threads in my shirt! I didn’t need to see inside my pores.  This was obviously a “problem” a trip to Target couldn’t fix, so off we went.

I skipped anything with a sunscreen.  Normally, I would NOT advocate this AT ALL (sunscreen is the best way to keep your skin young. Well, that and not smoking), but for professional photography, this is a good idea.  Foundations with sunscreen usually have a shiny or oiler finish (which you would either minimize with a finishing powder or just leave for a “dewy” look in “real life”), and I wanted a matte “natural” look with any “dewy-ness” coming from highlighter creme.  There were only 2 products in the entire beauty department that were advertised as “matte”: Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse and Rimmel Stay Matte Clarifying Foundation. I normally would not recommend relying on how a product is advertised or what a label says because there is no regulation on the claims on product labeling, but I in this case, I didn’t have time for proper research and I was looking for a product for (what I thought would be) a one-off use.  I bought both the Maybelline and Rimmel foundations and ended up using a combo of the two for the photographs.  I didn’t think I personally looked too good (I guess I watched all those hours of “America’s Next Top Model” for nothing!),  but I did like my makeup.

What I LOVE about Dream Matte Mousse is it’s texture and light-medium coverage.  It’s fluffy, smooth and so very blendable on the skin and gives a beautiful, long-wearing, matte finish. Seriously, I put this on in the morning and it looks great at 5pm.  I decided to try to concealer because of this and it too gives excellent, smooth coverage under my eyes and doesn’t migrate into my fine lines. And it’s about $8 a product.  LOVE IT!  The only downside is that neither product has sunscreen. Obviously, adding sunscreen would totally destroy the silky, matte finish.  My solution to this problem is commuting to work wearing my usual sunscreen and once at work, I wipe down my face and apply the foundation and concealer.  Since I sit in a cube, away from any windows, and rarely leave the office during daylight hours, this is completely ok.  Otherwise, sunscreen stays on my face.

So there you have it. My discovery of the Holy Grail of makeup.  My undereye circles don’t stand a chance.