One makeup fanatic had had enough!! After trying so many products, routine's and hacks, and failing, she was ready to figure out the ultimate solution to her oily skin once and for all!! She committed wholeheartedly, braced to find the solution but not ready to give up. And so she took the plunge, starting March, 2017 and set about to trying new products and routines: including primers, foundations, tinted moisturizers, sprays and powders etc.
And after all this turmoil, her wallet may have hurt, but her skin didn't!
A little about her skin type
Asian with a light medium skin tone. Her signature daily make-up look is an evened out skin tone. Her skin type is usually pretty normal, sometimes even dry with slight acne scarring on the cheeks and very enlarged pores. Her skin suffers from pervasive hyperpigmentation. All of the previous skin routines would turn her skin oily within 2 hours of product application. Details here.
And for all the curious ladies, here is the magical skin routine:
1. Boscia Cleansing Oil: Which the subject immediately after waking up on her dry skin.
She follows this with her morning shower.
2. La Mer Mattifying Moisturizer: La Mer is indeed a very expensive moisturizer but it had a phenomenal impact on the foundation finish. The subject used 1 pump each day for the full face and while it can still be very expensive, it really helped that she had cut down a lot of money on loose powders, compact powders and others products for touch-ups she had stopped using.
3. La Roche Posay SPF 50, European Version: A light layer of this liquid sunscreen over the thin layer of La Mer is perfect. When the subject would be spending a lot of time in the sun, she'll skip the La Mer and slather lots and lots of LRP directly onto bare skin.
Then she would give which gives my moisturizer and SPF time to set.
She would also use Dinoplatz blotting papers (if necessary, which happened only barely). On weekends, she wouldn't put on foundation unless she was leaving the house.
SKIP PRIMER: For this, the subject tried 11 primers: Nars, Hourglass, Becca, Porefessional, Smashbox. And every one of them would turn her into a grease pit by mid morning. And it wasn't until she tried the primer on half her face that she realised what a huge detriment primer was. The vast majority of the time, the non-primed side produced a superior result. At worst, it made no difference, so why spend the time and money? And trust me, the last thing your skin wants is yet ANOTHER layer of weird cream.
TINTED MOISTURIZERS & BB CREAMS: During the experimentation, the subject tried 14 types of medium coverage foundation, CCs, BBs, serum foundations, tinted moisturizers. She was initially a fan of Dior Airflash, but it's way too expensive and impractical for everyday, especially since there's no SPF. Surprisingly, the Nars Radiant Tinted Moisturizer was a close second. This finish is unbeatable. She would dab it all over her face with a silicone brush / spatula to avoid product wastage.
BEST FOUNDATION BRUSH: Artis 7 Oval Brush Dang was the winner! The brush distributed foundation quickly, evenly, and smoothly. Beauty Blender is great for localized blending, like concealer. But the Artis feels amazing and gets the job done FAST.
SKIP POWDER: Sometimes the subject would powder before foundation but as she experimented with powdering she found that her skin skin just never looked as great as it did pre-powder. Most importantly, she would still get massively oily 3 hours after application. What was the point?
FINISHING SPRAY: Urban Decay De-Slick Finishing Spray with Beauty Blender: this is a tried and true method, but having just discovered it, the subject became a lifelong devotee. THIS MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE. She would spray 2 pumps of UD on the chubby end of a damp BB, then dab all over the left side of my face, starting at low forehead, inner cheeks, nose, chin. She take time around her large pores to ensure product was really pressed into the holes. She would then spray sponge again and repeat on the right side. This spray-on-blender method woreds the spray into the foundation and helped preserve (and in my opinion enhances) its finish, and frankly, doesn't waste as much product.
And after all this turmoil, her wallet may have hurt, but her skin didn't!
A little about her skin type
Asian with a light medium skin tone. Her signature daily make-up look is an evened out skin tone. Her skin type is usually pretty normal, sometimes even dry with slight acne scarring on the cheeks and very enlarged pores. Her skin suffers from pervasive hyperpigmentation. All of the previous skin routines would turn her skin oily within 2 hours of product application. Details here.
And for all the curious ladies, here is the magical skin routine:
1. Boscia Cleansing Oil: Which the subject immediately after waking up on her dry skin.
She follows this with her morning shower.
2. La Mer Mattifying Moisturizer: La Mer is indeed a very expensive moisturizer but it had a phenomenal impact on the foundation finish. The subject used 1 pump each day for the full face and while it can still be very expensive, it really helped that she had cut down a lot of money on loose powders, compact powders and others products for touch-ups she had stopped using.
3. La Roche Posay SPF 50, European Version: A light layer of this liquid sunscreen over the thin layer of La Mer is perfect. When the subject would be spending a lot of time in the sun, she'll skip the La Mer and slather lots and lots of LRP directly onto bare skin.
Then she would give which gives my moisturizer and SPF time to set.
She would also use Dinoplatz blotting papers (if necessary, which happened only barely). On weekends, she wouldn't put on foundation unless she was leaving the house.
SKIP PRIMER: For this, the subject tried 11 primers: Nars, Hourglass, Becca, Porefessional, Smashbox. And every one of them would turn her into a grease pit by mid morning. And it wasn't until she tried the primer on half her face that she realised what a huge detriment primer was. The vast majority of the time, the non-primed side produced a superior result. At worst, it made no difference, so why spend the time and money? And trust me, the last thing your skin wants is yet ANOTHER layer of weird cream.
TINTED MOISTURIZERS & BB CREAMS: During the experimentation, the subject tried 14 types of medium coverage foundation, CCs, BBs, serum foundations, tinted moisturizers. She was initially a fan of Dior Airflash, but it's way too expensive and impractical for everyday, especially since there's no SPF. Surprisingly, the Nars Radiant Tinted Moisturizer was a close second. This finish is unbeatable. She would dab it all over her face with a silicone brush / spatula to avoid product wastage.
BEST FOUNDATION BRUSH: Artis 7 Oval Brush Dang was the winner! The brush distributed foundation quickly, evenly, and smoothly. Beauty Blender is great for localized blending, like concealer. But the Artis feels amazing and gets the job done FAST.
SKIP POWDER: Sometimes the subject would powder before foundation but as she experimented with powdering she found that her skin skin just never looked as great as it did pre-powder. Most importantly, she would still get massively oily 3 hours after application. What was the point?
FINISHING SPRAY: Urban Decay De-Slick Finishing Spray with Beauty Blender: this is a tried and true method, but having just discovered it, the subject became a lifelong devotee. THIS MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE. She would spray 2 pumps of UD on the chubby end of a damp BB, then dab all over the left side of my face, starting at low forehead, inner cheeks, nose, chin. She take time around her large pores to ensure product was really pressed into the holes. She would then spray sponge again and repeat on the right side. This spray-on-blender method woreds the spray into the foundation and helped preserve (and in my opinion enhances) its finish, and frankly, doesn't waste as much product.
TOUCH UPS:Until this solution, the subject would touch up at least 2 times a day. Now, she rarely does. So every once in a while, in the middle of the day, she blot's lightly with Dinoplatz, then spray one pump of All-Nighter onto a damp sponge and go over problem spots. This blends everything together perfectly.
To read in this experiment in detail, visit here.
To read in this experiment in detail, visit here.
