Dermablend

Oh. My. ... I was nearing the end of a Merle Norman Powder Base, and feeling that the shade wasn’t quite right. Since I’ve really tried all “the usual suspects” and since I’m not drawn to any of their other foundations, it seemed a good time to start looking. I‘d just gotten an email from b.Loftin, one of the very few retailers of Alexandra de Markoff’s Countess Isserlyn liquid makeup, which I remembered as gorgeous and thought might be a nice treat. Unfortunately, their shade name numbers are as mystifying as ever, with big and irregular holes between shades, and no returns. But, lo, the site suggested Dermablend’s Flawless Creator Drops as a good alternative, and gave shade equivalents. Thought I’d check those out at Ulta. Well, the one that seemed most likely was too light, but the next one looked good. And, wow!, did it cover. More important, since my skin even at 70 (how did that HAPPEN??!?) usually looks pretty good, the Dermablend did not look mask-y even though the MA applied it straight, no primer or any of the other media you can use mixed in. So it seemed worth a try. When I put it on over a moisturizing sunscreen, and misting my homemade glycerine and water mix onto the foundation brush, 3 drops (sort-of, see below) gave me a beautiful finish. It was a bit more than I needed, so blotted with a beauty blender. I prefer not using powder, so just blotted nose and forehead with a tissue. After it passed the rearview mirror test, I didn’t check on it again until I got home, a little over 9 hours later. Zero oxidation. A tissue blot was in order, but not direly necessary. By the time I got to bed it had been on over 14 hours, and judging from the washcloth it was all accounted for! So. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the drop applicator is every bit as bad as others have complained. After fiddling with it unsuccessfully, I tried decanting a small amount into a smaller bottle with a known-good dropper, but it didn’t help. I think I may experiment with using it on a sponge in a compact like the “cushion” foundations. In the meantime, I’m using a brush (still with my water/glycerine mix) to pick up a bit of what’s on the outside of the dropper. This means a little less precision than is theoretically possible with a functional dropper, but it seems to be working just fine. Also happy to report, though fearing too jinx it, no skin issues whatsoever. Highly recommended.

This clung to all my pores...didn't look good

I was extremely disappointed in this, and disappointed in myself for not being a better consumer. I bought this from Ulta's recent 21 Days of Skincare sale. I very rarely return a product, and this is going back. First of all, after trying this, it's horrible. I bought the original, and I look like a ghost after application. And I am very fair. It just lightens up my makeup so much. And it makes my face look dry and it just gets dryer throughout the day. I was spraying my face all day trying to look less dry. But then the kicker was when I read the ingredients. Which yes, I should have done before. I don't have sensitivities to cosmetic ingredients. And I thought Dermablend was supposed to be a good brand. This is talc. That's it. Talc. I can't believe that they charge $35 for a little container of talc. So even though I got it for half off, I am returning it. I feel so cheated. (And stupid.) I will be more careful in the future. I guess if I liked it, I might feel differently. (Maybe?) But it is horrible besides.