I always have been a MAC fan–not Macintosh, should you presume. I have my love for MAC Cosmetics since I first tried to put some makeup.

For the base, I used to love MAC Studio fix. It may be really heavy on the skin, so a pat here and there does the trick in pronto. It really really blends well, and holds the concealer into place sans smudging it or making it look obvious.

I don’t know if there’s been a change in formulation, but recently, I’ve been hating MAC Studio fix. It now tends to cake and streak on the skin; it’s not that buildable anymore. The compact also has a tendency to solidify, making it a lot harder for the sponge to get enough powder onto it.

To mitigate my annoyance, I decided to explore using a new brand for my base. There you go, I got myself a Shu Uemura White Recovery RX Powder-Foundation. It has SPF of 22, which obviates the need to put on a sun block prior to application. It acts as a powder when used dry, or as a foundation when used wet. It’s sheerer than MAC Studio fix, that’s why it really feels light on the skin and smells great, too! The problem with this, however, is that the color is hardly buildable when used as a powder. It doesn’t actually cake or streak, but it doesn’t blend well to the skin, specially those parts over the concealer. Sometimes, I need to use my hands just as to blend it, which smudges the concealer and making my blemishes (dark spots) look more noticeable rather than camouflaged. Another thing is, it’s a lot more expensive. Read the rest of this entry »