JM Matchmaker/LG Balance-n-Bronze/ other foundation recs

I have used matchmaker and although I liked it, it did start feeling too oily for me. Laura Mercier has one of the best tinted moisturizers around. Light coverage w/SPF. She also has mineral powder products. I use her tinted moisturizer & foundation in a jar (fall/winter). It is lightweight but better coverage. You may be interested in LM's Radiance Bronze primer. It gives a slight beautiful glow to the skin. Use alone or under foundation.

My favorite powder foundation is the Tarte Amazonian Clay. It's sold at QVC, but Sephora carries more colors, and it's always best to try it out to get the proper color match. It has really good coverage, but does not look powdery, or settle in lines.

I have the Matchmaker foundation in light (wearing right now) and I love it. Light coverage, can build a little, may need some concealer depending on your skin if you want a "perfected" look but I don't bother with concealer much as the foundation provides just enough for me.

I love the JM and I use it in med/dark. It is not a full coverage look, it is really soft and natural. I use her loose powder on top to set it and it is perfect.

Deb

I swear by Lioele Gel Foundation because it is a primer, concealer, pore cover, foundation and powder all in one. It is not too oily or too dewy. It is a matte finish and you can control how much you apply as to how much coverage you need. It is my HG. It is a Korean product and they tend to be neutral or pink toned vs the yellowy colors we have here. Sometimes I just use it as a concealer (great on your eyelids too) and then I put a light coat of HolikaHolika Magic Pore Cover BB Pact and that is my other HG. It is a soft powder that goes on lightly but covers very well. They both have SPF in them. Holika you can find on ebay and amazon and Lioele is at ebay, amazon and lioeletexasdotcom. If you are leary of Korean products please at least look them up.

I bought the Josie Maran matchmaker foundation and I like it a lot for summer as it is light and looks like my natural skin but better. The lady at Sephora suggested using the liquid followed by the powder foundation to set it. I did not buy both as they are pricey. I have tried Tarte amazonian clay and did not like the way it made my skin look rather mask like. I use the JM matchmaker in fair to light and set it with a matte powder. it stays looking great for probably 8 hours then I have to reapply some powder. I definitely would recommend it. For cooler months I wear Estee Lauder Doublewear.

I like the idea behind Josie's Matchmaker, but it turns orange/red on me. Could be whatever is in it to make the match work for skintones much deeper than mine which is the culprit. I have this problem with her Matchmaker Powder and Liquid formulas.

Laura Geller's Balance 'N Brighten is very nice. The number of pigments in the compact truly make the shades versatile for many. Unless I've spent a week in the tropical sun, Tan B'nB works well on me.

Other powder foundations I like are:

Tarte's Amazonian Clay. The bonus for buying from QVC is getting the nice brush included. If Q had offered my shade (Sand Tan) I would have purchased here for that reason. I had to go elsewhere because Q only offered one shade for women of color skintones and it was the one too dark for me.

M.A.C.'s Studio Fix which is a basic talc based powder foundation. It makes no claims other than it will cover your face as lightly or full as you desire. In other words it's just foundation, but frankly what's wrong with that since you should be getting your skincare and sun protection from products made for that purpose anyway.

Everything old is new again. I say this because my most recent powder foundation purchase was a return to Lancome's Dual Finish which at 30 years old is one of the first in this category. I will always love Dual Finish for it's natural looking finish (which can be amped up to evening glam level), it stays put and if it looks cakey then I guess the user probably applied too much. When I first started using this powder there were no primers. Using it recently layered over Laura Geller's Spackle was just breathtakingly awesome!

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Pur Minerals. It's one of the few in the mineral category I like and I repeat buy this compact year after year. The power has a matte finish and is easy to apply and blend. The company offers a decent color range too.

I forgot to mention that M.A.C. and Lancome with over 30 and 25 shades respectively offer a phenomenal color range for choosing a foundation.