All made up - or not

Okay, I'm going to preface this post with this, I am not writing this to sound vain - I'm a lot more self-critical than you think - just writing this to answer a question I'm asked all the time

Over the last couple of years I've received a lot of compliments on my skin and makeup.  Last week, two women at the chiropractor's office were asking me about my makeup and loved my lipstick so much and said it looked so natural that they thought I'd had my lips tattooed!  Yes, I have four tattoos, but not on my lips.  So, I'm going to let you in on a little secret ..... I don't wear foundation.

A couple of years ago while we were on vacation, I saw a picture of myself and my face looked too opaque.  I wore the sheerest foundation I could find and I realized that it just didn't look right.  I have tried all kinds of foundation since I was a teenager, from the cheapest Walmart brand to high end department store brands and I've never found one that I was truly happy with.  I have red hair, very fair skin and freckles, so sometimes finding the right makeup combination is difficult to do.  Plus, when all of your facial freckles are covered with foundation and the rest of your body is rockin' out with freckles, it just doesn't look natural or normal.  I decided to nix the foundation and see how I looked with just some concealer (under my eyes, on my chin and a tiny dab on each side of my nose) and translucent powder - anything darker than translucent is too dark for me.  At first, I wasn't sure that I liked it, but D assured me that it looked good and he liked it.  And let's face it, him liking my makeup is far more important to me than if everyone else likes it.

Since then, I've come to love not wearing foundation.  My skin feels like it breathes better and in the heat of summer I don't have to worry about getting the runs on my face when I sweat.  And during the winter or during allergy season, I don't have to worry about my foundation being wiped off when I blow my nose.  I also switched to Cetaphil to cleanse my face after I learned that Hollywood stars like Cameron Diaz use it and swear by it.  I've had far fewer breakouts and my skin looks healthier.  After I stopped taking birth control pills, my skin was in utter chaos and the Cetaphil is the only cleanser that I found that cleared it up.  Like foundation, I've tried umpteen different kinds of cleansers and moisturizers and the Cetaphil works the best for me (I use Olay moisturizer).  Last year I bought an electronic face scrubber at Ulta (it cost me $20, other varieties available from Olay and Clarisonic) and that has also helped make my skin smoother.  They key to using the scrubber is to not to push or force it on your face; just let it sit on your skin and then move it around while it does it's thing.  This will keep your skin from getting irritated by the brush and allow the device to work properly.

I realize that some people can't go without foundation because they need something to even out their skin tone or cover scars, etc.  But, for me, it works and I love it.  My skin looks more natural and less made-up.

Also, if you're wondering about my lipstick, I use a lip pencil from Ulta in a color called Bon Voyage and I use a lipliner from Revlon in color #200 Sublime. Both are neutral and I think they would work on many different skin tones.  I'd include a pic of my lips, but that would just be creepy.