Not Your Mama’s Mary Kay!

For our 4th and final installment of the September Beauty Series, the lovely Kalyn Foggy wrote a guest blog about how to achieve a “flawless base“.  She also sent me some Mary Kay items to review for my readers.

I will admit I was hesitant to include Mary Kay in my blog at first because of some very unpleasant encounters with pushy sales consultants in the past.  It just left a bad taste in my mouth and I thought this was a company I didn’t want to support in any fashion after those experiences. 

However, I have interacted with Kalyn almost daily for the better part of 2 years and knew she wasn’t like those other consultants. I’ve never known her to be pushy with her brand or use dishonesty to make a sale.  I trust Kalyn and really knew that she wouldn’t recommend something to me that she didn’t honestly believe in and that she would respect and appreciate any feedback I gave if I ended up not liking something. 

Kalyn sent me the Clearproof Deep Cleansing Charcoal Mask ($24) to try which is said to be suitable for all skin tones and types. 

Mary Kay makes these claims about this mask:

Kalyn also included the Liquid Foundation Brush ($10) with a note that said it was to be used with the mask! The brush was soft and smooth. I really loved the way it felt and it makes me curious to try more of their brushes to see if they are on par with this. Several years ago I had some Mary Kay brushes that were pretty scratchy but this was so lovely! Have you tried their brushes lately? What do you think of them?

I applied the charcoal grey mask, which was very creamy and reminded me of the consistency tempera paint with the brush and immediately loved the way it felt. It had a faint minty, herbal scent. Normally, I’d just apply a mask with my fingers but this not only made the application neater, it also made it feel like a spa treatment. If you decide to get the mask, obviously the brush isn’t neccessary, but I’d recommend it! 

The mask had a gentle cooling sensation, which I enjoyed. I like to feel something happening when I use a mask so I enjoyed it. It was a very mild sensation and not painful or irritating at all. 

I let the mask dry to matte lighter shade of grey and rinsed off with warm water. It rinsed off easily without staining my face, hands or sink. My skin was left feeling quite comfortable even before moisturizer which surprised me since it’s an oil absorbing mask. I was pleased to find that my skin wasn’t red, because some “tingling” products can do that. Instead my skin appeared glowing and more even. My giant pores even appeared smaller! 

I really enjoyed this mask all around and will continue to use it. I’m anxious to see how my skin improves as I use it over time. 

The item I was most excited to try was the Timewise Matte-Wear Liquid Foundation ($22). 

Mary Kay describes this foundation by stating:

Kalyn did a wonderful job color matching me! All I had to do was send her a makeup free selfie taken in natural light. She matched me to the shade “Beige 5”.              Mary Kay offers this foundation in 23 shades so it seems like there is a good possibility most skin tones will have a good match in this line! 

I intially noticed that the packaging was not my favorite. This foundation is a true liquid and the plastic squeeze tube didn’t seem like an ideal way to package it.  I feel as though a foundation with this consistency would do better in a tube with a pump. The only reason being, that if you need to set the tube down mid makeup application it kind of seeps out the top unless it’s capped back up. It has the potential to be messy or cause you to lose product. I think a thicker liquid or cream in this tube would work…but for the thinner liquid consistency I think they chose the wrong delivery system. I was just careful not to set it down without the cap to avoid spillage. 

I applied this using a damp beauty sponge and it went on very evenly and was so easy to blend. It had great medium to full coverage and built up to a very full coverage easily. As I blended it, it melted into my skin but also dried down to a velvety matte finish. I have normal to oily skin and found no need to even use a powder with this, which I loved! The less layers I need to apply the better!

The foundation blurred my pores and covered my blemishes well.  The color not only stayed true throughout the day but I felt as though the foundation actually began to look better as the day went on. I enjoyed the way it looked several hours later even more than upon initial application!

This is definitely a foundation I will reach for often. Especially on my oily days as not a drop of oil peeped through all day…even without powder! Color me impressed! 

To top off my look, I used the Gel Semi-Matte Lipstick ($18)  in the shade “Rich Truffle”.

Mary Kay says that this lipstick will deliver:

I felt it went on smoothly.  I think semi-matte is an accurate description of the finish. One layer definitely gave me a matte look without being the least bit drying or flakey. I was able to build it up a bit and it became a little more like a soft satin finish. I went for a couple of hours of true color and it stayed vibrant even through drinking some coffee. It is not transfer proof but does wear down evenly without getting patchy. It did not survive through my meal but when it wore off it did leave my lips very soft and comfortable so I didn’t dread reapplying it like I do with some matte lipsticks. I enjoyed the fact that it didn’t have an unpleasant taste or smell.  I thought the packaging looked really nice and felt nice in my hand. 

I’m very glad I decided to give Mary Kay another chance.  I was overall extremely pleased and pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed these items!

 I’m baffled that there isn’t more hype surrounding the fabulous foundation! I never knew I was missing out on the perfect matte foundation until Kalyn sent this to me and I really wish I’d known sooner! Make sure you share this blog post so people know!