Summer Makeup

I was refilling on standbys at my local Clinique counter, when I decided to ask the nice attendant whether she could recommend something that would act as a primer for oily skin. She pulled out their City Block Sheer oil-free daily protectant, which is basically a tinted SPF25 moisturizer. So far it hasn't irritated my skin too much, because I usually expect some reaction to the SPF. The coverage is super light and the color is light enough that it doesn't even try to cause orange face syndrome.

However, what I found out with my type of skin is that I need to exfoliate and moisturize appropriately in order for a tinted moisturizer to go on smoothly (with a brush by the way) and without it streaking or appearing sticky in areas where the blending wasn't done well.

When I was at an Aveda salon the other day getting a facial, I asked the nice esthetician whether they had any tinted moisturizers with SPF that she could recommend, because (1) I wanted to see if they put too much aromatic essence in their face makeup, and (2) I wanted to see how light their light makeup is. I found this to be a little more emollient/sticky in those areas that I didn't do a good blending job. However, the color is pretty good and the consistency also feels pretty good.

I top my tinted moisturizer with MAC mineralize skinfinish natural pressed powder. I still get the oilies.

I have been recovering from some reaction my skin had to using Smashbox primer -- apparently there was some serious congestion that also created red flaky and sensitive cheek area skin. My skin is also oilier ebcause of the warmer weather. So extra powder is a very important tool, in addition to my trusty standby Clinique T-Zone Shine Control Pore Minimizer.

Here's hoping I may have found a good, safe, and sensitive summer makeup routine!