Beauty on a Budget

Image via Budget Beauty Blog
Image via Budget Beauty Blog

Finding the right foundation

By Lauren Kelly, Assistant Editor

I spent a long, long time searching for a foundation that would work with my skin. Because I have an oily T-zone, I found many liquid foundations would melt off after a short period of time, while powders would quickly look very cakey and obvious.

For awhile, I believed that I had found the right one—Mac Studio Fix. Now, I loved the formula of this foundation. It stays on for a long time, is buildable, and doesn’t look cakey. My only issue with it was that it looked incredibly pink on me, a common problem for people with fair skin. Pink contrasts my naturally neutral to yellow undertones. So no matter how natural the coverage looked, my face never looked natural. I would definitely recommend this line, however. It has a very wide range of colours and tones, and the price is a fairly reasonable $32, and each bottle lasted me about four months.

However, I have now found my perfect foundation. Coming in on the much cheaper end, I really like Maybelline Fit Me Matte and Poreless Foundation, as well as the matching Fit Me Concealer. The lightest shade of the foundation has strong yellow undertones, which is rare to find in a light foundation. Both products also have a wide range of tones, so most people should be able to find a foundation tone that “fits” them. Although the coverage isn’t as good as the Mac one, it still covers well and lasts a long time on my skin. The concealer, unfortunately, does have pinker tones than the foundation, but has thick coverage ideal for hiding my dark circles. The foundation costs $10–12, and you can find the concealer for $8–10.

I know many people have been through this process of foundation discovery, and it can be very hard on the wallet. However, stores such as Sephora and Shoppers Drug Mart do accept returns if you’re unhappy with the product, meaning you do have more freedom to be adventurous there. Also, most makeup stores offer take home samples, allowing you to try shades and formulas at your leisure until you find the one for you.