hydrating foundation - A Girl's Gotta Spa! (sm) Top beauty blog, spa, hair care, makeup, beauty trends, skin care | A Girl's Gotta Spa! (sm) Top beauty blog, spa, hair care, makeup, beauty trends, skin care

DIY Spa Tips From Turnberry Isle Miami

Wishing for a spa getaway? To feel royally pampered in preparation for the summer months, therapists at the legendary Turnberry Isle Miami and its Forbes-rated Four Star Spa & Fitness Center suggest these at-home treatments using natural ingredients for those times when you can't make it into the spa: Mommy-to-Be Read more

NightCare Heel Treatment Kit Review

If you are a gal who tries to extend the life of a pedicure as long as possible, then you probably know the first thing that usually needs attention in between pedicures are your heels. I mean really, who has time to get pedicures weekly or even every Read more

Sun Bum Continuous Spray Sunscreen Review

With May being Skin Cancer/Melanoma Awareness month, now seems like the perfect time if any to talk sunscreen! As you may have read earlier this month, I was diagnosed with Melanoma just a couple of years ago. Life after Melanoma requires a lot more preparation when spending time Read more

Suave Moroccan Argan Styling Oil Review

Moroccan Oil is all the rage for the benefits of argan oil on both skin and hair. Suave's Moroccan Infusion line of hair care products aim to deliver incredible shine, softness and conditioning to your hair. I had the opportunity to try the new Moroccan Argan Styling Oil from Read more

EnvyDerm Lip Volumizing and Conditioning Plumper

As I get older I notice the collagen making a prompt exit from my lips leaving them looking lifeless and thin. The best way to combat thinning lips (or if you have thin lips to begin with) is to keep them hydrated and to use a lip plumper. When Read more

hydrating foundation

DIY Tinted Moisturizer

I am not a huge fan of the feel of foundation.  No matter how lightweight a foundation claims to be, it always feels too heavy on my skin.  I definitely love how my skin looks on those rare occasions when I do choose to…or if it’s a booking…HAVE to wear foundation, but I can never wait until I can get home and thoroughly wash my face.  A few makeup artists have suggested that I try a tinted moisturizer instead, which I have done but never found one that won my loyalty so I decided to try creating my own very  tinted moisturizer.

For the moisturizer part of my tinted moisturizer, I decided to use Embroylisse Lait-Crème Concentrè, it seems to be in the kit of every makeup artist I’ve worked with and I love how moisturizing and soothing it is on my skin.  For the “tinted” portion of my tinted moisturizer I used Aveda Liquid Foundation, because it is one of the lightest feeling foundations I have found and I do not need to mix it with a different colored foundation to match my skin tone (which I tend to have to do with a lot of other brands), however I’m not sure that Aveda still carries this foundation.  Read more

Posted on by Gail Lewis in beauty, DIY Beauty, foundation, Makeup, skin care, Unlikely Pair Leave a comment

Vegan Makeup Review: GlamNatural Hydrating Foundation

This past summer, Christine Holmgren and Brittany Norman attended my social media panel at Cosmoprof North America and approached me to tell me about a new cruelty-free, gluten-free, vegan makeup brand they were launching. It sounded interesting and soon enough they popped a sample in the mail of their initial product, Hydrating Foundation. It didn’t take long for me to fall in love, which says a lot considering I haven’t worn liquid foundation in forEVER.

Why? Well that’s the interesting part. In the fall/winter, my skin goes a little wack and will peel or have dry patches.  Wearing liquid foundation was like putting a magnifying glass on these problem areas and only made it more noticeable. So what makes GlamNatural’s Hydrating Foundation so different? It is shea butter based, therefore it’s actually moisturizing my face, not to mention its other skin conditioning ingredients like grape seed oil, sunflower oil and jojoba oil. I have combination skin and had been worried that the shea butter would be too much for my skin, but it is not at all.

Glamnatural’s Hydrating Foundation comes in a 30ml glass bottle with an airless pump. That means it contains no water and therefore, no preservatives. It also is only comprised of 6 BodySafe ingredients plus color. So no fillers and unnecessary add-ons. Due to the formulation and consistency of the shea butter in it, you apply this foundation slightly different than you would your typical liquid foundation. I think of it like La Mer where you can only pat the cream on to activate it. For the Hydrating Foundation, you have to either pump a pea sized amount onto the top of your hand and rub your index finger on it to “heat it up” or disperse a pea sized amount onto your index finger and then warm it up between your finger and your thumb. The bottom line is that you need to let your body heat warm it up a bit so that it glides on your skin smoothly. And a little goes a long way, as the saying goes. My face only needs about a pea and a half dollop of the foundation to give me the coverage I like. And what’s great is that I can ditch my daytime moisturizer since this foundation already contains one.

This is full coverage foundation that is buildable. I do use a concealer on the sides of my nose, under my eyes and on my lids still, but I know a concealer is in the pipeline for GlamNatural, so I look forward to using a concealer that will work great with my skin.

I can’t begin to tell you all of the compliments I have gotten on my skin since including it in my makeup regimen (I’m wearing Ivory 2 in the picture above.) Even my cousin ended up buying some and raved about it on GlamNatural’s Facebook fan page (and she has super fair skin, so I was thrilled it worked for her!)

GlamNatural’s Hydrating Foundation is available for $65 at www.glamnaturalmakeup.com. And in full disclosure, I work with this brand for their social media, but I wouldn’t have posted this review if I didn’t think it was absolutely amazing. If you’ve used their foundation or have questions, please leave a comment!

Posted on by Shannon Nelson in beauty, foundation, Makeup, skin care 1 Comment