Ashy-ness

[piecesofpurple]

Hi everyone. I'm not new to SN, but I'm relatively new at fully attempting to use the foundation line. I have a lot of deep blemishes and acne scarring to cover up, so I'm using the Heavy Coverage foundation (which to me, applies like a medium coverage foundation). I'm extremely pale with warm undertones. In some makeup lines, the very pale olive shades work for me, but usually I'm the lightest shade in the warm series of foundation lines.

So, I've mixed up a batch of 1 scoop warm gold with about 10-11 scoops of ivory in the heavy coverage formula and I keep getting an ashy look. It literally looks greyish in certain areas on my skin; especially areas that I applied extra layers of foundation to get maximum coverage. I never had this problem before, except recently with another makeup brand. It's odd though, because my whole face doesn't look gray and the parts that don't appear ashy look like the foundation depth really matches my skin tone. So, why would it only appear ashy in certain areas?

I'm also having problems getting the foundation to mix fully. I shake it up for a good 10 minutes from every angle, but I'm assuming mineral companies have professional mixing tools to thoroughly blend their cosmetics. I usually like using a flocked sponge to apply foundation, but that's impossible with this because it applies streaky and unevenly. So, with the ultimate flat top kabuki, it minimizes the full on streaking effect. I Just wish I could figure out what the ashy quality means.

Any help would be much appreciated! I'd love to get this to work for my skin. Being able to customize one's color is a great thing.

[ladycattat]

I know that our mod and foundation guru JenW will jump in very soon and probably ask you to upload a photo to try and get a good idea of your skin tone.
I will suggest some ideas, just based on the fact that you said you are very pale and warm. I also am very pale and warm, and usually use the lightest and YELLOWEST powders in most makeup lines.
Maybe you need to try the Buttery Gold instead of the Warm Gold. Or possibly you might need to add in some yellow booster. Don't do anything until JenW gives you advice since I cannot give you advice about ratios and such, and not sure about the ashiness.
Do you use any of the SN powders or primers underneath your foundation? One I love to recommend to everyone is the Sheer Zinc Powder. It does such lovely things for your skin....and helps a bit to mask the boo-boos on your skin before you apply your foundation. It's not a miracle cure by any means but I love it.
HTH,
Laurie

[SouthernGal]

Hi!
It appears that you and I may have similiar skintones and issues. (I'm 1 BG to 10-11 Ivory right now, with a lot of acne & scarring.) I have also experienced the ashy-ness that you mentioned! While I'm not sure what causes it, here are a few things that have lessened it for me:

1. For REALLY full coverage, start with a tinted moisturizer. It doesn't have to match perfectly, but the closer to your skintone, the better. I found that a fair/light color that looked a shade or two darker than my skintone actually worked fine. This worked a whole lot better for me than either a primer or concealer to even out my skin before applying foundation. (Maybe because I apply it all over instead of just to the "problem" areas?)
As an added bonus, many of the tinted moisturizers over some sun protection.
(Because SN doesn't currently offer one, I'm obviously using a non SN product for this, but I actually apply it over top of my favorite SN serum & moisturizer.)

2. Try a lighter hand. (I found this much easier to do after using a tinted miosturizer.) When one's skin is so pale it is hard to cover darker marks, so we tend to just keep piling more and more on in an attempt to conceal them. This generally just ends up drawing more attention to the areas we are trying to "hide".

As far as mixing the foundation goes, I personally like to tap the container against something solid (like a countertop) to help mix it better. Even so, I do occassionally end up with streaks. Only way I know of to totally eliminate them is to use a "swirly bowl" & brush. I think this basically gives the foundation one last "stir" before application.

I hope this helps you out a bit, at least until someone can tell us what the greyishness means!

[piecesofpurple]

Thank you both so much for your replies! I meant to attach a photo of myself, but couldn't find the attach icon, but I'll try to attach a photo in this post. The photo of me doesn't show my true yellow undertone, but it does give you an idea of how pale I am. I find that a lot of people who think they're pale, really aren't nearly as pale as I am, lol. But, SouthernGal and I use the same proportions, so you know my plight to cover redness .

I thought about using the zinc powder, Cat, but the micronized zinc in the formula bothers me because the jury is still out on the true safety of using it. For now, I use a natural moisturizer with a high Zinc Oxide percentage, which offers an SPF of 30. I've thought about trying the tinted moisturizer from the same company to apply under my MMU, so maybe I'll try that, as well. Having a good base for the MMU to cling to is key to using less for achieving a heavier coverage effect.

I believe I may have tried the Buttery Gold a few years ago and I remember it being slightly too yellow, so I may have to mix just a little bit in if I use it again. After years of applying foundation, I'm still learning about my skin tone. I'm half hispanic and half German, so I have an odd mix! I have a lot of ruddiness in my skin, so I always thought I was cool toned, but I'm actually yellow toned with ruddiness, so once I tried my first Warm foundation, I really noticed the difference.

Also, even though I'm warm toned, I can still pull off cool toned lip glosses and blushes. Stellar and Candie are two of my favorite SN blushes and I love the Heirloom buttercream gloss. I can also pull off peachy shades and love the Mango butter cream, as well. So, in that regard, it seems like I'm "neutral", but whenever I try neutral shades, they look orange on my skin, even if they're the right color depth. The tone just isn't right.

So, here is my photo. I really appreciate the feedback

[JenW]

I am guessing the ashyness is from two things....You could probably have a better match, and you are not getting even layers. I do think a little more yellow might help than Warm Gold offers. I do think trying Buttery Gold sounds like a good option.

The heavier the foundation, the more exact the match must be. If the color is off a little, it just gets multiplied when it is heavier in one spot and light and even in another. Are the areas you need to cover all over, or are they in certain areas? If they are in certain areas, you might be better off spot concealing.