Makeup Forever Ultra HD Foundation Review

Sup y'alllll!!


So a while ago I picked up the MUFE Ultra HD foundation samples. There have been a lot of foundation launches but I was particularly excited about this one. Probably more because the MUFE HD foundation was my first ever liquid foundation :P so there's a nostalgic factor to it, lol. 

I do have fond memories of the original MUFE HD foundation. However, I was a complete newbie at the time, and I never ever tested out/wore the foundation on its own, because YouTube told me I have to wear primer to have a flawless foundation application, and back then, I was really into covering everything even though there wasn't much to cover. So honestly, I have no idea how good the original HD foundation was on its own LOL but I do recall it paired extremely well with the bareMinerals Prime Time Foundation Primer. The combination was super long-lasting. Note: I've heard that silicone-based makeup lasts longest when paired with another silicone-based makeup. So I guess there's truth to that :P

And I only ever applied the original HD foundation with a wet BeautyBlender... I think I remember it being too thick to apply with fingers.



My shade for the Ultra foundation is Y225. Pretty good match for NC20.



















Bare face action. 



You can see I had some bumps going on. My skin was reacting to something but I'm still kind of baffled to what it was O_O
*Update: Actually omg I figured out what it was. The Holika Holika Aqua Petit Jelly BB cream was what caused the breakouts!!! O___O Damn don't know how that happened cuz I didn't have any issues with it before!! But I haven't used it for a while and just recently started using it again and I did use it once before trying out the Ultra HD foundation. 

Bare face


Bare face



I figured I should start including my base makeup because it does affect the finish/wear. Went ahead and applied Anessa sunscreen.


With Anessa

You can see it mattifies the skin.

With Anessa


With Anessa



This day I applied the foundation with fingers. It was pretty blendable. I feel like it feels really similar to the original HD, but more liquidy/thinner. I would still consider the consistency on the thicker side though.



I would say coverage is light to medium. Ppl say it's more sheer than the original. That I can't really tell...


Applied with fingers.


How would you classify this finish? More of a satin maybe? It feel like it's matte but with a lot of glow. Like dry glow. Not wet/dewy glow. Less matte than MUFE Velvet+ though.



After I finished applying the rest of my face/the foundation had some time to set and blend into my skin

 Ohhh hello there O_O+
The foundation does bounce back light, like quite a bit!


When applied with fingers, I noticed the finish is a lot more glowy.










Full face effect









I feel like this picture is closer to what you see in real life if you're directly under the sun. It is VERY glowy. Without direct light though the glow is much more subtle.


Without direct light there's a lot less glow


without direct light


without direct light. Pretty much just looks pretty "normal"





Almost 8 hours later

Obvious shine on the nose.






It held up alright. There was minor settling into the pores around the nose but it's hard to tell from the pics.

====================================================================

Another day, applied with BeautyBlender.
(I feel like this foundation would work great with my Sigma synthetic kabuki brushes... but... they're all packed away at the moment /___\ ) 

Strangely, I noticed when applied with BeautyBlender, it toned down a lot of the glowy-ness. Don't know if you guys can tell the difference from the pics. This was taken with direct light but you can see there's less of the glow on the cheeks/nose bridge.




Again, almost 8 hours later

I also got a lot less oily? Weird.










You can see I look less oily compared to before when I used fingers for my application.


Personally thought the foundation held up better when applied with BeautyBlender.


My overall thoughts?

The finish is really lovely and beautiful. It has that blurring/soft focusing effect, but it doesn't look matte. If you don't like the "wet" dewy look but want some extra glow without the help of highlighter, this foundation is definitely worth checking out as it gives that "dry" glow. It actually bounces off light a lot more than I expected.The only thing is I found that when I get oily, this foundation does have minor settling into the pores. It's quite minor though and overall it holds up well.

Like I mentioned before, I found that when applied with fingers, the finish is a lot more glowy, and when applied with BeautyBlender, it's a lot less. However I do think applying with BeautyBlender helps with the overall wear of this foundation.


Strangely though... after testing it out I found myself not inclined to purchase it anymore O_O I think my taste must have changed. There's just something that feels off to me. Maybe the fact that I'm just not used to the texture of silicone-based foundation anymore. Even though it applies beautifully, I just get the feeling that the foundation was just sitting on my face. I suspect if I were to wear this foundation on its own, it would probably slip off (I tend to have that problem with silicone-based makeup... it never fully sets on my face. Although years ago I didn't have this problem *shrugs*) But I will say, among the silicone-based foundation, this one is so much better than Giorgio Armani Maestro and YSL Fusion Ink. Lol.


So I don't find myself gravitating toward this foundation at all. In fact, I only tested out this foundation like 3 times. Ehhh I don't know. I might enjoy this foundation more if I use it with my Dior sunscreen but I'm too lazy to test that out lol. Moving on to the next foundation LOL. Oh and another thing-- I really am NOT sure, but I think this foundation might be breaking me out????? It's hard to tell because my skin was already reacting to something prior to trying this foundation out (as seen in the bare face pics), but I felt like this foundation worsened it??????????? (and this was the only thing new I was trying...) Because I started getting red bumps/whiteheads along my jawline and I never get whiteheads there O_O I had to start using charcoal masks for the whiteheads to diminish. I never had any reaction to the original HD foundation, or the Mat Velvet+ though. Not sure if it's just a coincidence, but still want to throw that out there. Another reason why I'm not inclined to test out this foundation further. 



What do you guys think about the new Ultra HD foundation? Love it? Hate it? Can't tell the difference from the original? Lol.



<3 Frances

Haul Attack! Sephora, Innisfree, & Taiwan

Hi guys!

Happy 2015! Hope y'all have a wonderful New Year :) Can you believe we are already more than half way through January?! Time is FLYING by and I'm getting really excited. Nervous, but excited. I feel like I've been waiting for 2015 for a really long time. Why? BECAUSE IT'S THE YEAR THAT I AM GOING TO GRADUATE!!!!!! O.M.G.  After 3.5 years of grueling pharmacy education, if I may say, I am finally gonna move forward to another phase of my life. Granted, the life of employment isn't fun, but I feel very ready for it. I'm SO ready to move, find a job, get a pet :D and just start saving money.

Anyway, enough of the wordy intro. I am finally back in the US. If some of you are wondering how I am able to be away for so long at this time of the year since I'm still in school, it's because in the fourth year of pharmacy education (at least at my school), we do rotations/internships throughout the whole year. So it's basically working full time. And I decided to combine my vacation block (which is 5 weeks-- I know, kind of insane) with my winter break. Hence the super long vacation in Taiwan :P

To ease myself into blogging again, I decided to go for something easy to write XD It's gonna be a brief one as well, sorry :( have sooo much stuff that I need to do that I really shouldn't be blogging at all -_-"  This is basically a collection of the hauls that I wanted to, but never showed here. The Sephora VIB sale, some purchases I made on innisfreeworld.com, and the stuff I got from Taiwan. If you follow me on Instagram you will also see that I went crazy while I was in Japan, but I will dedicate another post to that haul :D


First, the stuff that I got from Sephora VIB sale


1. Chloe perfume

I think this is the first time I've ever repurchased a perfume. On the left is my current bottle (duh LOL)  When I took this pic I was only 1/3 through the bottle, now I'm half way through the bottle. Still in love with this perfume :D it's rare that I have such a long-going affair with a perfume lol. I think the only other perfume that I've kind of made my way through is Dot by Marc Jacobs-- that one I used up about 1/3. I still like that one but so far I have no intention to touch other perfumes XP


2. Diorsnow sunscreen

IN LOVE. Been using it since last summer? Still can't get enough!

3. Dior Addict Fluid Stick in 575 Wonderland





Lovely color, great formula. Wanted this forever and so glad to finally have it. Another color that I want to collect from this line will be 373 Rieuse. :D

4. Too Faced Cocoa Powder Foundation in Golden Light






To be quite honest, now I have been using this for a couple of months... I kind of regret buying it :/ it's just decent. What I don't like about this product is that the staying powder really isn't good... it tends to break down and get patchy as I get oily. This only happens when I use this as a powder foundation all over my face aka when I use more of this product. When I use this for setting powder, since I only use a light dusting, I don't really have the patching up problem. Honestly, I do not recommend this powder. If I could return it, I would have lol.  Definitely only a novelty product for the chocolate smell.


5. Makeup Forever Aqua Cream in 15





Really liked this taupe color. Got it to create a more subtle eyeliner look/smudge out my eyeliner. But I ended up returning it cuz it smudged within an hour :( Dry products are the way to go when coupled with liquid eyeliner. And notice the product was already kind of dried out when I received it in the mail. 

6. Tarte Amazonian Butter Lipstick in Pink Peony



I love the name of this lip product =P


Can we take a moment to appreciate how cut the packaging is?!


It's a very nice, soft, natural pink.

Went to return the MUFF aqua cream (cuz it smudges within an hour 😓) and pick up the Clinique smart custom repair serum and came out with this 🙈🙈🙈 was gonna pick up the 1.7 fl oz one but there's actually a value set so I got this instead (1 oz serum, 0.5 oz uplifting firming cream, and 0.17 oz laser focus wrinkle correcting eye cream 😄), and spotted that Hourglass has an Ambient lighting blush palette 😱😱😱😱 I reasoned that after 20% off each blush is $16... So... 🙈 and didn't get to redeem my gift during my bday month so also did that today! Heard many good things abt this MUFF smokey extravagant mascara so I'm excited to try it 😊 I know I went a little too crazy for this sale... 😳 #sephora #vibsale #clinique #hourglass #ambientlightingblush #ambientlightingblushpalette #makeupforever #muff #skincare #makeup #beautyblogger #nomakeuporskincareformeforalonglongtime

A photo posted by Frances (@bbudgie) on Nov 9, 2014 at 7:03pm PST

Items 7 and 8 would be the Clinique Smart Custom Repair Serum and the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette. While The Hourglass Ambient lighting powders absolutely do not work with my combination skin (makes me extra oily... not just look oily, but makes my skin produce more oil), I have NO regrets with those blushes :D 


Now onto my Innisfree purchases. I basically went on a Innisfree spree after the Long Wear cushion. But I'm kind of over Innisfree now hahahahaha.

So many samples!


The main reason why I made that purchase is because I wanted this. I absolutely LOVE the volcanic pore clay mask so I really really wanted to try the toner to see if it would do anything to control my blackheads. 

I bought two of them because I was gonna give one to a friend as a gift... but I ended up having a reaction to the toner... and my friend has even more sensitive skin than me so I don't feel safe giving this to her :( so I just ended up keeping it for myself.  Kind of sucks cuz now I'm stuck with two of the toners that I have no idea what I'm gonna do with. 


Haven't tried the cleansing foam but I hope it's good. I feel very optimistic that I won't get a reaction from the cleanser though :P


Here are some of my review posts from my Instagram for the Innisfree products. I figured it's too redundant to type up a review again when I've already done them lol.

Review: innisfree green tea seed serum did not work for me 😞 It is extremely fragranced, I was quite taken aback by how perfume-y this thing smells. I was expecting something that smells natural or at least smells like green tea. I like the consistency-- it's very light/watery and fast to absorb and hydrating. Not sticky at all. Not sure if it was the fragrance in this thing that broke me out... I have not heard a single negative review on this so I really didn't expect my skin to react to it, but it did break me out pretty badly (red bumps all over my face) #innisfree #greenteaseedserum #greenteaseed #serum #skincare #korean #koreanskincare #review #beautyblogger

A photo posted by Frances (@bbudgie) on Nov 9, 2014 at 6:18pm PST

By the way, got the green tea seed serum bcuz my roommate got it for me when she went home to Korea lol. Not part of the haul.

Review: Innisfree Jeju volcanic pore toner also did not work for me 😔 used it twice (only used it on my nose since that's where I'm more oily and have bigger pores) and both times my skin got incredibly itchy where I applied the toner 😳 my skin also started peeling a few days after but I'm not sure if it was directly related to this. The toner itself contains some jeju volcanic powder in the bottom so you want to shake it well before you use it. It's not drying at all which surprised me because I thought it'd be somewhat drying for oil control (can't remember if oil control is one of the claims at all though). The smell is pleasant but not organic at all lol (your typical skincare fragrance). Really surprised this didn't work for me because I use the volcanic pore clay mask from the same line and got incredible pore tightening results from it, and no reaction! Sad 😞 #innisfree #jejuvolcanicporetoner #volcanicpore toner #toner #skincare #koreanskincare #review #beautyblogger

A photo posted by Frances (@bbudgie) on Nov 9, 2014 at 6:27pm PST

Also got a cleansing oil to try. Hope it's good!



I really wanted to try the soybean line but now I'm too scared to try :/ sad....


The volcanic mask sample will be good for travel. But all these samples... I have no intention to use them cuz my skin has been quite sensitive these days. Just gonna give them to friends or give them out as free samples on my next blog sale. 


Since I liked the Skinny Microcara, I wanted more of them since they are quite affordable. I had the waterproof version and that one does not hold curls, so I wanted to try the none-waterproof version just so I can spend less time massaging my eyes when I try to remove my makeup XD I'm currently using one now, but for some reason... I think the none-waterproof version is even harder to remove than the waterproof version O____o||| Maybe because it's hydrophilic and I use cleansing oil which is hydrophobic? Haha... -_-"  


Got one in brown :D

By the way, Innisfreeworld.com sometimes have free shipping events... so I would recommend signing up for the newsletter and just wait to purchase from there when there's an event ^_^ I purchased all my products during the free shipping event.


Now onto the products I bought in Taiwan...

Got the Clinique smart custom-repair serum duo while I was at duty-free. Don't think I have talked about the serum here on my blog O_o 

I have no idea what's in this stuff... But it's AMAZING 😳 Currently having a lot of flakey/peeling skin going on on my nose because I squeezed my blackheads 🙈 but when I smoothed this over... It literally smoothed EVERYTHING DOWN. Like you can't even see the slightest flaking 😳 how does it do that???!?!??? Usually I have to use a stickier moisturizer to pat down the flaky skin but the texture of this serum isn't even runny or sticky. The finish is matte, which is completely mind boggling LOL. Tried it again this morning (only used it twice so far) and got the same results!! 🙌🙌🙌 granted the flakey skin is still there, but just no longer visible. Makes makeup application 100x easier 🎉🎉🎉 I NEED to pick this up while the VIB sale lasts!! So glad I got a sample of this ❤️❤️❤️ #clinique #cliniquesmart #customrepairserum #serum #amazing #skincare #beautyblogger #sephora

A photo posted by Frances (@bbudgie) on Nov 8, 2014 at 11:27am PST

I hope it's not annoying that I just keep reposting stuff from my Instagram XD but it's just so much easier for me. Easier for you guys too I hope for those who've already read them so you don't have to re-read the same information. Anyway, the serum already obtained holy grail status in such a short amount of time... lol. I do have a holy grail post in the works... :)

And yes, I am fully aware of how crazy it is that I bought SO many mascaras and mascara primers. Since I will be entering the work force soon, don't think I will be able to go home in the next few years :'(  so I went crazy stocking them up lol. Mascaras I can do without, but I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT THOSE MASCARA PRIMERS. As long as I have those babies, I can pretty much make any none-Asian mascaras work (as long as they don't migrate down my eyelid haha). While others may be known as the crazy cat lady, I am totally happy being known as the crazy mascara lady lol.

The stand-out products in that pile for me will be the Aritaum Honey Melting Tints-- now I understand why the rage over the Internet. They're awesome! Also the Maybelline Fashion Brow Duo... my new fav brow product :)  (yes, more than my Anastasia brow powder duo). The other brands that I have not talked about before on my blog here will be Bevy C., 3CE and VDL, Clio and Pupa. That pink mascara on the lower right corner is a Thai brand called Mistine, which I purchased while I was in Bangkok :) heard good things about it. The pink thing below the Clinique serums is an eyebag highlighter (it's by Pmel). I think I've seen something similar on Bubzbeauty so I picked it up (but she uses it as a highlighter). To be honest, I should've picked up the champagne one (there was pink and champagne and white I think??) because pink just does not suit me around the eyes.  

That L'oreal lip tint in the middle I didn't get from Taiwan lol. Bought it yesterday. But figured would include it in the pile anyway. The color is 202 Coral Encore and it's gorgeous. Like the formula too. The only thing I don't like is the super strong fragrance... kind of like the Clio Lipnicure if you have tried that before. 



Thought it'd be fun to show you guys the things I have back-ups for :D Got an extra Dior sunscreen with my VIB $20 coupon.


The last thing I got from Taiwan will be the Shu Uemura cleansing oil... also from the duty-free. My luggage were so heavy that I could NOT bring a makeup remover with me =_=" so I had to buy one at the airport lol.

Dear Shu Uemura cleansing oil, why did I ever stop using you 😍 actually I know why, because Shu freaking pulled their counters out of the US LOL. I do prefer Shu over MAC and Bobbi Brown, but in all honestly they all get the job done. Shu is a thicker/richer texture and I feel like makes the job comparatively easier ✌️ #shuuemura #japaneseskincare #skincare #cleansingoil #review #beautyblogger #makeupremover #skinpurifier

A photo posted by Frances (@bbudgie) on Nov 13, 2014 at 8:26am PST

Now as an ending to this post... here's a sneak peek for my Japan haul: 

[JAPAN] Damage 😱 PS. Didn't buy anything for myself from Laduree, it was a favor lol. Kind of disappointed after seeing the rose petal blushes in person... Not as delicate as I thought 😕 #japan #japanese #makeup #japanesemakeup #haul #taxfreeshopping #laduree #lesmerveilleuses #jillstuart #lunasol #three #suqqu #albion

A photo posted by Frances (@bbudgie) on Dec 17, 2014 at 4:47am PST

Alrighty guys. Hope you guys don't mind this semi-lazy post >_< Feel free to let me know if there's anything you would like me to talk about first. Otherwise, I will see you guys in my best of 2014 products post :D

Hope you guys have a fantastic week!



<3 Frances