While i believe shopping for right foundation is absolutely important, Indian [ and imported companies] absolutely, positively make it difficult and a useless expedition.
I personally am still fact finding, yearning and i still go bare faced to malls now and then in hope to find the right foundation.
Here's what i think is making 'foundation buying' a hopeless and tedious and frustrating task in India.
1.Untrained staff: At the department stores, those poor salesgirls themselves are made up so badly and sometimes so thickly made up that the thought of taking her advice on ANYTHING is already counter productive ! I would advise people to IGNORE their advice especially when it comes to foundation.We live in a culture where 'fair is beautiful'- believe me no matter how ignorant you are when it comes to foundation a wrong shade match is like signing a suicide pact and whenever you'll wear it - you 'll look WEIRD, BIZARRE and TERRIFYING.
Please don't buy a foundation shade listening to online advice or by any advice !Go to the shop and apply it on bare face ,come back home and see how it fares on your skin - in daylight ,night and indoors !
2. No samples: We buy so much make up in India ! There is no return policy - that means you can't return a wrong foundation !And the imported prices for drugstore brands abroad are nowadays sold in India with at least 15 to 25% higher markups. The least companies can do is give 'samples' at their department counters.
I have never received a sample of anything at the department store. Sure there are freebie offers...but everybody knows in india the freebie offer is either junk or even non existent per se. Buy 1 get 1 free- chances are you are already paying for both !
I am even open to buying samples of foundation to try before I commit to it! Till the companies, don't give/sell foundation samples in india, I won't be buying a costly foundation at all !
3.Limited shades: Do all of us Indians fall in ivory, beige, or toast shades? What about light, medium and dark Toast ?
Or do companies think that since majority of Indians don't use foundation and those who do use are ok going out of their houses- ghostly,cakey and 'whitened' that we don't need more complementary and wider range of shades to choose from ??
I mean you conglomerates have the know-how - Then why not make flattering and complementary shades for Indians or Indian type skin tones !
Personally, I use foundation as tinted moisturiser. I have dark circles - the bluish ones and i don't know where to get Correctors/concealors for it . I have heard Kryolan can help. But since a counter is not in my city....... i chug along without a concealor.
Concealors are non existent for dark bluish under eyes circles and for Indians in general. Most of the ones touted on makeup blogs are simply inappropriate for severe dark circles- so don't waste your money on it. We require correctors to camouflage dark undereye circles.For undereye concealors, i have tried even MAC which proved useless for me!
And no, i don't use foundation to hide undereye circles !
All in all, i have really sobered up when it comes to foundation hunting ...anything new hardly excites me these days and right now i use Panstik and revlon Colorstay in combination to get right shade match and coverage.
Am not happy but what to do ?
I personally am still fact finding, yearning and i still go bare faced to malls now and then in hope to find the right foundation.
Here's what i think is making 'foundation buying' a hopeless and tedious and frustrating task in India.
1.Untrained staff: At the department stores, those poor salesgirls themselves are made up so badly and sometimes so thickly made up that the thought of taking her advice on ANYTHING is already counter productive ! I would advise people to IGNORE their advice especially when it comes to foundation.We live in a culture where 'fair is beautiful'- believe me no matter how ignorant you are when it comes to foundation a wrong shade match is like signing a suicide pact and whenever you'll wear it - you 'll look WEIRD, BIZARRE and TERRIFYING.
Please don't buy a foundation shade listening to online advice or by any advice !Go to the shop and apply it on bare face ,come back home and see how it fares on your skin - in daylight ,night and indoors !
2. No samples: We buy so much make up in India ! There is no return policy - that means you can't return a wrong foundation !And the imported prices for drugstore brands abroad are nowadays sold in India with at least 15 to 25% higher markups. The least companies can do is give 'samples' at their department counters.
I have never received a sample of anything at the department store. Sure there are freebie offers...but everybody knows in india the freebie offer is either junk or even non existent per se. Buy 1 get 1 free- chances are you are already paying for both !
I am even open to buying samples of foundation to try before I commit to it! Till the companies, don't give/sell foundation samples in india, I won't be buying a costly foundation at all !
3.Limited shades: Do all of us Indians fall in ivory, beige, or toast shades? What about light, medium and dark Toast ?
Or do companies think that since majority of Indians don't use foundation and those who do use are ok going out of their houses- ghostly,cakey and 'whitened' that we don't need more complementary and wider range of shades to choose from ??
I mean you conglomerates have the know-how - Then why not make flattering and complementary shades for Indians or Indian type skin tones !
Personally, I use foundation as tinted moisturiser. I have dark circles - the bluish ones and i don't know where to get Correctors/concealors for it . I have heard Kryolan can help. But since a counter is not in my city....... i chug along without a concealor.
Concealors are non existent for dark bluish under eyes circles and for Indians in general. Most of the ones touted on makeup blogs are simply inappropriate for severe dark circles- so don't waste your money on it. We require correctors to camouflage dark undereye circles.For undereye concealors, i have tried even MAC which proved useless for me!
And no, i don't use foundation to hide undereye circles !
All in all, i have really sobered up when it comes to foundation hunting ...anything new hardly excites me these days and right now i use Panstik and revlon Colorstay in combination to get right shade match and coverage.
Am not happy but what to do ?
For those kinda under eye circles, if you don't have a corrector, try using a peachy/orange toned cream blush/lipstick on the area an then dab on your regular foundation, works best for me!
ReplyDeleteHope this helps!
-Nash (http://onceuponherdream.blogspot.com)