When a HG is no longer a HG

You know the story I'm sure. You'd finally found your HG foundation, swearing to be faithful for ever more. Until one day, you strayed.

My HG, until recently was Make Up Forever's HD foundation in 115, it was easy to apply, the colour match seemed spot on and life was good. Until summer weather rendered my HG a dud. It happened like this, the weather got warmer and as it did, my HD HG started to float on the surface of my skin. No matter how well I applied it, working it into the skin and spritzing like a mad woman, nothing could bring it back from the brink. The final straw was when my sister (how honest they are;D) commented on it saying "isn't it time you bought a new foundation? That one doesn't do much for you". The horror... Suddenly HD MUFE was a HG no more.

So, a visit to the MAC counter the following weekend was scheduled. On the appointed day I, along with my sister for constructive criticism and my boyfriend for support approached the counter rather gingerly. At this point, I should point out that for years, MAC and their assistants have put me off a little. It was a combination of the mad eyeshadow combos their staff wore and the mind boggling array of colour options. If I could see what I wanted, it was fine, but if I had to ask, I wouldn’t.

The moment arrived and I was approached by a friendly assistant, who patiently listened to my requirements. I listed my needs, saying:

'I have combo-sensitive skin, prone to occasional breakouts. I need a match colour wise and something that stays put once on, medium coverage/ buildable.'

That done, she brought me over to their 'Pro-Long wear' range. This is where it kind of got confusing. I had calculated, that based on the fact that my sister has pretty much the same undertones as myself, but is 1 shade darker and given that from my understanding of their system, if you're cool you need a NW and if you're warm you need an NC, as they say they work with the colour spectrum or something like that. I was expecting that I would be matched to a NW15. However, 'Pro-Long wear' has no NW15, just NC15.

At this point I was worried, but the girl sat me down and assured me that I would see it as a MUA was about to apply it for me. This, I have had done before, but in the past they would remove some of your makeup and then apply the foundation in a patch. This time, they took it all of (bar the eyes) and slapped on the foundation very casually. Now, I was expected to make a decision, in the middle of the shop and under the yellow lights they always seem to have. I turned to sis and boyfriend for an honest opinion, they thought I looked, well... pale!

Oh dear, what to do? I asked the MUA about the NC and NW 20 and was told, 'no, not for you, it would be too dark and would only make you look older' (not one I have heard before, but guess now that I'm in the early 30s, just, I'll have to get used to it). When I voiced the concern about being pale, they whipped out a bronzer. Now I was faced with a dilemma, so I did what anyone should do under the circumstances and said I would need to think about it.

Did I leave and live with the foundation for a whole day? Not on your Nelly, couldn't do that, I was in shopping mode MUST BUY MAKEUP! Anyway, to make what is already a long story shorter, I have been living with my 'pro-Long wear' for almost 2 weeks now, in addition to a Bobbi Brown bronzer (there's an equally long story there). Reviews shall follow; I’ve been suffering from a breakout, so it wouldn’t be fair, though I will certainly be able to comment on the foundation’s ability to cover blemishes, which is infinitely better than MUFE HD’s. Point 1 to MAC.