REVIEW: Glam-X Foundation. And a bit of a ramble on mismatched shades!

Hello hello my pineapple chunks! I don't know about you but I'm an absolute foundation junkie. You might have noticed that i...

Hello hello my pineapple chunks!

I don't know about you but I'm an absolute foundation junkie. You might have noticed that i'm asian/desi & I can't tell you enough about how difficult it is to find a foundation that is close to my skin tone. It's SO infuriating! Pfft.

I've tried several foundations including Estee Lauder's Double Wear, NARS Sheer Glow, Revlon Colorstay, Korres Wild Rose, L'Oreal True Match, Bare Minerals and last but not least, MAC's Studiofix Fluid which is the one I always end up going back to.

The problem I have with foundations is that they're either too yellow, too pink, too light or too dark and it seems I'm ALWAYS getting matched to a darker shade by a 'make up artist'. I mean, if I wanted a bronzer I'd bloody ask for one!

I'm a MAC NC37 but according to one MAC 'make up artist' I was an NC44! Which is ridiculous! NC37 is my closest match. Occasionally I can go to NC40 but mostly I feel I'm inbetween those shades. Why don't MAC make an NC38 and NC39?! Huh? Why? Tell meeeeee! :@

Also with MAC I've noticed the colour of the foundation looks a bit flat. There's no depth to it. It's not warm enough. I get it. If you want warm, you need to get an NW but in my opinion the NW range is far too orange for my liking.

MAC need to bring something inbetween an NC and an NW to fill in the gaps in their range. Don't get me wrong I heart MAC, I love the texture, the formula, the longevity and how it makes my skin glow. But the colour range needs to be expanded so that people of my colour can get matched to a shade that actually suits them.

All of this frustration led me to continue my search for a foundation more suited to warm asian skin tones. I ended up stumbling across a site by Miss Bollywood, where they were selling a foundation by Glam X.

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Here is what Miss Bollywood had to say about Glam-X:

"GLAM-X by Miss Bollywood is a new range of liquid foundations especially formulated for Indian, Asian and Ethnic Skin tones. The unique complex gives an exceptional flawless finish leaving skin noticeably softer, brighter and more radiant. GLAM-X is ultra smooth, lightweight, contains Vitamin E to nourish, Aloe Vera to moisturise and SPF to protect and is ideal for every day use. Choose from 6 fabulous colours for stunting results with minimum fuss which leave your skin feeling younger, brighter and more radiant!"

I thought: "Perfect!" and ordered some samples to see if any suited my skin colour. Caramel was the closest match, this was the lightest in the range. I really loved the colour and was so excited as it's the closest I've ever found to my actual skin tone, so I bought 2 full-sized bottles for £5 each (on sale, usually £15).

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TONE & CONSISTENCY

Comparing Caramel to NC37 you can see that Caramel is definitely warm without being too orangey. It has the right amount of yellow tint to it without making me look like a character from 'The Simpsons'.

The consistency of the product is quite moussey, a bit thinner than Maybelline's 'Dream Matte Mousse', I applied it onto my MAC 109 brush and it just rolled off the bristles! When I applied it with the brush it didn't blend very well, after trying my hardest to blend it I ended up using my fingers which did seem to help. After blending and powdering, my skin looked fairly clear but lacked a bit of radiance.

FORMULATION & LONGEVITY

Whilst the colour is close to perfect, the formulation is not so perfect. It barely lasted a couple of hours without creasing like a bitch (even with primer on!), also it made me super-oily by lunchtime. Now with MAC studio fix i did get slightly oily by lunchtime, but this was like a BP oil spill in comparison. Another negative was that it seemed to smudge everywhere.

Despite all it's drawbacks, the fact that the foundation is very close to my skin tone it makes those drawbacks much less noticeable and much more bearable if you don't mind going to the toilet every 3 hours to blend it and powder your face.

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See, I'm wearing it here. It looks alright. But man, it was hard work with all the blending and 'toilet breaks'.

WOULD I REPURCHASE?

To conclude, would I buy it again? Probably not. If you asked me a few weeks ago when I first bought it I'd have signed up for a lifetime subscription, but since using this I've heard that Bobbi Brown do shades more suited to Asian skin-tones.
And Bobbi Brown's formulations are are far superior to Glam-X, though with a bit of time who knows, Glam-X could improve the formulations.

Next in line to my foundation throne is Bobbi Brown. Come on Bobbi, I need you!

Any foundation horror stories? Been matched to the completely wrong shade my a 'make up artist'? Share the hate!



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10 comments

  1. i soooo share your frustration on finding the perfect foundation! im in between shades nearly everytime i pick up one. though i haven't tried most of the ones you've mentioned, i've trialed a fair share and am currently using one that im happy with. mineral powder foundation is the best type for me. ive tried ones by maybeline [rubbish, my face felt like plastic or something], loreal, bare minerals [couldnt match to my skin tone and it felt artifical], earthnicity [not very well known but i was quite happy with it and used it for a long while] and the one im using now, lily lolo. out of all of them earthnicity and lily lolo are the best ive tried.

    i love lily lolo in terms of quantity, quality and price. at £12 the quantity is more than you'll get with even bare minerals. i find lily lolo gives me a more flawless and even coverage [i use butterscotch], lasting throughout the whole day. i never touch up my make up so it must be doing something right! its also done a pretty good job in clearing away blemishes and evening my skin tone. though i have to mention, i have to use a matte bronzer [south beach by lily lolo] or all over colour by bare minerals [warmth] to even out the tone so its the same as my skin colour. i dont mind that though, it gives the skin more of a glow.

    i reallllly recommend lily lolo. i use it every day, on special occasions. name it, it oes the job. try their samples first, i bought two different ones to make sure i got it right =)

    p.s i love their blushers too!

    http://www.lilylolo.co.uk/

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  2. Hey hun, glad u reviewed this foundation i tried a few samples a few years ago and i was like meh, i must admit tho the colours all looked radiant, least u didnt waste too much money on them right?

    im a super foundation whore like seriously, i went and bought sum 2day and den like a fool asked the lady - what else do i need, lolol luckily tho im not going to bother with the pro long wear range, the mac mua wasnt even too sure about it herself and that says ALOT!

    yea bobbi brown is really great colour wise like they have it almost spot on!

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  3. Hey guess I gotta try this one...Sounds really great!! Thanx for sharing...You really look very fresh!! I was in search of something like this as my Chambor foundation is about to get over. Is this available on ebay.

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  4. Your makeup looks beautiful! I also go back to MAC studio fix fluid too, it dries out my skin which I hate but the states are the closest to my actual skin color. The MAC mua give awful advice over here too, I research online instead of asking them for advice now! xo

    http://www.pearlslaceandruffles.com/

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  5. @ Ashi - I'd never heard of Lily Lolo. Just had a look at their website. And oh my! They've got a whole lotta shades! Thanks for the recommendations. I think I'll order some samples. :) And not touching up during the day is a bonus! xx

    @ Amina - Oh girl, I'm just glad the foundation only cost a fiver. Can you imagine if I paid £15.00 for it? i'd have wasted a lot of money!
    And yeah, I'm not going to bother with pro long wear either. Apparently after NC35 it goes straight to NC40, what a load of CRAP! And meh @ MUA. Sometimes if you're lucky you get the odd one that actually knows what she's/he's doing. xx

    @ Rakshanda - Lovely I do have a spare bottle that's not been used. We could do a swap if you want? xx

    @ Pearlslaceandruffles - Thank you, darling! I know, it's such a pain when mua do not have a clue what they're talking about! Why don't you try out Studio Sculpt? xx

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  6. I know what you mean about the MUA's at MAC! They're also really pushy. Last time I went to MAC was in the summer and i didn't put makeup on because it was pouring down that day. The woman was like so you don't wear makeup much? It's like um no im not wearing makeup today. She matched me way darker than I am and it had an orange tinge. Needless to say, I did not get foundation from there haha!

    It really annoys me when MUAs are pushy. The foundation looks lovely on you. Shame about the lasting power though :( xx

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  7. You make me laugh ahah! 'BP oil spill'

    I to can never find the right shade as I'm soooo pale! The only foundation really light enough is Revlon Colorstay :/

    Oh and I totally understand what you mean about the mua's at mac.. I remember asking a while ago what should I get between NW and NC cos I didn't have a clue before and she said NW..and then matched me to NW20! Umm what.. don't think so haha I didn't want to 2nd guess her and say I want the nw15 insted, so I just got the nw20 but when I went home and tried it I knew it was the wrong shade, too blummin dark!

    xx

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  8. woot NC44 ! thats like crazy ,,
    thats my color before tanning ,,
    now am using nc45 ,, with loads of bronzer because the nc50 is tooooo dark lol

    i get ur point on mac jumping in shades =( too dark too light ,, too pink too yellow ,, ugh mac =(

    now i need another Moroccan bath to exfoliate the dark tanning lool

    and btw ,, u look great in that foundation ,, love ur eye makeup <3 soo pretty .. muah take care xx

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  9. You're a real stunner!! xo

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  10. you have a real classy look to you! i love how you put your make up on aswell and i completly understand when the make up artists get your shade wrong it makes me soooooo mad!!!! btw thank you for your comment on my page did u want me to do a tutorial on the same colours are are you ok with me doing it on different colours? xxx

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