Ulta’s 21 Days of Beauty is well underway at this point, so I won’t go too much into that. But, if you by chance have never heard of the sale, during the sale you can get select high end beauty products for 50% off. Since it will be $18.00 on March 31, 2022, I wanted to share my experience with the MAC Studio Radiance Face and Body Foundation.
I honestly have had a hard time getting my thoughts together on this foundation. It is so well loved that I really wanted to love it too. I guess it is not so much that I don’t like the product as much as it doesn’t suit my preferences. There has been some debate on whether or not this shade expansion is also a reformulation. The brand has stated that this formula is the same as the original Face and Body. I did try Face and Body back in 2014, and regardless of a change in formula, I didn’t like that one either. Since it was so long ago, I can’t directly compare them, but my thoughts are the same on both. This formula is so sheer, I don’t understand the point of taking the time to put it on.
When I hear people talk about the MAC Face and Body Foundation, the phrase “skin-like” always comes up, and I can absolutely agree on that point. When I apply this with a brush I get the promised radiant finish and it does, in fact, look like skin. The problem for me is that I just want more coverage. When building the coverage, I get a light coverage at best. The brand claims this is a sheer buildable formula, so I can’t say that it doesn’t perform as intended. I did try applying this formula with my hands as is commonly suggested for more coverage. This didn’t work for me at all. Oddly enough, using fingers resulted in the formula setting to a matte finish on me. I do have dry skin, but other than that, I can’t explain it. 🤷🏽♀️
Update May 1, 2025: The Estee Lauder Double Wear Matte Powder Foundation has been reformulated. At the end of April 2025, I saw the new formula pop up on the Macy’s and Nordstrom websites.
Estee Lauder has been relaunching many of its legacy products into sleeker blue compacts. The Double Wear Matte Powder Foundation is the newest product to get the treatment.
New packaging for 2022 on the right
The new compact is refillable and has gone up in price to $46.00 (up from $43.00). The refills retail for $35.00. The formula has remained the exact same and you get the same amount of product, this is purely a packaging update. The new shade range however did shrink by 10 shades. As usual, my go-to shade (4W4) has been axed from the lineup. They do still have the shade 5W1 which I can also get away with, so I’ll show you that shade in this post. There are still 31 shades in the range which is still decent. Since this is a relaunch, they have the sales data from the last lineup to know which shades are selling. Not much comfort for those of us who may need to pick a new shade, but that’s the way it goes.
New refillable packaging for 2022
Update May 1, 2025: The Estee Lauder Double Wear Matte Powder Foundation has been reformulated. At the end of April 2025, I saw the new formula pop up on the Macy’s and Nordstrom websites.
Discontinued shades: One shade had been discontinued sometime before January 2022 so in total there are 11 shades that are not in this new range that did exist at some point.
7C1 Rich Mahogany
6N2 Truffle
5W1.5 Cinnamon
5N1.5 Maple
5C1 Rich Chestnut
4W4 Hazel
4N3 Maple Sugar
3W2 Cashew
3C1 Dusk
1W0 Warm Porcelain
1N0 Porcelain
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you may have seen my review of this powder back in January. If you have, then the rest of this post will be a repeat of a review you’ve already read. I just wanted to give you that heads up.
Estee Lauder claims that this powder is soft and weightless, and I definitely agree. It feels like I have nothing on when I wear it alone as a powder foundation. That does translate to less coverage than some people might be looking for given the Double Wear name. This powder was designed to be a buildable multi-use powder, so it does start off as light coverage. Not a lot of powder picks up on the brush, which helps it function well as a setting powder. Getting into the buildable claim, it does build on itself with no issue. You can achieve a medium coverage if you apply it with a brush and apply two layers. If you use the included sponge you can get more coverage, but I don’t think it ever quite gets to the full coverage that the brand claims. The sponge also applies the product heavier, so just one layer gives me medium coverage. A second layer with the sponge does improve the coverage a little, but some of my scars still peak through. But again, it looks heavy applied with the sponge and accentuates texture on me.
Laura Mercier Flawless Fusion Ultra-Longwear Concealer in 4W (top) and 5W (bottom)
Laura Mercier Face Illuminator Highlighting Powders
Laura Mercier RoseGlow Forbidden Rose Caviar Stick
Since the brand started a 20% off sitewide sale today it seemed fitting to continue on with my best sellers series. To keep it simple, I use the brand website’s best seller list rather than retailers like Sephora and Ulta. I have already done a best sellers post on MAC, MAC Vol. 2, Maybelline, NARS, Bobbi Brown, and Clinique if you’d like to check those out.
I think all of these products are forgotten simply because Laura Mercier as a brand isn’t as hyped up unless people are talking about the setting powder. I am still in love with the Candleglow Sheer Perfecting Powder (actually wearing it today 🙂) and it’s no surprise to me that it isn’t on the best sellers list. I really hope that more people try this powder out so it can get the appreciation it deserves. Laura Mercier is going to be experiencing some restructuring since Shiseido sold the company. I’m excited to see what happens from here. In the meantime, let’s talk about what products I’ve tried that are currently on their best sellers list.
I was feeling a bit nostalgic looking through some old pictures, and decided it’d be fun to take you along with me.
Urban Decay Born To Run Palette
Urban Decay Born To Run Palette
To me (and many others), this was such a good palette that should have been permanent. This being discontinued makes me sad, especially since Urban Decay seems to be switching all of their eyeshadows over to their new vegan formula. I have nothing against vegan formulas, but I just do not like theirs. I did check out the Wild Greens Palette in person, and while it was cute, the formula felt like the eyeshadow singles that I tried last year (check out those swatches and my review here). I assume my other love, the Naked Heat, will be discontinued as soon as they can get rid of the remaining inventory. At least that is my perception based on the new vegan formula releases and the constant sales of the older palettes. I guess we’ll see what happens.
Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Crisis
Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Crisis
Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Crisis
I have not tried the new formulation of the Vice lipsticks, and to be honest, I’m kind of being stubborn about it because I loved the Vice formula so much. This was one of the best cream lipsticks on the market. I tried several colors over the years, and they all wore well throughout the day and had great pigment. I would say it has a thicker formula, which I personally love, but a lot of the lipstick formulas that are released these days are thinner. I have seen this available on the Nordstrom Rack website, so if you like to shop there, it’s something to consider.
Update: I have swatches posted of the new lipstick formula (Urban Decay Vice Hydrating Lipstick) in the shades Depends on Traffic (cream), Horchata (matte), Liar (cream), and Ravenswood (cream). I didn’t purchase any of the shades because I felt they didn’t have enough shine. You can click here to see that post if you are curious about some of the new shades.
Pat McGrath Eyedols Eye Shadow in Enraptured, $12.50
Pat McGrath Enraptured
This is kind of a weird one because it seems like they are discontinued since they’ve been on sale for $12.50 (marked down from $25.00) for a VERY long time. There are also 4 shades available at Bergdorf Goodman, but they are still the full price for some reason. So I’m not sure if this one is actually discontinued, but as of today, there are still a lot of shades available directly from the Pat McGrath website for $12.50. I’m still recovering from missing out on the 50% off sale that the Pat McGrath website had yesterday 😭. If you are interested in other Pat McGrath products, they do have 25% off select products right now, although these are not included.
Pat McGrath Enraptured
Anyways, this is a beautiful color and the formula is amazing. It is by far the most pigmented eyeshadow I’ve ever used. That could be good or bad depending on your preference, but I still find that it is easy to work with. It is easy to use as a one-and-done shade or for a more complex look it blends well with other colors. I’ve never minded buying single eyeshadows, but I know a lot of people complained about the $25.00 price, but there is no way you’ll go through this very fast since it is so pigmented. I think they were worth the full price, but you can’t beat this quality for $12.50.
If you like this kind of content, revisiting older or limited edition products, check out my Limited Edition Love post. It has a lot of throwback products to reminisce about 🙂.
What about you guys? Are there any discontinued or limited edition products that you’re still loving?
If you’d like to check out more of my content, here are some places to start.
Disclaimer: I purchased all products featured with my own money. This site receives a minimal commission from participating in the WordAds program and using affiliate links (marked with **). For my full disclosure policy, click here.
I looked high and low to find a swatch or review of this blush on someone closer to my skin tone and finally, Lili came to the rescue. If you are a regular here, you should know Lili by now if not from me mentioning her and her blog, then from her helpful thoughts in the comments. We both have dry skin and typically have similar experiences with products. However, we differ a little on the MAC Mineralize Blush formula, so I would suggest checking out her post to get her perspective as well.
MAC Mineralize Blush in Flirting With Danger, $33.00
MAC describes Flirting With Danger as a burnt red orange.
MAC Mineralize Blush in Flirting With Danger
This blush was as hard as the glow play formula to photograph. When I have this issue photographing them on the color wheel tends to help. Putting the shade against red and red-orange on the color wheel does reveal that there is more depth a cooler lean to this shade. UPDATE: It was so hard to figure out how to explain this color and I thought I had it down but of course a better way to say it just came to me. So my apologies if this ends up being confusing. It is not that it is cooler, it is that the tone has been deepened rather than being a bright red.
It is still very much a warm red-orange shade but on my olive undertone, I lose some of the orange tones for some reason (when sheered out) and it just looks like a red. You can see the red-orange come out more when it is compared to another shade further down in the post.
When I decided to post about these products I had no idea a MAC sale was on the horizon, but as luck would have it, one started yesterday. Right now on maccosmetics.com loyalty members can get 25% off their purchases (no code needed). It is free to join the loyalty program but if you don’t want to join you can still get 15% off your purchase. The sale ends at 3:00am EST on 3/15/2022.
If you are a MAC fan like I am, then you’ve likely also seen them do better sales than this one. So it may be worth it to you to hold out for 30-40% off which we did see them do last year.
I purchased a new Glow Play Blush and a Powder Kiss Soft Matte Eyeshadow this past summer when I made my way out to the Cosmetics Company Store (CCO) to do some shopping. If you aren’t familiar with the CCO (Cosmetic Company Store), it is a discount outlet owned and operated by Estee Lauder Companies. You can find several of their brands like MAC, Too Faced, Clinique, Origins, Smashbox, Bobbi Brown, Tom Ford, and of course, Estee Lauder being stocked at a discounted price. Sometimes the inventory is discontinued and other times it is just overstock. If you are not sure if you are near a CCO, you can check here (Tanger outlets) and here (Simon Premium outlets) to find out. If you have one near you, it can be dangerous 😂, but it is definitely worth checking out. Just to give you an idea of the deals the Glow Play Blushes retail for $31.00 and I paid $12.00 for mine at the CCO.
MAC Glow Play Blush in Rosy Does It, $33.00
MAC describes Rosy Does It as a jewel tone purple.
Clinique Beyond Perfecting 2 in 1 Foundation plus Concealer WN 82 Latte
Whether you already use Clinique foundation in your daily makeup routine or have been wanting to try one of their foundations, this is a good sale. I recently reviewed two of their best-selling foundations in my Forgotten Best Sellers: Clinique post. If you are interested in a review of the Beyond Perfecting Foundation + Concealer or the Stay Matte Foundation, you can check that post out.
Clinique Beyond Perfecting, $34.00 ($24.00 during sale)
Clinique Beyond Perfecting is one of the best full coverage foundations for my dry skin so I have tried several shades over the years. My best match is WN82 Latte for most of the year but WN98 Cream Caramel works a bit better in the summer despite being a little orange on me. As a heads up, I do think the shade WN82 Latte has been discontinued because it is in the last call section on the Clinique website. Pictured below are shades CN90 Sand, WN82 Latte, WN98 Cream Caramel, WN 114 Golden.
Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation + Concealer (L to R): CN90 Sand, WN82 Latte, WN98 Cream Caramel, WN 114 Golden
I have a sample card of the Beyond Perfecting Foundation, so I have also swatched the shades WN125 Mahogany and WN76 Toasted Wheat below.
If you follow the beauty industry closely, then you know that new releases are happening all the time. So let’s discuss what new products are on my radar right now.
I stopped posting these over a year and a half back. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long. When I noticed that these posts were becoming more of a shopping list rather than just window shopping, I decided to take a break. But I wanted to give it another try to see if it could be an outlet to talk about makeup without buying so much of it. We’ll see how it goes.
KVD Good Apple Concealer, $28.00: I was so disappointed to find out that I can’t use this formula. While alcohol in the formula won’t be a deal-breaker for everyone, I don’t gamble with it on my dry, sensitive, eczema-prone skin. The alcohol is the fourth ingredient in this concealer, so that is a high enough amount for me to pass on buying. I did go in-store and swatch this so I’ve included those swatches below for anyone that may still be interested. It is getting very good reviews even from people with dry skin.
Nikki From HR 