No-Makeup Makeup

I watched The September Issue on DVD last night, and a few things kept popping back into my brain.

1. Grace Coddington is a genius. The artistry of the photos in comparison to the other shoots really stood out for me. I plan on looking at back issues of Vogue the next time I'm in the library.

2. EVERYONE (even Anna Wintour, to an extent) was wearing the "no makeup" face. Creamy foundation/tm finish (not a powder in sight), well-groomed brows, pinkish blush, pinkish creamy balm (no gloss, no glitter). This is a look I like, but find hard to achieve. What's worked for me:

NARS Penny Lane blush. I'm actually out of this right now and should probably get some more, but I'm trying to use up a Tarte blush stick in Flower Child, which is sort of similar. NARS creme blushes are blendable without being too sticky or dry.

Burts Bees Pomegranate Lip Balm/Fresh Rose Sugar lip balm. This is funny, because the former is $2 and the latter is about $22. The Fresh Balm is infinitely more moisturizing, but sooooooooo expensive. Fresh apparently has a plum version of this out now-- I've read conflicting reports of how plum or fuschia it reads. The Rose balm is a semi-bright pink/red on me. In each case I think it's the *lack* of shimmer that matters for this natural look.

What hasn't worked for me (yet!):

Brows. I have relatively full brows and wear glasses always, so I find it hard to groom them regularly. It's painful!

Skin. As I age, I find it harder to achieve a creamy finish that still blends out my skin tone. Right now, I have a Josie Maran tinted moisturizer in Creme. It's a pretty good color match and the argan oil in the product is soothing to my skin. My only caveat: I think it's gotten darker as the tube is running out, as if the pigment is separating from the base. I know that Laura Mercier is great, but I'm sort of between Porcelain and Nude, which makes buying that one hard for me at that price point.

Funny that Vogue kind of "sold" me on this look, when the issues are so "done" in other ways.