Get your foundation shade Pro-fected

I'm very sure one of the hardest things to do when shopping for makeup in Singapore is getting your foundation shade right. Unlike America which allows for refunds, most Singaporean stores and drugstores don't do refunds, and the only way we can possibly get "tested" is actually to put onto our skin the foundation samples that are in store (that god knows has been there for how long and how much germs it contains - no way I'm putting that on my face). Aside from that, most of us do not know how to properly test our foundation shades.

I recently headed down to Sephora at Ion to try out Make Up For Ever's new foundation as well as get my foundation shade tested by their makeup trainer Irwan. MUFE has recently brought into Singapore, one of the best-selling powders they have in the US - The Pro Finish. The Pro Finish comes in 25 different shades in 3 different undertones to help you identity your perfect shade.

Personally, I always feel that it's very intimidating to get your foundation shade tested. Sometimes I just browse around and I get very stressed when the sales assistant approaches me because it makes me feel bad if they go through all the effort but I don't buy anything - but don't worry about it because Irwan told me that it's absolutely ok not to purchase anything because this is part of their job.

Anyway, as the above picture mentioned, there are 3 steps to finding your perfect shade.

#1 Finding your undertone

Irwan guided me through the steps in finding my undertone. They also provide both silver and gold bangles for you to help with answering the question - but I ended up wearing both silvers and golds so that step was omitted.
The answers to my "quiz" was B, C, A - which puts me in a dilemma because how am I supposed to answer to "Mostly A/B/C's" then?? Remember: There is no right or wrong. We all have our preferences but it does not mean that we can't find our undertone this way! I liked the Irwan was giving me his professional imput and ended up advising that my undertone is Neutral. I used to be fairer and would most probably have a cool undertone, but no thanks to outdoor shoots, my skintone got warmer and is neutral now.

#2 Find your tone

The wheels are further categorized into Fair, Medium and Tan. My skin tone belongs to the fair group and Irwan went to pick out the 3 shades for me to test out.

#3 Find your shade

Irwan then swatched the shades along my jaw line after he removed my existing makeup from the area, and here, you are 3 steps away to finding your perfect Pro Finish shade.
a) Picking which you think suits your skintone best
b) Best shade advised by makeup trainer
c) You deciding on which shade you want to get.
As you can see, the shade that suits me best is the shade in the middle, but Irwan advised on the first shade because the foundation will oxidise slightly (especially in humid weather like Singapore's) and so when it does that would be the best shade for my skin tone - which was the perfect advise (show you guys why in a bit).

Overall, the free consultation took about 30 minutes because I decided to get my HD foundation and concealer shade tested as well. It should only take you 15 minutes or so for the Pro Finish.

Here's my face with only the Pro Finish on! I only had some tinted sunblock on when I went :)

One with Irwan! He's such a dear :)

The Make Up For Ever Pro Finish, retails for $69 each and comes with a puff in the underside of the sleek black compact.

I ended up getting the Pro Finish in both shades 113 and 120 (first and second shades tested) for lighter and tanner times. Thanks for the love, MUFE.

Personally, I have been a fan of MUFE's HD powder and I just use my M.A.C foundation for photoshoots all this while. I haven't been too big of a fan of compacts as they have proven to be cakey time and time again - which is why I was soooo shocked with this because it claims (and delivers) 0% cakiness! When Irwan first put on the powder for me, I thought it looked a bit thick for normal usage, but after it settled onto my skin it looked so good on camera and in real life. Think : soft, velvety and transluscent skin.

Without any setting sprays nor primer this powder actually lasted me over 10 hours, and looks just as good as when I just applied it. The oil does control oil, and but does not oxidise as you get oilier. I looked really nice and dewy (dewy, not oily) at the end of the day after wearing it for about 10 hours thanks to their special ingredients
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The powder is very fine and soooo smooth so it's very easy to work with. It can actually be used as a 2-way cake but mostly advised dry-only because some feedback in the US states that using it wet actually gave less coverage. I feel that there's not a need to use it wet since it's medium-full coverage, without looking unnatural!

Plus, remember how I said Irwan advised on the perfect shade?? Here's 113 on me (above my HD foundation) when I wore it for a shoot. When I first put it on, I thought it was a little too light for me (and that my face looked too white), but after having breakfast and hopping onto a cab, here's what it looked what. PERFECT SKIN +_+. Well, gotta give credit to DRx for taking such lovely care of my skin as well~ x

I definitely haven't been as excited over any foundation for a long time as I am excited over this. You guys really have to try it out for yourselves. Would definitely repurchase this over and over again!