The "interview went well but let's not jinx it, I'm still happy though" haul.

So I had an interview today, in fact, a third interview with the same company. Boy, are these guys thorough, but I am very, very hopeful in landing a place. I put a lot of effort into my makeup beforehand, A LOT. I mean, like, almost an hour. And then a lot of fussing over and over about the foundation and about the eyeshadow. The eyeshadow was fixed easily, should have just kept it basic with the Blue Brown duo-chrome Pigment by MAC and that solved everything, but I was really self-conscious of my skin. I was pretty well covered using a mix of NARS Sheer Glow and MAC Studio Fix Fluid, but you could still see some hyperpigmentation, old acne scars, a tad bit of redness peaking through. But the interview went well. Really well. I don't want to jinx it, but damn I was quite happy walking out. And so a treat was clearly in order, right?

I picked up a humble three items, first stopping in at the Estée Lauder counter and decided to test out the ever raved about Double Wear foundation. Oh my god, more on that in a second, but let's just say I was impressed. And then I stopped over at The Balm section of David Jones, and played around a bit and picked up a blending brush. 

left to right, without flash: stay-in-place heavy swatch, stay-in-place blended, mineral rich loose powder heavy swatch, mineral rich loose powder blended

With Flash

Okay, Estée Lauder. First, let me say the gentleman, Ben, was so nice and helpful. I've never been to the Estée Lauder counter for myself, usual just go with my mum and get whatever GWP that she gets, but what with my fretting about my base today, I gave in and went to go have a look-see. I had a brief look at how the shades work, it goes 1 for the lightest intensity to (I think) up to 4 (maybe 6 in North America) for the deepest intensity and then have cool, warm or neutral shades in each. And then some other number at the end, which is indicates the undertone strength. Ben helped match me to Cashew (3W2) in the Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup, and Intensity 3.0 in Double Wear Mineral Rich Loose Powder Makeup.

Literally, my reaction when he held up the mirror was "wow". It matched wonderfully, and it seriously covered up my hyperpigmentation, acne scars, redness. My skin looked so glorious and just so even and I couldn't stop smiling. Why the hell did it take me so long to dip in?! And, from what I've read, the all day claim really rings true: your makeup will look the same as it did in the morning. Goddamn, this is a damn good foundation, and the packaging is nifty and cute too. I feel so stylish and professional and grown up. 

Ben even put blush on me and everything, just so lovely the whole time. And even chucked in 5 samples of their Advanced Night Repair serum in the bag too. Good god will I be going back to Estée Lauder to investigate other amazing products, the service was so excellent too.

And how am I meant to apply this wonderful foundation without a brush? I wasn't even that interested in the brush range by theBalm considering what I had seen were basically just double ended brushes. Not too keen on those, I mean, how do you store them? But, I saw this dome shaped brush peek out and I grabbed at it and, ooh, not double ended, first hurdle passed. Dome shaped? Good, looking for one of those, don't have one of those. Sturdy AND super soft? OH MY GOD, where do I pay? The downside of this brush (and thank god this brush will only be in my brush holder at home), the... "artwork" on it is so not my style. Bright green saying Blend a Hand indicating the brush name, and on the other side, sunburst ochre and beige with hands holding up various brushes? Not even the Blend a Hand brush. If this wasn't so soft and nicely shaped and appropriately priced, I could have probably shelled out the money for a Wayne Goss or MAC domed brush. But I like the shape and density very much, I can apply foundation in the nooks and cranies, and use for contouring too.

Overall, I think this was a very justifiable haul, I mean. How can you reason someone not needed a fabulous foundation and powder and a great brush? My confidence (although not entirely vectored upon my appearance, makeup definitely helps) will increase when I put this on. God, even just thinking about when I can use these babies gets me giddy.