Marc Jacobs Beauty Genius Gel foundation and Perfection Powder

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It’s been a long weekend for me. I have been very busy working on a number of creative projects.
Part of my weekend was spent getting dolled up in order to capture some pictures for a review of Marc Jacobs Beauty ‘Genius Gel Foundation’ and ‘Perfection Powder’.

marc jacobs beauty products copy

Marc Jacobs Beauty was kind enough to send me the items in order to try them out and share my thoughts about them.

I’ve previously written about my history with makeup–particularly how my life was transformed by the discovery of foundation when I was sixteen. Being an “ugly girl” plagued by insecurity-based vanity, I’ve had a conflicting relationship with makeup.

On the one hand I’ve never liked that I have to wear makeup in order to get people to consider me worthy of notice. I believe women should be encouraged to accept themselves 100% and love themselves with all their imperfections. Because our worth does not lie in our physical appearance. So I’ve gone through spells of rebellion against my makeup wearing self in order to live according to my principles of self acceptance and self love.

But I’m a realist. I’ve lived a little while and I’ve experienced the excruciating pain that comes from feeling like you’re not worth anything because of how you look (or more to the point how you don’t look).  So while I don’t wear makeup 24/7 like I used to when I was younger, I do wear makeup to give myself a boost whenever I’m going to be in a setting or situation where I’m likely to be judged on my appearance.

On to the Marc Jacobs Beauty ‘Genius Gel’ and ‘Perfection Powder’ review…

marc jacobs beauty miracle gel foundation

The Marc Jacobs Beauty Genius Gel Foundation

Description from Marc Jacobs Beauty website

Erase the past, perfect the present and protect the future. This breakthrough gel foundation easily builds from natural to full coverage. Buoyancy Gel™ technology enhances the performance of this long-wearing, anti-aging formula, which includes antioxidant vitamin protection. Awaken your skin’s ideal radiance and clarity.

My Thoughts

So far I have only worn it twice. On each occasion I wore it for 5 or more hours; but I wore it indoors. It held up reasonably well even though it did start to wear off on my nose after about hour 3.

I’ve read reviews where people say you’ll only need 1 or 2 pumps for full coverage. I guess that’s if you have pretty good skin to start with. I don’t have good skin so I had to use much more than 1 or 2 pumps. I suspect it was also because I don’t have the highest quality application tools. I used a foundation brush that seemed like it was rubbing off product as I was applying.

As an aging girl I have the added concerns about foundation settling into and emphasizing my fine lines. I was very pleased that this product (used in conjunction with Maybelline Instant Age Rewind primer) did not emphasize my fine lines.

The main thing I look for in a foundation is the ability to have it on and feel like I’m not wearing any. I can’t say yet whether or not Marc Jacobs Beauty Genius Gel Foundation has that attribute.  I had so many other products on my face for my photo testing session that I don’t think it would be fair to blame it for feeling like my face was pasted in makeup. I definitely did not feel like I wasn’t wearing makeup. Far from that I was very aware that I had on makeup and I felt quite uncomfortable and was significantly relieved once I was finished and could take it all off.

I’ll have to give this foundation a test drive without all the other stuff on my face. At that point I’ll be able to answer to whether or not it has that capability of being so light that you don’t remember you’re wearing it.

Marc Jacobs Beauty Perfection Powder

marc jacobs beauty perfection powder finish line 100

Description from Marc Jacobs Beauty website

Erase Your Past. Perfect Your Present – Add the finishing touch to your makeup ritual with Perfection Powder’s weightless, silky texture. Infused with anti-aging properties, the patented formula eliminates shine and diffuses flaws, setting in place for a perfect finish all day long.

I received the Finish line 100 which is a said to be a “Universal translucent shade” that “perfects all skin tones”.

If you don’t want to look like you’re trying to let your inner Geisha out to play, you probably want to use very little of this product if you have a dark skin tone.

For my photographs I found it necessary to correct my heavy-handed error using my Mabelline Fit-Me pressed powder. I will definitely have to do another test-drive of the perfection powder.

All in all…

beauty journal marc jacobs genius gel foundation sunday shoot 2

Marc Jacobs Genius Gel foundation will be my go-to foundation until the bottle finishes. Once it’s finished I’ll have to go back to my regular drug store brands because I can’t afford a $50 foundation right now.

Marc Jacobs Perfection Powder Finish Line 100 – I’ll have to test-drive this again.

Other products used:

  • Marc Jacobs high liner gel eye crayon (blacquer)
  • Marc Jacobs Le Marc Lip creme (kiss kiss bang bang)
  • Maybelline Instant Age rewind primer
  • Maybelline ‘The Nudes’ eye shadow palette
  • Cameo cosmetics perfect brow (so far first brow product I’ve tried that actually made my brows look decent. And it was easy to use)
  • Niki Garret contour duo
  • Rimmel London Scandaleyes retro glam mascara

Shop Makeup at Amazon

Additional Notes…

It actually took me 2 photo sessions to get some pictures that I could live with. And I still didn’t get great pics. I had to do a lot of work in the photo editing department. Makeup can only do so much! (Yes, I’m aware that I crossed over into the too photoshopped territory and I didn’t do a particularly awesome job.)

The problems I had to overcome:

  • My camera and cell phone refused to take high quality pictures
  • The lighting in my studio (read living room/bathroom) was no good
  • My photographer couldn’t make it (read husband had to go to work)
  • My inner pro makeup artist refused to come out of my head and work her magic on me, leaving me to figure out how to do my own face.
  • My inner ugly girl would not shut her big mouth.  She kept taunting me every time I tried to make my face look cute. She kept laughing in my face and telling me “You’re old and you’re ugly. Hang it up!” And that made it difficult for my inner pretty young thing to smize and shine. She tried hard for me; but she’s no match for her jaded aging mother.

So I ended up with a lot of bad pictures. Thankfully there were a few that were okay enough to work with. And I ended up narrowing them down to this one.

Shop Marc Jacobs Beauty at Sephora

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