Sunday, February 26, 2012

An Afternoon With Bobby Carlos and Max Factor Ageless Elixir


Last Thursday, I got together with some select beauty bloggers in an intimate late lunch/early dinner with the people behind a very iconic makeup brand - Max Factor together with their Chief Makeup Artist, Mr. Bobby Carlos as they introduced to us Max Factor's newest foundation - Ageless Elixir 2 in 1 Foundation - a foundation which incorporates skin care for the very busy career woman who never seemed to have at least one hour to put on makeup.

After my doctor's appointment since I was kofkofing, I went back home, curled my hair, got my camera, and hopped over to Zuni in Greenbelt 5 where I was welcomed by Aireen where she introduced me to the people behind the Max Factor brand. Max Factor has probably been around much much longer than probably - the time I learned to walk. Remember when we were kids and we have those school plays where our mums or schoolteachers would powder our skin with Max Factor pancake foundation? Or the Max Factor lipfinity liquid lipstick that never seemed to come off? Max Factor has been present in the vanities of moms, aunties, grandmas, stage actors, tv actors, and beauty pageant contestants. If you were a kid or teenager in the 80's, Max Factor sure was one of the stuff in the makeup kit.

Bobby's epic makeup station was already set up.


Dream makeup station! White lights, big mirror, and lotsa lotsa lotsa makeup organized. *drool*


Panstick foundation! Beauty contests anyone? That's the ultimate drag queen and theater foundation makeup with full coverage at its finest. Remember what Manila Luzon said in his makeup tutorial? "If your skin could still breathe, you're not applying enough!" But seriously, if you need like full on big theater transformation coverage - get this with all your might.

A "self-portrait" of me with the star of today's event in all seven shades- the Max Factor Ageless Elixir 2 in 1 foundation.




They look like bottles of liquid gold treasures, don't they?


The program started with Bobby giving us a lowdown on the product. The Max Factor Ageless Elixir 2 in 1 Foundation was created for women 35 and above, which are women who are at the peak of their careers who do not have the luxury of time to put on makeup for an hour. This foundation incorporates skin care into the product so not only does it provide the coverage we need but it also protects our skin with SPF 15 plus a very potent anti-wrinkle serum that cares for our skin too. However, this doesn't mean that women at our age should steer clear away from it like the plague. Women with dry skin could still use this since it's got a lot of ingredients to help hydrate the skin. It sits on top of the skin rather sinking into the pores so we need not worry of makeup clogging our pores that they suffocate, die, and cause ugly breakouts the following day.



Bobby demonstrates to us a very quick makeup routine on Jamie, using Max Factor products. We were free to test the products too as there were also samples for us to try. This makeup look is inspired by one of Hollywood's loveliest and sexiest screen sirens - Marilyn Monroe - the classic clean eye and red lip combo that's very easy to do. Only, he uses orange lipstick instead of red, to give it a more modern, updated look.

The foundation is already good enough to be used as a concealer from his demonstraton. Actually, on "normal" days, we could just dot and blend foundation only where needed and set with powder. It's nice to show more skin rather than have what we all jokingly call a "Foundation Day", where foundation could be distinguished miles away from home. When I was trying the foundation on on myself, it was potent enough to diminish my red spots and hide my undereye circles, it's all just finding the right shade.


After the demo, Jamie looks all glammed up yet still very very fresh. Another thing about this look is that it's so easy to do with very minimal equipment. I think Bobby used only like around 7 brushes for this look - foundation brush, powder brush, 2 eyeshadow brushes, an eyeliner brush (to demonstrate liquid liner application), and a lip brush. There were only two eye colors used - a nude base color and a black contour color (which also doubled as liquid liner when applied wet). It's not only quick but money-saving too. Another money-saving tip I learned with Bobby? The only lipliner a personal makeup kit needs is one in a nude shade. Sure, I own like a lot of lipliner shades, but I do this for a living so I need a lot of shades, but if you just do makeup for yourself, nude lipliner would do.

Bobby used a flat foundation brush to apply foundation. Of course, for work purposes, we use brushes. We need not necessarily use a flat foundation brush - we could use our favorite foundation brush - a stippling brush works nicely too or the makeup tool you've had ever since you were born - your fingers! Make sure they're clean, of course.

I used my fingers to apply the foundation on me and blended with a sponge. I used Golden on me, since I'm more on the warmer yellower side of the skin tone spectrum. I was thinking Natural first, but it worked more as undereye concealer/highlighter for me. Actually, it sets in a powdery non-sticky finish so a light dusting of loose powder is okay to set this for girls with dry/combination skin (I would guess some dry-skinned girls need not set this at all).



I needed a bit of powder in me as although I'm not oily, matte skin isn't my natural bare skin and it's like a reflector of some sort, so I need something to mattify it. When I asked about staying power, it stays on quite well. A bride can wear this to a wedding and still look pretty post-reception, provided that she not get overcooked in heat or jump in the swimming pool or ocean after. It's also got a nice, fruity smell to it. If you're not a fan of fragrance, though, this may not be for you. The fragrance though, is very mild instead of heady. It actually smells quite fresh when applied.

We didn't go home empty-handed as we took home the Max Factor Ageless Elixir in our own shade in a pretty quilted traveller's kikay kit plus more sample-sized shades for me to try.


Thank you Max Factor for the invitation and Bobby Carlos for the awesome, awesome quick and effortless makeup look we learned and all the other tips we got. :)

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