Still on my quest for the perfect match. Ellana Mineral Cosmetics is based on the Philippines, and caught my eye because of their promising warmer toned shades. I received a few samples and have been testing them, and must say that I do like the shades quite a bit.
I received samples of the foundation in French Vanilla Latte, White Chocolate and Chai Tea Latte. French Vanilla Latte is a light warm shade, which suited me quite nicely. White Chocolate is a light olive shade, which looked too dark on me. Chai Tea Latte is a light neutral shade, and has less pink than it appears in the picture. I can get away with wearing it too, but I do like French Vanilla Latte better.
Ellana offers two formulations: Glow Enhancer Blend and Premium Blend. The Glow Enhancer Blend provides a light to medium coverage, with a slight sheen. There are no sparkles, and no noticeable glitter whatsoever, just an overall glow. I am not sure if I like this finish. It looks very natural, but as an oily-skinned girl, I usually tend to shy away from a shiny finish. The Premium Blend provides a heavier coverage and a more matte finish. I am not sure how accurately colors translate from one formulation to the other. Both foundations applied quite nicely, and did not feel heavy or cakey.
I also got samples of the finishing powders, in Espresso con Panna and Almond Coffee Cream (which isn't as pink as the picture on the website). They both provided a nice finish, however, did little to keep my face from becoming an oily mess as time went by. In all fairness, the samples I got were from the translucent formulation, so I guess the oil control one would have been a better choice.
The best of the bunch was a blush, Fulfillment. This is a very nice and a little scary looking coral peachy blush. It does not apply as scary as it looks, and gives a very healthy looking flush to the cheeks. The blush wasn't shimmery either, which is a big plus for me.
I got goodies on the mail today, from secret swap. Thanks, Lisa! Sunkissed Jade (MMBB) looks like a very wearable green I should be able to get away with. Can't wait to try them!
That's great that you like Ellana. I'll be going to a local bazaar tomorrow and Ellana will be one of the booths there so I'll get to try and buy FS goodies! I tried it once last year but I gave my samples to my mom since I got the wrong shades.
Posted by: Nikki | 04/18/2008 at 09:40 AM
Great review!
Posted by: MooZee | 04/18/2008 at 01:27 PM
That is great! I wish I could find local MMU around here and be able to select the shades in person. I found Ellana has really natural looking shades for warmer skin colors, hope you find a match this time.
Posted by: Jandi | 04/18/2008 at 01:42 PM
Glad you liked it :)
Posted by: Jandi | 04/18/2008 at 01:43 PM
Ellana sounds interesting, I will have to hop over to their website and take a look. Hopefully shipping will be cheap because they are in Southeast Asia!
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Posted by: my beauty shop | 04/19/2010 at 08:47 PM