Ugh Steph, I hate it when I feel all grown-upped out.

Wow, Maria, thanks for the explanation. So now I have a question. I've been a big fan of the Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer for its ability to cover over my rosacea. If I tried one of the more alphabetic ones, I assume I'd need a CC cream? Is that right? Any brand recs?

Glad to be of service, Tep. And I would have regressed into toddler-hood by that point, with a huge case of the don't wanna's.

Burrell, dry, oily, or combination skin? I'm combination, skewing to the oily side. I love the LM tinted moisturizer; it's my weekend go-to. I'm almost exclusively using CC creams now. I can use LORAC's year round, and it's usually the first one I reach for. I also really like Clinique's Moisture Surge CC cream. It's a three-season one for me. I use Benefit's The Big Easy in the summer because of its mattifying and oil absorption properties. My favorite BB cream is Diorskin Nude. It's a bit fuller coverage and it feels amazing on my skin. Even though they're supposed to moisturize the skin, I find I need to use a separate moisturizer to ensure an even application. I also follow it up with a loose setting powder. I use Makeup Forever's HD micro finishing powder for everything. It distributes light very well, smoothing out imperfections for very little work.

I had to put small nails in to hang them and I don't know if you can do that at your place, but I've also used duct tape to keep some in place.

Duct tape really is awesomely good for everything. :Well except for ducts. All the HVAC experts say to *never* use duct tape to seal ducts. But for anything but that it is great stuff.

I tend to have kind of dry skin, I've been really liking the tarte by cream lately. But I totally recommend going to sephora, testing a couple to get a feel, and then get SAMPLES. They will give if you ask, and then you can take it home, see in other lights, test for a few days, etc.

My issue is in the summer, the next-to-lightest shade of whatever foundation/cream is best for me--maybe a hair too dark, but looks better than the lightest shade which makes me ghostly. But now that it's winter, the lightest shade is still a tad too light...but the next one is definitely too dark. I'm contemplating buying another tube of a couple different foundations I like, so I can mix. (I have the makeup4ever hd stuff in lightest, but the urban decay naked in the next shade, and the tarte also in the darker shade). But that gets expensive.

I use Skin79 BB cream that I buy from Amazon, because it's pale enough for me. Or it WAS, but my indoor & nocturnal lifestyle has made me even paler (whoo! unobtainable vampire beauty standards; getting closer!), so I need to find something else.

Right now I'm either using a tiny bit of Kat von D LockIt foundation, or Aromaleigh powder.

But I totally recommend going to sephora, testing a couple to get a feel, and then get SAMPLES. They will give if you ask, and then you can take it home, see in other lights, test for a few days, etc.

Yes, always ask for samples. That's how I figured out which KvD foundation was the right shade of pale.

What they said. Samples are awesome, and Sephora is really good about giving them to you. I also combine two shades to match my skin tone better. I fluctuate between Light and Medium, and I can adjust as my coloring changes.

Maria, do you just go ahead and buy two shades of a thing? I may do that, but it's so dang expensive...

....also now I really want to take a sephora field trip today. No time, but maybe tomorrow...

Thanks everyone. Clearly a visit to Sephora is on my to-do list since I'm running out of the Laura Mercier anyway.

Now that I'm older, my formerly combo skin is dry, plus uber sensitive. I get eczema and rosacea, lucky me! Hence the need for something to smooth out the complexion a bit.