Okay. So, after my cataract surgery I had a rude awakening. More like a scary awakening.  I saw my face in the mirror. It was rather frightening simply because during my cataract phase, especially as the cataracts grew worse, I saw myself in a blur.  This meant any flaws, discoloration or wrinkles were basically out of my sight.

You can’t imagine my surprise when, after my eyesight became damn near perfect, the reflection that stared back at me was decades older than I imagined.

This wasn’t nearly as scary as my real reflection!

I had to think quickly.  Although there was nothing I could surgically do to change the ageing process, I realized that it had to be dealt with in a more positive manner.  I studied my face and played around with various liquid foundations that I already have—and lord knows I have quite a few.

Find the foundations!  There are three in this pic but in my makeup collection, there’s gotta be about 15!

And with a few days off from work to recover, playing around with face makeup (I was not allowed to wear eye makeup) wasn’t such a bad activity to while away the time.

Most of the liquid foundations I have were creeping into my lines and caking up after a while. I really don’t want that at this time.  I’m not saying there’s no longer a use for liquid foundation, it’s just that I started looking more into other options.

Mineral powders do not work for me and never have. My skin is just too dry and the effect, no matter how much moisturizer or primer I use, is horrific.  The powders leave my skin feeling like the Sahara and looking pretty much like the famous desert as well.

Some time ago, I ordered cream makeup from RCMA and I liked it.  It was time to revisit but I wanted to research more about cream cosmetics. So, I did.  And discovered Maskcara Beauty.  The company was started up by a blogger and took off. There is a plethora of tutorials on this brand so I watched many of them and became quite intrigued.

I’m a fan of the RCMA cream makeup but I wanted to try something different for a change!

On Instagram, a woman I follow @over60gal happens to sell the brand’s makeup. I like her little tutorials and she seemed like a nice person so I kept her in mind. The more I researched this makeup the more I became interested.  But I was wary about one thing—the business is run like an Avon thing. Maskcara Beauty is an MLM-Multi Level Marketing company  and the sellers are “artists” when I’m sure most of them have no cosmetology experience at all other than selling Maskcara Beauty.

A few of the MLM’s that are available..

Regardless, the products still interested me and so I bit the bullet and made a purchase.

My first of two purchases consisted of two highlighters  (basically concealers/foundations) an illuminator, a contour, a lip and cheek color and two eye shadows.  As a gift, because I bought more than four products, I received a palette that stored four of the products purchased.  All items with the exception of the eye shadows are creams. The shadows are powder.

Top–The first Purchase, Left to right:  Contour-Ash; Highlight-Candelight; Illuminator-Dulce; Highlight-White Peach     Bottom-Second Purchase: Highlight-Mango; Bronzer-Bella; Highlight-Aura; Illuminator-Pearl

The highlighters, contours, illuminators are all housed in cute little tins.  And for the price of $14 per, it seems a bit on the pricey side until you realize that just a small amount of product is needed-trust me, a small amount is all you need.  The eyeshadows cost $12 each.

Two of the shadows.  Rigoletto on the left, Sabrina on the right.  To be honest, I love the shadows but don’t use them because it’s too much of an effort to take them out of these plastic thingys.

The palettes, made of sturdy cardboard are magnetized and come with built-in mirrors.  They run the gamut in price depending on the size. The prices are from $12 to $40.

Here’s what the palettes look like closed. They are pretty but I just do think they are overpriced.  

The tutorials, from various “artists” can be found on YouTube. In all honesty, the one artist who I feel is the best is a woman named Sarah Martin who goes by the name on both YouTube and Instagram as The Contoured Chemist (on Insta as @thecontouredchemist).  She is, hands down, remarkable.

Sarah Martin aka The Contoured Chemist. I’m not kidding when I tell you to head to her YouTube channel.  Her tutorias are incredibly.  You’ll binge on them!  She knows her stuff!

She’s younger than our demographic of the over 50-60 crowd but she’s incredibly knowledgeable about the brand’s products and she uses them, and educates about the products so well. Her tutorials are easy to follow, greatly detailed and she’s got a great personality—she’s amiable and not condescending in any way.

Inasmuch as Sarah is great, I really can’t say that for a number of the artists that have tutorials.  My main issue is with the contour. Most of these artists leave a clear line of demarcation with the contour that it drives me nuts.  Contour is supposed to be blended in to give the illusion of a shadow and not warpaint!

 (Photo by Mark Boster-Pool/Getty Images)

One would think Lindsay Lohan would know how to apply contour but that line of demarcation is so obvious. And that’s the biggest concern I found in watching quite a few of the Maskcara tutorials.  You need to blend–like REALLY blend!

And there is definitely a learning curve with the makeup.  You really need to blend, blend.  If too much product is used, you can end up with a heavy look.  The contour, although creamy has a drier texture than the other products so you really have to play around to find out the best application for your needs.

 No–Chippy didn’t make a mistake!  It’s the Ash contour and it IS drier than the other creams but once it’s warmed up from the heat of your finger, its all good!  I LOVE this color because it looks just like a shadow when you apply and blend!

The brand sells brushes and a blending sponge that is highly recommended but I didn’t want to spend the money. Instead I found brushes on Amazon that are dupes and I use a blending sponge from InStylish that works beautifully.

These brushes from DUcare are fantastic!  I purchased them on Amazon and have the link from my Amazon Storefront for you  (Disclaimer I do receive a small commission from Amazon on items sold) : DuCare Brushes

I’ve been using the Maskcara products exclusively for the past two weeks to get a good feel of how the brand works for me and how the makeup looks and I can say that I’m a fan.  So, lets go and I’ll show you how I use them.

Always start off with a clean face, naturally.  I moisturize in the morning after washing my face and brushing my hair.  Then I wait about five minutes and apply primer.

Caveat.  The pics below are in very natural light. They aren’t flattering pics and I wanted it that way so you could see an untouched and unfiltered photo of a normal 65-year old woman!

Oh. Scary!  Nothing on my face except moisturizer. My poor husband has to wake up to this!!

While I realize that primer isn’t essential, I happen to love primer.  With the cream-based makeups, a non-silicone primer works better, in my opinion.  One of the primers I swear by is from the brand Etude, a Korean brand I purchase from Amazon. This is a great primer and I just reordered for the third time!

Hands down–this is one of the greatest primers ever.  It isn’t silicone-based and that’s key if you use a primer with the cream makeups.  LOL!  I received my new primer today–I can’t be without this.  Here’s the Amazon Link-I’m shilling but don’t get mad at me!  It’s worth every penny of the $13.40 Etude House Primer

Next, I head to the eye makeup. I always begin with the eyes because fallout from shadows and any mishaps are better left at the beginning rather at the end after everything else is applied! Doing this also allows for the primer to “set”.

After the eyes, I apply the shade “Mango” under my eyes and anywhere that the redness needs to be toned down. It’s important to use a light touch.  I pick the product up with my brush and push the product in then blend like crazy.  And I use an old Tarte buffing brush to blend.

Pressing the brush into Mango…

Then after pressing the product onto my face, and after blending, I’m buffing with this Tarte brush,

This is followed by a highlighter.  Again, I press the brush down to lift product then press into my skin to blend.

Adding the White Peach highlighter!

Again. Press and blend–don’t be afraid!

On to contour. The shade I am using is Ash and I love it.  It’s a cool toned grayish taupe that gives a great shadow effect.  It’s on the dry side so I pick it up with my finger. The warmth from my skin helps to soften the product.

Ugh. Don’t mind my nails. I need a manicure but I was too lazy to sit at the nail place this weekend. Anyway, I pick up the contour with my finger and…

Swipe it on my wrist..

 I then swipe it on my wrist and pick up the product with a brush and press into my skin and blend like a Ninja smoothie maker! It’s such a subtle color but adds the definition to the cheekbones that you need.

Contour is on and needs to be blended but I wanted to show you where I apply it!

Cheek color is next.  I’m using Hollywood which is a nice shade but a bit on the light side. It gives a nice flush though. In addition, I’m using a Real Techniques brush because I prefer using a smaller one for application.

BTW, the Hollywood cheek/lip color is kept in the tin because I didn’t have room in the palette.  But I prefer to apply this with a Real Techniques brush!

Hollywood is a very light blush–more of a flush!

Word to the wise. Use a brush that has a short handle. I was going to use this Jeffrey Starr brush to apply the illuminator and the tip scratched the highlighter and was left with a mess.  Why am I so clumsy?

My innate ability to clumsily destroy stuff fascinates me–and not in a good way.  Use a short brush!

I added illuminator in Dulce after my blush was applied. I applied with my finger and used a brush to blend. All was set with a damp, almost dried, blending sponge!

Added Dulce illuminator–and used my finger…

All set with the InStylish blending sponge.  The one sponge Chippy didn’t eat!

He usually finished off a sponge every couple of months.

Finished look?  I added mascara, eyeliner, lip gloss and hair! The end result is polished and dewy.  I’m pleased.

Finished the eyes.  Added a gloss and threw on some hair!  I’m good to go!

Cream makeup is definitely the way to go for me these days.  But don’t forget that there are other products you can also use.  I’ve got pics below of some you may like.

Pleased as punch with Maskcara Beauty!

Kat von D Shade and Light Contour. The products in this palette are incredibly creamy. I purchased this over a year ago at TJ Maxx for a mere fraction of the original $48.  I think I paid $12.99.  And it is wonderful.

If you see the Kat Von D Contour at TJ Maxx–grab it!

More cream foundation/concealer—RCMA.  This was purchased from Beautylish.  I like these a lot and as with Maskcara beauty, there is a learning curve with these creams.  It takes a light hand.  I find that the Maskcara products are creamier than the RCMA.

The opened Kat Von D Contour–the shades are comparable to Maskcara. The orange color corrector is akin to Maskcara’s Mango!  And the RCMA cream palette can be found on Beautylish–although I think value-per-dollor is better with Maskcara!

Subtl Beauty. I LOVE this brand and it is my “go-to OG” for travel.  I’ll be traveling to Cincinnati in a little over a week to see my daughter and my Subtl Beauty stacks will come with me.

And although Hollywood by Maskcara is lovely, I do prefer the lip/cheek colors from Subtlbeauty. The price points are the same and the Subtl Beauty products come house in plastic!

I think if Maskcara offered plastic palettes to purchase, it would make the cosmetics more travel-friendly because I have this “thing” that cardboard, over time, just won’t last as well as plastic packaging.  The stacks twist on and off making them more secure.

So that’s it.  It’s important that as we proage we realize it may be time to revisit what kinds of makeup and what brands we use.  I think Maskcara is a decent brand. So far. So good. Try it I think you’ll like it!