Welcome to this week's Cosmetic Report^™ newsletter. It's our goal to bring you unbiased information about cosmetic products and trends so you can make educated buying decisions. If you've been searching for straightforward beauty information and advice, you've found it here. The Cosmetic Connection Panel of reviewers are consumers just like you who face the same issues and challenges, and look to the beauty industry to help solve them.

This week we are featuring Kristen, a 26 year-old government employee and mother of one from Texas. Kristen frequently makes trips to Houston for cosmetics and skincare and the people at the Laura Mercier counter and the Sephora store know her by name. She has combination skin that is exacerbated in the summer (due to the extreme humidity in Texas) and normal to dry in the winter. She is acne prone with redness around the nose and chin and a handful of red acne scars, which she is always looking for something to even those out. Until then she has settled into finding the perfect foundation/concealer/powder system to cover it. Kristen has large, almond-shaped blue/green eyes that she considers to be her best feature. She is a natural brunette but highlights so it's blonde and "Julia Robert's curly" that she straightens.

Now for Kristen's reviews!

BECCA Cosmetics
BECCA is a relatively new cosmetic line that hails from Australia and has been making quite a buzz here in America. I was very excited to get my hands on a bit of everything from the line, so read on to see if the hype is real.

I first primed my face with the Mattifying Primer, since I have more oily skin. I can't say this worked well for me. It has a bit of a greasy feel and I didn't think it settled well into my skin. I was hoping that it would combat the greasies that I frequently suffer from, but it did not and I didn't think it made my foundation go on smoother or last longer. However, I have not found a liquid-based product designed for this purpose that actually works in decreasing the oiliness, so my expectations weren't that high.

Following the Primer, I applied their Luminous Skin Colour foundation. It is a very light, medium coverage foundation. Since I have a bit of redness in my face, I didn't think this was enough coverage for me, but it may work fine for those of you that don't need or want full coverage in your foundation. I did find, however, that it was a bit greasy for my face and this was only exacerbated by the greasiness of the Mattifying Primer. I just didn't feel like my foundation "set," even after I applied the powder, which I will discuss in a bit.

After applying the foundation, I used the Compact Concealer, which contains two different colors to mix and match to your skin tone. I think this was an okay undereye concealer. I don't have dark circles, but a bit of puffiness, so I can't say how well it'd work on dark circles. I didn't think it provided a nice, smooth finish to my undereye area or made it look brighter. It can also be used for blemishes and other slight imperfections in the face that you may want to cover, but I was afraid to put it on any acne I had because, like the foundation, it felt a bit greasy and I certainly didn't want to aggravate a zit.

To set all the foundation and concealer was the Fine Loose Finishing Powder. After reading Heather's review on how it didn't make her face feel dry and tight, I thought this would be perfect for my sometimes-oily skin. I was wrong. It actually made my face dry and tight, and I have oilier skin than Heather! It was a nice, finely milled powder, but it didn't work for me. Even though it made my face feel tight, I still felt my foundation and concealer never "set." Even if this were a spectacular powder, I would not buy it due to its packaging. I made the biggest mess with it. Every time I opened it up to use it, there was powder everywhere and I wasted so much trying to clean it up. It was always caked on the sides and when I lifted the top off of it, it went everywhere.

After applying the canvas for color, I started off with the Creme Blush. Now, I don't get along well with liquid/cream blushes because I just love the ease of powders. but I really liked the two I tried, Frangipani (pale shimmery pink) and Turkish Rose (dusty rose). They were super easy to apply and blended very well, even for me. The colors were so pretty, too. They looked great on me, and I have a medium skin tone with highlighted blonde hair. They also looked great on my friend, who has black hair. They almost border on being greasy, so go easy with them. I think the wax and oil in them make them easier than others to apply, but I noticed a few small breakouts after having used them. At first, I didn't know if they were from using the foundation or the blush, so I eliminated the foundation and used it with my own foundation, but I still noticed some small breakouts. As much as I love the colors and ease of application, I can't use them again.

Since I am a shimmer product junkie, I thoroughly enjoyed using BECCA's Loose Shimmer Powder in Hyawatha. It was a nice, shimmery powder perfect for highlighting any area of my face, day or night. I like to use it on my shoulders and cleavage as it is not very glittery, but a nice, soft shimmer. I really loved this powder and it didn't make my face feel dry or tight. It's a great product!

Next I used the Creme Eye Colour in Graphite, a shimmery charcoal shade. I love these types of colors on my eyes and it, like the Creme Blush, was very easy to apply. It did, however, crease fairly quickly - after about 3 or 4 hours. It is very blendable and not dry and cakey, which is a plus. I really liked it even though it didn't stay put for very long.

I also used the Glossy Lip Tint in Sangria. It is a nice, sheer pale pink tint. Since I don't care for all-out lip colors, this was perfect for wearing alone or over another lip color. It applied easy and since the color was pale and sheer, it was a pleasant surprise that it stayed on for hours. I'd get this again and also scope out some of their other colors.

I also used the Translucent Bronzing Gel and Shimmering Skin Perfector (SPF 20+). I generally prefer anything that can come in a powder formula since liquid formulas can sometimes be too oily or greasy for my skin. The Bronzing Gel comes out very dark, like the color of mud, but it doesn't look that way after blending. It is not like a sunkissed color, like Laura Mercier's or Clarin's bronzing gels, but it didn't make my face look dirty like I thought it would. I found that it works best when mixed with foundation or moisturizer. The Shimmering Skin Perfector is a very soft, shimmer lotion, but like the Bronzing Gel, I think is best used when mixed with foundation. While it provide my face with a soft luminosity, it made my face a bit greasy, so go easy with it. I prefer a shimmer product in powder form and the Loose Shimmer Powder is good, safe product if you have the same preference and don't care for the greasies.

After having used BECCA for a while, I can't say that most of the aforementioned products worked well for me and my skin type. I don't necessarily have sensitive skin, but I did experience breakouts after having used it and after a few months of eliminating products and using others one at a time, I still had some breakouts. I didn't have the breakouts with products in powder form, but didn't have that luck with the liquid ones. I would like to say that the Creme Blush is one of the best I've ever used as far as ease of application and color are concerned, but it just didn't agree with my face, so it may for you. I just felt like all of the liquid products were greasy with too much wax or oil in them and I never felt like my face was soft and smooth.

You can check out BECCA Cosmetics at beccacosmetics.com, or nordstrom.com.

Thanks for that report, Kristen. We hope you enjoyed this issue of The Cosmetic Report!