I’m a big fan of inexpensive make-up. It’s fun to try a new look without breaking the bank, and it’s always smart to have a few kooky items around (lavender eye glitter, anybody?) for dates with friends and parties. And once in a blue moon, you find a bargain that becomes your all-time favorite, must-have-forever make-up product. (Many women swear by Maybelline Great Lash--a whopping $4.00 at your local drugstore.)

Like most women, I am always on the quest for a long-lasting, yet breathable foundation. It has to match skin tone and type perfectly. It needs to rinse off easily at the end of the day, but not smudge your last clean white button-down shirt on the way to work.

This week I tried Rimmel’s Stay Matte Compact Powder Foundation in my ongoing quest.

Advantages:
-Great texture: fine, but not too powdery or filmy
-Fairly long-lasting
-Light fragrance (when you’re wearing something that close to your nose, you don’t want it to be overpowering)
-Minimal packaging (for you eco-friendly fashionistas)
-Good-sized mirror for a compact

Disadvantages:
-I bought the True Ivory color (the shade just above the lightest tone available) and was shocked to see how dark it was. It was almost like a bronzer. You would think that make-up developed for fair girls in rainy London would work well on a pasty girl from Seattle, but I guess not. Many drugstores will now let you take back a color that doesn't work for you.
-The compact itself is somewhat unattractive; it’s purely functional, not pretty.

For the price (about $5.00-6.00), I was pretty pleased with it. Interested fashionistas can check it out at drugstore.com or Wal-mart.