Hey, y’all. I thought I’d give you a quick first impression of two new foundations I tried this week. One was Tarte’s Empowered Hybrid Gel Foundation ($39) and the other was Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Foundation ($44).

As a bit of background, I’m always looking for the newest and best foundation — one that gives my skin that perfect coverage and texture. Since skin is ground zero for any makeup look, the right foundation is critical and I’ll go to great extremes to find it.

Things you should know: I’m 56 but don’t have serious issues with wrinkles; I’ve just a few fine lines. I have combination skin — occasionally slightly oily in the T-zone but normal everywhere else. So let’s get to it:

• Tarte Hybrid Gel Foundation: I’m going to be honest, I didn’t like this one bit and it’s going straight back to Ulta this weekend. According to Tarte, it’s made with “skin-loving ingredients wrapped in a luxurious, creamy gel.” It may have loved my skin but my skin didn’t love it. The initial application was fine but within a couple of hours, it was breaking up and looking patchy. It didn’t provide that smooth, flawless look I prefer, even when it was freshly applied. It’s a no for me.
• Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation: Unlike Tarte’s new entry into the foundation game, this one applied quite nicely with my Artis Elite Oval 8 brush. It gave me the good-skin look I crave. Coverage is nice, but not quite as full as, say Make Up For Ever’s Ultra HD. I had a video conference call today and received a number of compliments on my makeup, so it clearly looks good on screen. I’m going to keep this one in my foundation rotation to see whether it becomes a permanent fixture.

Note: I’m wearing Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation in the photo accompanying this blog. The photo has been cropped but it has not been edited or filtered. It was taken in natural sunlight on my front porch.