THE FOUNDATION LINE UP

Until my spending ban, foundations were probably what I enjoyed buying the most make up wise.  Along with eye shadow palettes of course, and lipsticks, and brow pencils...you get the picture.  I've not bought any new base products in a while, which is actually killing me right now because I am desperate to try the latest offering from NARS!  The ones pictured here today are what I currently have in my collection, some have been repurchased a few times now and others are ones that I'm trying for the first time. 

I'll start with L'Oreal Infallible 24hr Matte and Estee Lauder Double Wear, which to me are both very similar to each other.  They have matte finishes, are full coverage and are really long lasting.  The L'Oreal one is the budget choice, and I find it really easy to blend and cover any uneven skin tone and blemishes.  Double Wear does the same, and I love the lightweight feel of it even though it is full coverage and looks like it's actually thick and cakey.  

Revlon Colorstay is along the same lines as the last two, although I have to say that I rarely use this as even though it is a really good match for my skin tone, I find it really hard to blend and feels like it is clogging my pores around my t zone.  If you want a base that's really long lasting then I'd go for this, but blend blend blend, and then blend again! 

Clinique Even Better foundation is my favourite base when I'm looking for a dewy finish.  It is super light, has medium buildable coverage and lasts well too.  

My most used base has to be Laura Mercier Silk Creme Photo Edition foundation, which just ticks all the boxes.  The coverage is medium buildable to full, the finish is velvety with a natural looking sheen and it just makes my skin look flawless even though it never actually is!  

One that I've been disappointed with is Maxfactor Miracle Match, because it had all the promise of being an excellent drug store find, but it turned out to be hard to blend and also a bad colour match.  A problem that I often find with drugstore foundations is that their lightest shade isn't light enough, and they are often yellow toned which is not very helpful if your skin is pink toned.  This one had yellow undertones, so even when I'd managed to blend it in it made my face a different shade to my neck so I had to remove it again!  

Last up is Jouer Matte Moisture Tint, which technically could come under the tinted moisturiser category but I find the coverage too good be just that.  I've pretty much used this up now, but I lived in it all summer last year because it was so lightweight yet still gave me the coverage I needed.  This one comes second only to Silk Creme for me, I'd definitely recommend giving it a go if you're looking for a light base that still gives some cover.  I really want to try the Luminous Moisture Tint next, so come spring I may have to treat myself!

Let me know which foundations are your favourites!  Do you like any of these? xx

MY CURRENT GO-TO BASE PRODUCTS

One thing that I am always on the lookout for is a new base product.  I have so many foundations yet I still buy another if it takes my fancy.  The same goes for blushers and bronzers - I have a lot that all look similar, but if another catches my eye in Boots then I have to have it!  

Over the summer I was embracing the light, dewy skin look, but now Autumn is well and truly here I have been after a bit more coverage and a flawless, more matte finish.  This is wear Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation steps it.  I bought it recently after previously loving their Camouflage version, which was very full coverage and a lot thicker in consistency.  These days, I'm fortunate that my skin hardly ever breaks out bad enough to need a base with thick coverage, however Double Wear is lightweight to apply yet still gives enough cover to smooth over my troublesome pores and my uneven (aka red) skin tone.  

I sweep a little Rimmel Stay Matte powder over my t zone to mattify and set it, as that is where my skin is oiliest and most likely to run during the day.  Stay Matte has to be one of my holy grail drugstore products, it's as effective as any of its more expensive counterparts and it lasts for ages.

I'm 100% sure I'm not the only one absolutely loving the Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow palette!  I am using this so often that I'm actually a little panicky about using it up, it is without doubt the perfect bronze and highlighting duo - I especially love how the bronze shade looks so natural on my skin, something I struggle to find with other contouring products.  I use the bronze to contour my cheekbones and the highlight on the apples of my cheeks and down my nose and chin.  

At night, I add a couple of drops of the Clarins Radiance Plus Golden Glow Booster to my night cream, so that I wake up with a little natural looking colour.  This product is perfect for adding a small, subtle bit of tan to your face - especially in autumn/winter when the sun is pretty hard to come by!  

What products have you been using to create your perfect base lately?  Do you like any of these products? xx

REVIEW | CHARLOTTE TILBURY MAGIC FOUNDATION

I'm a sucker for a new foundation release, and I'm also a sucker for all things Charlotte Tilbury; so when these two things combined and Magic Foundation (29.50) was born, I was naturally all over it and bought it straight away.

I don't have any stockists local to me, so I had to choose my shade online which I usually don't like doing as 50% of the time I choose wrong.  However, I picked up the second lightest shade and hope for the best.  

When it arrived I was instantly in love with the packaging - rose gold lid = ummm yes!  It comes in a glass bottle and has a pump so from the outside all is perfect.  

I've been wearing it for almost two weeks now and as much as I really hate to say it, it's just not completely bowled me over like I thought it would.  As a base, it does tick most boxes in that the coverage is full but lightweight, it's easy to blend and it evens out my skin tone which is always a good thing for me as I get a lot of redness.  I love it for all of these reasons and I think it does out do a lot of other bases out there that claim to do the same.  The only bad thing for me is that when I'm having a bad skin day and I have some dry patches - it clings to them.  This has happened a few times now, so it makes me think that to get the full benefit out of this otherwise lovely base you would be better having more oily combination skin rather than dry.  My skin switches annoyingly between the two, and my cheeks are the places to get dry whereas my t zone is always combination.  I think this would definitely be the perfect base if you have more oily skin, as the finish is matte with a slight sheen to it. 

I'm really disappointed, as this was one product that I was sure I was going to love!  I do like it for every other reason, but while I still suffer with dryness I won't be able to use it on a regular basis which is such a shame.  However, I totally recommend it if you have more oily skin and want a base that will leave it looking sheer but matte.  

Have you tried Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation?  What do you think of it? xx 

ALL ABOUT THE BASE | MY TOP PRODUCTS

No make up look is complete without a good base right?!  Over the years I have tried so many different foundation and concealer combinations, countless different finishes, loads of highlighters and blushers to try and perfect my complexion.  I think the perfect base that I try and always achieve is a healthy glow that's not shiny, and for once I can say that I've come pretty near to my idea of perfect with these few products.  

My foundation of choice lately is the good old Laura Mercier Silk Creme, which applies easily and goes such a long way.  I also love Jouer Matte Moisture Tint, but Silk Creme gives me a little more coverage that I feel I need right now, especially on my damn pesky chin!  

My concealer of choice for a healthy and natural lift my under eyes is the Rimmel Wake Me Up one.  The coverage is not the best one out there for dark circles, but the illuminating consistency of it means that the light reflection from it works just as well to cover them, and it looks more radiant too.  Once my foundation and concealer is done, I use Bourjois Java Rice Powder to sweep over my whole face and set everything in place for the day.  I love this powder and cannot recommend it enough - I have been loyal to Rimmel Stay Matte for a long time but this has changed everything!  The tiny milled powder has shimmery specks in it that you would think would make your face look horrible and fake, but it actually creates a flawless skin effect and highlights the skin beautifully.  

I finish all of this off by doing a little contouring using the lighter shades of the Anastasia Contour Kit, for someone like me who wasn't blessed with good cheekbones, I use this palette to create some much needed definition!  Lastly, I highlight the places on my face that would naturally catch the light using the Topshop Glow Stick.  I use this on my cheekbones, my cupids bow and on my brow bone and it finishes off the contouring nicely.  

I switch up my products fairly often, but these bits always find themselves in my regular rotation, and I couldn't achieve my base without them!  What products do you use to create your perfect base? xx

SHOPPING MY STASH | 01

I don't know about you, but January for me is always a bit of a tight month when it comes to spending.  I'm still feeling the hit from Christmas, and obviously I couldn't resist a few cheeky sales buys at the beginning of the month either - but now we're right bang in the middle I've been holding back on spending any more money and shopping what make up I've already got instead.  It is actually a pretty good feeling looking through my big drawer of make up and finding some much loved but also rather forgotten gems!  

Among the products I've rediscovered are L'Oreal Miss Manga mascara, which luckily I found unopened (HOW did I let that get forgotten?!).  I really had forgotten how much I liked this mascara, the length it adds to my lashes is brilliant and that's without using lash curlers too.  Also, I found the Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow.  This got pushed aside when I bought the Anastasia Contour Kit, but it is actually just a good at creating some cheekbones for me and it's quicker to use if you are in a hurry in the mornings.  

Benefit High Beam is an all time favourite highlighter of mine, which I use on my cheeks, brow bone and cupid's bow.  It lasts for AGES too, so well worth the investment!  

I had also neglected my beloved Maybelline Color Drama lipsticks since I had bought a couple of high end ones over Christmas, but these have such a good finish and range of colours that I've been picking them up every day lately instead.  

Do you ever go through your make up stash and rediscover old favourites? xx

REVIEW | JOUER MATTE MOISTURE TINT

It's about time I got round to reviewing the much talked about Jouer Matte Moisture Tint, I've been using it for a good few weeks now and thought I'd throw my thoughts on it into the vast blogging mix.

I bought it because I was on the lookout for a lighter base to use during the warmer weather, but I still wanted some coverage.  I have tried a fair few tinted moisturisers before, but I always used a whole lot of concealer with it to compensate for the lack of coverage which seems to defeat the purpose.  At £29, Jouer Matte Moisture Tint is not a product I bought on a whim: I read countless reviews of it and after having it on my radar for over a year, I bought it a few weeks ago in the hope that it would work as well for me as it seems to for so many other people.

I'm glad to say that I'm not at all disappointed!  I feel a bit cautious saying it, but I think this is possibly the closest I've come to finding the Holy Grail base.  That's right I said it.  The formula is almost mousse-like and it applies easily.  I have found it best applies when I use my fingers to blend it in, and a little goes a very long way.  It doesn't cling to any dry patches and it doesn't oxidise or slide off my t zone either - in fact it is only of the only bases I've used that lasts for around 5/6 hours without ending up as a shiny splodge around my nose.  

The finish is matte but in a sheer, healthy glow way rather that dry and flat looking.  I cannot recommend it enough and I think for once it will be a base that I repurchase as soon as I run low on it!

Have you tried Jouer Matte Moisture Tint?  What do you think of it? xx

Review | Clinique Even Better Foundation

 

Hey everyone :)  I thought that I would do a review of my latest foundation, Clinque Even Better.  I bought this a few weeks ago after trawling for what felt like ages through reviews of different medium/full coverage foundations, I watched a fair few You Tube reviews and also read through tonnes of reviews on Make Up Alley as well as obviously looking to see what other bloggers thought.  It’s not a foundation that’s been doing the rounds all that recently, unlike say Silk Creme or something, but I chose this as I had read some very good things and at £22 it cost a little (although not too much) less than some other foundations I have tried. 

 

I bought this in the shade ‘fair’, for obvious reasons!  It is a great match to my skin, if a little warmer than my tone but it is very blendable and looks perfect when it is all on.  It is a medium buildable coverage I would say, and one of the things that I love most about is that it covers redness really well.  I get redness in the areas around the sides of my nose spreading onto my cheeks, and annoyingly very little covers it completely; I end up having to layer on concealer and this works temporarily but it also breaks me out.  This foundation thoroughly covered these problem areas, admittedly I did have to put a little more product on than the rest of my face, but overall I am really impressed that the redness is covered and no extra powder or concealer was necessary! 

 

The finish of this foundation is a lovely dewy glow, which is just what I have been looking for for so long!  It leaves a lovely silky, dewy look that manages to stay clear of looking at all greasy, and on top of that it isn’t cakey at all and it feels so light and weightless.  Basically it is like my skin but better, which is what we all want from a foundation I think!  The photos don’t really show the finish well, but believe me it is lovely and worth every penny! 

 

I will definitely be using this up and when it’s gone I will repurchase it – this never happens with foundation, I usually look forward to trying a new one every month or two, as bad as that sounds!  There is also a claim (I can’t actually remember if I read it on the box or online) that this foundation will also help to improve the overall look of your skin over time, but having only used this for a couple of weeks and also using other skin care, I can’t really say whether this is true for me or not-if I notice anything in the meantime I will be sure to update you! 

 

The coverage is ideal for me over the summer, it is medium so it gives me a great base but it is also light and doesn’t feel like it’s just sinking in to my pores.  I highly recommend this, especially if you like to have more coverage but are looking for something a little lighter for the summer.

 

Have you tried this foundation? xx 

 

Review | Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation

 

Heyy :).  I realise that I’m probably the last person ever to review this product, but I bought it after reading so many good reviews from other bloggers!  I was hesitating for ages whether or not to go ahead and try it, because apart from lipsticks I generally avoid Rimmel due to bad experiences with some of their other products. 

 

I was quite eager to try it when I bought it because of all the good reviews, but when I did…. I was less than impressed :(.  As soon as I put it on I straight away didn’t like the feel of it on my skin, to me it felt cakey and sticky like it would transfer on to everything else.  The colour was an ok match but despite being a dewy, highlighting finish I found it also quite dull and dark for ‘Ivory’.  As you can tell, I’m no expert at describing these things!  But I just thought I would do a review because it’s not as positive as most of the others.

 

One good thing I found about it was the dewy finish which does look quite radiant and fresh, but to me this is no good when the colour isn’t right and makes my face look dull! 

 

I won’t be repurchasing this, and I’m pretty sure I won’t be using it up either, but I may keep it to use when I really want a radiant look and am willing to put up with the colour and transfer issues! xx

 

Sarah x