My Make Up Staples

I thought it was time to show you what I mean when I say my staple products. Although sometimes I vary them a bit (eg. if I need waterproof mascara or a foundation with less coverage), but generally these are the products I reach for most often nowadays.

Guerlain Blanc de Perle foundation in 02 Beige Clair. Guerlain Divine Pressed Powder (this is an oldie!), Too Faced Shadow Insurance, Mac highlighting palette (homemade and no idea which shades it contains), Cargo Last Activator mascara in black and Mac Brow Set in Show Off,

So now you know what I mean when I say my staples.

Yves Saint Laurent Le Teint Touche Eclat Foundation Review

A little while ago I was stopped by a lovely lady at the YSL counter in House of Fraser and was asked if I'd like to be matched up for a free foundation sample. Of course I couldn't say no and came away with my little bottle of Le Teint Touche Eclat foundation. I was given shade B50 which looks a little yellow on my hands but blends out nicely on my face.

I have to admit I don't follow YSL as closely as other brands, but I believe this is their new foundation. This is what I found about it on the Debenhams website: "Twenty years after the launch of the iconic Touche clat, Yves Saint Laurent adopts a leading edge technology that transposes the magic of this legendary highlighter into a foundation to achieve the same illuminating result for the entire face. Yves Saint Laurent introduces LE TEINT TOUCHE CLAT. A bold, unique formula to target shadowy areas and define contours. Infused within a weightless fluid, the light of Touche clat foundation targets shadowy areas and highlights the contours of the face. Free of opaque powders, its perfecting texture evens the complexion and helps conceal imperfections, while enhancing your skin's natural beauty."

I think the key word is illuminating. While not greasy by any means, this foundation does look more "dewy" on me than some others, so I think it would suit drier skins better than oily ones. I have normal skin during the winter months, but my T-zone can get rather oily in hot weather, so I would definitely not wear this in the summer, but right now it works well for me. I don't love it as much as I do the Lancome Teint Visionnaire foundation, it is definitely more dewy on my face and tends to need a bit of blotting halfway through the day, but it does have a nice medium coverageand it feels very light on the skin. It comes in 22 shades which is great and the full size product comes in a pump bottle which is also a big plus.


I like this foundation, but won't be buying the full size version. I know it's just going to be too dewy on me in the warmer months plus it doesn't come with SPF which I think is really necessary in the summer. It's nice in the winter, but I have nicer foundations. However, if you have dry skin and you're near a YSL counter, it's well worth a look. £29 for 30 ml.

See more pictures after the jump! If you want to see me wear this foundation on my face, check out this post for full face pictures!

Lancome Teint Visionnaire Skin Perfecting Makeup Duo Review

A few weeks ago I signed up on Facebook and was selected as part of the VIP panel to test the new Lancome foundation. I was sent a free sample and had to use it for 4 weeks, and fill in 2 questionnaires. Now that the foundation has been launched and isn't secret anymore, I thought I'd tell you what I think about it.

Lancome Visionnaire is one of their best selling facial serum, it's supposed to combat skin imperfections such as wrinkles, dark spots and pores. The foundation is enriched with 2% of LR2412 (which is some beauty molecule Visionnaire contains 4% of) and is said to do the same thing as well as give a "natural looking and flawless finish". You also have a corrector/concealer included in the lid so you can disguise bigger imperfections.

The foundation comes in a rather bulky bottle with a big lid that contains the concealer, in which you get 30 ml of foundation and 2.8 g concealer. The foundation has a pump, so you can get out just as much as you need (one pump does my face). The texture is lovely and light and easy to blend and work into your skin. It has a very slight "foundation" smell, but nothing too strong and it's definitely not perfumed. The coverage is light to medium, it covers most of my imperfections well. I've found it long lasting and it controlled the oiliness of my skin well, I often didn't have to retouch it during the day, although my skin is drier in the winter, so this is true to most foundations at the moment. It felt really nice on the skin and looked good. The shade I was sent is 01 Beige Albatre which is the fourth lightest shade (out of 18!), but I think it's still a bit dark, perhaps it will be a better match in the summer. (I was actually sent 03 at first but that was way too dark.)

The concealer I wasn't very keen on, it has a very thick texture and is hard to pick it up and blend out. I've tried it under my eyes a few times but then I gave up as it looked too cakey, settled into fine lines and made my mascara smudge. It works better on spots and other imperfections you need to conceal as it's thick, but I still don't like it.

At first I didn't think I could see any skincare benefits, but after wearing the foundation for 4 weeks I have noticed that my skin has looked much better and I've not had any spots lately. I don't think it's done anything to my fine lines or my pores, but to be honest, I don't really think anything does. I have also been using Genifique and Visionnaire regularly, so perhaps that's why I haven't noticed any recent changes.

All in all, it's a nice foundation. I would prefer it if it came without the concealer and in a much less bulky bottle. At £36.00 it's up there with other high end foundations. Would I repurchase it? Probably not, mostly because I have so many other foundations at the moment. It's a really nice foundation, but since I wouldn't be using the concealer much, I'd feel it was a waste getting another one. I think I'll stick with my Guerlain foundations for now.

See more pictures after the jump! For pictures of me wearing this foundation on my face check through the last 2 weeks' posts, in every look I posted this month I'm wearing it.

2012 Favourites - Part 3: Face

Here's another installment of my favourite products of 2012, this time it's the face products. I will start with the more exciting ones, ie. pretty highlighters. To me one of the most used highlighters of 2012 was Guerlain Cruel Gardenia. It is just so pretty both in the compact and on my skin. Just lovely.You can read my initial review by clicking on the link above.

See what other products I loved in 2012 after the jump!

Guerlain Parure de Lumiere Foundation Review

This is Guerlain's newest liquid foundation, Parure de Lumiere, Light-Diffusing Foundation - Moisture Infusion. According to Guerlain it's "infused with Luminescent Water, continuously moisturises skin and corrects the appearance of imperfections to dramatically enhance light diffusion. Under its refreshing, caressing touch, skin appears smoother, more even, bathed in light."

I'm not entirely blown away by this foundation, despite being a big fan of Guerlain and their foundations as well. When I first tried a sample of this it seemed to suit my combination skin, but since I've been using it more, I've not really managed to get it to work for me very well. While it is really lightweight and feels moisturising, it is certainly a bit too "dewy" for my skin, making it look rather shiny within hours of application. It's not oily as such because the foundation itself isn't at all oily, but my skin does look rather shiny and it needs blotting.

As I get older, especially in the winter, I find that my skin is less oily, so I'm not really used to having to blot my face all the time. I'm sure this would work better for someone with drier skin, although I can't actually vouch for that myself. The formula itself is really nice though and it feels lovely and lightweight with a good, medium coverage. I got shade 02 Beige Clair. In the summer 03 Beige Naturel is more suitable for me, but in the winter, Beige Clair suits my skintone perfectly. It also has SPF 25 which is a pretty decent coverage.

The foundation also comes in a cream version which I have not tried, but I actually prefer the liquid one with a pump than having to scoop the foundation out of a pot. You get 30 ml for £36.50 (the cream version is £38.50) which is pretty expensive, but that's the price of high end make up I'm afraid.

All in all, nice foundation, but doesn't suit my skin type as well as I had hoped. I think I'll stick with my Lingerie de Peau foundation instead.

See more pictures after the jump!

My Half Price Guerlain Haul :)

I don't know what I love more, using make up or buying make up. While I love choosing what I'm going to wear each day and applying it, seeing the looks turn out nicely (or sometimes not so) and making me look better than I started out (usually), I also love the anticipation of new make up collections and buying make up so much. I think we can safely say, I'm addicted to make up, both using and buying it.

With June being a slightly slow month for new collections (didn't like the new Mac collections and I'd pretty much bought everything from the other summer collections by the beginning of the month), I was itching to spend some more money on some pretty make up. So when I heard about the sale coming up at Bentalls (a department store where my nearest Guerlain counter is), I made sure I can go there as soon as it started and check out the Guerlain sale. One of the very few high end brands to have sales, they often have discontinued or left over limited edition Guerlain products for 50% the original price. This time they actually had a lot of things, including foundations, blushes, eyeshadows and even some Cruel Gardenia highlighters (yes, I thought they were completely sold out, but clearly not). So I took the opportunity to stock up on essentials and a few nice-to-haves. Here's what I picked up:

I bought a Parure Aqua liquid foundation in 03 Beige Naturel, Parure Nuit highlighter, Rouge G in 75 Rose Barbare and Terracotta Blush & Sun blushes in 01 Sun Light and 02 Sun Kissed. (I also picked up a Parure Aqua liquid foundation in 02 Beige Clair in the John Lewis sale - not pictured. Beige Clair is my winter shade and Beige Naturel is my summer shade, and I have just run out of my bottle of Beige Clair.) As you can see, they were all half price, so I ended up saving a significant amount of money. If there's anything I like more than shopping for make up is shopping for bargains!

Have you found any beauty bargains in the sales lately? Share your findings in the comments!

See another picture of my findings after the jump!

Boots No 7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream Review and Swatches

Every brand is bringing out their own version of BB cream at the moment and now Boots's own brand, No 7 has one as well. I had heard about it being a good one, so I thought I'd give it a go. As I had a £5 No 7 voucher, I only has £7.95 to lose. But actually, it was money well spent.

No 7 Beautiful Skin BB cream comes in 2 different shades (fair and medium) and also there are 3 different versions according to your skin type (normal/oily skin, normal/dry skin, dry/very dry skin). So other than dark skinned ladies, everyone can find their own match (and yes, there should be a dark shade!).

I bought the shade fair and as I have a normal/combination skin, I opted for the normal/oily version. The colour is a pretty good match for me and the consistency works well with my skin type. It did need blotting/powdering halfway through the day, but that's normal for me. The coverage is medium and the cream doesn't feel at all heavy on my skin. Blends in like a dream, doesn't feel at all tacky and doesn't make my face shiny. I really like this one.

It also qualifies as an actual BB cream as it has skincare elements as well as SPF15 and 5 star UVA protection, and it's also a pretty good tinted moisturiser/foundation. I can't confirm whether it's moisturising on its own or not, because I always use my usual daycream under it, but it's certainly not drying on me.

I think this BB cream is comparable to the 17 Blemish Balm, but it's more lightweight, has a slightly less coverage, has less SPF and is more expensive. So there are pros and cons to it. This one costs £12.95, but if you manage to get hold of a £5 off No 7 voucher (Boots are handing them out right now!), it is a very good deal as you get 40 ml with this, whereas the 17 Blemish Balm is just 30 ml. 

So all in all, I think this is a very good BB cream and would happily recommend it. I really like that they cater for different skin types. On that note, has anyone tried the new Garnier BB cream for oily skin? Is it any good? I'm too scared to buy one, I hated the original one so much.

See more pictures after the jump!

MUA Beauty Balm BB Cream Review

It seems every brand is coming out with their own version of BB cream at the moment, and this time it's Make Up Academy's (MUA) turn. Their version is called Beauty Balm instead of Blemish Balm, but since they put a big BB on it, we'll just assume that's supposed to be the same thing.

Although technically this is not a BB cream, because it doesn't include any SPF. They claim the all in one, multi-functional formula primes, protects and conceals. I'm not sure how it's supposed to protect your skin without any SPF though. Okay, so what does it do? It's basically a medium coverage foundation as far as I can see. For the price it's not a bad one either. The formula is a little on the thick side for my liking, but it does blend out eventually, and it gives a good medium coverage, so I don't need extra concealer on my spots/scars. I chose the medium shade as the light one was too light for me (it comes in 3 shades by the way), and other than being a little pink for my colouring, it's a very good match. It has a slight scent, but it doesn't bother me and fades away quickly anyway. I always set my foundation, so didn't test it without setting powder, but with it this lasted on me for a good few hours before I had to do some blotting, which is very much the same as any other foundation I own.

I'd say for £4 (or rather £3 at the moment in Superdrug!) this is a good foundation. It's a good size at 30 ml too. I would prefer it to have some SPF, but for the price it's really hard to fault it. Out of the four BB creams I have tried so far (MUA, 17, Garnier and Ginvera) this is not my favourite, but probably comes close to the 17 one. The Ginvera BB cream is still leading, although it contains the least product and costs the most, so I'd probably go for the 17 one when it came to repurchasing. I hated the Garnier one so much, I got rid of it, but I will be keeping and using this one, however, probably won't repurchase it if I ever run out. 

See more pictures after the jump!

Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream Review

BB Creams are the new big thing in the UK and every brand seems to be bringing out their version of it at the moment. Some seem to be better than others, some labelled as BB Creams are no more than tinted moisturisers, but some are really worth paying attention to. Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream is certainly one of the good ones, in fact I will go as far as saying that it's the best one I've tried so far. (I have already reviewed a couple: Garnier BB Cream and Boots 17 BB Cream, click on the links for the reviews.)

The most unique thing about this BB Cream is that unlike the others I have tried, this has a nude shade, so not so pink as some others. When you apply it in fact, it looks quite grey on the skin, but it blends in really nicely and gives you a great skintone by enhancing your natural tone rather than covering it. Coverage is light to medium I'd say, not as heavy as the 17 BB Cream, but certainly a lot better than the Garnier BB Cream. It doesn't come in more than one shades and says it's suitable for all skin tones, but I would struggle to see this work for very light or very dark skintones. I haven't tested this though, so don't take my word for it!

Once again there are a lot of claims this product has to live up to and it actually does what it says "on the tin". It does blend easily, gives a natural matte finish that lasts, evens out skintone, and it has an SPF30 sun protection which is really good. I can't say it gives a completely flawless coverage, although if you have relatively good skin, then I guess it would, and I can't really comment on whether it's hydrating (although it's not drying on my skin) or whether it helps reduce the formation of lines, which I guess you'd only notice after long term use. All in all this is a good BB Cream, and I would happily recommend this.

My only complaint is the price tag, this is the most expensive one I've tried so far at £20 and you only get 25 ml, so it's also the smallest. Although you can currently get it for just £15 (plus p&p) from Janiro, the new UK distributor of Ginvera products. You can also request a free sample before committing to buying the full size product by clicking here.

See more pictures after the jump!

Finished! The December Edition

Another month over, another post about products I've finished. There are a few included that I have reviewed a few times on here, so I will just link them to some earlier reviews instead of repeating myself.

First up - a confession. I'm probably the only person in the blogesphere that doesn't know what the big fuss is about Clarisonic. I got a Clarisonic Mia a couple of months ago and I've been using it religiously, but in all fairness, I just can't see what it does to my skin. My skin isn't clearer, my pores are still clogged up, nothing has really changed to be honest. I don't hate it, but I do wonder what on earth I spent all the money on. Okay, there, I said it. Let the stone thowing commence. Right, onto the products. I got this cleanser with my Clarisonic and I didn't like it. Luckily it was only a small sample, so I used it up, but it smelled funny and it did nothing to my skin. Won't repurchase (I don't even know if you can).

 See what other products I finished after the jump!

2011's Favorite Products: Part 2 - Face

To continue from yesterday's favourites post I have the face products I loved the most this year to show you. Like I said in yesterday's post, it's hard to compose these lists because current favourites can easily make it in there even if you were using something  else for 11 months. Despite me not wanting to include products that have only recently made it into my most used and well loved products, I have gone against it and included a couple of products that are very new to me but have become firm favourites. Read on to find out what they are.

First up is my favourite face primer, Guerlain Meteorites Perles Light-Diffusing Perfecting Primer. It smells amazing and gives a smooth base, it's not slimy and slippery like some silicone based one, love it. I have reviewed it, so click on the link above.

Keep reading to find out which other face products I loved this year!

17 Blemish Balm All In One Magic Make Up Review - This One Is Good!

After the disappointment that was the Garnier B.B. cream I swore I wasn't gonna buy another one, but somehow I ended up getting the new 17 B.B. cream. I actually like this one though, so it wasn't a waste of money.

The formula is much thicker than the Garnier one and as a result provides a much better coverage. They claim it's full coverage, but I wouldn't go that far, however you certainly get a decent medium coverage. It feels more like a foundation than a tinted moisturiser to me actually. I got the light shade and it's a very good match for me, but I suspect it will be too dark for those who have a lighter skintone (I'm a Mac light medium (NC/W20-ish) in winter). I think this only comes in light and medium, so there won't be a match for everyone for sure. It lasted very well on me, and I only had to touch up my oily bits once, but that's the same with other foundations too (if I'm lucky). This certainly doesn't make my face look oily or dewey like the Garnier one did, so that's a major plus too. It also hasn't made me break out which that did, so another plus goes to 17's B.B. cream.

I still don't like the use of the word magic in the title because quite frankly it's not. It's a decent tinted moisturiser/foundation, but I see nothing magic about it. It's great that it has SPF25 as I'm lazy about my suncream in winter, so that gives enough protection for me. I can't really say if it's moisturising, but it's certainly non drying, and I would also disagree with the weightless formula because it actually feels a bit heavy on my skin, but like I said, at least this way it gives a good coverage.

You get 30 ml for £6.99 which makes it more expensive than the Garnier B.B. cream, but it's on par with 17 foundations, so it's fine (plus I'd much rather pay more for a better product anyway). So all in all I would recommend this, but I really need to add that this is in no way a miracle product, so as long as you're not expecting one, you'll be fine.

See more pictures after the jump!

Finished! The July edition

Here are the products I finished in the month of July. Not to shabby, although sadly only 3 make up items.Still, my collection of cleansers/scrubs need using up as well. Let's have a look at what I managed to finish last month, shall we?

First up is Maybelline Dream Satin liquid foundation in 020 Cameo. I have reviewed it already, you can read my review here. I don't love it, it doesn't really work for me, it's greasy and leaves my face quite shiny too, so won't be repurchasing this. I still have another half a bottle though, so you can expect that to appear in another Finished! post soon. Available from Boots, Superdrug, etc. £8.19 at Boots with a 3 for 2 offer currently on.

Keep reading to find out what other products I have finished this month!

Finished! The April edition

Despite thinking I might not have many empties this month, I still managed to finish 7 products, so that's pretty good. My first one is Avon Clarifying Toner Pads which are basically pads soaked through with toner that's supposed to help keep your skin blemish free. They were okay, but I always forgot to use them, it took me probably more than a year to use up 45 pads, and I don't think I'll bother with buying them again. I don't normally use toner and these pads didn't seem to make much difference to my skin.

See what other products I used up in April after the jump!

Swatching My Stash Part 3: Foundations

As you know I am trying to shop my stash more since I realised how much make up I really own, although to be honest, I have just bought a ton while on holiday, so much for that. But in any case I thought I'd show you my foundation stash which is actually rather small compared to my whole stash of make up. I have 7 foundations, plus one I own in a darker shade which I'm hoping will suit me more in the summer as it's too dark at the moment.


First up is a foundation that isn't actually a foundation, although it is called foundation. I would actually call it "what was I thinking?" because in all honesty, I have no idea why I bought it in the first place. It is Max Factor Sheer Radiane Sheer Shimmer Foundation in 110 Shimmering Natural. It is basically a very shimmery highlighter that noone in their right mind should use on their whole face. Annoyingly though the pump dispenses way too much in one go, so you either put it all on your face (don't!) or wash it off your hands which is basically very wasteful. To my surprise the bottle is nearly half empty, although I have no idea when I actually used up half of this as it really is hideous. It's an okay highlighter, but there are much better ones. Mark out of 10: 1. Would I repurchase it? Not on your nelly!

See what other foundations I own and which one's my favourite after the jump!

Finished! The March edition

I had quite a successful month as I managed to finish 7 products. First up is Avon Shimmer Swirls Face Illuminator. I actually finished 2 of these as I had one upstairs and one downstairs with not much left in either. This has long been discontinued, but I wouldn't repurchase anyway because it's not that good. There was a time when I thought it was great and bought tons of it, but back then I didn't even wear foundation just used this, however, this isn't even a good base, let alone good illuminator. Doesn't blend very well and ends up quite patchy, plus it's quite drying on my skin. I have since managed to flog my remaining stock on eBay, I was surprised how many people still wanted them and they soldat quite a good price. Originally I think they cost £10, I sold mine for £5-6 which isn't too bad. 

This is what they looked like when full(ish):

Find out what else I managed to finish after the jump!