Claudia Louch Mousse Foundation

A couple weeks ago, this foundation made it's way into my collection.  It's from Claudia Louch and it's their new mousse foundation which retails for £52.50* (I have the shade N4).

The Mousse Foundation is 94% natural, hypoallergenic, allergy-tested, non-comedogenic (doesn’t block pores) and free from fragrances and harsh chemicals including parabens, methylisothiazolinone (MIT or MI) and SLS, making it suitable for use on all skin types and many skin conditions.

It comes in a squeezy bottle, very similar to the Illamasqua foundation, I don't miss having a pump, this works well too.

I have really mixed feelings about this foundation.  Part of me absolutely adores it, and the first time I used it, I was ready to give it holy grail status, yep, I liked it THAT much.  But the next few times I've used it, it hasn't sat quite right on my skin.  I think the first time I used it I didn't have any dry patches on my skin, but have since.  I've primed my skin with moisturiser each time first, but when you have a look at the pics below, you'll see that it does cling to dry patches.

 Left with the Claudia Louch Moose Foundation, Right no foundation.

How it clings to dry skin (this was on my cheek)

I also noticed that when I added a setting powder, it make it look more patchy around those dry areas, really highlighting my pores - perhaps that was the powder more than the foundation and perhaps I was using too much powder?

It has light to medium coverage, which I didn't find buildable, but as long as you're not aiming for fuller coverage you shouldn't need to build it.  If you have normal skin, I really think you'll love this, it almost blurred my skin and made me look younger.  When it sat on my skin as it should, it looked stunning.  It lasted all day and never felt like it was coming off, and I pretty much couldn't feel it on my skin, it's so light weight.

It really is a gorgeous foundation, one of the best I've tried, but if you have any dry patches of skin, it won't work for you, so give it a miss, but if you have normal skin, or oily skin, I really think you'll love this.  It is expensive, the most expensive I've tried, I'm not sure it's worth the £52.50, but just remember, after the first use I was ready to give it holy grail status, that must account for something?

Follow me on
Google Plus | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest
*Post contains a PR sample

£15 High Street Challenge | June

It's that time of the month again, time for the June instalment of my £15 High Street Challenge! If you're not familiar with this blog series, you can read my other posts here to see what I've bought.

I started this series because when I looked back at my 2014 blog posts, nearly all of them were PR samples, and that made me uncomfortable.  My reviews are always 100% honest as I'm sure you know, but I didn't spend any money buying things I wanted to try, so I decided to spend £15 every month on 3 different things, and then review them for you :)

This month Boots.com had an offer on L'Oreal products, it was the traditional 3 for 2 (gotta love that!). I'd been eyeing up the True Match foundation (£9.99) for a while, I know that Em from My Pale Skin blog uses this a lot mixed with the Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation for good coverage, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.  Despite picking the lightest yellow-toned shade, it's still too dark for me, so not exactly a 'true match'.  Hopefully as my skim warms up in colour slightly over the summer (I tend not to let my skin get much sun as I'm so pale I just burn) this will become a better match.

Also, in a recent Fleur de Force video I saw her talking about the new L'Oreal Infallible mega glosses (£6.99), so I thought this would be a great option too - I don't tend to wear much lipgloss anymore as it drives me nuts the way my hair is magnetised to it (same as everyone else!), and to be honest, I don't wear much lipstick either, but I still wanted to give it a try.

Lastly, I needed and wanted a new kohl eyeliner, so I picked the black Infallible one (£5.19) to give it a go - I love that it has a little sharpener in the lid, a smudge stick (not that I use these) and it's retractable.

All together my purchase came to £16.98 (excluding P&P), so £1.98 over budget, but that's not bad going considering what I've bought :)

I actually have a first impressions video of the True Match foundation coming very soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that (subscribe here so you don't miss it!).

What do you think of this month's picks?

Follow me on
Google Plus | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 hr Foundation

FOUNDATION ON HALF THE FACE

FOUNDATION ALL OVER

FINISHED MAKEUP

In my first £15 high street challenge, I picked up the Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 hr foundation after some reader recommendations.  Being a fan of Rimmel foundations, I thought I'd give it a go!

This is quite different from the usual foundations I wear, it's a bit heavier.  I think at the time of photographing this, I was having a good skin day, because in the half and half picture, it's not really showing much of a difference on the foundation covered half!

Without a doubt you can see it's evened out my skin, hidden blemishes and redness, creating a lovely blank canvas ready for the rest of my makeup.  I've not tested the 25-hr claim as quite frankly, to do that I'd have to wear it overnight, and that's not something I'm prepared to do :P  It does last well during the day, but I do need to smooth it over around the chin and mouth area as it tends to crack a little - this is something most foundations are doing on me at the moment, so not a flaw of this one.

It's not as heavy as Estee Lauder Double Wear, but I would class it as heavy - personally, I think it's much nicer than double wear - that stuff can be a nightmare to try and remove, whereas this comes off pretty easily with cleanser.  I set it with a powder, it seems to work well with the three I tried (L'Oreal illuminating powder, Japonesque powder and Glo & Ray powder cake) - my favourite was probably the L'Oreal powder as it just helped to give my skin a little je ne sais quoi.

Overall I liked this - it's not my absolute favourite, those spots are reserved for Chanel velvet foundation and Bourjois radiance reveal, however, it is good and certainly great for those days when you have a breakout or general redness.  I did actually have a pretty large spot on my chin when I took this picture and it's covered it really well, I bet you can't even see where it is!? :)

- Please note, I have combination skin - VERY oily t-zone, and dry cheeks.

Follow me on
Google Plus | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

New CID i-perfection foundation

** Finished makeup look **

I've seen New CID reviewed on quite a few people's blogs over the last year or so, needless to say, it had piqued my interest.  

Let me introduce you to their foundation called, i-perfection.  It comes in a chrome-look bottle with a pump dispenser.  The geniuses there realised that you'd never be able to tell how low you were running on foundation, so they included a see-through strip down the side of the container (pictured above) so you can see how much is left, love it!

I bravely went for the shade 'latte', I'd normally go for the palest shade since I'm so fair, but when I looked at the swatches online, I could see the 2nd lightest shade was more yellow toned, whereas the lightest one was pink toned, and since I'm more yellow toned, I thought this would be a better match, and you know what? It was a perfect match!  I almost don't need to blend it along my jawline, well, I don't need to for colour, just so there's not a clear mark where it transitions.

After wearing this, I'd say it's probably best suited to people who don't have any dry skin, I have a little dry patch on my one cheek and it does highlight that a little, not as much as some foundations, but a little.  It sets really well and very quickly - and only after about 8 hours does it go a bit shiny for me, but after blotting it's good again.

It's quite a light-weight foundation, so if you're looking for heavy coverage, this probably isn't for you, personally I much prefer lighter foundations.

It's one of the more pricey foundations in my collection, coming in at £28.50, for that you get the standard 30ml of product.  In all honesty, as much as I like this, it's a decent foundation and sits nicely on my skin, but I probably wouldn't replace it when it runs out.  Not because there's anything wrong with it, but because I have other foundations I prefer - such as the Chanel Vitalumiere Velvet foundation (very similar to this), it's a little more expensive, but has a much nicer finish, in fact, it's my favourite foundation, next to the Makeup Forever HD foundation.

Follow me on Google Plus | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

*Post contains PR samples

Bourjois radiance reveal healthy mix foundation

Now this is something I've been meaning to review for a while now.  I must have bought it 4-6 weeks ago, maybe longer, but as I'm not wearing foundation all that much right now, it's taken me a while to get around to reviewing it.

This is the 2nd foundation from Bourjois that I own, with the other one being the healthy mix serum. It claims to give you a flawless complexion for 16 hrs, and with fruit therapy formulas to help enrich your complexion including: apricot for radiance, melon for hydration and apple to 'protect your youth'.  Both foundations are the same shade, Light Vanilla - No 51.  You get a pretty typical 30ml of product for your £9.99 which is pretty reasonable, and it comes in a pump dispenser (wooo).

For me, this foundation gave me a beautiful near-matte finish with a slight dewey glow - definitely a radiant glow.  It reminds me of the NARS sheer glow foundation, while I haven't had full bottle of it (sad face) I did get a good sized sample over the counter which lasted me for about 10-14 uses and this has a very similar coverage and finish.

I always set my foundation with powder and need to blot throughout the day, thanks to having oily skin - but some foundations tend to make me need to blog a hell of a lot more, and this didn't do that, I was only having to blog my t-zone and chin once every couple of hours.  The coverage remained good from application (about 7am) up until about dinner time (about 7pm) - then, for me, it started to go a little patchy, this might not have happened if I hadn't been blotting though.

It's quite a thick formula but blends and spreads really well.  I use 1 pump for each cheek, half a pump for my chin and less than that for my nose and about 1 pump (maybe just under) for my forehead, and then I blend it all in with my Sigma F80.  You can see from the pic where it's just on half my face how well it's evened out my skin and covered freckles and little red marks.

Overall I love this foundation - it's become one of my go-to foundations (depending on what type of skin day I'm having), it's either this, or my Makeup Forever photo-ready foundation or my Makeup Revolution 'The One' foundation.  Bourjois are knocking it out of the park with their great launches once again!

Follow me on Google Plus | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Makeup Revolution - The One foundation

When the lovely people at Makeup Revolution sent me a package of their products to try, I was dubious.  There was so much hype (much like there was with MUA) that the products had a lot to live up for.

Pitched as 'one' foundation for everyone - much like Lord of the Rings (one ring to rule them all) - they believe that this will be the only foundation you reach for.  It's available in an impressive range of 16 shades, which is a lot to boast for any makeup brand.

It's a very runny formula and needs a good shake - the consistency is similar to the L'Oreal nude magique eau de teint foundation.  I had shade 3 - it looks quite yellow when you pour it out, but as you blend it in it seemed to adjust (sounds strange I know) to suit my skin.

I've had mixed experiences of this - mostly positive.  It all depends on how well I've been looking after my skin.  If I'm exfoliating daily with my Origins gin-zing exfoliator, and moisturising regularly then this sits on my skin beautifully.  It gives a pretty matte finish, especially when paired with a good setting powder.  However, if I've neglected my skin and it's become a little dry it does have a tendency to cling to any dry patches on my skin - so make sure you moisturise and prime first. 

I typically have combination skin with a very oily t-zone and dry cheeks (all very extreme since becoming pregnant) - I think this would be best suited to either oily or normal skin.

If you're interested in giving this a whirl, you can find it at Makeup Revolution counters for £4* or on their website.

Follow me on Google Plus | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

5 product face for Summer

For those of you clever enough to spot it, yep I'm wearing lipstick, and nope, there's no lipstick photographed in the top picture, that's because I'm a numpty.  So, lets pretend I'm not wearing lipstick in this pic (which to be fair, I don't normally) and then it'll be a 5 product face, not a pretend 5 product face :P

Anyway, we'll just brush that under the carpet :)  So I've been mixing things up a bit recently, wearing less makeup, some days I'm even venturing to work without any on!  Sadly, those days I often get comments saying "You look ill, are you ok?".... yeah, thanks for that boost of confidence!  lol, anyway, after not wearing foundation for a long time due to having horrific skin, I'm now wearing it again thanks to a new and improved skincare routine (you literally wouldn't believe the difference, if I'd had the confidence, I'd have done before and after photographs), whoop!  Just not as often as I used to.

I wanted to see how few products I could get away with using that would stop people saying that I look ill, seems 5 is the minimum.  So here's what I used.

Base - Makeup Forever HD Foundation

This created a great base for me that set matte, and lasted all day with only minimal patting of my nose and forehead (something I have to do with every foundation I ever wear, in fact, even if I'm not wearing foundation I have to do this).

Eyelids - Makeup Revolution palette in Romantic smoked

For this I only used one shade, which was the 3rd from the left, similar to Urban Decay's Sin - a soft natural slightly shimmery shade.  I wanted the lashes to stand out and my eyes to look bright and alert.

Lashes - Bourjois 1 seconde volume mascara (waterproof)*

Hopefully you saw yesterdays review, if not, you can see in the pic above it's a pretty awesome mascara.  It has the weirdest wand, with spikes and... balls.  It doesn't clump, and it does a great job of making the most of your lashes.  Also, because it's waterproof it doesn't budge all day and there's no drop-off from it on your cheeks.  That does mean it's a bit of a bugger to remove though, even with Bioderma!

Cheeks - Sephora blusher in Healthy rose

If you've been reading my summer series, then you'll have seen me review this already, it's an absolutely gorgeous blusher with a hint of coral, perfect for adding a natural glow to your skin/face.

Brows - HD brow palette in Foxy*

No face is complete without defined brows, even if they're not that defined :)  I tend not to go overboard with my brows, but they're naturally very pale and sparse, so they need a little help to look more normal, and so far I've found that this is my favourite palette to achieve this :)

So guys, I have a bit of a confession to make, you know how I was wearing lipstick, which made this a 6 product face?  Well, it was actually a 7 product face, I just realised I was wearing an eye shadow primer too... I know, total fail :P  Anyway, that's still not bad for me, I'd normally wear foundation, powder, eye shadow primer, cream shadow, at least 2 eye shadows, liquid eyeliner, mascara, blusher, brow powder - so 10 products, not bad to shave a few off that :)

That's the end of this Summer series, see you again in a few weeks for my next summer series looking and some different products :)

 

Follow me on Google Plus | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Top 3 foundations for Summer

Welcome back to the next instalment of my favourites for Summer series!  Today it's all about foundation, and whilst I haven't shown these products in place on my skin, I have done in previous reviews, and besides, this isn't a big review, it's more of a favourites :)

Makeup Forever HD foundation

This I picked up in Sephora when I was in France in Jan.  It hasn't suited my skin that well until now, I can thank pregnancy for that (and Origins skincare!).  My skin the last few months has been rough like sandpaper, dry and covered in spots.  I've been foundation free for most of that time, and actually got myself out of the habit of wearing it every day (which is very empowering!).  This lasts really well, it's medium-buildable coverage but looks really natural on the skin.

What surprises me about this, every time I'm wearing it and I feel like maybe I'm looking oily and patching, when I look in the mirror, it looks pretty much perfect!  It's long wearing and deals with little dry patches really well (better than my Chanel velvet foundation).  If you can get to a Sephora or get your hands on this, I highly recommend it - mine doesn't have a shade on it, but it was the lightest shade they sold :)

Chanel perfection lumiere velvet

I reviewed this recently, it's pretty much my favourite foundation at the moment, despite it not being perfect.

It's not heavy and I'd describe it as light-medium coverage.  It evens out your skin tones great, and sets to a really matte finish (it's basically made for oily skin!).  It lasts a long time on the skin, the only drawback is that if you have any dry patches, it will highlight them and not look great.  So take my advice, exfoliate first to get rid of as much of that dryness as possible, then moisturise and prime. That'll set you in good stead :)  If you're lucky and have oily skin with no dryness (huzzah!), then you needn't worry about that :)

** TIP **

It's not going to be for everyone, so I'd recommend popping to your local Chanel counter if you're thinking about getting it, and ask if you can apply it yourself to try it on.  I always recommend this as often the ladies (or gents) at the counters will apply it too heavily or different from how you would, meaning you might get different results from it.

Rimmel Match Perfection

Last but certainly not least, the wondrous Rimmel match perfection foundation (my shade is 010 Light Porcelain).  I've been recommending this to people for a while, after seeing Tanya Burr rave about it, and on the back of that getting it myself and loving it.  (thanks Tanya!)

This is one of those foundations that sets really well (matte), you'll need to apply a setting powder on top of it, and you won't be shine-free for the day if you have oily skin like me.  However, in spite of that it's a really great foundation.  It gets rid of all the redness on your skin and sets you back to neutral so you can add in the colour and definition where you want it :)  It's a purse-friendly option great for everyday use (review here) :)

So there's my top 3 foundations for the Summer, what 3 would you recommend for being good in the heat?

 

Follow me on Google Plus | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Chanel perfection lumiere velvet foundation

I'm always on the lookout for a new, fab foundation, one that I'll reach for day in, day out.  Well, after seeing a couple of reviews about this, I was intrigued.  I have the vitalumiere aqua which I really love, however, thanks to my oily skin, it does have a tendency to slide off my face (trust me, not a good look).  I decided to pick this up as a birthday treat to myself the day after my birthday (18th April), so I've had enough time to put it through it's paces and see how it copes on my skin.

As I mentioned, I have really oily skin - what I mean by that, is a very ,very oily t-zone, and dry patches on my cheeks, so that doesn't make me the perfect candidate for this foundation, but does that stop me loving it?  Hell no!

As you can see, I have the lightest shade 10 beige, the woman in the shop really tried to get me to buy a darker one (why, I've no idea).  When I pointed to my neck and chest to show that this was the right colour match for me, she replied with 'Well, yes, it'll be a perfect match, but don't you want to add some colour, you're very pale'.... this is the story of my life when dealing with counter staff.  It's like they hate people who are pale and want to fake darken them all up!  I feel like yelling "Leave me the hell alone!!!!" I did tell her that I like rocking the pale look, and she seemed to shut up then.

As it turns out, this is still ever so slightly too dark for me, I have to blend it down my neck so it doesn't look too obvious.  It is yellow-toned as well, which suits me perfectly, pink-toned foundations do not look good on me.

This lasts really well through out the day, I know I don't need to keep re-checking it and certainly don't need to re-apply.  It has a true velvety finish, and it doesn't make me shiny.  If you have any dry patches on your skin, just make sure you moisturise first otherwise, this might not look amazing on you :)  All in all, I really love this foundation, it's pretty much the only one I've worn in the last few weeks (excluding my eczema-yestocucumbers-enduced skin rage where I couldn't wear any).  

Is it worth the money?  Personally, I think so.  Once Squidge arrives and I'm off my maternity pay and onto statutory I might not be able to afford to replace it, well, I know I won't,  so I just have to hope I find the money from somewhere, as I need this in my life :)

The good

It looks flawless on my skin, has a lovely matte finish and stays put all day without looking cakey.

The bad

You really need to moisturise before you use this if you have any dryness on your skin, otherwise it will emphasise those patches.

This months Biggest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Jaina from Which Beauty Box UK

 

Follow me on Google Plus | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Rimmel match perfection foundation in shade 010

After seeing the likes of Tanya Burr rave about this foundation among others, I decided to give it a go. As you can see on the right (pic above), there's quite a lot of redness and blotchiness on my skin at the moment, and with the pregnancy it's beginning to break me out a bit too, boo!

The Rimmel Match perfect foundation does a great job of evening out my skin tone, and covering any little blemishes I have.  Once set with my Japonesque setting powder, it stays matte for a good few hours, which is remarkable for me, since I have a really oily t-zone, and at the moment, dry skin on my cheeks, which this foundation doesn't emphasise.

The shade I bought is the lightest one they do - my hubby thinks it's a bit pale for me, but it matches my neck and chest perfectly - he's just got used to seeing me without foundation recently i.e. seeing my face nice and red all the time.  I love that this has a pump on it too, something a lot of high street foundations seem to miss having. 

It kinda reminds me of the Revlon Colourstay foundation, but with better and more even coverage, and better staying power.  I've found myself reaching for this almost every time I've worn foundation recently, so I wanted to share my thoughts with you on it (I love it!).  What's more, it's only £6.99 in Boots at the moment, what a bargain!!

This months Biggest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Casey from A Topsy Turvy blog

 

Follow me on Google Plus | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Foundation review: L'Oreal nude magique eau de teint

The L'Oreal Nude Magique Eau de Teint has been heralded to being a super light and 'invisible' foundation.  L'Oreal themselves describe it as feather light and fresh as water with a second skin effect.

On the left is the L'Oreal nude magique foundation, and on the right completely nude skin.

Coverage is ok, fairly light.  I completely agree with their claim about it being light, you'll barely feel it on your skin.  It has a really light watery consistency too, not thick like a lot of foundations.

It's better than the Lumi magique foundation I tried, didn't like that at all as it didn't set on my skin, whereas this certainly does.

What didn't work for me is how it accentuated my dry skin - in fact, I didn't know I actually had any until I put this foundation on :/  It picked it up around my nose, and around my lower cheeks/mouth area.  It did blend in really nicely, but even the shade porcelain I had was still too dark for me.

The finished makeup.  I did add my Dior BB eye cream and set it with the Japonesque setting powder as well.

I really like the packaging with the purple lid, and the fact it's in a cute little frosted small bottle I love too.  It's a shame it doesn't have a pump lid though, but I'm not sure how well that'd work with such a watery foundation.

The foundation lasts pretty well throughout the day, but as it starts off quite light, it doesn't last as well as heavier foundations or even my Dior BB cream.  All in all I wasn't a big fan of this, it's certainly not the worst foundation I've tried, but I don't like how it drew attention to dry skin I didn't know I had, especially as my skin issue is oily skin, not dry skin.

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Amy from Srslylou

 

Follow me on Google Plus | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest