bareMinerals Well Rested Concealer

bareMinerals Well Rested for Eyes Concealer - £19

I am forever on the search for the perfect under eye concealer and I was hoping that this bareMinerals Well Rested Concealer would be the answer to my prayers, providing sufficient coverage while still lasting all day and looking as natural as possible. I've not had much experience with mineral products so I thought bareMinerals, the company most famous for their mineral products, would be the perfect introduction to them.

Estée Lauder Clear Difference Advanced Blemish Serum

Estée Lauder Clear Difference Advanced Blemish Serum - £39 (30ml)/£58 (50ml)

The Estée Lauder Clear Difference Advanced Blemish Serum is probably one of the most expensive beauty items I have ever owned, at almost £60 for a serum but my oh my was it a good purchase. I'm all about blemish fighting products so this fits in perfectly with the theme of my skincare shelf and it's something I've really enjoyed using for the past few months.

Origins GinZing Mask

Origins GinZing Mask - £23

If you want to know what I look like in the morning (although I doubt you would…) just think of that scene in Frozen when Anna wakes up looking an absolute mess. Usually it's my skin that looks the worst, dull and in the need of some energy - enter this mask. It's like the Origins GinZing Mask was a gift sent from above to restore the energy in the dullness of my skin.

Chanel Perfection Lumière Velvet

Chanel Perfection Lumière Velvet in 'B20' - £33

Can we just take a minute to appreciate the luxury that is Chanel makeup? I don't think I'm ever happier than when I walk away from my local Boots with a little white bag with CHANEL imprinted on it. When this Chanel Perfection Lumière Velvet was released I was incredibly excited, however the price tag is a little less than exciting…

Benefit High Beam and Cha Cha Tint

High Beam - £19.50 and Cha Cha Tint - £24.50

In my TropiCORAL set (review here) there were 2 minis- 1 of High Beam, a luminescent highlighter and the other of Cha Cha Tint, a coral tinted stain for lips and cheeks. Benefit's tints are products which I've heard a lot about but haven't had much experience with so I was really excited to try them out. Although these look comparatively small, they have lasted me for months, and I'm sure they will continue to last me for even longer.

YSL Crème de Blush

YSL Crème de Blush - £29

As we're coming into spring I'm trying to get more into the peachy tones I have in my collection, and boy is this a good'un. I've had this beautiful YSL Crème de Blush for years but being so small, it always gets lost! I fished it out when I was organising my makeup collection and I have to be honest, it's been a great discovery.

Le Blanc de Chanel

Le Blanc de Chanel - £31

I found this little gem while poking around through my mum's makeup stash a while ago and she offered to let me keep it- thanks, mum! At first I wasn't completely sure as to what it was, I just knew it smelt like what makeup used to smell like- one whiff and I was taken back to my childhood- and I was meant to put it on my face. After a bit of research I finally came to the conclusion that it was a primer/highlighter hybrid.

I like the packaging from an aesthetic point of view as it's sleek and looks lovely in my collection, however it's quite impractical. The opening is very wide, and accident-prone me will probably spill it sometime in the near future. My mum tossed away the spatula that came with it a while ago so I have to tip it onto the back on my hand.

I apply it before foundation, giving a certain level of luminosity to my skin, without looking like I've just been dunked in a pile of glitter. It's a very thin liquid but a little goes a long way, making the price tag a bit easier to stomach. I absolutely love the finish this gives my skin, as well as making my foundation last that little bit longer.

Benefit Hydra-Smooth

ASOS is a dangerous place. I was just browsing the website, looking for some inspiration, and before I knew it I was entering my card details for this little bad boy, the Benefit Hydra-Smooth Lip Colour. 

I've been wanting to try these lipsticks out since they came out but I just didn't feel like I should spend £15 on a lipstick when I don't really wear them that much, but I had a 20% off code and the rest is history!

Now, it was a bit risky as I hadn't swatched this particular shade before but after a bit of scouring through some blogs, I came to the conclusion that 'Lip Service' was the shade for me. It is described as a pink-peach and as being one of their Sheer Coverage lipsticks, which is perfect for me as somebody who isn't very bold in my lip colour choices!

The lasting power isn't great, but that's the sacrifice for a formula which doesn't dry out the lips. I love this as an everyday lip colour, but it can be made a bit more bold with the help of Cha Cha Tint or Benefit.

The slight disappointment is practicality of the packaging, although absolutely gorgeous! I do love the style of the container and it looks lovely on my shelf, but the lid can fall off very easily if not clipped on properly. Also, upon application the top of it can get a little messy so it has to be wiped with a tissue or a cotton bud.

Overall, I'm really impressed with Benefit's lipstick offering! A beautiful handbag companion that can just as equally be used for nights out, I'd love to pick up more shades. 

Dior Crème de Rose

Dior Crème de Rose - £20

As you can tell from the pictures above, this Dior Crème de Rose lip balm has been very well loved by me, being a thick, moisturising lip balm which is rose-scented (hence the name!). Some people may find it overpowering but I don't find it to be too strong of a scent.

The formulation is very creamy and so it works absolute wonders on my lips, even in the brutally cold weather we're experiencing at the moment. It's lovely to wear a light layer during the day, if your lips are particularly cracked, but I generally opt for a thick layer before I sleep, letting it do its work while I sleep.

However, at the steep price of £20 (£17 on Escentual) it's definitely a splurge item- perhaps one for the Christmas list?

Battle of the Bases

 

 For someone with a beauty blog, I would say that I have a relatively small amount of foundations, but for any normal person I have more than is needed. However, for me, I think that I have the right number to suit me!


I think I've got this balance right- 2 high end and 2 drugstore brands, good enough for me! I don't wear foundation every day, in fact, I only wear it about 1-2 times a week, and that's stretching it! But if I am going to buy a foundation, I usually do my research into it, which I did for the 2 high end foundations but not for the other 2.

 

I'll start with the Bobbi Brown BB Cream, this definitely does not have a matte finish, so I really need a powder on top so it doesn't prove to be too oily during the day. With my skin, it needs a primer underneath for most of the time but if I'm not really doing anything special then it's not essential. It has SPF 35 and is oil-free, really great for those days where you don't want to wear much but you want medium coverage. I don't consider this to be a BB Cream, because I haven't seen any changes in terms of my skin's quality. 

               

Next is my beloved Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation, the kind that is 'your skin but better'! It's lightweight and is very easy to build, it can be used just to look a little fresh-faced or to make yourself up for an event. The longevity is OK, but it works even better when paired with a primer, The POREfessional in particular. 

         

                                    

Now onto the drugstore brands, first is Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse, which I bought a couple of years ago then completely forgot about. It is such an amazing product, with a matte finish to suit all oily skin types. On top of that, the coverage is fantastic and easy to blend as well as build. I use either my Real Technique's Stippling Brush or just my fingers, both work very well to get a flawless finish.

   

And lastly is my least favourite of the bunch, Revlon's Photoready BB Cream. First off (and I know this is my fault rather than Revlon's) I swatched it on my hand, like an idiot, and so I bought a shade that's darker than my face! And secondly, it's so greasy that it would just slip off my face. I can't imagine even somebody with normal skin could find this to work for them, because as soon as I put it on it just looked so shiny and oily. That could be down to the SPF 30 that's in it, but I would personally rather wear my own SPF and avoid the greasiness that is this product. So unfortunately, this is a big thumbs down product from me.

So those are my foundations, overall I think that it's actually a tie between the Benefit one and the Maybelline one! They do different things and I use them for different kinds of events, but I still really love them both.