Covering All Bases

After a fair few years searching for the perfect base, which I believe is pretty much as easy to find as a unicorn in a field of rainbows, I have developed quite the collection which means I'm covered for all different occasions.

The Barely There - If you just want to whack something on that's lightweight, evens out the skin and keeps your skin feeling hydrated and cared for, I highly recommend the Dr Jart + BB Cream. It won't cover many sins, but it will get you through a day at work or out shopping.

The Night Out/Special Occasion  - When a special occasion comes calling, or a night out occurs (which is rare as I like to be tucked up in bed by 9pm) I'll crack out my Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation. I definite medium to full coverage foundation that covers pretty much everything and stays put for most of the night. The lack of SPF means photos are left without a white cast.

The I Need Some Covering - Most days for me I go make-up free or chose a BB but if I'm heading out and my skin is mis-behaving the Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation is my foundation of choice. It's a nice medium coverage that feels quite light weight. The shimmer particles can't be seen on the skin, but it does give a lovely healthy dewy effect.

The Powder Foundation - Sometimes you just want a bit of a powder foundation, and for that my favourite is the Bare Minerals Original. I quick brush swirl in this bad boy and I'm good to go. Nice and light weight, and perfect if you know things are going to get a bit hot and sweaty.

The I Couldn't Be Without It - Nine times out of ten you will find me wearing the Dior Nude BB Cream on my face. Not wearing make-up daily means I can still call this my regular base right? Plus it makes it more cost effective. I just love how my skin looks after application and the way it wears throughout the day. Not much coverage but enough for me with concealer, and I feel my skin just looks so healthy when I'm wearing it.

What are your top bases?

Laura

A Solid Base

Whilst I love to chop and change things on the regular when it comes to make-up, I've found that when it comes to base, I rarely step away from these products. That alone made me think, I need to make these a blog post.

First up I like to prime with the Bourjous Happy Light primer. This stuff is great as it has a hydrating quality and brightens the skin without making you look like you've shoved your face in glitter. It has luminous particles which blur imperfections and get your face ready for your base of choice. Which, for me is the Dior BB Creme. Holy moly I love this stuff. This product and I just click. It is the right colour, it blends into the skin nicely, it lasts a good amount of time and it just makes my skin look healthy and glowing, which is what I want for my face really.

Next it's up to concealer. I like to start under my eyes as I found I need less cover up concealer after I've done my eyes (if that makes sense?) I like to begin with the Bourjois CC Eye Cream as it really brightens underneath my eyes and begins to cover up my bags. Then, depending what I'm doing, I like to go in with either the Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer or the Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch concealer as they're both great at covering and highlighting eye bags.

If any blemishes are still on show after this I like to use my Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage as it's a really heavy duty cover all concealer. Then to finish I like to dust my face in the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder, which again has a nice fine glitter in it which makes skin look glowy and not Edward Culleny.

So there are my base favourites, what are yours?

Laura

The Blogger Made Me Buy It: Vivianna Does Makeup

If you have a peek through my makeup drawers (oo-er!) most of the products will have been enabled by one blogger or another. A high percentage of these products were probably purchased due to their mention on Vivianna Does Makeup. Anna is one of those bloggers whose opinion I really trust, and as soon as I see a product in one of her videos or in a post, I just know that one day they'll be mine. Just like in my last post, here you'll find just five of the many items that are Anna influenced, the ones that I really like!

Dior BB Cream - This is pretty much the only base that I will put on my face. I love it. It just makes my skin look so healthy and glowy. Even if I have the odd blemish, although the light coverage doesn't make it disappear, it almost makes it look healthy if that's possible? It blurs out imperfections in a way that doesn't make you feel or look caked in make-up, but just looking natural. Even with the £30 price tag, I've re-purchased and see myself continuing to do so, long in the future.

Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concealer - I think both this product, and the Dior BB Cream were both spurred on my Lisa Eldridge, but it wasn't until I saw Anna using them that I actually wanted them myself. Anyway, this is the concealer of all concealers. Blemishes run and cower when this bad boy come out. Serious shiz right here, need I say more? I thought not.

Maybelline Color Sensational Shine Gloss - I know for many, glosses just remind us of hair stuck to your lips whilst trying to look cool on the walk to school. I know that was very true to me, but I'm slowly being converted to the liquid side of lips (post to come!) Anna said that these remind her on the Clarins Instant Light Lip Perfectors which she has said, and proven, are her favourite lip products. Now I've not tried them, but I have tried the No7 BB Lips which I really like, so decided to give these a go and I'm impressed. I love how my lips feel nourished, but there is still a subtle colour to your lips that makes them look nice and inviting. A good make-up finisher is what I'd class these as.

Origins Vita-Zing - I remember when I was slowly getting into the world of blogging and higher end skincare and makeup, I watched this video of Anna's and I knew I wanted to try VitaZing. This product is basically a skin evener and tan inducer in one. I wouldn't quite call it a tinted moisturiser, but it moisturises and evens out your complexion in one. There is something special about this product. Along the same lines is the Garnier Skin Miracle (another Anna induced purchase), which although I like, and is a close dupe of this product, I think I prefer this over it.

Rimmel Polish in Oh Mr Darcy  - I didn't need a new nude nail polish, I didn't care about this product being a Chanel Frenzy Dupe, but when I couldn't find this in the Boots near work to, ya know, just look at it, I knew I NEEDED this product. Alas I hunted it down, I put it on my nails, and I fell in love. My nude nail love is the limited addition OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons and I feel that when that runs out and I can no longer get hold of it, this will be its replacement. A very pretty nude colour, that I didn't need, but glad I got!

Has Anna inspired you to buy any of these products?

Laura xoxo

You can read the rest of the posts in this series here.

Conceal Don't Feel

Sorry for the little Frozen mention in the title, but needs must and all that. For me concealer is more important than foundation, and I'd rather have a trusty concealer on hand than an industrial foundation. Since I love to ditch the foundation for a concealer I've found I've collected quite the little collection and thought I'd share with you the best concealers I've tried.

Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch - The bee's knees of concealers in my humble opinion. I find it really covers my under eye bags whilst adding luminosity and awakening my face. I really notice it transforming my face which I love. I've mentioned it many a time in this small space on the interwebs and I reckon it will crop up for many a more post too.

Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer - To be honest with you this is pretty much a slightly less lumious fuller coverage of the Maybelline version I've just mentioned. I tend to use this on less important occasions as it's easier to get my hands on than the Maybelline one and in the correct shade.

Bourjois 123 CC Perfect Eye Cream - Aah a CC cream for the eyes, whatever next. I've recently done a full review of this so I won't bore you too much, but for me this is great if you're a pale person in need of a lighter colour for contour this is the best. Someone did point out in a comment (thank you) that the amount of product in this pen isn't very much so aren't really getting much bang for your buck so to speak; however I find it cheap enough, and like it enough to not let that bother me.

Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage - Whilst the other concealers I've mentioned have tended to focus on the eye area, this is the only concealer I've found that's really great at concealing the nasty spots that appear. A mixture of these two colours is enough to conceal anything you want to hide like no concealer I've tried before. The thick consistency means blemishes are hidden in an instant, however it doesn't feel heavy or look cakey on your face. If you had some serious bags or wanted extra flawless skin you could use this under your eyes, with some eye cream and go on top with one of the above concealers for some serious flawlessness.

What's your favourite concealer?

Laura xoxo

Throwback Thursday: Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation

This is my 'special occasion' foundation. Due to its price and the fact a Laura Mercier counter is quite far from me (thankfully for my bank balance!) 

It's good coverage, has no spf (perfect for cameras) and with the right primer/powder lasts a long time too.

Whilst it is expensive, a little goes a long way and I find applying it with a damp sponge is the best!

Do you like this?

Laura xoxo

Laura Mercier Coral Red Quad

So, my student loan had just come through, I had to walk through Selfridges to get to my car, and I felt like I needed more Laura Mercier products in my collection, you know, support the name and all that. This is how I acquired this product.

I did my usual stand and swatch every product available trying to decide, then this just caught my eye. I love that it is four individual colours, as with a small brush (like the Real Techniques Contour Brush) you can get each individual colour, so really it's four blushes, yes?

Here I have swirled all of the colours together, and the effect is like you've just been walking out in the cold, nice flush to the cheek. I actually think it is perfect for Autumn/Winter, even though I was skeptical with the name Coral Red.

So as something I picked up on a whim, I am really impressed with it, and really like it.

What do you think? What else should I pick up from Laura Mercier?

Laura xoxo

Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation

Today's post, surprise surprise is on the Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation, which I picked up last week whilst shopping with Rachel. I'd been wanting to try this foundation for a while, as I have always seen it mentioned on blogs and in youtube videos.

I love the look of the packaging, I find it very simple yet dare I say stylish? I also thought it looked like there wasn't much product in there, but there is actually more ml in this than in my Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation bottle.

The first picture is without any make-up, and the second is with just the foundation.

The colour match of this foundation is something I'm very pleased with, at the moment it is slightly light compared to the rest of my body, but that is only because I've still got a slight tan, so I know that it would be perfect in winter.

One think I dislike about this foundation is I feel it applies quite matte, whereas I was expecting a quite glowing look, however after a couple of sprtiz of my Vitamin E face mist, I find it gets rid of the original matteness. In these photos I almost look too shiny, but I promise not so much in real life.

Here is my make-up just applied. I feel like it gives decent coverage and looks quite natural. It clings slighty to dry patches, but I like the overall look it gives.

This photo was taken eight hours later, and I'm really sorry for the quality, it was late at night and was dark outside, so had to use the dreaded flash. I must say, the flash makes my face look worse, but the foundation had worn quite a bit throughout the day. I think I may need to invest in a better primer maybe?

Also, this is the same day, I had just gotten changed!

I thought I would add a final picture of me looking semi nice as I feel there were a lot of unattractive pictures in this post!

Overall I like this foundation, I prefer it to my Estee Lauder Double Wear Light, but am slightly preferable towards the Rimmel Wake Me Up. I do however want to try the Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser.

Also, I still don't have my own laptop, which means I don't have the progamme I usually use to make collages etc. I also had post ideas which I had taken pictures for which are already on my laptop, so blogging is slightly difficult at the moment. But enough of my moaning. I hope this review has been helpful.

Do you like this foundation?

Laura xoxo