Every couple of months I go through my make up collection and pick out the essentials that I plan to use every morning in a bid to streamline my routine as my collection is stored by function - blushers, eyes, foundations, etc. I try to focus on using up any products that are near the end. I get a strange satisfaction from finishing something up!
This is my current box, it has a bit more in there than I strictly need, with a couple of eyeshadow palettes and blushes, but they keep things exciting :)
I'm trying to finish up my Lacura and Bourjois foundations, I love them both and have already repurchased back ups. Despite using them all the time they've lasted for ages. I'm really getting into the Collection 2000 Perfect Finish foundation. The quality of their bargain basement foundations astounds me - I also love the Lasting Finish.
The pot with the black lid is actually some Clinique Pore Minimizer which I decanted from the tube and it's amazing how much product I salvaged. It's a great primer and really fills in your pores but is no where near as gloopy as the L'Oreal Studio resurfacing primer.
I'm also near the end of the No7 dupe for YSL's Touche Eclat, which is a good deal if you use one of those £5 off vouchers towards it. Benefit Georgia is a wonderful finishing powder, it just transforms your overall complexion. Some people expect it to work like a blush but it's not pigmented enough for that.
I prefer to use a box rather than a bag as it's easier to see everything inside. I'm loving the box that the Juicy Couture perfume I got for Christmas came in. I'm trying not to get it grubby with make up!
I am a blush obsessive and thought it was high time I added a cream version to my collection. I've heard lots of good things about these Maybelline Mousses and since there isn't a huge selection of drugstore cream blushes out there I picked it up. The only other cream blushes I came across in search of Boots and Superdrug were MaxFactor and there were only about 3 shades to choose from. Topshop also do a few so I want to check them out and I'd really like to get my hands on MAC Ladyblush at some stage.
The container is tiny - you get 7 mls, but a little does go a long way. I adore the Dolly Pink colour but could do without the hefty chunks of glitter.
It is an extremely pale pink which barely shows up on my skin, so if you have medium/olive toned skin you might do better with a more vibrant colour, it comes in about 4-5 shades.
It doesn't show up great on camera, but I can assure you I did have pink cheeks!
Have you got any must-try cream blush recommendations?
These are Benefit's answer to MAC's Paint Pots, and having used both, these definitely win out for me.
I have so many because I was lucky enough to pick these babies up for £5 each (or 3 for £10) at Portobello market almost two years ago.
They are a great multi-tasking product - primer, shadow, liner and even browbone/cheek highlight, depending on the colour of course. Used under powder eyeshadow the colours are really intensified.
Top row: Tattle Tale - Busy Signal - Get Figgy - Flatter Me
Botton row: R.S.V.P. - Birthday Suit - Skinny Jeans
My favourite shades are R.S.V.P., Birthday Suit and Skinny Jeans. Tattle Tale makes a great browbone and cheek highlighter and Skinny Jeans give you a one minute smoky eye.
The ones I find the least wearable are Busy Signal and Get Figgy, but that's just because of my colouring. I've had my MAC Paint Pots for almost two years also and they've pretty much dried up, while most of the Benefit pots are still going strong. Sadly R.S.V.P has dried and cracked, but I'm always using it and so it's exposed to the air more.
I have MAC Paint Pots in Bare Study and Rubenesque, and while I don't deny that MAC offer a wider range of colours, these Benefit beauties beat them hands down on pigmentation, creaminess and blendability. MAC Paint Pots are £13.50 for 4.5g, while at Boots a Benefit one will set you back £14.30 for 5g. While I wouldn't have bought this many at this price, I definitely would fork out for my favourites.
There are a few new colours out on the Benefit website and I have my eye on Honey Bunny (Limited Edition).
Have you seen Tiffany D's skin? It's amazing. She mentioned this new Origins moisturiser in one of her YT vids (check out MakeUpByTiffanyD) saying that although it doesn't tout itself as a tinted moisturiser, it certainly evens out skintone and it looked like it really worked!
I finally gave into the £25 cost (for 50mls) in Boots last weekend as I seem to have become a hormonal teenager again and cannot get up in the morning for love or money, so my makeup routine has gone out the window. I've had enough of my pale, blotchy, haggard appearance scaring old ladies and small children and hoped this two in one jobby would be the answer.
I tried it on in store over my makeup (duh!) and it looked much lighter than I expected it to be, but just to be sure I asked the lovely sales lady to help me get my slap off to try it fresh. It still looked pretty good, and my boyfriend had long since walked off in boredom so I quickly paid up.
I expected miracles from this moisturiser, if not exactly a complexion like Tiffany's. I've used it every day this past week and while it's hella better than facing the world barefaced, I honestly can't say it's any better than my longstanding favourite Clinique City Block Sheer (SPF25) which is only £15.32 for 40ml or even Olay Complete Care Touch of Foundation (SPF 15) which is even cheaper at £10.20 for 50ml.
VitaZing has a slightly bitter smell which I could do without. The only knowledge I have of Mangosteen is that it is a fab little Thai restaurant off Carnaby Street, but I don't know what the fruit is meant to do for skin - energise perhaps? It's free from parabens, mineral oil and other various nasties.
It smooths on nicely, but to be honest, it's as quick to blend in my Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation. It's probably just me but a couple of mornings my face felt slightly itchy after applying it, and I seem to have sprouted two smallish spots, even though I'm not spot-prone. That said, my monthly friend is around the corner and I have been eating a diet of pure saturated fat for the past two weeks, so that may account for the itching and spots...
It comes out of the tube as a white splodge with greyish flecks.
These flecks 'burst' to reveal a tint when rubbed in.
As the cream dries/sinks into your skin, it takes on a slightly orange hue. I have very pale skin (NC15 is too dark for me), but if you're about NW20-25 it should work well on you.
It offers very light coverage which can be bumped up with a pressed powder. I don't completely regret buying it as I have used it every morning and will continue to, but at £25 I won't repurchase. It's re-awakened my love of tinted moisturisers and gives you a nice natural fresh faced look for work.
I'm not doing a January favourites post because there really haven't been any products - or new ones at least - that have stood out. January has been a succession of product disappointments...this one, Backcomb in a Bottle and Sleek Molten Metals (round up to come of those).
