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Arrgghh, don’t let my Mum see this! Haha!
So I did a tadddd of shopping the other day and just accidentally seemed to buy make-up! I’m so bad.
So, went to MAC in London’s Soho a few weeks back and bought
 
Paintpot in Bare Study
& Woodwinked eye shadow!
I’ve never buy more than two items at MAC, ever, as I always feel so naughty and guilty doing it, as although everything is just beautiful, I’m only a student and just can’t afford it in the first place!  But my collection is slowly growing and I adore every item that I’ve got there.  I decided to get Bare Study PP as I LOVE shimmery gold eyeshadows, one of my favourite eyeshadows being MAC’s Nylon, and as that's running out I decided on this!  So far I’ve only used it with UDPP underneath so I’m not sure at its staying power and its ability to non crease yet, but we will see. Woodwinked is just beautiful, I can’t find any faults in MAC’s eye shadows.
So then, last weekend I went shopping for some black cardboard for my project and for some milk and bread, and came back with lots of make-up and feta cheese! Ugh, help me someone!  I blame this on the ‘Boots Clearance’ in my local retail park.
Boots clearance is actually, uh-mazing.  They have so much stuff for so little money.  For example, I bought 10packs of colour camera film for £3! (Would have been £10 in a normal Boots).  Basically, all discontinued products go to Boots Clearance stores and get sold for little dosh.  This doesn’t mean the products are out of their sell by date, it just means they need to get rid of it as the packaging is being re-vamped or its being replaced etc.  Obviously I had a look around the make-up session and ended up getting this-

Botanics eye shadows in 48 Blazing Star, 125 Milk Thistle, 70 Angelica and magnetic compact.
Botanics blush in 25 Nutmeg
Botanics ‘Quench your thirst foundation’ in 10 Almond
No7 Nail base colour in 10 Nougat.
Firstly, how cute are these eye shadows! You choose your colours individually and then pop three of them into the magnetic compact case, which has a mirror as well…


I haven't tried the blush yet, but will do soon!
Also, the Botanics foundation is pretty impressive, its SPF12 and its actually the palest colour I've ever seen on the high street, and I thought the one I was using now was the palest (L'Oreal infallible perfecting foundation 015 Porcelain).  The jar is pretty annoying to use as its just a stick attached to the lid, but I'm pretty positive i could screw one of MAC’s foundation pumps onto it.
You know what, I have NEVER seen Botanics make-up in a Boots store before, no wonder its all being discontinued! All of this came to like £7, which is an absolute bargain, the only let down being that once its gone I won’t be able to purchase again.
Has anyone been to a Boots Clearance before?
Also, I have 50 followers!! Wahhayyy!! I will be doing a free give-away later this week to celebrate so stay tuned!! XX

Who, like me, always has a problem of finding a decent foundation?  I’m sure I’m not the only one, but I’m glad to say have found my Holy Grail foundation which I will continue to use until it gets discontinued (which I hope never comes).  On my quest for the perfect foundation I picked up a few others and I will review them all today and swatch for you.

L-R - L’Oreal Paris Infallible Long Lasting Perfecting Foundation in Porcelain, MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC15, Revlon Photo Ready in 002 Vanilla, Boots Botanics Quench Your Face Foundation in 10 Almond

My biggest problem when looking for the perfect foundation is the colour.  I am very pale and most make-up brands have completely ignored us Caspers and haven't catered at all for us in the foundation department. 

What I look for in a foundation -

• COLOUR – It has to match my skin perfectly, meaning it has to be pale, I don’t want to look like a tangerine.
• COVERAGE – I want the foundation to even my skin tone out.  I don’t want to look patchy. (Not too worried about it being able to cover spots as that's what concealer is for, right! and I always use concealer.)
• FORMULA/finish – I do not want to look cakey.  A big no no.  Nor do I want to look oily.  I want my skin to look like skin – natural, silky and dewy in certain weathers.  The formula is a big deciding factor for me.
• PRICE – I don’t mind paying £25 for a foundation, but only if it really is the most amazing, perfect foundation ever.  If it has faults then I’m not blowing my hard earned cash on it. 
• SPF – I obviously would prefer a foundation with SPF.

I will review each foundation in each of these categories so that you know exactly what I think about each.

 

REVLON PHOTO READY

 

• COLOUR – I’ve actually been really surprised with this foundation.  When I first bought it I discarded it thinking it was too dark and orange, but since coming back from holiday with a bit of colour I’ve been using this everyday!  The colour is almost perfect for my skin after holiday and can always be lightened up with my powder.  You can see in the pictures above that this gives me a really healthy colour and glow!
• COVERAGE – Really good medium coverage, again, I’m impressed.  Evens my skin tone out and covers blemishes well, although leaves them looking a bit dry, so moisturize spots before hand.
• FORMULA – I really like the formula of this foundation.  Nice and creamy and quite silky, applies really well to the skin, sinks in nicely, doesn’t dry my skin out.  Makes my skin look glowing yet natural.  Many people have moaned about a sparkle in natural light, but I haven’t noticed this at all.
• PRICE – Retails for £12.99 in Boots.  When I first picked this up I thought it was quite expensive and didn’t realllly want to part with the cash, but I’m glad I did.  I’d say its worth the price and I guess its a lot more affordable than high end brands.
• SPF – The highest SPF out of the bunch, SPF20!  Fabulous!

L’OREAL INFALLIBLE

 

I’ll mention now that this foundation is my favourite.  I’m on my third tube of this and it just gives me everything that I want out of a foundation.

 

COLOUR – This matches my pale skin perfectly!  I was so surprised when I tested this out in store and I can’t express how happy I am with it.  Its pale but it doesn’t make me look ghostly or colour-less.  Perfect for winter and spring for me.  I can always add bronzer to add colour!

COVERAGE – If you have lots of pimples and are looking for a heavy coverage foundation, you won’t like this.  The coverage evens my skin tone out perfectly but isn’t thick enough to completely banish red spots, which is why I always use a concealer with it, just on the areas that need it.  Its has a nice light coverage which is perfect for smoothing out.  (No concealer used in the pictures above though – just foundation in those pics!)

FORMULA – I ADORE the formula of this foundation, it is so silky and thin and just perfect, I can’t really explain it.  It isn’t at all thick or runny, its feels like a very light cream silk that blends really well into the skin, whilst also leaving me feeling moisturized but never greasy or oily.  It almost dries as a powder which feels really nice.  I can’t find any faults with it.

PRICE – Such a bargain at around £12, I can always afford to grab this when I run out.  Great price, affordable for a great foundation.

SPF – Includes SPF15, what more could I ask for!

On the bottle of this foundation it states that it is a ‘Long Lasting Perfecting Foundation’ that ‘lasts 16 hours and fights the signs of make-up meltdown’.  I never bought it for this reason and only just noticed that it stated this not long ago, but I don’t agree with it.  This foundation is perfect, but I’ll admit it doesn’t last all day, which is why I always carry around a tiny concealer and powder for top ups.  I kind of wish that it didn’t state this on the packaging so that people wouldn’t be let down by that statement.  It lasts well, but not all day.

MAC STUDIO FIX FLUID

 

 

COLOUR – SO disappointed with this foundation. Its such a shame and it angers me that my NC15 concealer matches my skin perfectly – whereas this is the SAME number, but SUCH a different colour.  Such a letdown.  This makes me look like I’ve been tangoed good and proper.  Foundation line is clearly noticeable no matter how much I blend.

COVERAGE – Maximum coverage.  If you have lots of pimples and uneven skin tone this would be perfect for you.  It covers all blemishes really well and almost makes the skin look airbrushed.

FORMULA – Very thick and creamy and almost cakey once on the skin.  I guess you’d expect that from a high coverage foundation.  If this foundation was the correct colour for me, I’d wear it on special occasions where I wanted perfect, almost fake looking skin.

PRICE - £19.  I think this is very expensive for a foundation, but maybe I’m saying that cause I'm biased because of the colour.  This is definitely worth having if your going to get your moneys worth and use it everyday but it was a waste of money for me, personally.

SPF – SPF15. 

I’ve included this extra to show how dark it is, in natural light.  You can clearly see a orange line but my hair/ear.  Covers blemishes well though.  For the palest foundation in MACs huge collection, I think this is totally unacceptable!

BOOTS BOTANICS

 

 

I picked this up in Boots Clearance a while ago ( I think it may have been discontinued or repackaged?) as I couldn’t believe that it was so pale and needed it, impulse buy, and I’ll admit that I haven’t used it much as although the colour is perfect.

COLOUR – Great colour, lovely and pale, suits me well.

COVERAGE – The coverage of this is quite light, I’d compare it to that of a tinted moisturizer.  It gives a natural coverage, but you can still see your skin underneath in – I think it just evens the skin out a bit.  I actually quite like this as a beach/holiday or uni/work foundation as its natural and light and affordable for everyday use.  You can see in the pictures above there are a few areas around the chin/cheeks/forehead where you can still see red blemishes.

FORMULA – The formula of this is weird! Not weird, just quite watery and runny, which I presume is down to the natural ingredients in it.  Its very runny and finishes quite dewy, which is very nice but I feel as if it sits on the skin quite a bit because of its formula.

PRICE – I have no idea what this retails for in store but I picked it for about £2, which is good but probably no good if its been discontinued! (I apologise if it has!)

SPF – SPF 12! This foundation has added ginger and jojoba to help moisturize.

There you have it! My four foundations.  After doing this whole post I realised I have a GOSH Velvet Touch foundation as well which I completely forgot to include, so if anyone would like to see that then comment below and I’ll write it up in a separate post!

What do you think?

Are you disappointed with MACs colour range?

What do you personally think looks the best?

XXXX

I made my own ‘spritzer potion’ a few weeks ago and I’ve been using it almost everyday and thought I’d share it with you!

I don’t use toners as I used to have really acne prone skin and didn’t like using too many products.  Now days, I find I don’t really have the time to use a toner, so instead I created my own little face mist to use after I take my make-up off, and before I apply it in the mornings.

I LOVE making potions and I love natural ingredients and knowing what is going into my products, so this was very fun to make and decide what to put in it etc.

Here are my ‘ingredient's’ and a description on why I chose them!

The Body shops Vitamin E Face mist – Its lovely and refreshing, sets my make-up, has vitamin protection, its moisturizing and is mostly made up of rosewater, which I love. Added 1/2 into my bottle.

 TBS Vitamin E facial oil – This is probably my holy grail skincare product, I adore it.  I’ll do a seperate review on it soon, but I added this because it is really moisturizing and full of wheat germ oil and Vit E goodness which is great for acne scars! It is quite pricy, but totally worth it.  Added 5 drops into my bottle.

TBS Tea tree oil – I added a tad of this as obviously it keeps the oil at bay, and is antibacterial, to kill off any germs and bacteria on my face! Added 1/2 drops.

Boots Botanics Organic Rosewater Toner – I lurrvee this stuff.  Its really cooling, soothing and smells delicious.  I added it for all those reasons, and the fact that it is a toner.  I added 1/4 into my bottle!

There you have it! And the finished result =

I picked up the bottle at Boots for around £1 – 2.

Ever since I have started using this, my skin has become really fresh and ‘dewy’ looking.  Even my mum noted that my skin looked like ‘a babies’!  Like I said before, I use this morning and evening, and I shake it up well before use.  This will probably last only a few months before I’ll have to make up another batch as it might go off?? I’m not sure, if any one knows how long I can keep it for let me know!!

Does any one else have a ‘made-up-potion’ that they use and swear by?  Let me know your secrets! XXX