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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

Haven't reviewed a mascara in a while, so I’ve decided to talk about L'Oreal's Voluminous which I’ve been using for a good month now.

Before I bought this, I had read many reviews on it where people had been gushing with praise and recommendation on how good it was, so I took the leap and purchased it for about £8.  This was quite daring and risky of me, as I normally just stick with what I know with mascaras and I did think that £8 was a bit expensive for something I may find I didn’t even like.  I probably should have listened to my gut instinct!

Bare lashes -

 

One coat -

 

Is it just me, or is this really clumpy?  I don’t know, but with one coat I just get a basic, rather clumpy layer of mascara covering my lashes.  It really doesn’t do anything for me, I don’t think it volumizes and it certainly doesn’t make my lashes 4x bigger, which I would want for the price.  I know there are more expensive mascaras out there, but the ones I have tried which retails more than £8, I have really liked, so I expected this to be the same.

Two coats - 

Are you ready?

 

Can you see how this just does nothing but clump my lashes and weigh them down?

I’m so disappointed with this mascara, and I wanted so badly for it to work; I’ve been using it for a month, trying different ways of applying it, with different layers but I just can’t get it to work for me.  I know many people who love this mascara and I’m jealous that I can’t rave about it with them.

Has anyone else had this problem with this mascara?  I’m so upset about it that I just went and bought my usual Super Volume TBS mascara which I know I can rely on.  Maybe in a few weeks I’ll try again with it and pray that it makes my lashes beautiful and long looking.

Let me know if there is a technique that maybe I’m missing when it comes to applying my mascara, or if you have any tips for making them work better! 

XXXXX

I was very naughty the other day, as you can see!  I had a few hours to spare before work the other day and accidentally managed to pick these up in Boots.  I got to Lakeside (the shopping centre I work in) early as – if any one reads my twitter they will know – link) I’ve been having the most terrible migrany-headaches ever, constantly for the past week.  I felt constantly dizzy, my head was terrible and my right eye was going blurry, so I went to the opticians to get it checked out in case my eyes were the problem.  Thankfully, my eyes are fine and that’s not the cause of the headaches, but I found out I do have a stigmatism in both my eyes! Scary huh! It just means my eyes are not the right round shape, they are kinda shaped like a cone rugby ball instead. 

ANYWAY – Sorry for waffling, as I said I stopped off in Boots and to make myself feel better I bought a few bits.  There was an offer on – 3 for 2 on all L’Oreal Paris products, and if you spent £15 on L’Oreal you got a free goodie bag!

I bought

• Infallible long lasting perfecting foundation in Porcelain (My Holy Grail Foundation – the lightest one I have found for a good price, this is a back up for when my other one runs out)
• Voluminous 4x Volume building mascara (I’ve been wanting to try this for ages after seeing it on lots of blogs!)
• Colour Riche Lipstick in 102 Sugar Rose (I didn’t know what else to get so I picked this up!)

And in the Gift with Purchase I received

• De-maq Expert Milk to Toner 2 in 1 Make-up remover
• Cellular-Nurturing Day Cream SPF 15
• Cellular-Nurturing Night Cream
• True Match foundation in N4 Beige
• Limited Edition Colour Rich Lipstick in 721
• A cute pink clutch bag!

Okay, the  main reason I wanted the gift is for the lipstick – ya see, this aint any old lipstick, this was specially designed for Eva Longoria to wear on her Wedding day! OOOhhhhhh yeaaaahhh!  And it is limited edition only with this gift!  I can tell you know, I ADORE this lipstick, it is a gorgeous pinky nude which I’m sure would suit any woman on her wedding day!

 

It even has her signature on the packaging!  The above picture is the best I could get of it, as it is almost identical to my own lip pigmentation.  It feels very silky and moisturizing and silky and I really like it!

I haven’t yet tried the other samples; the foundation sample is too dark and my skincare routine is okay at the moment, so I’ll save them for a rainy day.  I also adore the clutch bag, it has really grown on me, it fits everything I use day to day nicely!

The other lipstick I picked up -

 

I’m quite impressed with this product, its super silky feeling, its like a lip balm but with a gorgeous pigmented pink colour.  You can tell from the swatch above how moisturizing the lipstick looks, and the colour is really pretty.

All these bits only cost me £17 – for the foundation and mascara as I got the lipstick free in the 3 for 2, and the other bits free in the GWP.  So I think I grabbed a very good bargain!  I will review and swatch the mascara once I’ve finished my current one and let you know what I think. 

Oh ALSO – I bought something with my £2 off Revlon voucher in Boots as well, and I love it

Revlon Super Lustrous Lip-gloss in 21 Pink Crystals

The colour I chose probably isn’t the most exciting, there were definitely brighter, more daring shades to choose from which I am sure I will pick up soon, but the sparkling pink peach drew me in.  This makes my lips shimmer and dazzle and also makes them look a lot fuller, probably down to the sparkles.  The gloss really fills my lips in, it smoothes the creases in my lips and makes them look smooth and juicy.  The smell in the tube is quite nice but it disappears as soon as you pop it on yr lips.  This gloss is very sticky so I won’t use this on windy days, but I can’t wait to wear this over a peach lipstick in the summer!

I’d love to know what you guys are buying with your Boots vouchers, Let me know!! X