Claire

Bobbi Brown Tinted Eye Brightener Review & Swatches

Hello you incredible human beings,

Last weekend I reviewed Bobbi Brown’s Long Wear Even Finish Foundation and good lord in heaven, it is incredible. I thoroughly recommend it if you’re looking for a high end foundation and it is truly the best foundation I’ve used in a very long time.

Obviously, when I went to the excellent people at Bobbi Brown at Selfridges in Birmingham, I was persuaded to get more than one product. We used the Tinted Eye Brightener as well as lots of other nice things on my troll face and I really loved it. So, you know…when in Selfridges.

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It’s pretty self explanatory what this little tube of joy does. As an eye brightener, it is erm…designed to brighten your eyes. For those of you gals who are looking for a heavy duty under eye concealer, you might think that this probably isn’t quite what you’re looking for. But let me tell you something: I used to be one of those girls. My under eye routine was intense, involving lots of patting-with-the -ring-finger and a copious amount of re-applying trowels load of concealer to hide my horrible dark, baggy eyeballs. However, this product is actually so, so, so good for my under eye area. I’ve found that I don’t actually need such a heavy duty product, and this Eye Brightener genuinely does what it promises it will.

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Skeptical? You might as well be. The product itself is quite thin and liquidy. If you tested this on your hand or elsewhere (whatever floats your boat and so on), you’d probably think it was weak and useless. But despite the liquidness (inventing new words is fun), it performs really well. Somehow, the pigmentation is amazing and it covers as well as brightens. The lightweight nature of the Brightener means that it doesn’t get into the creases, which can happen with heavier concealers.

There’s a slight sheen to the product, as you’d imagine, which is what makes you look awake and brilliant. I have quite dark circles, especially when I’ve put my alarm on snooze 50 times, and the Eye Brightener really helps to cover the dark circles as well as perk my face up.

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It comes in a handy tube and with a doe foot applicator (who knew that this was what those little things were called?!), so it’s really easy to apply to the right areas. In terms of colour, I got the brightener in Bisque, which is a warm pink-toned shade that works well to combat blue toned dark circles.

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Swatched / Semi Blended

Like the Long Wear Even Finish foundation, this concealer/brightener is a little on the pricey side. It is £19.50 for a 6ml tube, but this is one that is definitely worth it. I’ve read a number of reviews that say this is much better than Touche Eclat (I haven’t tried so I wouldn’t know!), but what I do know is that I am going to carry this around with me like a precious, beautiful child. Please, go and buy it. PLEASE.

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Claire

MAC Pret-a-Pretty | Review & Swatches

MAC 1Hey there soul sisters. Today I’ve got absolutely nothing revolutionary to say, and my whole post can be summed up with these words:

Here is a MAC lipstick and it’s effing fabulous.

Which is what all MAC lipstick reviews basically say, isn’t it? Regardless though, I do find these simple lipstick reviews extremely useful when it comes to MAC – I mean, one of these babies will now set you back at least £15 (someone pick Granny off the floor, she’s keeled over in shock) and so you if you’re buying online you definitely want as much info as possible before you part with your precious cash. I was lucky enough to pick this little beaut up from a blog sale recently for the much more reasonable price of £8, but I still checked out a few swatches online.

This lipstick is part of the Sheen Supreme range from MAC, which promises to combine the colour and pigmentation of a lipstick with the moisturising sheen of a gloss. Hybrid products like these are always a win with me, having not quite given up my love of lip glosses despite knowing that lipsticks are the way forward for my older, more mature self.

Pret-a-Pretty is a pinky nude, making it so completely up my street that it’s practically on my doorstep. Despite the fine line that exists between a classic Brigitte Bardot nude lip and a ‘foundation lip’, it will always be my favourite shade for a lipstick. As my beloved MAC Creme D’Nude has officially bit the dust (I was using it right up until the ‘scraping out of the tube’ end, dear readers) I definitely needed a replacement, and Pret-a-Pretty is perfect for the job.

MAC 5With Flash / Without Flash

As you can see, even without the flash the lipstick still has a beautiful sheen to it. The formula is thick and creamy, making it really moisturising and it smells all vanilla-y and expensive. My one criticism of Pret-a-Pretty, which I assume is probably the same across the Sheen Supreme range due to the formula, is that staying power isn’t brilliant. When left it can stay on the lips for a couple of hours, but it transfers quite easily when eating or drinking. C’est la vie. Le bibliotheque. Jambon. That’s enough French for now.

MAC 4Overall, Pret-a-Pretty is the perfect everyday shade – though unfortunately not at an everyday price for many of us. My plan is to not use this all the time with gay abandon as I did my Creme D’Nude and thus hopefully it’ll last a bit longer – but check out the usage already shown in the top picture, do we really think I can manage this? It’s like that advert where the kids aren’t supposed to eat the Haribo even though it’s right in front of them (which, FYI, is surely a sort of child abuse).

Do any of you own Pret-a-Pretty by MAC? What’s your favourite MAC lipstick?

Claire

Bobbi Brown Long Wear Even Finish Foundation Review.

So…for those of you who have fallen off your chairs because I bought something that didn’t cost around 50p, I am very sorry and I hope you haven’t hurt yourselves too badly.

It’s no secret that I like a bargain. In fact, Claire and I have written lots of posts here on Stylingo about super cheap makeup (MUA’s Matte Perfect Shine Foundation, for example, which costed a wild £2). I think that if you can get something cheaply, you definitely should and there is very little better than finding a bargain. Apart from Jennifer Lawrence. However, I do think there are some things you should spend money on and as MUA’s £2 foundation has demonstrated, foundation is definitely one of them.

With this in mind, I headed over to Selfridges last week and decided that enough was enough. Some of you excellent people recommended Bobbi Brown’s Long Wear Even Finish Foundation and I trust your recommendations wholeheartedly – so I went to get matched by the lovely gals at the Bobbi Brown counter. After an alarming time of nearly having my eyebrows wiped off and looking like a lunatic for the rest of the afternoon, we went with shade 3 Beige.

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I have to say, I am in love. This is hands down the best foundation I have ever used. It’s oil free, so suits my skin type (which is combination/oily, ew) really well. This also helps with the application – it’s so easy to apply and feels super fresh/lightweight. It contains glycerin and shea butter, which apparently means that it’s wonderful and hydrating, as well as being generally great. According to the Bobbi Brown website, it lasts for up to 12 hours in humid conditions and also is SPF 15.

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Another big NAY HUGE must for my foundation is coverage. I don’t have the best skin, so I prefer to have foundation that covers any nasties and unevenness. I was a bit way of this foundation at the start, because it’s marketed as a medium – full coverage foundation. Usually, I will always go with full and never really bother with something that would only offer medium coverage. However, I needn’t have worried my tiny little head about this. The Long Wear foundation actually gives great coverage and you don’t need a lot of product to achieve a good level of “where have my features gone”. I’ve been using about two pumps, which is unheard of in my makeup routine. It’s also totally buildable, so if I’m having a day where I literally want to cover everything in a wonderful foundation-y mask, I can do just that.

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This is a bit of a weird thing to comment on, but Bobbi Brown’s Long Wear Even Finish foundation also has an excellent smell. If you’ve read my Dermalogica Skin Perfect Primer review, you may have seen that I said it smelled a bit like trees. This foundation also smells like trees, which somehow makes you feel like you are at one with nature.

Now lets get to the real nub and gist of the matter. It’s called Long Wear, but how long does it actually last? I’ve been wearing it for the past week, mainly to work (where my face is put to the test of sitting in front of a computer every day), and I have to say that it’s been lasting very well. If I’m totally honest, it probably lasts as long as Rimmel’s 25 Hour foundation, which is the best foundation I’ve used in terms of staying power. Saying that, with a few powders during the day, Bobbi Brown’s Long Wear can and has lasted me from about 8am-9pm. 13 hours isn’t so bad, AM I RIGHT?

And this is how it looks on my face, with a full face of makeup. I’ve got Bobbi Brown’s Tinted Eye Brightener on too, which I’ll be reviewing soon! (Spoiler alert: it is amaaaaaazing and I want to marry it).

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The only downside in my opinion is the price. At £30, it’s definitely not the cheapest foundation on the market and while I’d like to repurchase this every time I needed some new foundation, I’m pretty sure I’ll only be doing so when I’m feeling rich or its my birthday.

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Claire

From Bag to Bin: 4 Make-Up Products You Should Avoid

Bad 1Hello there, one and all. Now, if you read us regularly then you’ll know that one thing we really hate is writing negative reviews.

Oops, my bad, I just fell off my chair laughing.

Who am I kidding, we actually never fail to dish the dirt on products that we’re not fans of. Some people don’t like to do this as they think it’s too negative, but we think our reviews come from a place of love. We love our money – what little of it we have, that is – and so we don’t really like parting with it for sub-standard products. And we don’t want you to either, which is why we like to give our honest thoughts.

Of course, with makeup it’s often a case of ‘one man’s treasure is another man’s big pile of poo’  and so what we hate, you may love. With that disclaimer out of the way, here is a little run down of four products we’ve bought in recent months that have left us disappointed. As you can see, some of these have been used a LOT, so we really have persevered with the little bundles of rubbish.

1. Maybelline Eye Studio Master Shape Brow Pencil: Review

Bad 2After lightening my eyebrows a couple of months ago, I needed to invest a new eyebrow pencil in a lighter shade. I don’t use many Maybelline products but definitely trust them as a reliable, established brand, so figured I was playing it safe when I picked up the Master Shape Brow Pencil in Dark Blonde. It’s a wax formula pencil with a wand on the opposite end to brush through your brows with, and the pencil promises to create fine ‘hair-like’ lines for added definition.

However, for me this just did not work. Pigmentation is horrendously poor. I know that it’s not meant to be like other pencils that can be used to literally draw your eyebrows on, but getting any sort of colour payoff on the sparse parts of my eyebrows that needed a bit of filling was almost impossible. The wax formula also means that it’s incredibly greasy and slips easily, so attempting to tidy up the ends of your eyebrows is also really difficult, as it smudges so easily. On top of these problems, you then have the added nightmare of how quickly the pencil itself wears down. Even using the lightest of strokes, it’s still reduced to a stump after just a few applications. If you look at how much of the pencil I’ve sharpened and only after using it a handful of times, you can see that it really wouldn’t last you very long.

The only way that I can see this pencil being of use is if you’ve already got near-perfect eyebrows and just want a product to essentially set them. This, it does – though it leaves a noticeably slick look that I’m not a fan of.

2. Natural Collection Lipstick: Review

Bad 3I have to confess, Natural Collection is a brand that I’ve never been too inspired by. The packaging is a little meh, the products all look a little meh, even the name is a little meh (definitely lost us at ‘Natural’ I’m afraid, eww). However after reading a sparkling review of their lipsticks on another blog, I started to think maybe there was something not-meh about them after all. I love nudes and pale pinks, and Natural Collection is full of them, so for only £2, I was willing to give one a go.

I can’t even tell you what shade this is, possibly ‘pale meh’ or ‘meh blossom’ or ‘candy meh’. Whatever the heck it is, it’s thoroughly useless for me. Pigmentation is weak, staying power is weak, oh and the lipstick actually broke in half – making it physically weak too. Perhaps there are other shades in the range that are better, but personally nothing about this lipstick has made me intrigued to try any more of them. I’d consider it giving it to my 6 year old niece as something to play with, but I think even she’d ask me where my head was buying this.

3. Bourjois Volume Glamour Max Holidays Mascara: Review

Bad 4This cosmetic complaint comes courtesy of Lauren. The Borjois Paris Volume Glamour Max Holiday mascara (jeez, want to get any more pointless words in there?) promises 10 times more volume and 24 hours of waterproof joy, perfect for holidaying and hobnobbing about. Unfortunately Lauren found it to be a bit of a dud. The wand is clumpy and fails to separate or define lashes, while the formula is actually very thin and so doesn’t deliver on the volumising promise either. While it doesn’t leave a horrible effect on the lashes or create any problems with flaking or smudging, it’s generally just not very good either.

Considering this came free in a gift set after spending over £15  on Bourjois products, Lauren doesn’t see it is a product she particularly hates – but those who pay the full £5.99 may be a little more disappointed.

4. MUA Pro-Brow Ultimate Eyebrow Kit

Bad 5Lauren is somewhat of an expert when it comes to eyebrow kits,  and this one has just failed to live up to her high standards (women, eh). Initially she actually did like it – you can read her review here – but after a longer while of using it, the cons of the product started to show up more starkly.

As Lauren already explained in her review, the highlighter , gel and brush were all difficult to work with. On top of this, she soon started to notice that the powder itself wasn’t as good as she initially thought, with it smudging easily or completely disappearing if anything else came into contact with it. Being left with no eyebrows because you accidentally touch your face isn’t really what you want to happen during your day. The pro of this kit remains the tweezers, which are apparently very good quality – however, the rest leaves a lot to be desired. It looks as if the product might actually have been discontinued now, and to that I think we all say GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD BROWS.

Have you tried any of these products? What do you think of them?

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Claire

Seventeen Mini Haul: Brows That, Nail Varnish & More

Ello chums!

It has been a looooong time since I’ve nattered away on Stylingo, but unfortunately I have been very busy drinking and being festively merry with my fam and pals. I hope everyone had an excellent Christmas and is looking forward to partying tonight…I, for one, am sitting in bed with a cider listening to Miley. It’s a hard life, eh??

Has anyone else noticed how WUBBISH the sales are at the moment? I went shopping on Sunday fully expecting to spend all of my hard earned dollar and I couldn’t find one sale item I wanted to buy. So so so tragic. I was forced to comfort myself with some Seventeen purchases. And 2 pairs of shoes.

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Anywhoo, I’m sure I will feature my new shoes in an OOTD post soon (probably not at the same time, but you never know) but here is what I bought from Seventeen. As you may know, Claire and I are hugey fans of Seventeen and absolutely love their new product launches. I’ve been pretty much universally impressed with what I’ve bought in recent months, so they’re swiftly becoming my go-to highstreet makeup brand (sorry Rimmel).

Brows That Brow Kit

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When I got this, Claire quite rightly said ‘YES BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT YOU NEED, ANOTHER BROW KIT’. Well, a gal can never have too many brow kits, and technically this one was a free gift. That’s right gals, if you spend over £8 with Seventeen, you get a free Brows That Brow Kit. You basically can’t say no to that, can you?

It’s a great little kit actually, and I have swiftly replaced my MUA Brow Kit (which had it’s faults) with this. You get:

  • Brow Wax
  • Eyebrow Pencil
  • Setting Powder
  • Highlighter
  • Eyebrow brush

It’s £6 from Boots, which, for the quality of the product and for what you get in the palette, is absolutely amazing. The colours are not too dark and would suit most complexions, I think. What I like most is that it’s really similar to Sleek’s Brow Kit in the sense your eyebrows literally don’t go anywhere. With the MUA kit, I found my eyebrows tended to wander around my face, probably in search for a small snack. They didn’t last well at all and if you accidentally touched your face, your eyebrows would be gone (sob).

Smoulder Gel Eyeliner

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I’m a big eyeliner fan, particularly after a lad at work said ‘ARE YOU OK, YOU LOOK ILL’ when I didn’t wear any the other day. I’m usually more of an eyeliner pen or tube kind of girl, but I thought I’d give this gel eyeliner a whirl as my current Rimmel liner was running low. It’s described as having all of the staying power of a liquid eyeliner with the smokiness of a pencil. Wizardry? Basically yes. It somehow manages to be soft yet you can define your eyes properly too. I highly recommend this little pot, chums. It’s incredible!

Deconstructed Suede Nail Polish & Lasting Fix White Nail Colour

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This was a bit of a ‘pardon me, what on earth is this nonsense’ purchase more than anything. We’ve all heard of velvet nails, fur effect nails, 3d nails…but suede nails?! I wasn’t too sure if I was being a bit of a dongle and ‘suede’ was the name of the nail polish colour, but it actually comes out a little bit suede-y. It’s much more pleasant than it sounds. It’s sort of a matte, slightly metallic silvery grey – really lovely. I’ve tried to take some snaps on my falsies but I’m not sure if the suede came through.

I wasn’t actually going to feature this in my mini-haul because it’s actually quite boring. HOWEVER. This is an amazing white polish and I definitely didn’t expect such fab quality for such a bargain price. I only needed to do one coat and so far, it hasn’t chipped after 3 days (on my toes at that). It’s quite a pearly white, which is a bit different to Barry M’s white polish (which is a little thick and Tipex-y). Thoroughly recommend this white polish too, gals. Top marks again, Seventeen.

Well chums, I hope you have a wonderful NYE and both Claire and I can’t wait for what the new year is going to bring. I can safely say, probably more clothes, more makeup and most likely a hint of fake tan.

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Claire

Seventeen Stay Pout Lipstick | ‘It’s A Kiss Off’ Review & Swatches

17 Lipstick 1Merry Boxing Day boys and girls! Today I’m finally getting around to reviewing a product that has been sitting unopened in my makeup bag for a couple of months now. The lovely ladies at Seventeen were nice enough to send us over a box of goodies a while ago, and one of the delights in the box was this Stay Pout lipstick in the shade ‘It’s A Kiss Off’. 

The Stay Pout range only launched a couple of months ago, and contains 15 shades that all promise to be long-lasting lipsticks with a touch of stain for ‘hours of kiss-proof colour’. Ooer.

17 Lipstick 3From the sticker on the packaging, I thought that It’s A Kiss Off was going to be quite a bright pillar box red, which was why I hadn’t got round to opening it because I already have a fair few reds in my collection. But it’s actually a much pinkier red when swatched, making it a much more wearable shade for people who find a full red lip a bit intimidating. It’s also got a slightly frosted finish, which should appeal to people who like a bit of shine in their lipstick as opposed to a matte look. 

17 Lipstick 4The lipstick applies really nicely, giving a good slick of colour with one swipe. Once on the lips, it feels smooth and moisturising, without that dreaded flaky feeling you can get with other lipsticks.

As far the ‘kiss proof’ claims of the lipstick, I HAVE NO IDEA OBVIOUSLY (Christmas single bitterness, me? No…) but I found that it does transfer onto glasses and things quite easily (who needs a boyfriend when you have Lambrini?)

This isn’t too much of a problem though, because the stain aspect of the product meant that I was left with a good amount of colour still on my lips despite eating and drinking.

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Overall I prefer lip products to be either very matte or very glossy, so the finish of this lipstick isn’t really to my taste. In terms of the quality of the product itself though, I can’t really fault it and I’d be keen to look at other shades in the range to find ones that suit me a bit better.

You can buy the Stay Pout range for £4.49 from Boots, which I think is a really reasonable price for a high street lipstick. It’s also worth looking out for a lot of the great offers there often are on the Seventeen brand – for example, I think right now you get a free brow kit if you buy £8 worth of stuff. Boxing Day bargains galore!

Have any of you tried the Stay Pout range? What do you think? 

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Claire

The Best Smokey Eye Palettes for Under £20

Hello hooligans,

There’s nothing more exciting to me than a smokey eye palette. Apart from maybe biscuits and a nice cup of tea. And potentially when there is a new Catfish episode on. But you know…smokey eyes are definitely up there.

I’ve collected quite a few palettes over the years, but these are the ones that I am regularly using at the moment. As regular readers of our blog will probably know, we’re quite the keen beans for cheap and cheerful makeup. Sometimes cheaper brands can be a bit more of a miss than hit, but when you find the gems – they’re definitely worth spending your pennies on (and I mean pennies in the literal sense).

Aaaaanywhoo, these are what I think are the best smokey eye palettes for under £20. If you accidentally have spent all of your money on mince pies and Chrizzy pressies for ungrateful rellies (shortening words, all the cool kids are doing it), then you may want to continue reading. And for under £20…you may as well just buy them all and treat your eyelids to a smokin’ good time.

Eyeshadow Palettes

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The Bodyshop Smoky Eye Palette – £15.00

The Bodyshop makeup is genuinely really good quality and everything that I’ve owned has been top notch. This palette is my favourite of these four and it’s my go-to for when I go out and pardy. It comes in four shades, with one gold cream shadow. What I like most is that the darkest shade is matte – I’m not a big fan of looking like a disco ball on every occasion. Even the shimmer shades are quite subtle and the pigmentation is excellent and the staying power is fabulous. The palette also comes with brushes, but typically I have lost them both. Whoops.

Bodyshop

Bourjois Smokey Eyes Trio – £7.99

This little palette has loads of brilliant reviews and I actually received it as a part of the EXCELLENT free gift that I blogged about here. This one is in Gris Dandy and has three lovely gun metal silvery shades. I’m usually not a big fan of silver based smokey eye colours because browns tend to suit my complexion better, but this one is worth making a compromise for. The pigmentation is brilliant and it has amazing staying power. My only criticism of it is that it doesn’t include a highlighter shade, which I like to have in a palette.

Bourjois

Elf Natural Beauty Book – £6.00

If you can get over the sheer size of this palette, it’s actually very good. They did not lie when they said it was a book, I can tell you that chums. It’s not entirely necessary…they do have some fun information about how to apply the eyeshadow, but let’s all be honest. Anyone with fingers and/or hands can apply a smokey eye. It also comes with an eye primer, which I don’t have anything to say about really. It’s ok, but I wouldn’t say it’s anything too special. The brushes were a bit crap too, but palette brushes tend to be a bit pointless. The pigmentation is good and I particularly like the shade range. It’s a good one for daytime!

Natural Palette

Collection Smokey Eye Palette – £4.19

I did a full review on this palette, which you can read all about here. This is a great little palette, particularly if you’re just foraying into smokey eye territory and don’t want to commit to a more expensive eyeshadow kit. There’s a good shade selection and the pigmentation is really good for what you pay.

Collection

SO CHUMS. If you are a poverty stricken human being or simply just want to add to your makeup collection without spending too many dollar bills, you may find these a bit exciting. I really like them and my fave would look WUBBISH without spreading these on my eyeballs (by that I mean eyelids. I’m not mad).

What’s your favourite smokey eye palette? Have you tried any of these?

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Claire

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation & Radiance Powder Review

Good day to you fine ladies.

Who else gets a bit overwhelmed and excited about free gifts when it comes to makeup? I may or may not have shouted ‘FREE GIFT’ and grabbed the nearest products when I went to Boots recently. And those products happened to be the Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation and Bourjois Mineral Radiance powder. The free gift was amazing (worth £30 with full size products), so I wont be offended if you stop reading this review and leg it to your nearest Boots to invest.

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I know there are loads of reviews for the Healthy Mix foundation and a lot of bloggers absolutely rave about it, so I was really keen to give it a go and see what all of the fuss was about. Without further ado (there is always so much ado), here we go:

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

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My usual foundation routine involves slapping as much product as I can on my face and hoping for the best. In fact, I tend to wear so much that strangers who feel like the need a bit of extra coverage may as well stroll up and take a scoop off my face. Saying that, I have been slowly trying to alter my habits and wear less – so I was a keen egg to see what Bourjois could do for me.

I bought the Healthy Mix in Dark Beige (or beige fonce – oooer). Here’s what it looks like swatched and blended.

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The Healthy Mix foundation promises to:

  • Give a healthy glow.
  • Give a flawless complexion
  • Hydrate
  • Give luminous skin
  • Provide fruit therapy
  • Last for 16 hours

I can safely say that my skin usually has none of these things (especially fruit therapy. Although I can see why my apples might feel a bit depressed, I do tend to leave them to go off in the fridge in favour of biscuits).

Overall, I think that the Healthy Mix foundation delivers as much as it possible can with my skin. I’m never going to have lovely flawless, radiant skin but this foundation tries its best. I find it has great coverage, I don’t have to use too much product and it also lasts brilliantly. I wouldn’t say I quite look luminous, but it definitely gives me a fresh feeling and also feels brilliantly weightless. Overall, top marks for Bourjois. I can see why our #bblogger pals love it so much.

Bourjois Mineral Radiance Powder

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This was a bit of an impulse grab. I needed a new powder and wanted a free gift soooo…

However I’m actually really loving this! I’ve heard it’s a good dupe for Mac’s pressed powder and some beauty bloggers even claim it lasts a lot longer. I’ve not tried the Mac alternative, but overall I’m very very happy. I bought the Mineral Radiance Pressed Powder in shade 02 Vanillé. Swatching just wasn’t working out for me, but I hope you can see the shade alright from the pictures.

The packaging is sturdy, so if you’re cack handed and an idiot like I am – you’ll be happy to know that it would be very difficult to smash this powder in your handbag. It also comes with a mirror and a powder sponge, of which the powder sponge is a bit useless (does anyone use these?!) but the mirror is very handy.

What is most noticeable about the pressed powder is the smell. It’s absolutely gorgey. It smells a bit vanilla-ish but also a perfume that I can’t quite place. I know putting perfumes on your face probably isn’t a good thing, but as our dear pal Drizzy would say, yolo. I have been spending many an hour just sitting at my desk sniffing this pot of joy.

In terms of actually powdering my face, it works very well. It lasts me around 4-5 hours before I need to reapply, which is actually very good considering I have a horribly oily complexion. The colour range is ok but there are only 4 shades to choose from. Saying that, they should match most skin tones. Overall, it may not be one I’ll purchase every time I need a new powder (at £9.99, it’s not the cheapest powder), but it’s well and truly on my list of favourites.

What do you guys think? Have you tried the Healthy Mix foundation or the Mineral Radiance pressed powder? Let us know your thoughts!

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Claire

MUA Matte Perfect Shine Control Foundation | Review & Swatches

Well, it has happened. I always wondered when I would end up becoming a Jeremy Kyle level of tramp and it appears to be the month of November.

Claire and I decided to do some online shopping at work (er, big surprise there) and ‘invested’ in some bits and bobs makeup-wise from MUA. Read about what we bought here and for a more detailed review of the Pro-Brow Eyebrow Kit, have a clicky here. Out of sheer curiosity, I bought MUA’s Matte Perfect Shine Control Foundation. Which you can buy for £2. That’s right. You can buy foundation for as much as two steak bakes from Greggs.

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I’ll be honest with you, I wasn’t expecting much. I do like MUA products, but I have found that some of them have a few drawbacks – which obviously you’d expect when things are cheaper than Katie Price’s face (ooo-er, I’m such a bitch). So, when our parcel of excitement arrived, I thought it would be a fun experiment to give this foundation a whirl rather than it become a permanent fixture in my makeup bag.

And guess what chums… it was actually really good.

In a slightly weird move on MUA’s part, the foundation only comes in two shades: fair and almond. I really love how MUA include swatches in their product information, which is super useful when choosing shades. The almond colour looked really orange (even for me), so I opted for ‘fair’ thinking I could always bronze up if the dreaded pale-face-orange-body issue occured.

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As you can see, it is quite a light shade but it works well on days that I haven’t tanned and I’m using my Bourjois Bronzing Primer underneath on days that I have oranged up to darken things a bit.

I thought that the consistency would be quite watery and a bit pathetic – with no promises of full coverage, I thought it would be more of a BB Cream sort of product. How wrong I was. It’s really thick and I’d say it’s most likely oil based, which is something I prefer with a foundation. The coverage is amazing – I’d say on a par with Estee Lauder’s Double Wear and Rimmel’s Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation, both of which are my go-to base products. It goes on very nicely and you don’t think for a minute that it only cost £2 when applying. For those who prefer a dewy look, it has a lovely finish and only needs a light dusting of powder on the t-zone. I prefer a more matte look, so I tend to go for all over powder, but it still looks grand.

The staying power is also surprisingly good. I wore this to work, to the gym and still came home with makeup on my face (PARDON ME?!). It’s very impressive.

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As always, I do have some issues with it (I am an old woman now and enjoy complaining as well as tense games of Scrabble. Deal with it). The product promises to “keep the shine at bay all day”, but unfortunately it doesn’t quite do that. I always wear a primer and find I need to powder by midday when wearing MUA’s Matte Perfect Shine Control regardless. SAYING THAT. The only time I don’t need to powder is if I wear Double Wear, so I feel I can overlook MUA’s false promises. I have a discoball face that loves to pester me with it’s shiny nose, so it’s not unusual for me to have to touch up during the day. Rather than shine control and mattifying, I’d say this foundation is better for full coverage and lasting – still really good but

Face snaps

And this is what it looks like on my face – NOT BAD, JA? JA.

What do you think? Have any of you used MUA’s Matte Perfect Shine Control Foundation? 

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