Easter Essentials

Are you looking for a few new staple skincare or makeup products to add to your daily routine?

 

  

These may be the products for you....

Vichy Dermablend Setting Powder

 

Firstly Vichy 'Dermablend' setting powder is my must have beauty product at the moment. Especially this time of year when you cant predict the weather day to day, this will ensure that your makeup stays in place for hours on end. When i read the reviews on this i wasn't convinced that it would make that much difference as lots of people had written that they loved the powder but needed to reapply it throughout the day. This definitely was not the case for me. One sweep (using a large blending powder brush instead of the powder puff they provide) keeps my makeup on all day with zero retouches. it reminds me of the Bare Minerals Mineral veil. With a similar consistency but doesn't dry your skin out as much. The powder is translucent and leaves no residue or product on the surface of your skin which is great because i find a lot of powders can clog my skin up and make me look like i have a huge amount of makeup on. As this is fragrance free i can 100% recommend this to anyone with sensitive skin. This is now part of my daily makeup routine and I'm excited for those hot summer days and my foundation wont slip off of my face!

 

This is available to buy in lots of retailers now at a range of prices but i purchased mine on Esentual as you can see for £14.45.

I'd love to know if any of you lovelies have tried the Vichy Dermablend foundation?

 

 

 Dior Skin BB Creme

Shade- 01

 

The second product that i purchased was Dior Skin BB Creme. I was completely stuck between this and Estee lauder's dupe but i ended up choosing this after reading better reviews. I did however get given a sample of Estee Lauder BB cream and absolutely loved it! So il probably be buying that soon as well. Dior describe this product as 'A dream combination of skin care and make-up'. I agree to a certain extent. The consistency is unlike a BB creme that i have tried before. It has a foundation fluid like feel on application but sets to a powder finish. Instead of  providing a coverage like makeup it smoothes and sinks into the skin, adjusting to your individual tone. I'm not convinced i could wear this alone instead of foundation, maybe in the summer on holiday. But it's lovely as a base underneath my normal routine. It reminds me alot of Chanel's Perfection Lumiere foundation. Although its very light it has a powdery look and feel, and they also work really well together. The tube is fairly small but comes with a unique pump which is such a helpful feature, and aesthetically it looks great.

 

Dior Skin BB Creme is priced at £30 but i paid only £25.50 also at  Esentual
 

 

Lastly this is a product I've wanted to try since it was first launched.
 

Benefit Gimme Brow

Shade- Light/Medium

Anyone that knows me knows that i am a complete eyebrow addict. I love keeping them in shape and preened to perfection so whenever i hear of new brow products i jump at the chance to try them out. This product has seemed very popular and everybody seems to be raving about it so i was very excited to purchase this.

Benefits claims 'Fiber gel adheres to skin and hairs for fuller looking brows'. The Colour for me was perfect, almost a dark ashy blonde. When i first applied it looked very natural. it combed the hairs into shape and it was almost like wearing a tint layer on top of the hairs. My brows instantly looked neat and tidy and i will admit they did look slightly fuller. Overall i loved this product but it wasn't something i can use alone. I needed a slight touch of powder and pencil at the end just to create the shape that I'm used to and also fill in any gaps that i have. The product kept my eyebrows looking perfect all day with zero touch ups needed! Definitely a must have for any eyebrow addicts or even any eyebrow virgins out there. A great natural finish with zero hassle!

I purchased this in Debenhams for £17.50.

 

 

Thankyou so much for reading,

Have a lovely Easter weekend

Alys

x

Smash Box CC Cream Review

Smashbox

 

Camera Ready CC Cream SPF 30

Dark Spot Correcting

 

Whilst Flicking through my recent edition of Glamour magazine i was shocked to find a sample of Smashbox's new camera ready CC cream. Glamour quite often have samples included but not usually products that I'd get excited about! So i thought I'd give it a go and let you see the results!

 

As you all know i suffer with acne and my main problem is finding something to cover previous and recent scaring. I haven't yet tried many products to fade my scaring as i wanted to concentrate on clearing up my skin before conquering the underneath.  So I'm not quite sure if this will work on my skin. Smashbox CC cream claims to fade post acne scars over time i thought this would be perfect for me. I've tried smashbox camera ready primer before and loved it so was very excited to try this.

 

On first glance the cream looked a little too dark for me, but that's fine as it comes in 5 different shades i can always try a lighter one at a later stage. As i started to apply the cream onto my cheeks i found that a little really did go a long way. The texture is light, non-greasy and definitely more of a cream consistency. In my opinion the finish is semi-matte and buildable which is great if you need a touch up throughout the day.After applying to my problem areas i found that i wasn't quite happy with the coverage. This might be great for summer skin but this time of year i like my skin to have a bit more dewiness as it tends to get dry easily. A matte finish tends to cling on to my dry areas and  for me this product wasn't a high enough coverage to wear just on its own. Below, the picture on the left is my skin with just with the cc cream.  as you can see overall its not a bad evenness but you can still see my most prominent spots. In the right picture I've applied a small amount of Dior Air flash foundation and Chanel 'pink explosion' blush on my cheeks. this now has give n me my desired finish.

As a base i thought it was good, i'd probably try it again in the summer but for me personally i couldn't wear this just on its own. However as you can see with foundation the final look is actually almost flawless. I also don't think the shade was quite light enough for me so I'd love to try the lighter shades of this product before making a final decision.

 I used this product for about a week and a half and it showed little improvement towards fading and redness of marks but as a cc cream and a base to foundation i would definitely purchase this. I'd love to know how you all get on with this!

 

Thanks for reading

 

Alys

x

Chanel Perfection Lumiere

Product Review

 

I've tried to be really good recently and only buy products that i know i really need and use on a regular basis. But, along came Valentines, and i felt like i deserved a little treat! I decided I'd have a little splurge and try a Different Chanel foundation for my winter 'pale days'. The truth is, days when i can't be bothered to tan.

So when i got to the Chanel counter i did my normal speech about needing something with a high coverage for acne and combination skin and the Chanel rep recommended Perfection Lumiere . I had already seen a few positive reviews on this particular foundation it so i asked if she could apply it all over (as you can never really tell how well it goes onto your skin otherwise). She advised me on applying with a brush to get better coverage. I have heard mixed reviews on using brushes, and for me personally i have gone off using them. Because i have certain areas that need more attention when applying, i find by using my fingertips i can apply it more evenly and i have more control over how much i use. I also find it gives it a more natural finish when applied skin to skin, but that could just be my personal preference because of my skin type. When i have used brushes in the past I've found that my skin gets worse and worse as it spreads bacteria back and forth every use unless you have time to thoroughly clean them everyday. 

The foundation smelt so fresh as she brushed it on and blended it from the middle outwards. The texture was very luxurious and creamy but still so light on the skin. Usually i need to use concealer on my chin area on top of my foundation but this was such high coverage i didn't need anything extra. The finish looked dewy (which is almost impossible to find with high coverage foundation) and at the same time it also felt like i had dusted over the top with a setting powder. The colour was possibly the best match I've ever had as i usually go for something to match my tan and not my natural skin tone. The foundation Lasted a good 6-8 hours which is good for me! The rep also gave me some under eye gel samples to try and persuaded me to get the blusher she had applied afterwards. Lets face it i don't need much persuading! The eye gel felt amazingly refreshing under my eyes, and soaked in so quickly. The little tubes that she gave me have lasted ages and although i don't really suffer with bags under my eyes, they do feel slightly tighter and less puffy in the mornings.

The next day i applied the same look with my fingers and was really happy with the results.  So if your looking for something with a flawless and dewy finish this is definitely the foundation for you. I wouldn't perhaps recommend this to someone without blemishes or uneven skin as it it would be far too heavy for you. The selling point for me wouldn't just be the lasting coverage, but the buildable layers. Throughout the day you can apply thicker layers on precise areas to ideally control your complexion’s perfection.

Perfection Lumiere retails in at £36.00

The Products;

 

PERFECTION LUMIÈRE

Long-wear Flawless Fluid Makeup

12 Beige Rose

 

 

Joues Contraste

Powder Blush

64 Pink Explosion

 

 

The 'Pink Explosion 'blusher comes in a cute little velvet pouch.

Hydra Beauty

Radiance Eye Gel

The Look

For this I also used:

Lancome Hypnose Mascara

Eyeko Liquid Eyeliner

Clinique Eyeshadow- Super Shimmer 35

Illamasqua Eyebrow Cake- Motto

Nars Lipgloss - Paris Follies

Dior Lip Glow