Makeup// Foundation...

Back in the wonderful town of Loughborough after my long, lazy days at home snuggled up on the sofa watching films all day and night (heaven).

So, now I'm back and unpacked, I thought I'd do this makeup post. 

The funny thing is I actually left my makeup bag and the contents AND alllll my brushes/ eyelash curlers/ moisturisers etc.. in my bedroom. 

I am quite an idiot.

So yes, the photos I took before I left for Loughborough will have to suffice!

If anyone finds this post interesting or would like to hear more about makeup I may post some more in-depth reviews, or include my brushes and skincare etc.. let me know (all 5 of my readers.. so popular)

After some deliberation I have decided to do a few parts to this makeup post, and I will start with the foundation!

My makeup bag used to house my makeup treasures is a Dior black velvet case which I got free from a J'adore Dior perfume purchase, I love it!

The downside of it is, as you can see, it is a bit of a dust collector!

Here is the contents of my makeup bag;

When I was in Australia I went MAD and brought two new foundations (garnier BB cream and cover girl nuatureluxe) and Bronze Universal (Tan de Chanel). I was defiantly on a bit of a makeup rampage/ binge,  which I am not proud of, (neither is my bank account) but it is always good to try a variety of products! (I shall keep telling myself this). This binge continued in to the early hours of yesterday evening... Once I got back from Australia I brought Chanel Vitalumiere- after trying endless samples from endless brands, and last night I also had to make an emergency purchase of Revlon Photo Ready and a mascara (can't remember the name and, franky, not worth naming, boo). However, hopefully it's out of my system now and I can move on! 

I do own a lot more makeup than is currently being carried around by me, but these purchases are my current favesss.

I think that foundation is the most vital thing to get right with your makeup, a good colour match and a foundation suited to your skin type can make all the difference in the world to your complexion, making you appear refreshed, glowy, younger and flawless. The best way to get the right foundation for you is to go to a counter, ask for a colour match and try a take home sample! (I know it can be hard to try "drug store"/ high street cosmetics)

And that is exactly what I did.

Firstly, after all the trials and tribulations I associate with finding a good foundation, I have finally found  a few keepers, but, I had to try a lot to get there! I haven't tried all of the foundations on the market (obviously), but, I feel I should perhaps quickly mention the few I did sample;

Laura Mercier oil free foundation, MAC studio sculpt and pro-longwear, Estee Lauder Double Wear and Chanel Perfection Lumiere. 

They were all okay, but I did not fall in love with any of them!

I will start by saying I have pretty dry skin and I really like a foundation that gives a healthy glow. None of these products really did that, 

the Studio Sculpt was okay, but didn't give me a flawless finish. 

I also quite liked pro long-wear with a really thick moisturiser (think Elizabeth Arden 8hr cream), but I felt like it couldn't be doing my skin any good putting such a greasy product on my face daily, then sealing it with a long wearing foundation, also both of the MAC foundations caused flashback, so in flash photos when I'm wearing it I look like a ghost! (niiiiice).

The Laura Mericer foundation was okay, didn't really do anything for my skin with regards to glow or coverage. 

The Perfection Lumiere was AMAZING, but waaaay too matte and drying for my skin. If you have oily skin however I would 100 percent recommend this! It last for hours and looks so flawless.

I would also say the Double Wear is extremely drying when it sets, I almost felt like I was wearing a mask of makeup with it (but I know some people swear by it for full coverage and a matte finish).

So, that was my opinions of the samples (I would really recommend getting sample pots of foundations if you're looking to buy a 'high-end' foundation).

In the end I decided on buying Chanel Vitalumiere (ironically, the foundation which I did not test). It is beautiful when you put it on, not very much coverage, but it gives a lovely dewy finish to the skin. 

The one thing I'd say about this product is that its staying power, unfortunately, is not great! (and I have dry skin), but it lasts a little longer if you set with powder and wear a primer. I just apply it with my fingers as I feel as it is so sheer applying it with a brush makes the application lighter and half the product gets wasted and trapped in the bristles. Chanel foundations tend to cater for everyone and I'd defiantly recommend going to them if you're looking for a new high end foundation. I also haven't had any problems with flashback with this foundation. 

I also regularly use Revlon Colourstay which has a massive cult following in the beauty world. I repurchased this foundation at least 3 times, and I lovveeee it. The only reason I wanted to buy a new foundation was because in the winter months it looks dull on my skin as it is so long-wearing and sets on my double-dry winter skin and looks a bit heavy. However this is a foundation I'd defiantly recommend if you're looking for a medium to full coverage foundation that is extremely durable! It also comes in two versions, 1.Normal/ Dry skin 2.Combination/ Oily skin, which is great.

To apply this foundation I use a MAC 190 brush and if I wear it in the winter months I'd use a heavy moisturiser underneath and maybe mix it with some highlighter (like Hocus Focus from Soap and Glory). An annoying feature about this product is that it does not come with a pump.

My first foundation which I still stay true to is my No7 Intelligent Colour foundation which is an amazing mousse-like texture and applies with fingers flawlessly. It is one of those clever little foundations which adapts to your skin tone, it's light coverage, but, it really looks beautiful on the skin, and just evens out the skin tone, I'd say the finish is semi-matte/ velvet. The downside is that the staying power is not great. 

My next foundation (I have a few in my makeup bag!- Sorry!), is Covergirl Nature Luxe which was a bit of an impulse buy in a supermarket in Australia. It has a really nice velvety finish and a silky texture, again, staying power could be better. The shade also was a bit too pinky for me and I'm not sure what the shade range is like, but I could have just picked the wrong colour because I'm silly. I don't think I've seen Covergirl being sold in the UK either.

The final product I've been carrying around is the Garnier "BB" cream. I've never tried another BB cream, but I don't feel like this is a true BB cream for some reason. The formula is quite thick and sticky and it feels like a heavy tinted moisturiser. I brought this in the shade Medium and it was too dark for me even though I was tanned, I feel like the shades could be misleading. It was also very orange toned. This product has SPF 15 in it like a lot of the other foundations I use, but I felt like the product had the same texture as a thick suncream, it also really stings like suncream if it goes in your eye, so be careful with application. The smell of it was very pleasant however. Staying power is okay, but not brilliant. To be honest there are probably better BB creams out there, but I decided to keep it in my makeup bag as its new and I am holding on hope that it may one day come in handy!

As you can see a lot of money can be spent on foundations, and to be honest with high street foundation I find it hard to find the shade and finish I'm looking for as you can not take samples home to try out all over your face and with other products over the top, but there is also hope!

There will be a foundation for everyone if you look hard enough, and I hope this post was even a tiny bit helpful to someone!

Lots of Love,

xo