Review | Clarins Super Restorative Foundation -Teint Lift Eclat Spf 15

Don't you just hate it when you buy a product without realizing what it actually is? Well I do and that's what happened when I bought this foundation. I didn't realise it was and anti-aging foundation (despite the words 'True Lift' in the name, duuuh!), I wouldn't have purchased it if I had realized. However it was on sale for more than half off so I didn't really give that much attention to details as I wanted to take advantage of the mega bargain! This foundation retails at  £35 at Boots so it's quite pricey without that nice discount! I've never been interested in anti-aging foundations as due to my oily skin I've always found them to be best suited to dry skin types. Having said that, my error was a blessing in disguise as I looove this foundation. It is amazing, it gives a beautifully fresh and natural finish to the skin without being too dewy (no shimmer by the way). It has great medium to high coverage so you can apply just a little bit on those days you're feeling good about your skin but still want a 'lift'. Despite the great coverage this foundation is not heavy or cakey, it is wonderfully light! It gives the skin a supple, hydrated and healthy looking finish.

The packaging is great as it's a pump bottle, so fuss free. Even better is that it's the type of pump that pushes the product up as it gets used like the Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation bottle. Only thing is that you can't see how much product is left as the bottle is white but that doesn't really bother me too much.

This foundation has a nice light creamy consistency and it blends nicely.

I noticed as I was testing out the shades that the odd numbered shades were warmer / neutral toned and the even numbered shades were cooler toned. I ended up choosing shade 9 Café Glacé / Capuccino as it was the darkest available where I bought the foundation, I would have preferred a slightly darker shade though. I'm a MAC NC44, I think I would say that shade 9 would be comparable to NC42. I would prefer for the shade to be a bit yellower, but that is my personal preference. The only foundation I've so far tried to date that I've found to be yellow enough for me is MAC's Studio Fix, but it made my skin bumpy so can't use it =(.

This foundation instructs you to apply it with your fingers which I believe is the best way as I've tried using brushes and they don't give the same natural finish as when applying with my fingers. A little goes a long way!This foundation lasts well and doesn't make my skin that much more oily than when I don't use it. I do have to blot at some point but that's just the way with oily skin! I would not recommend it to people with oily skin that prefer foundations that help with oil control as this is definitely a dewy foundation. It has SPF so that's a plus for those who like foundations with SPF.

Conclusion? One of the best 'mistake' purchases I've ever made! I love looove this foundation, it's pretty expensive but I like it so much I might be tempted to splash out when my bottle finishes! My experience with this has got me interested in trying out other Clarins products. I know how popular the Beauty Flash Balm is so I'm thinking of giving that a go too. What is/are your favourite Clarins product/s?

Review: No7 Stay Perfect Foundation

Let me start off the post by wishing everyone a very happy New Year! May we all achieve all our goals and aspirations and may this year be full of love, peace, happiness and success for us all!

I've had No7 Stay Perfect Foundation for quite a few months now and have been thoroughly enjoying it. It gives light to medium coverage and leaves a lovely natural finish to the skin. I have to say it's one of my go-to foundations at the moment! Wish I had a better thumbnail for my video rather than the not-too-impressed expression I had to settle with! Haha, check out my full review above or here.

Wish List #1

Angelica Hydration Cream
Fabulous Serum
Immortelle Brightening Cleansing Foam
Sorbet Verbena Fresh Mist

So this past week I've had my eye on some L'occitane products which have easily found their way into my wish list! With the weather being quite dry my skin has been feeling a bit dehydrated and I feel like my usual Garnier Youthful Radience Day Cream Moisturiser (which I love) isn't cutting it. I apply it and it absorbs pretty quickly (as usual) but my skin still feels slightly dry after the moisturiser has been fully absorbed. I even tried using E45 one day instead but that proved to be a bit too much for my combination/oily skin. 

L'occitane's Angelica Hydration Cream promises to smooth, hydrate and plump up your skin. This is what L'occitane says about it:

"Made with organic angelica from the Drome region of France, the fresh and silky smooth Angelica Hydration Cream efficiently moisturises and revitalises the skin.
L'OCCITANE's patented angelica complex reinforces natural skin hydration by stimulating aquaporines, improves skin elasticity and protects from free radicals.
Skin is plumped, smoothed and more radiant."

Sounds like exactly what I need right now! This moisturiser is for dry to normal skin but I'd still like to give it a go to see if it can solve my 'oily-but-dehydrated-skin' problem!

With the whole sleep line thing doing my head in I'm still on the hunt for something that will moisturise the area under my eyes and keep moisturising for a good amount of time. I've switched to using olive oil but by morning the skin under my eyes has completely absorbed all the oil and it's as if I never put anything there in the first place as the skin is slightly dry. So, I'm thinking this Fabulous Serum may help in that area. Here is the info about it on L'occitane's website:

"This serum with repairing and protective properties is specially formulated to rescue skin damaged by harsh conditions. Ideal for all skin types, the Fabulous Serum will repair prior damage and will protect the skin in the future: 

 "Repairing effect : 
Concentrated in natural origin hyaluronic acid, which has a “plumping” powers, the serum instantly smoothes fine dehydration lines leaving skin looking smooth and plum.
A complex of cereal and dried fruits extracts (wheat, chestnut and walnut extracts) helps to regenerate the skin by stimulating cellular renewal and helping to reactivate the lipid synthesis.

Protecting effect:
Rich in shea butter (5%), it helps to restore skin barrier function, to protect against harsh climate conditions and maintain an optimal hydration level for 24 hours.
The protective shea shield extract, with anti-pollution and antioxidant properties, helps to strengthen the skin’s to environmental damage.

The Fabulous Serum has an incredibly smooth, creamy texture, which sinks in immediately for instant radiance and a beauty boost. The skin is visibly repaired, instantly smoothed, soft and supple."

It's quite pricy at £30 for 30ml but I guess it would last for a long time just using it under my eyes.

The Immortelle Brightening Cleansing Foam is suitable for all skin types and claims to even out your skin tone and make it radiant. Now, I'm not really sure if I believe you can enjoy these benefits by using this cleanser but it sound really nice to use! What L'occitane says:

The Brightening Cleansing Foam is a very gentle face cleanser, enriched in immortelle floral water and citrus fruit peel to lighten the complexion.
 The skin is perfectly clean, soft, fresh and comfortable. Complexion is evenly-toned and radiant. Suitable for all skin types. Use every morning and night on wet skin, avoiding the eye contour area.

Last but not least on my L'occitane list is the  Sorbet Verbena Fresh Mist. This sounds like a dream to use on your face for an instant pick me up!

"The Sorbet Verbena Fresh Mist is an alcohol-free formula that intensely refreshes the skin and maintains its hydration level, leaving behind a delicate perfume with summery notes of citrus and mint. Energize yourself with this mist, which contains an organic verbena extract from Corsica.
 Packaged in a convenient travel-sized bottle, this mist is perfect to keep with you throughout the day."

Check out all these lovely products and more on the L'occitane website.

The last three things on my wishlist this week are Urban Decay's Smoked palette, Lilacquer's The Fifth Element Collection nail varishes (yep all of them! The colours are just gorgeous! Check them out in this blog!) and Revlon's Colorstay Whipped Foundation.

 

The Colorstay Whipped Foundation gives buildable to full coverage and provides a matte finish. It comes in 16 shades and claims to be heat and humidity proof. I do like matte foundations due to having oily skin but I also like a more natural dewy finish to my face so if this foundation were to be too matte I'd just 'dew it up' a bit with a good facial spray! Initially I thought the texture would be like Maybelline's Dream Matte Mousse (did not like the texture and finish at all when I tried it out once) however, I've seen some reviews on it on YouTube and the texture is mostly described  as being liked whipped cream rather than a mousse and the finish isn't too matte which is good. Would be great if the foundation were packaged in a pump bottle or tube rather than a jar.

Having seen a blog post about UD's Smoked Palette I'm in luuurve =) It's the perfect palette for traveling for its size, packaging and range of colours that enable you to create more soft and subtle day looks and update them to more daring and dramatic night looks! The palette comes with a 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion, a travel-size Eyeshadow Primer Potion and a booklet with 12 smoky eye look ideas. This has got to be number one on this wish list!

That's it for wish list #1. Let's see how many out of these I manage to get, eh?! Hehe, what's on your latest wish list? x