Estée Lauder's Matte Perfecting Primer

I have been wanting to blog about this little beauty for a while now. I use the product daily and have repurchased it several times over the year. I love it!

In my usual routine I will apply my moisturiser before applying this primer. I find it helps to mattify (if that's a word?) and evens out the skin very well. I will then apply my foundation, BB cream or tinted moisturiser. 

On occasions when I'm having a particularly good skin day I will apply the primer to even out my face and then leave it at that! 

I like the consistency of the product and how easily it sinks into the skin. It takes away the shine on your skin but without making your face look dry. It gives a nice natural look. 

It retails for £23.50 at Debenhams, so it's not cheap but a tube lasts a good month if used daily. They also have the option of an Illuminating Perfecting Primer, which I'm guessing would be good for drier or more mature skin. 

Has anyone else used this primer?

X

Disappointing Products!

Hello beauties :)

This week is half term in Nottingham, so I left my uni abode and came back to home comforts for a bit! 

And, upon opening up my make-up storage (currently a weird shelved wardrobe thingy magig) I was surprised at how many products I'd left behind, like the 'Renford rejects'...Give me a comment if you remember this classic 90's kid programme! :P

But on closer inspection I realised why they'd been forgotten and thought about how disappointing each of them had been. So, maybe in an attempt to prevent others from suffering the same disappointment I thought I'd share what they were and tell you why I don't like them, or why they aren't worth the money. Of course, it's only my opinions so you can take my advice as you will. With a pinch of salt if you wish? :P

If you'd rather watch me talk about these products click above! But if you fancy a read...scroll on down :)

First up, MAC's Cleanse Off Oil. Yeah, yeah, I know a lot of you might love it, but for me I just can't get on with it! Agreed it does literally 'melt off' your make-up without any effort, but for me it also finds a way into my eyes and temporarily blinds me! No matter how carefully I try to remove my eye make-up, it seeps in somehow. Give me Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish any day thanks!

Goodbye cellulite?! Hmmm. I'm afraid it's true...I fell for the gimmick. I mean as if there's a product to essentially disguise fat cells?! Sure it gives a nice cooling sensation, application is pleasant, and I suppose it helps to moisturise your skin but hard work and exercise is the only thing I've found works in regards to cellulite. Don't fall for the nice idea like me!

Rimmel's Scandal Eyes Mascara. To be fair I think Rimmel are actually doing a fab job at the moment and are definitely in the running for the best high street/drug store brand imo. But, I guess there's always the odd anomaly or 'blip'. The brush is far too big for my liking and this makes application really difficult and darn right fiddly. I'm not a big fan of the formula either which seems to take ages to dry, but perhaps that's to do with the many a clumps this attracts?! It's cheap and cheerful at £6.99 but nope, it's not for me!

Avon's Colour Trend...eye shadow/liner stick? Had this one a while and only used it once...says a lot really! The quality of the cream shadow and crayon liner just isn't great. It blends...with effort, but there's nothing that nice about it. Just a big thumbs down to be honest!

Nicola Robert's Dainty Doll WHITE Foundation by Jelly Pong Pong. Yep, I guess the shade is enough to put you off, unless of sure you're Snow White. But I thought maybe the idea behind this would be to mix it with those foundations that are perhaps a little too dark for you? Waste not want not and all that. Wrong. In fact this questionable foundation contains serious sparkle! I mean I like a bit of shimmer and all that but not over my entire face! It's just odd. Enough said. 

Laura Mercier's eye lash curlers. I'd say be aware of these. Sure the design is really cool and you think 'ahh they're so compact and nifty', but they over-curl like a bi-atch. They don't fit my eyes particularly well either and I remember them to be fairly pricey. I'll stick to my bog-standard cheap curlers for now I think!

Lip stains/ lip pen markers. I guess this isn't all that personal to Maybelline's Color Sensational and Max factor's Lipfinity versions, but they dry out so quick! I mean under the month mark. And then you get that scratchy feeling when trying to apply them. I don't think I can warrant the money for just a few week's worth of use. However, I must say the Maybelline one smells absolutely delicious...like summer fruit berries! Yum.  

Max factor's Lipfinity two step duo. I really like the concept of this, with the glossy texture drying quickly. Application is fairly easy and it leaves a nice finish. It seems to withstand perhaps more than many lip products but it's staying power starts to crumble after an hour or two...literally crumble. You're left with a flaky peeling effect that looks to me like you either haven't applied your lipstick well or indeed you have the driest lips ever known...I mean seriously grab yourself a Carmex quick! These aren't personally looks I like to go for, so I'll pass on this. 

And that's a wrap...some of my most disppointing purchases!

bareMinerals Matte foundation

Hi everyone. Hope you all had a good Valentine's Day?! Personally I've never been one to do anything special for it...it's just another day in my opinion...but this year I went speed dating with a few friends. 

Yep, over 40 dates in one night...I reckon that might be me done for the year?! Haha. Anyway it was a good laugh, but no...I definitely didn't meet the love of my life, nowhere even close! :)

Sticking with the sickly theme...I thought I'd add a little love to my photo and include a couple of roses! They are mine, but no, I didn't get them for Valentine's...they were weirdly just kicking around! 

I've been a bareMinerals fan for a couple of years now, with my first foundation purchase in 2011. Being an oily skinned gal, I opted for the Matte version...which came on the scene that year I believe? So at the time I remember quite a bit of hype around it.

I was ever so excited when I got it for Christmas that year and couldn't wait to try it. Sadly, on first use of the product I was really disappointed. Back then, I wasn't as beauty obsessed and didn't have a good skincare regime going on. I had never moisturized! I know, crazy!

So on first using the bareMinerals foundation I found that by buffing the product onto my skin, using the Sigma F82 (love love love this brush), all it did was cling to the drier areas on my face, like nobody's business!

Anyway, after using a facial scrub and picking up a moisturizer, I found the product to apply much easier and it gave a nice complexion.

Then, for some reason I went off this foundation...possibly when summer hit. I don't particularly think this is the best option for those hot, sweaty days. Whilst using the Matte version, it does an OK job at keeping oils at bay for a few hours but generally I've found liquid foundations are a lot better at this.

I like the light-feel to this foundation and I get why it might seem like a good idea for summer days, but for me it doesn't have the staying power. I mean after all, it's basically powder.

However, I've recently got back into using this foundation on days where I don't want to apply my fuller coverage Chanel Perfection Lumiere. BareMineral's gives a nice light build-able coverage and generally can get your skin looking pretty flawless....

...But note that I said CAN. At the moment my skin troubles; spots, acne, seem to be clearing thanks to some prescribed medication...so I'm enjoying using the foundation. However, when my spots and acne was at its worst...I personally wouldn't have even considered using bareMinerals- simply because it wouldn't provide enough coverage and it doesn't have overly great staying power.

In my opinion bareMinerals is a great foundation for those that have pretty flawless skin to begin with. It'll do a fab job of evening out skin tone, covering a little redness and maybe even dark circles...but if you have much more to cover, then this wouldn't be advisable.

Like I say, I'm loving this product at the moment, but we do have a love-hate relationship. I love it and it loves me when my skin is behaving, but throw outbreaks into the mix and it remains firmly in my makeup storage!

Let me know it you have tried this/use bareMinerals? What do you think?