Rimmel Lasting Finish Foundation Review

I discovered this foundation through my friend. Her skin was looking great so I asked her what foundation she was using and she told me it was this one. I managed to get this foundation when it was £5, making it even more of a bargain.

I didn't get on with Rimmels Wake Me Up Foundation so I didn't have hight hopes for this one either, but given the price I was willing to give it a go and I am so glad I did. Its not a perfect foundation, but for the price, its pretty good.

The consistency is quite thick, and I like to apply this with my fingers. It feels nice and hydrating on the skin and doesn't cling to the pesky dry patches around my nose. The finish is quite dewey, so I like to set it with Rimmel Stay Matte Translucent powder.

With the powder, the foundation lasts a good 6 hours on me which I think is great for a drugstore foundation. The coverage is great, as you can see from the picture it covers my acne scars really well.

The only negative is that the lightest shade, Ivory, is a little too dark for me so I have to blend it down onto my neck.

Overall I think this is a great foundation for those of us who need medium-full coverage, and who are on a budget.

I am currenty testing Rimmel True Match Foundation which is a light coverage, and using this one as a concealer for my acne and its working great.

Gem x

Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation Review : Ecru

This post turned out to be a little long and rambling, so if you want to skip the blurb, head for the writing in bold where I have summarised my thoughts on Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation :) 

I have wanted to try this foundation for a while now. I had a bottle of it a couple of years ago and I wasn't all that impressed but I thought I should give it another chance. Boy am I glad I did... I think I have found my HG foundation.

Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Liquid Foundation Review

I received this foundation as a result of attending a Benefit bloggers event. It will in no way affect the integrity of this review and as always, I will give my 100% honest opinion :)

Benefit are launching their new liquid foundation 'Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow' in stores on the 31st of March, and they were recently touring the country to promote it. I was lucky enough to attend an event in Swansea, where we were told all about the foundation. We were also colour matched and were kindly given our chosen shade of Oxygen Wow to try out for ourselves.

I was matched to the lightest shade the foundation comes in, which is called 'Believe in Me Ivory. I am quite pale, but I am not the palest, and this shade is a good match for me, maybe slightly a bit darker than my natural skin colour, so I think anyone paler than me will have problems finding a colour match. 

The foundation comes in a plastic pump style bottle, which could look quite cheap, but not in this instance. Like all Benefit product the packaging has been extremely well designed and is really cute. 

I was ill the day I got this from the Postman and spent all day indoors. Perfect for testing out the foundation, not so great for me. I applied the foundation at 10am with my real techniques stippling brush. 

The first thing I noticed was how runny this foundation is. It is definitely the most runny foundation I have ever used. Don't be fooled in thinking that because it is runny that you will need to use a lot of product to get good coverage. One pump was enough to cover my whole face. 

They say it is a light to medium coverage, and using the stippling brush it was definitely a more medium coverage, which for me is good as I have acne scarring. It covered them quite well, I would still need to use a concealer if I wanted to completely cover them. It didn't accentuate my pores, it actually blurred them well, and it left a nice dewy glow to my skin. 

I checked my skin every hour or so, and this foundation lasted really well, much better than other similar finish foundations I have tried. I didn't use a finishing powder or a primer and it stayed nice and dewy for around 5 hours without getting at all greasy, which is great. After that time I would definitely need to blot or powder as my T-zone became quite shiny. The other areas of my face were still great though. 

Here is a pic of me wearing the foundation. I think it gives a lovely dewy glow to the skin.

I usually have really bad skin, but when wearing this foundation I actually got a few compliments :) I am also wearing Benefit High Beam as a highlight and the two products go perfectly together to create a gorgeous radiant glow. I have got a small amount of GOSH click and go concealer on my problem areas which are around my mouth and chin, and under my eyes.

The foundation has SPF 25 +++ which is great, this really is the perfect foundation for summer as it gives a lovely healthy glow and has the added benefit of sun protection. Another plus for me is the fact that this foundation is oil free and paraben free, and doesn't aggravate my skin. It also contains Vitamins C and E to help prevent ageing, Sea water to hydrate and amino acid to smooth the skin. 

I found it quite similar to healthy mix by Bourjois in the finish, but actually better as it doesn't cling to dry patches of skin and it lasts longer with out a powder. Also with healthy mix i needed at least two pumps whereas with Oxygen Wow I only needed one pump.

I did find that in harsh lighting it did appear that there was glitter on my face. It was nothing extreme like the glitter ball mess that is Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation, but it did bother me slightly. I was assured by Benefit that there is no glitter in this foundation, I think it must be the 'Light-Diffusing Properties' that is in the product description combined with the harsh lighting.

As the 'glitter' only appears in harsh light, I still love this foundation. It gives a gorgeous luminous glow to the skin, perfect for summer. It will be nice to see how it performs in hotter weather when my skin will become oilier, and then I will make a decision whether to repurchase or not.

Pros: Glowing dewy skin, lasts reasonably well, buildable coverage

Cons: A bit pricey, might not be suitable for oilier skins, can appear 'glittery' in harsh light

Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Liquid Foundation will be available from the 31st of March and will be £24.50.

Rating: 4/5

Bourjois Flower Perfection Foundation Review

Bourjois say: 

A youth extension foundation with a velvety smooth finish, for up to 16 hrs.

With a built-in smoothing sponge applicator, the results are spectacular! Skin is up to 70% smoother, pores and fine lines are corrected, without masking the skin, leaving the complexion perfectly even.

Skincare action: its SPF 15 formula with wild azalea flower, protects skin cells for long-lasting youth extension

And it’s good for my skin:

- Non comedogenic formula

- Dermatologically tested

I don't usually stay loyal to a foundation for very long but my favourite foundation for about a year now has been Healthy Mix by Bourjois. I loved the fact that it lasted well and gave my skin a lovely healthy looking glow. But I have been having trouble with my skin lately, one moment its dry and flaky, then the next it is greasy and oily. If you use Healthy Mix or have read any reviews, mine here, you will know that it has the tendency to cling to dry patches, and also make your skin appear greasy if you do have oily skin. 


My skin has really been playing up the last couple of weeks. It has become more oily, but dry at the same time, and Healthy Mix was becoming a little too dewy on my skin, and sticking to the dry patches. 

So I saw that Bourjois had a new foundation out, and having read a couple of great reviews for it, I decided to give it a go. I knew it was meant to be more matte than healthy mix. It was on offer in Boots at the time so I got two for £13, which I thought was a bargain. 

I got the shade 52, in the shop this looked the perfect match for me, but do be aware that the foundation will oxidise after a couple of minutes from application to a slightly darker shade. So it is slightly darker than my natural skin colour, so I just blend it down onto my neck and this seems to help even things out. 

It is a matte finish with slightly more coverage than the Healthy Mix, which for me is great as I have terrible skin which needs a good medium to full coverage foundation. I apply it using my Real Techniques stippling brush. There is a sponge included in the lid, but I don't like using a sponge to apply my foundation so I just discarded this.


It is a much thicker consistency than healthy mix, and a little harder to work with. I would recommend using a stippling brush or buffing brush to apply this foundation as it does take a little work to blend. Once blended though it looks amazing. 

Like Healthy Mix, this foundation also has a scent to it. Usually I don't like scented cosmetics but the smell on this foundation is lovely and not at all chemically, like most scented makeup. As expected the smell is rather flowery.

I have very sensitive skin and some foundations can break me out, but I am glad to say that this one doesn't do that.

This combined with my Real Techniques stippling brush leaves my skin looking close to flawless. It doesn't look cakey at all, and lasts really well, around 6 hours. Another plus for this foundation is the fact that I don't need to use a setting powder with this foundation, as it gives such a nice matte finish. 

Overall, I love this foundation and will be repurchasing when my current supply runs out. I think this would be great for anyone who is looking for a medium to full coverage foundation, and has oily skin. 


I think this is a good foundation for winter and when you need more coverage, I may change back to healthy mix for the summer though.

I was lucky enough to attend a Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow bloggers event in Swansea recently, and I am waiting for own to arrive so I can test it out. I am really looking forward to it so keep an eye out for my review on that :) 

Rating 4/5

Gemx

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation Review

image from google as I received a sample sachet

First things first, I received a sample of this foundation in a magazine. It was a sachet in the colour beige, and as I had used fake tan on the weekend and was still quite tanned, I thought it was the perfect time to try out this foundation as it matched my tanned skin perfectly.  

When I first applied it, I thought it was great. It gave a medium coverage and the finish was amazing. It was a cross between matte and dewy, and did make my skin look very 'awake' and glowing. 

However when I went into my bathroom which has quite harsh halogen lighting, I noticed that my whole face was glittering. Why anyone would want glitter in their foundation is beyond me. Who wants to look like a disco ball? I had visions of when Edward is exposed to the light in Twilight, this is what I felt like!

After about an hour of wearing it, my face became very greasy. I was out and didn't have any powder on me so had to spend the day with a greasy face. The grease lasted all day until I washed it off.

I was really disappointed with this foundation due to the fact that it had glitter in it and that it became greasy after only an hour wearing it. I have combination skin with dry patches, my skin is not very greasy at all so for this to go greasy was not something I would have expected.

Rating: 1/5, glitter in foundation is such a no-no for me.

Review: Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

Finding the right foundation is an extremely difficult task. what may be the perfect foundation for one person may be totally wrong for you, or vice versa.

 I have extremely sensitive, acne prone, combination skin. So for me finding a foundation that suits seems to be nigh on impossible. That is what I thought until one day I stumbled upon Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in Boots.

This is how Bourjois describe the foundation:

"70% more radiance!

Bourjois 1st radiance-boosting fruit therapy foundation: a flawless complexion for up to 16hrs!

Its exquisite and glide-on formula blends onto the skin for a flawless, yet natural finish.

8 hours moisture. Let skin breathe. High tolerance dermatologically tested."

I would describe the coverage as medium, and it does make my skin look less flawed, but I wouldnt call it flawless, and my acne scarring does show through a bit. With a bit of concealer on my skin looks great, really healthy and natural looking. And the best part is that it doesn't break me out, not one bit!  

I love using this foundation for an everyday natural look, but for nights out when I want a bit more coverage and staying power I use Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation.  

The lasting power of this foundation is pretty good, I get at least 6 hours wear and that is without a primer. I would say to avoid this foundation if you have dry skin though as it does tend to highlight patches of dry skin when I have it. 

The only problem I find with this foundation is that the colour match isn't perfect for my skin, so I have to mix the colours 51 and 52 together in winter. In the summer I use shade 52. I would say I am quite pale with golden undertones, so the fact that this foundation has quite a yellowy tinge to it isn't a problem. But for people who are more cool toned this may be a problem for them.

Overall this is my HG foundation for everyday wear!!

Gem Rating: 4/5