Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation

I had been looking at this product for about three months before I finally popped it into my metaphorical basket for the final time and actually proceeded with the checkout, and I'll tell you why it took me so long;

i) There is no illamasqua store/concession anywhere near me and I hate trying to chose a foundation shade online.
ii) I'd heard really mixed reviews, some people loved it, some hated it.
iii) It comes in at around the £32.00 mark, which may not sound a lot to some of you, but for me that's preeeetty darn expensive for such a small amount of foundation.

I liked the idea of a second skin feeling foundation, something that hid your imperfections quite well but let your skin breathe and didn't make you feel like you'd applied poly-filler to your face. I used Illamasqua's handy little shade comparison chart and opted for the shade 11 which is a good enough match, although I think its a little on the pink side for me, especially as its comparison was NC35-NC40. 

I first used this foundation whilst getting ready for work, which was my first mistake. I needed plenty of time to get to grips with this one - not a half hour slot for all my makeup, and my second mistake? Using my Nanshy Flat Top brush to try and stipple it into my skin (its my favorite method of application dont'cha know). I hated it. And that is no exaggeration, I actually took it off and opted for a foundation that I get along well with. I threw it into the back of my "don't use" draw and forgot about it for a few weeks. 

However, on Thursday I decided my vanity needed a tidy up, organize and a clear out and I came across this foundation and thought to myself 'what a waste of money' and so I decided I would give it another go. 

I found that using a different primer to the one I had used previously actually helped the application of the Skin Base this time, and made it stick to my face a little better (last time it seemed really patchy) and my complexion looked a lot more even and using my fingers to blend and apply the foundation worked a whole lot better than my trusty Nanshy brush did.

As I mentioned before, the colour match was okay - just a little pink. I evened this out by using a Mac MSF in Medium Dark, which is quite yellow toned to set the foundation and neutralize the pink.

And so, I've been using the Illamasqua Skin Base in this way for the last few days and I'm starting to enjoy using it. My skin hasn't broken out at all (fingers crossed) and my makeup wears pretty well with this as a base. 

The packaging is pretty simple and hasn't really got a wow factor, and with the first few uses you can really struggle to get any of the product out of the squeezy bottle as its so stiff. However, its easy enough to keep clean and dispense the right amount from - I just think it would be jazz-ied up a bit!

Overall I'd say this is an okay foundation, not the worst I've ever used but nothing to write home about either. I probably wont be repurchasing this one when/if it runs out as its in no way my favorite and it has a pretty hefty price tag at £32.00.

I'm sure it would work better for girls who only need a very light base, but I don't tan my face (only my body) and so I like a full coverage foundation that can help me match up with the colour of my body. 

And the lesson I've learnt? Don't buy foundations or pricey products that you're not 100% sure about online without visiting a beauty counter first! Lets see how long I stick to that rule for!

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L'Oreal L'extraordinaire Liquid Lipstick

Despite usually being a bit timid when it comes to lip products, recently it feels as though I've been buying very little else and, here comes the strange bit, actually enjoying playing around with different glosses, lipsticks, crayons etc.

I have been reading about these 'liquid lipsticks' for some time now and I'll be honest, I thought they were another gimmick on the market to help us beauty fanatics to part with our cash. That was until I found myself online shopping a few days ago (no surprise there!), and one suddenly jumped into my cart.

L'oreal L'extraordinaire Liquid Lipstick By Color Riche in Nude Ballet £8.99

When this lipstick/gloss hybrid arrived through my letter box, I was quite excited to finally get my hands on one and see what all the fuss was about. Let me just say this, I don't think I've ever used a product like this before. I was expecting something like the NYX Lip Cream as the name would suggest. However, I found this product to be a very pigmented (lipstick like) gloss, that isn't super glossy and is long wearing. A strange one, but I like it. The colour that I chose is a lovely and very wearable pink nude which is super flattering and doesn't look too pale on the lips.

The packaging is quite luxurious for the reasonable price tag with its gold colored vial with a window so that you can see the shade inside. It has a lid that twists off to reveal a doe foot applicator which is very soft and easy to apply the product with. The product inside smells gorgeous, it smells very sweet without being too sickly and I didn't notice the fragrance at all after ten minutes of wear.

I gave this lip colour a proper trial run yesterday during a ten hour shift hosting a wedding at the country house hotel where I work. I applied it before my shift (2pm) and didn't need to reapply until around 6:30pm. That's a whopping 4 and a half hours of wear, pretty spectacular for a glossy product in my opinion. And I should mention, I was super busy rushing around and had been eating and drinking within those four and a half hours. Super impressive! One thing that I did notice was that even when the 'glossy' side of things had worn off, there was still colour pigmentation left on my lips - they were not completely bare.  

And then there were the compliments, I was complimented on the colour of my lipstick/gloss on four separate occasions throughout the day - more than usual for a nude lip colour and something that I wasn't expecting at all. 

Today (the day after wear) my lips do not feel dried out or in need of some tlc at all which they can sometimes after using a lip product for a lengthy period. I think I'm going to have to invest in some of the bolder shades of this range.

So if you're looking for a reasonably priced lipstick/gloss hybrid with an array of wearable shades, looks no further! Now, where did I put that bank card...?

Have you tried any of the L'Oreal L'extraordinaire Liquid Lipsticks? What did you think to them?

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Matching Lips & Nails

So, its a fairly easy concept. I like my nails and my lip colour to match, be it nudes, reds and pinks (pictured below).

For this look I selected a lipstick and nail colour in very similar colours, they do in fact vary  ever so slightly, but the difference is so small that you can barely tell by the finished product.

The lipstick I used for this fuchsia pink colour injection was the Rimmel Moisture Renew in As You Want Victoria £6.49 here. Rimmel have created a really nice, affordable range of lipsticks in a rainbow of colours. They are extremely creamy upon application, dry to an almost matte finish and do not dry my lips out at all, which is no mean feat - I am prone to dry flaky skin on my lips! Its a beautiful, long lasting colour that I think would suit a lot of skin tones. I always get compliments on my lips when I wear this particular lipstick and although it took me a while to build up the courage to wear such an 'in your face' colour, I'm really glad I did!

The nail varnish that I have partnered up with this lip colour is Rimmel Salon Pro Nail Polish in Simply Sizzling £4.49 here. I have found that brands will often make other products in a similar colour to one that you have already picked up, so I was very happy to find that Rimmel did a near perfect match to the lipstick that I had already chosen. I applied two coats of this nail varnish and finished it off with a Sally Hansen Insta-dry top coat which adds a super shiny, protective and fast drying coat to any nail varnish.

I find that matching up my lips and nails really livens up any outfit and makes me look a whole lot more 'put together'. I am also aware that celebrity stylists make sure their clients are often sporting a matching nail and lip combo!

What do you think? Have you tried the matching lip and nail combo? What did you think? I'd love to hear from you guys!

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