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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Benefit Box O' Powders Dupes?

I have been lusting after two of the benefit powders for so long now, but I just cannot seem to sacrafice my old favourite must haves in favour of something that just might not work for me. So when I found the W7 Honolulu and W7 Honey Queen Honeycomb Blusher I had to snap them up. To sweeten the deal even more for me, I recieved a 20% off code and also free delievery, making my affordable products super duper affordable!

Benefit Hoola Bronzer 
So, if you're unfamiliar with benefit products then where have you been all your life? Under a rock?! They are very cute, tongue in cheek and colourful packages that encase beautiful, if slightly pricey products. They would look stunning on your vanity table, and on your face of course! The Hoola Bronzer comes in a little purple cardboard box, with a bamboo motif in a light, almost sky blue which match the colour of the font used to tell you the items specifics (net weight ect). Included is also a small brush with a handle that is the same light blue as on the packaging. Opening the lid you can see that there is a small mirror included, which I can honestly say I don't think I would find use for, it's small and to be honest, I wouldn't have one of these box of powders in my handbag as I don't think they would travel all too well. The bronzing powder looks to be very brown in the packaging, but from what I've read, isn't very pigmented. As I haven't tried it, I can't really comment, but I'm hoping to pick one of these up in the next few weeks to try myself! 

W7 Honolulu Bronzer
Here is where the simalarities start - first of all is the name? Just me? Thought not. The W7 Honolulu bronzer comes in an identically sized box. The only differences that I can see are that of the colour of the box, the motif and the fact that this box of powder has a fully removable top without a mirror as apposed to Benefit's which boasts a flip top lid with a mirror enclosed inside. The W7 Honolulu bronzer box looks a little cheaper, but I'd expect that considering the price difference is a huge £20.50. Inside is a really soft brush very similar to that that benefit's hoola offers. This brush is a black handled, thin brush which I wouldn't necessarily use to bronze my face, but which may come in handy for contouring. The product again, looks very dark in the pan, and once swatched I can see that it's incredibly pigmented and almost a butter texture which I feel would blend out very well. There is no shimmer at all in this bronzer, which I am a huge fan of! I was a little anxious that this powder may have been very orange/red based which I have known some of the cheaper powders to be but upon swatching I am more than happy with the colour, and although there is a hint of orange in there, its mostly a tan shade which I'm hoping will prove very easy to work with. Even though I have picked this one up now, it's definitely helped me to make up my mind and order the Benefit's Hoola for two reasons. The first being so that I can really compare the two products for myself and the second being that I really love Benefit's range of products and want a treat, a girls prerogative huh!?

W7 The Honey Queen Honeycomb Blusher

The second item I purchased was this blusher, thinking that perhaps it might have been a dupe for Benefit's Rockateur. Sadly, this is in no way a good dupe or a blusher come to that. The packaging is super cute and I love the print and colours of the box. Included inside is the same brush as in the bronzer which again, although handy, I don't think its one that I would use to apply a blusher, and although it has been provided to help with on the go touch ups, I cant say that I would be likely to take one of these box of powders out and about with me as I don't think they would travel all that well, they're definitely a vanity table product. Inside the box is the most shimmery mosaic block I've ever come across which immediately made me cringe a little. I've pretty sure I haven't used a shimmer product like this since my early teen years when I learnt that a glitter ball look isn't something that suits me. So far, I've only swatched this product as I'm currently sat cross-legged and bare faced enjoying my day off which is my designated 'no makeup day' and might be able to get it to work as a possible highlight? But at the moment all I can get it to do is be super glittery with very little colour payoff. I also cannot get any blush colour from this at all, there's just no pink, peach or reddish pay off here. A bit of a waste!

Inside the box, this product looks super pretty, with pink, peach, mauve and a purple-ish colours but unfortunately the colour just doesn't pay off. I'm a little disappointed because I really wanted to enjoy using this product!

















So overall, its a mixed review! I'm totally in love with the bronzer at the moment, but I'll have to give it a couple of days wear to actually commit to it, but the blusher? I'm really not a fan. However, first impressions aren't everything so perhaps this one will grow on me? For £5.58 for both and including postage, you cant really moan can you? 







Have you used any of these products before? Do you have any W7 products that you adore? 
Have you used the benefit versions of these products? If so, what do you think of those?


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