The palest drugstore foundations!

Up until a few months ago, the only liquid foundation I owned that matched my skin was Bobbi Brown's Skin Foundation in the lightest shade, Alabaster.  It's a great foundation, but with my skin having more dry patches than this time last year, it wasn't working as well for me as it used to.  I decided to give something new a go, but as I didn't want to be experimenting with high end products (which at about £30 a pop were a bit out of my price range) I had a look round Boots to see what I could find...

The first product I found was the Loreal True-Match Foundation in the shade 'N1'.  This is a little yellower in tone than the Bobbi Brown but once blended in with my Real Techniques sponge matches my skin really well.  I love how this gives really natural coverage, and the lightweight, runny texture of the product makes it really easy to apply.  The lasting power is pretty good for this - about 8 to 10 hours with primer and then it starts to separate on the oilier areas of the face.  It also, like the Bobbi Brown, has no discernible scent which is great.  Definitely one to give a go if you're on the hunt for a good light-to-medium coverage foundation.

A few weeks ago though, I saw that Rimmel had released a new shade in their foundation ranges called 'Light Porcelain' which is almost exactly the same as the Bobbi Brown shade - maybe even lighter!  I decided to try out their Lasting Finish Nude foundation, as I was still looking for something with longer lasting-power, and fuller coverage that would still look natural (okay, a little optimistic but hey!)  This does actually live up to my expectations though - a couple of days ago I left the house at 6 in the morning and it was still looking nice at 9 at night!  I haven't tried it out (or the Loreal one) sans primer yet though, as I know my skin will eat up the product by lunchtime - but it'd be interesting to see and compare lasting power without primer at some point... It does apply really nicely though, without emphasising drier areas of skin, and also has buildable coverage so you can layer on a little more where needed without any issues!  The only thing that lets this one down is that the product has a quite strong fruity-floral scent - luckily it doesn't affect me but I can see this being a bit of a letdown for people with sensitive noses or skin which reacts to added fragrance.  Otherwise, I'd definitely recommend it (especially since it's one of the cheapest foundations you can find in the drugstore!)

L-R: Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation 'Alabaster', Rimmel Lasting Finish Nude
 Foundation 'Light Porcelain', Loreal True-Match Foundation 'N1'

xxx

Huge drugstore makeup haul!

This time last week, I decided I'd head into town for a little shopping pick-me-up.  And ended up going a little bonkers in the aisles of Boots and Superdrug!  I thought It'd be fun to share them with you, as I don't often purchase this many items in one go - oops...

It's been at least a couple of months since I purchased any lip products, and since I absolutely love the Revlon Balm Stain in 'Honey' I thought I'd try out some other shades from the range.  In a post last week I mentioned I had a gap in my lipstick stash for a bright pink and an orange lip colour - so when I was in Boots I picked out 'Lovesick' and 'Rendezvous'.  They both look gorgeous, so fingers crossed the wear time is just as good as 'Honey'!  I also happened to wander past the Barry M stand, and I ended up grabbing a couple of their polishes - who can resist, right?  'Eat my dust' is a gorgeous pale, pastel blue that pulls a tiny bit lilac, and it's from their Speedy Quick Dry range which I was curious to try.  'Damson' is the most stunning bright blue shade, from the Gelly Hi-Shine range (which I've been super impressed with before).  Plus, they were buy one get one half price, so it was a win-win situation!

In Superdrug, there's also a 3 for 2 on currently but across all brands.  I'd heard a lot about the Max Factor Creme Puff blushes, and how they have a very similar glow-y effect to the Hourglass ones but at a fraction of the price.  Since I love Rimmel 'Santa Rose' as it's the perfect natural blush for my skintone, I thought I'd give '10 Nude Mauve' a go - which is very similar but adds a little more dimension to the face as it's not totally matte (I've already tried this out aswell, and it's super soft with very little fallout so applies like a dream!)  I also decided to try out Rimmel's (relatively new) foundation, which is the Nude version of their Lasting Finish formulation.  As I have a tiny bit more colour in my skin post-holiday, I think '010 Light Porcelain' should be a pretty good shade match - thankyou drugstore brands for finally catering to us super pale people!  Finally, I knew that my Benefit Roller Lash was on it's last legs so I was on the market for a new mascara.  In the end, the lovely counter staff pointed out that Max Factor's False Lash Effect had several pounds off, making it cheaper than the other two products which meant I got it for free!  I'd seen Suzie from Hello October talk about this, and since her lashes always look amazing I thought it was definitely worth a go.  Plus, the packaging is super pretty (I think part of the profits go to the Marie Curie trust, which is awesome too).

And just as a little add on at the end, whilst I was in Wilko (getting ice cube trays if you must know!) I stopped off at the Essence stand and chose one of their Longlasting Lipsticks in the shade '01 Coral Calling' It's a lovely, bright peachy coral and was only a couple of pounds.  It has a similar scent to their lipliners - slightly chemically woody cherry but isn't strong at all (or that offensive to be honest!)

xxx

A dupe for Mac's Painterly...?

When you're prepping and priming your eyes, you want a base that really is going to stick around.  Mac Paint Pots are great for getting your powder shadow to last much longer and appear more vibrant - but as my lids are especially oily I've got to use a primer underneath to reduce creasing.  I find that a thin layer of Mac's Painterly is fantastic for disguising redness - and that almost tacky texture really gives your shadow something to stick to.

Painterly is the one and only Mac paint pot that I own though - and in truth I much prefer the texture of the Mayeblline Colour Tattoos to use as a shadow alone (am currently in love with the taupe coloured one.)  But when the other day I was too lazy to dig around for it in my drawer I grabbed my Rimmel Scandaleyes Nude Liner and scribbled it all over the lid instead.  When blended out, it gave pretty much the same effect as Painterly and hung around all day!  I even think that the shade of nude is slightly better for my pale skin than Painterly, as it's a bit more yellow toned so cancels out any purpley hues and for £3.99 where can you go wrong?!

L-R: Mac Pro Longwear Paint Pot in 'Painterly', Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Liner in 'Nude'
You can see the difference much more clearly here, where they're heavily swatched.

I did take a couple of pictures to show them on the lids, but they were practically indistinguishable - if I had to point out one difference though it would be that Painterly is a little more opaque than the Rimmel liner.  Having cream shadow in a pencil form also is much more hygienic and means it doesn't dry out quickly - there is going to be product wastage when you sharpen it but considering it's so cheap in comparison that doesn't really matter.  Plus, you can use the Rimmel Liner to brighten up your waterline on those days where you wake up and see a puffy, red eyed reflection in the mirror!

Mac Paint Pots are £15.50 at Debenhams.
Rimmel Scandaleyes Liners are £3.99 at Boots.

xxx