Must have make-up!

Where to start?

Foundation!

It's not for everyone, but I do love a bit of mineral foundation. It's quick, easy, buildable and gives me a flawless finish. 

I used to use Loreal True Match mineral powder which was great. It's something like £14 max, and used to last me about 3-4 months a pot. I might go back to that one at some point, even just to wear daily and then use my Laura Mercier (my mineral foundation of choice) for going out. The Loreal mineral foundation does the job but the Laura Mercier gives a slight glow to the skin which gives you that airbrushed finish :)

I've tried a lot of mineral foundations. Since trying them, I've gone off the feel of liquid foundation on my skin and have found that you just can't beat the coverage of minerals. Mineral foundations have a few benefits... 

Non-comedogenic (none pore blocking)

Made of natural elements which help clear the skin of toxins

Water-resistant

Buildable

Stable- longer shelf life

I'll review a few.

The Collection 2000 Perfecting Minerals. Retails at around £5 which is the cheapest of the lot, and is actually surprisingly good! I've used this as an everyday foundation and it really works. I'd recommend this- it does the job. It is supposed to give the skin a 'luminous glow' which I didn't notice massively but who wants an overly-glowy face? 

The Revlon Colour Stay isn't great... No where near as much coverage as the usual mineral foundation which was a little disappointing. I think I bought this for about £12. It's a very fluffy formula which made me doubt it straight away. When looking at a mineral foundation it can't look too fluffy, it just won't sit or stay on the skin. You need something with a little more weight to it that will adhere to the skin well and is able to be buffed in without buffing off. 

Bare Minerals. £22. This brand has a massive following. Not sure why. The foundation's formula is lovely, colours are pretty good but for me, it takes too much work to apply. This doesn't seem to go on quite as seamlessly as others, and requires a hell of a lot of buffing. It's okay and does eventually do the job but it's average in my opinion, and you can get a better result from the Collection 2000! 

The Laura Mercier Mineral Foundation is my personal preference. Retails at £30 (the price is justified) and does everything a foundation should do. I get the most compliments when wearing this, and it lasts a long time. This one comes in a compact too rather than just the loose version, which is handy for travel or if you're just lazy like me and can't be doing with any mess. There are crushed pearls in the powder which I think is what makes it so perfect as the pearls buff onto the skin in such a way that your skin is left looking luminous, but not overly, and flawless. The only thing I'd say about it is that it's far better when applied with a stiffer brush. Something with quite strong bristles which are packed compactly together bring this foundation to it's full potential. I used to apply it with a finishing brush but you get AMAZING coverage with one like I've just described. Try the Laura Mercier Face Brush or the By Terry Cheek Brush (amazing for any foundation, liquid- even better). Both of these really buff the product onto the skin well. I'll do a detailed review on brushes at some point and I'm sure the By Terry will be mentioned again! 

My Current Beauty Routine

So I thought I'd start with what I use currently skincare wise.

To Clean:

Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil From £27

The Shu Cleansing Oil. Quick, easy and removes absolutely ALL make-up. My skin type is pretty normal, maybe slightly more on the combination side, oily t-zone and some dryness. Cleansing with an oil/balm formula is definitely the way to go. Oily, Dry, Combination, sensitive... all of you, just try it. Oil is the best way to clean oil from the skin. Oil on oil= balance. With the added bonus of removing make-up too. 

E.g- with my skin, the oil balances any excess oil on my t-zone, gives any dryness the moisture it needs and gives my skin and all round healthy glow. No tightness, no stripping. Perfect. 

It does come in a few different formulas. The one I use is the classic, which I'd recommend if you're anything like me. However, they do have one for sensitive skin with ginger to soothe, one with green tea for anti-aging, the 'fresh' version for oily skin and the 'enriched' for dryness. They've recently reformulated some of them and have just brought out a brightening formula which smells AMAZING.

So, I use it with...

The Clarisonic Plus. £175.

Yes. It does retail at £175 but you only need one. Brush heads need replacing every 4-6 months and are £20 each. You save more than £20 in products anyway, which I'll explain. 

The Clarisonic is a face cleansing tool which you use with any cleanser you like. I use mine with the Shu Cleansing Oil which I find works nicely with it. The only cleanser people seem to have some problem using with it is Eve Lom, but she has now launched a Morning Time Cleanser which is a thinner formula and comes in a squeezy tube. It is designed for use in the morning (obviously) as a refresher cleanser. Eve Lom is a balm formula which some people find too heavy for morning use and want something quicker and lighter instead. The Morning Time Cleanser contains fruit enzymes which gently exfoliate off any dead skin cells which are on the skin from when it renews overnight. It is not grainy, it does all this by just leaving it on the skin for a few minutes. No muslin cloths required, you put it on, get in the shower, wash your hair or whatever, and in this case, Clarisonic it off. 

I'll explain how the actual machine works.

It's a completely sealed unit, so totally waterproof. Take it in the bath, shower, wherever..

The brush head oscillates about 300 times a second, therefore, removing 6x more make-up than manual cleansing, twice as much dirt and sebum and buffs away any dead skin cells. Pore size is reduced, skin tone and texture is improved, make-up seems to sit better on the skin and you have to use much less of your daily products. That's where the money saving part comes in. I find I have to use about a third less serum and moisturiser, less make-up even. The first time I used it I wore quite a sheer foundation instead of my usual Mineral Power. Brilliant.

It also buffs away and dehydration lines which you may think are fine lines you can't get rid of. Helps prevent further lines appearing, removes pigmentation (Mum's pregnancy mask has gone after 20 years), age spots, helps with a jowly neck, lack of tone and plumpness on the décolletage, pretty much everything you want/need it to do. 

I'd say it's worth the investment. 

To Moisturise: 

 Nuxe Creme Fraiche for normal skin- Retails at £28

I've used this for a while. It's hard for me to stick to moisturisers because I get so many to try, but I seem to get most compliments when I use this. I've also used the Creme Fraiche Light Balancing Emulsion which was lovely and had more shine control, but I do prefer this one. Morning and Night, 24 Hr moisture is provided. It's flawless! Does what it says and perfect if you just want a lasting hydration which sits well under make-up and doesn't make you shiny. This seems to give me a glow all day and people have commented on my skin so much since i've been using it. And my skin just doesn't get compliments! 

Eyes:

My make-up doesn't sit right without an Eye Cream. I swap and change this quite often but at the moment I'm using 3. Not all at once, but depending on what the skin around my eyes looks like I'll pick and choose.

Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment £26

Just started using this in the morning. Really nice formula and mostly aimed at hydrating around the eyes  which is what I need. The formula has a slight green tinge to it and feels really creamy between the fingers then when applied has a watery slippery feel. Nice.

Wei Mulberry Leaf 3 in 1 Eye Cream £50

I keep this one in my make-up bag. Wei is a brand that uses Chinese medicinal aspects to get great results. This comes out as a white cream, almost balmy. It smooths, de-puffs and brightens the eye area. Can't fault this, perfect under make-up and really does help brighten.

Apot.Care Irido-Radiant Eye Contour Cream- £75

I use this one at night mostly. I did use it day and night for a while but I think I benefited more from sleeping with it on as it's amazing at lightening dark circles and it really does diminish any signs of fatigue. Apot.Care as a brand are all about bringing the radiance back to the skin. To do this it uses red seaweed which is sun dried, and this is something like 550 times more active than vitamin E. Because of this it's more expensive than the others, but it is a high tech range with amazing technology behind it (click here) so I would definitely pay this price.

It really does work, plus it does everything all in one. It targets fine lines, puffiness, dark circles and hydration. Because of the red seaweed, all of the products in the range are orange. The stronger the orange colour in the product, the more active it is. The eye cream has an orange tinge and has a lovely balmy texture, glides on well and the eye area is definitely brightened and hydrated instantly. I can't say what it did for me for fine lines, but I certainly don't have any yet so prevention is looking good, and apparently Cameron Diaz uses it... One to trust!

I'll leave it at that for now, might do body products next or maybe hair. Or both :) 

First Post

With my job I get to try ridiculous amounts of products. 

So- Why not blog about it?

I know I know, A beauty blog? I've never heard of such a thing?! There are loads, and probably about 3 people will actually read this, but I like to think I've helped inform people a little. I always like to read up on reviews of things before I buy into a new product, so hopefully I'll be able to help you get the most out of your monola. (Oh- too much time spent with Tom. He is my man tester person, so I'll do some men skincare reviews too!)