Drugstore Foundation Review - Avon Ideal Flawless

When thinking about what blog post to do today, I decided to do a review as I felt like I haven't done one in a while.  I decided to do a review on Avon Ideal Flawless Foundation as I was pleasantly surprised by it.

When it comes to foundation, I do prefer a full coverage. This claims to be an invisible coverage foundation, which when first applied it is. This foundation looks great for the first few hours of the day, but after applying powder on top and after a few hours of being in a hot office, this foundation tends to separate from certain areas. Foundation always rubs off from my nose and this foundation isn't as bad as doing this as other ones are, but it does leave patches on my skin.

I do love this foundation and I think it has an amazing finish to it, I just wish it lasted better. The shade I have is in Ivory and is £12.

Great Cheek Products For Pale Skin

First off I just want to apologise for my laziness when it comes to posting recently. I have been doing 50 hours weeks for the past few weeks or so, hence the lack of posts. I am going to try to post about twice a week, so if you have any ideas for future posts, I would be happy to hear them.

Today's post is for the very lighted skinned. I always find when I am watching make up tutorials and they are contouring and applying blusher I think "Yeah that looks gorgeous, but there is no way that would suit my skin" so I wanted to show you all the product I use to create a natural but flawless look to the skin.

 

 First up is Bourjois Round Pot Blush in Rose Amber, £7.99. This is probably one of my most used blushes as I tend to wear this mainly for work. It is a lovely medium pink colour with slight shimmer to it. I love the Bourjois Blushes and would love to add more to my collection.

 

In the middle is Lancôme's Blush Subtil in 030 Éclat De Corail, £27.50. I wouldn't normally spend this much on a blusher, but I decided to treat myself to this just before Christmas and I would definitely buy more. This blusher is a great way to tone down a heavy make up look, so if you have a bright or dark lipstick on or a smokey eye, this blusher helps tone down the look.

 

I have only had the MAC Powder Blush in Crisp Whites, £20, for about a week now. I wouldn't usually mention a new product but I felt like I should tell you about it now as it is limited edition. This blusher is an amazing shade for either day or night, and like the other MAC blushes, lasts from day to night as well, so if you have been out in the day or have been at work, you don't need to worry about topping up if you are going out in the evening.

 

 

 

This is probably the trickiest part for fair skin. I have tried many a brozner to find the colour hasn't been right for my skin tone and hasn't looked natural. To contour, I use Avon's Bronzing Powder in Light Bronze, £10. This is cool toned so it is great for creating a shadow like effect when contouring. At the high points of the cheeks, I either use Avon's Bronzing Powder in Warm Glow, which gives you that summery looking shimmer, or I use Bourjois' Bronzing Powder in 51, which is very warm toned with very little shimmer.

 

Then to finish off, highlight. I have been obsessed with MAC's Vanilla Pigment, £17. I haven't found anything that gives me such an intense glow like this. I used to be all about the matte life but this has converted me and I haven't found anything as good as this. If you have found anything that is a strong contender, I would love to try so please let me know.

 

 

I hope this post has been helpful in finding the right products for light skin. If you have any products that you think work for light skin, I would love to hear about them.

 

Josie

Prom Make Up Look Using Drug Store Products

I know a lot of people's prom season is coming up and I wanted to create a glamorous make up look suitable for prom.

I only used drug store products as I know some of you may be on a budget.

I recently bought the ChiChi Elegant palette and as soon as I saw it I knew it would be perfect for a prom look. After applying my Avon Ideal Flawless Foundation and Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer with a Beauty Blender, I contoured my face using Avon Glow Bronzing Powder in Light Bronze. I powdered my face with Maybelline Matte Maker powder. I filled in my brows with Maybelline Brow Drama in Medium Brown and primed my eyes with Avon Eye Primer. Using the light purple matte shade, I created a crease and applied a silver shade to my inner corner, with a darker silver in the middle of my lid. I applied the darkest purple to the outer corner of my eye and blended the colours together. I then applied Maybelline Coloursensational Lipstick in Petal Pink.

If you would like to see more prom looks, or possibly a make up look just using Maybelline, then please let me know.

March Favourites

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you all are sat at home enjoying lots of chocolate and spending time with friends and family. I am enjoying a few days off work so I decided to do a post on my favourite products from March as I discovered a lot of good products the past month.

 

 

 

Top to bottom: Collection Eyes Uncovered Nude Palette,

Mac Boldly Bare Lip Pencil, Mac Vanilla Pigment, Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair 1, Illamasqua Lipstick in Bare, Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser

 

 

 

The most budget friendly of all my favourites this month is the Collection Eyes Uncovered Nude Palette. I picked this up at my local Boots store for £2.99. I bought this because I wanted a nude palette that would be easy to travel with and create amazing every day looks with multiple options. The quality of these eyeshadows are phenomenal and they blend together so easily.

 

 

Next up is the Mac Boldly Bare Lip Pencil. Swatches available here.  Over the past few weeks I have not been able to put this pencil down. It is the perfect "darker than nude" shade for my complexion. It is very easy to use without being too creamy that it slides around but isn't too dry and scratchy.

 

Mac Vanilla Pigment. I wanted this for soooooo long before I finally caved in and bought it. I use this as a highlight on my cheekbones, nose and cupid's bow. I don't like an overly dewy look and this just gives me that perfect amount of glow without looking shimmery or chalky.

 

 

Unless you have been living under a rock, you will have probably heard of Collection's Lasting Perfection Concealer. I have seen people describe this as a must have item for years now. I do prefer high end concealers but I decided to give this a go to see what all the hype is about. The consistency is quite thick but I find it brightens up my under eye area and makes me look well rested (which is often NOT the case). A must have if you are over worked or over partied but don't want to show it. I bought this from Superdrug for £4.19

 

 

If you have been following my blog for some time, you will be familiar with my love for Illamasqua lipsticks. The majority of shades I own are bright and bold so I wanted something I could wear on a daily basis. Bare is such a beautiful matte dark nude shade and goes amazing with Mac's Boldly Bare lip pencil. Swatches available here .  I have been using this loads lately and I think it looks amazing in the day for a neutral look, or throughout the night to balance out a smokey eye.

 

 

Everyone with an oily complexion will understand the struggle of trying to find a good primer. I have gone through many primers in my time and find they have made little to no difference with my oily complexion. Most of the time it just feels like I am adding more grease to my face. I decided to try Maybelline's Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser as I heard rave reviews from Amelia Liana's Youtube Channel. A lot of the products she recommends I like so I gave this one a go. I have noticed that my skin does look a lot less oily after applying foundation and even lets me go without powder. Something which was never possible before. I bought this at Superdrug for £5.99

 

I have been loving my favourites for the past month as I feel there is a good balance between high end and high street products. Some products are beauty bargains and others are beauty splurges. Please let me know what your March favourites have been, I hope you all have a lovely Easter!



High End Make Up Haul Mac + Illamasqua

I was so excited when I went on Blogger to find I have over 2000 views so thank you everyone! Todays post is a collective high end make up haul which was achieved in 3 enjoyable shopping trips.

Left to Right: Illamasqua Lipsticks in Posture and Bare, Mac Soft Ochre Paint Pot, Mac Vanilla Pigment, Mac Lip Pencils in Spice, Soar and Boldly Bare

I bought both of these from the Mac store in London St. Pancres Train Station. I prefer St. Pancres' Mac store to my local Mac store in Sheffield because it isn't as busy so there is always someone available to help you. I bought Soft Ochre to use as an eyeshadow base. I am obsessed with NikkieTutorials and she used this in every video. I got Vanilla Pigment to use as a cheekbone highlight. I don't like an overly dewy look to my skin and this gives my skin a very healthy glow without looking chunky or obvious.

 

 

Can I do a haul without buying any lip products? The lipsticks are by Illamasqua named Bare and Posture. I love Illamasqua's matte lipsticks because they just last longer than any other lipstick I have tried. Bare is a dark nude colour and I find this so easy to wear with any look and can easily be worn in the day time for work as it is classy and subtle. Posture is a grey/lilac colour and I have been looking for a lipstick this colour for ages, I can't wait to wear this on a night out or on holiday. The lip pencils are by Mac and are named Spice, Boldly Bare and Soar. So far my favourite is Boldy Bare which I love to wear with Bare by Illamasqua.

 

Thanks for reading and please let me know any suggest for future posts.

YSL Touche Eclat Vs. MAC Prep+Prime Highlighter

For Christmas, I received YSL Touche Éclat as a gift and then went on to buy MAC Prep+Prime Highlighter. I wanted Touche Éclat for the longest time as I know it is a highly raved about cult product and I wanted to see what all the fuss is about. When it comes to MAC products, I go off recommendations from Youtube beauty gurus. I have seen a lot of them mention MAC Prep+Prime Highlighter in Light Boost and wanted to see how it compared to Touche Éclat, as Touche Éclat is pink and Light Boost is Yellow.

Top: MAC Prep+Prime Highlighter in Light Boost
Bottom: YSL Touche Éclat on 01

The first difference I noticed between the two was pigmentation. Under my eyes, Light Boost looks a lot more pigmented than the Touche Éclat.

When blended in, Touche Éclat gives me a very natural, healthy, well rested look. I thought this was easily wearable for everyday and also occasions like weddings, when you want to look your best but not heavily made up.

Light Boost gives me a very highlighted look. I would probably choose this over Touch Eclat for a night time look or any occasion where I wanted to look made up.

The only downside for me was the packaging on the Touche Éclat. It is operated by a clicking motion rather than Light Boost which is from a twisting motion. It takes ages to get any product out of Touche Éclat which I found annoying and I prefer the packaging on Light Boost, because of this I might give Radiant Rose by MAC a try to see if it will give me the same natural looking results that I find easier to use.

YSL Touche Éclat retails for £25 and MAC Prep+Prime Highlighter retails for £18.50

Life Update

Hi everyone, so I know I haven't been blogging a lot recently but I have been so busy and I have a new job, I am keeping my previous job as well so I have been super busy so apologises for that. I have some exciting posts lined up and I will probably be posting tomorrow.

Love you all,

Josie