Update and review of Rimmel's 'Match Perfection' foundation.

      Hi Pretty people!



      So initially I wrote this big long post, detailing how my hospital stay is going, and how college is, and how my weight is and the new medication and just this big long rambling piece. But when I sat back and looked at it, it wasn't what I wanted to put out there as my first piece re starting (as I see it) the blog. It just all felt too much, and the time will come when it's right to write about all that, but with my release date pending, which I am delighted about, I just wanted a sense of normality in my life, all aspects of my life, including this blog. I feel with college being in its third week I won't be able to write as often as I would like, but this blog is very important to me and I want to keep it going.

However....

To everyone who sent me words of kindness, to people who got in touch over instagram, to the people in my every day life who supported me, encouraged me, listened to me  and reminded me why I keep fighting, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

    So! How better to get back to normal than with a review! This review is of Rimmel's 'Match Perfection' foundation in the shade 010 Light Porcelain, which is the lightest shade, obviously I am a ghost! I had used this before and it was the first drugstore or chemist brand foundation that the shade was just perfect, but for some reason it went to the back of my drawer, only to be rediscovered when I went a bit paler at the end of summer. It retails at €9.95 for 30mls, comes in a glass bottle with a pump, but you can also unscrew the top which is handy to get the very last of it out, or if you pump out too much. The glass bottle is a bit heavy in my makeup bag, but I think companies do this now so you feel you are buying something substantial. It's along the same lines as getting something in a box; you always feel that it must be good if it's coming in it's own box. Or maybe that's just me. Moving swiftly along now!  


                                           

    There is a slightly pink undertone to the foundation, at least in this shade which I don't find a problem with my slightly pinker-than-I-would-like-them-to-be cheeks and as you can see from the picture below it is very pale. It has light to medium coverage, so would not be the best for covering very uneven pigmentation or acne, but you could try it after using a primer to target these problems. You do get a very flawless finish with the foundation, and it wears extremely well, even when I'm running around college and on public transport for the day! I've never even had to use a primer with this foundation, I always just apply it with my beauty blender after moisturiser.  It has an SPF of 18, which is not very high for us girls with pale skin, but I always feel with SPF some is better than none.
     

                                         

    Over all I would have no hesitation recommending this foundation. Considering the price of this foundation, it gives a wonderful, smooth even finish, has a huge range of shades and lasts all day. It does exactly what it says on the bottle, it matches perfectly! Has anyone tried the illuminating concealer from the same range? Or tried this foundation and not liked it? I'd love to hear people's opinions as always. I hope this review was helpful.

Thanks for reading!

xxx

Make up Revolution Haul Review Collab!

   Hi Pretty people!


  I'm back today with a review collaboration! I have really been looking forward to this as I am collaborating with my wonderful friend Charlotte (aka lottes_beauty on instagram) of the blog http://www.ifyoufeedpeanutsyougetmonkeys.blogspot.ie. This was the first time myself or Charlotte had bought items from this range, MakeupRevolution, and all items we are reviewing were purchased  by ourselves. 

  So on to the review! I decided to have a look at this brand as their prices are fantastic, they do white and very pale foundations and at the time there was an offer on free shipping if you spent €24! I live in Ireland so normally shipping would be £4.95 for standard or £11.95 and if you spend over £40 you will get tracked shipping for the same price as standard. 

  First of all, there was one thing that got my back up. There is a feature on the site where you can transfer the prices, which are in British Pounds, to your own currency, which is great because you know exactly what you are spending. However,  when you go to pay by Paypal, Paypal uses their own conversation rate on how much you have in British Pounds. So I bought €24.55 worth, but wound up paying €26 when Paypal converted it. I wasn't on a strict budget but I don't like that you can't find out how much you are spending until you get to the Paypal stage. Otherwise the website is user friendly and they have good pictures with a zoom feature on their pictures.

 So here's a picture of my haul!

So as you can see I got a whopping nine items for my money.  I was very impressed with the packaging, especially the pressed powder, which comes out on a hinge, rather than having a lid that will inevitably get broke and then the powder cant be used! 

Awesome Eyeliner Felt and Kohl €4.19: Ok, I'll be honest I only really bought this as I needed something to add to my basket. I'm not a fan of felt liners but there is nothing wrong with this one, maybe its a little long to get close to the mirror to do the line. The Kohl end is good but doesn't smudge very well. It is very good value though, I think I'm just more a gel liner girl. The top line in the picture is the kohl smudged and the bottom lines are the felt.

Without Flash:
Concealer on Bottom

With Flash:
Concealer on bottom

Focus and Fix Liquid Concealer €2.40: I purchased this in 01 Fairest, which is the lightest colour. As you can see from the above pictures it is a very pale colour. This doesn't have a thick consistency, which makes it great for under the eyes, but I wouldn't recommend this for very bad blemishes. This could possibly be used under another concealer to reduce redness on very pale skin. It's liquidy consistency makes it very easy to apply to under the eyes and it doesn't sit in the lines as some thicker concealers can. Definitely will be repurchasing this. 

 

Amazing Lipstick €1.20: I purchased the shades 'Depraved', a blue toned purple and 'Bliss', which is sort of a neon coral. These lipsticks remind me of M.A.C's creme sheen lipsticks, in that you need to have exfoliated the lips before you use it, as it amplifies any dryness on the lips. However, they don't dry out the lip and the colour pigmentation is very good. Depraved has blue undertones and is by far my favourite of the two, it goes on very smoothly and the colour is amazing.  Bliss however, is not one I will be wearing! I thought this would be a bright coral, but instead it is an neon orange colour and looks cheap. In the pictures I have the Amazing lipsticks in Depraved swatches on top with M.A.C's Heroine below to compare. I also have the 'I <3 Makeup' lipstick swatches on the same hand which I will review after the pictures. I would definitely try more shades in this range as at this price you could afford to!

                                        

Top To Bottom:
Depraved
Heroine
Rising pulse
Japanese Maple

                                                             

Top To Bottom:
Depraved
Heroine
Risong pulse
Japanese Maple

'Bliss' Lipstick No flash



 I <3 Makeup Lipstick €2.98: I got this in the shade 'Rising Pulse'. It reminds me of M.A.C's 'Japanese Maple', but slightly browner as you can see from the swatches above. The bullet is in the shape of a heart and it definitely has a creamier constancy. This would be lovely as a nude lip with smokey eyes. All the lipsticks also have a little clear section in the packaging with the lip colour in it, which is a help to know which lipstick is which. I would definitely recommend this lipstick, and the colour itself is such a useful colour to have in your collection.

  Vivid Baked Highlighter €3.59: I purchased this in 'Pink lights' which is kind of confusing as it's more lilac than pink! I bought this to try brighten up my skin as lilac is recommended to combat dullness in the skin. It has a silver pink tone to it when applied and catches the light beautifully. This powder is very effective, and because of this you're better to apply lightly and build up if needed. I'm looking forward to trying out the other two colours in the range and at this price you can have all three! 

       

                                           

Swatch by natural light

 Cream Blusher €1.80: I have wanted to try a cream blusher for a while now and when I saw them at this price I decided to try it! I picked up 'Caramel Shake' which looked a little browner than my normal peach tone I'd go for, but in reality is a really nice peachy shade. After trying this I have to say, as well as it being a brilliant product for next to nothing, it has me hooked on cream blushers! Only the smallest amount is needed to give that healthy glow and it blends beautifully. I use a brush to apply and blend this but you can easily use your fingers also. 

                                                 

With flash

Without flash

    Pressed Powder €2.40: I bought this in 'Porcelain' which is the lightest shade. This powder has great packaging as it swings out on a hinge rather than having a lid which always falls off in your bag and breaks! It also has a mirror at the back which is the full size of the compact. It also came with a sponge, but I never use them. It sets the make up very well without being too powdery and is a good colour. I don't know if I would go out of my way to repurchase this, but I will definitely use it.  I could't get a swatch of this as it was too light to show up, sorry about that!

  The One Foundation €4.79:  I bought this in Shade 1, which is white. Pure white. It is very liquidy, which makes it very easy to mix with other foundations, which I will be doing when I get paler in the winter. Its very easy to apply and doesn't require any blending, while adapting to skin tone as it claims; it worked for both my mother and I, whom are completely different skin tones, albeit paler than either of our usual foundation. It needs a very good shake before every use. It has a beautiful matte finish without being too dead looking, which really surprised me, but I don't think this gives full coverage, as I could still see my freckles underneath! This is a small bottle 29mls, but because you need so little this will last and is excellent value for money. I will be purchasing the next shade up when I put in my next order. 

                                             

With Flash

Without Flash

 So all in all I'm pretty happy with my order, everything was very reasonably priced. I would like to see the company do more products, such a lip liners to go with their lipsticks as they have some very unusual lip colours, and liners would be a help. Their Instagram is very good for swatches and details, and they also have a face book page. I would like to see them sort out the conversion issue, and I am looking forward to trying out more lipsticks and their eye shadows.  I also really like the fact they cater for very pale skinned people.

 Has anyone else tried out this brand? What did people think?  Is there a much better selection on the stands in the U.K then there is on the website? 

Much love as always!xxx

http://www.makeuprevolutionstore.com/index.php/ 

www.ifyoufeedpeanutsyougetmonkeys.blogspot.ie : Charlotte's blog

  

Vichy Dermablend Foundation Review

                     Let me first say, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Vichy throughout my late teens and early twenties. However, anything I have bought from them recently I have been delighted with, hence why I decided to try this product.



                       


                       As anyone who watches YouTube videos, particularly beauty ones will have noticed the new ads for the relaunch of Vichy's Dermablend range.  The range has five products in total, three of which are new,they are the corrector stick, total body foundation and the corrective compact cream foundation. They also have the best selling corrective foundation and mineral powder and I was lucky enough to get my hands on some samples of the corrective foundation in different colours to test out:) 

                   First of all my mother tested out Sand - 35. My mother is just upwards of fifty but has some deep set lines around her mouth and open pores. (I may have no where to live if she ever sees this!) She applied this with her fingers and felt the makeup was too heavy and actually accentuated  these problems rather than helped with them, and I was inclined to agree. She felt the make up was like a mask on rather than a foundation. Sadly she wouldn't even let me take pictures and went off to wash it off straight away. 

                    

Me with no make-up
Cant believe I'm putting a no make-up selfie out there!

                    So the next day I decided to give it a try on my own cleansed and moisturised skin, but decided against a primer. I was using the lightest shade which is called Opal - 15 with my trusty Real Techniques Beauty Blender; love this sponge! I particularly chose the beauty blender for application as I find it great for sheering out foundation that might be slightly heavy otherwise. I was shocked!! The coverage of this foundation was amazing, and the colour, though looking like it would be too orange, was perfect. You also only need the smallest amount, making it very good value for money, always a requirement in todays economy! You really do need to work to blend this foundation, but the coverage is flawless and it lasts all day. When using the foundation I didn't need any concealer on my dark circles and didn't require any powder to set it. I didn't find that it gave a mask effect at all, or the dreaded 'I'll need a trowel to get this off later' effect, just wonderful even looking skin! I have since used my fingers to apply the foundation, and as long as you don't use a lot of the product, you get exactly the same results.

                                   

After applying Dermablend foundation

             In hindsight I think the are a few reasons it didn't work for my mother. Firstly I don't think this particular version of the foundation is meant for mature skin, we used way too much product and also I think we didn't blend and buff the foundation enough. I think with open pores and fine lines, it is essential to take some time to work the product into the skin. A quick tip for people who have open pores is to use a brush of any kind, and buff in the foundation in circles. This will help to fill in the pores and make them disappear, but don't be too rough as you are effectively exfoliating the skin doing this. 

Before

After

       
                I also tried to cover a few tattoos with this, and again the coverage was very effective, but the foundation was too orangy for my skin tone. I have since seen they have a new body foundation, but whether or not the 'light' shade will be light enough remains to be seen. Has anyone tried the body foundation? Opinions?


                 
                   Despite having quite a few foundations in my collection I had to go out and purchase this. I don't have acne or very problematic skin, but it is great to know you have a foundation there that is a great colour match, and will cover any imperfections or discolouration. The foundation also has an SPF of 35 which is great for us pale ladies! 

                  It retails at €21.50 for 30mls, and is available in most chemists and larger Boots. (Don't forget Irish students, you can use your travel card to get money off in Boots!) For more see www.vichy.ie 


             As always I'd love to hear if other people found the range a success or not for them. Thanks for reading! 


P.S. Apologies about the bad camera I'm working on getting a new one!