A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Long-time readers of Lipglossiping will know that I’m a total foundation tart. One of these days, I shall snap you a picture of my foundation drawer and you’ll all think “That woman’s got one hell of a problem”.

And you’d probably be right.

You see, foundation is the one product that promises so much and often delivers so little. In fairness, I understand the many, many variables when it come to finding a perfect foundation fit and it’s one of those products where opinions suffer from a huge dose of subjectivity.

Anyway, today… I want to know about YOUR foundation loves. Tell me about the last (new) foundation you tried and loved?

Here’s mine:

The last foundation I tried and loved (prompting this post!) is Dr. Lewinns Skin Perfect Foundation*.  A great shade match, dependable medium/full-coverage, and more importantly… a velvety finish without drying my skin? That bit is kinda miraculous on my troublesome chops.  I’m on day 5 of wearing it and admittedly, my skin isn’t too dry at the moment… I shall keep testing and see if this novelty wears off, full review soon.

So, do you flit from base to base or are you resolutely faithful to your one true love?

* press sample

We wear makeup for many different reasons. Some of us like to experiment with colour, some of us like to improve upon our natural beauty *cough*, and some of us enjoy piling on everything we own just because we can.

At the moment, I’m somewhere between number two and a facefull of slap. Whenever I’m sick (is she still going on about that?), my skin is the first place it shows and the last place it recovers. Flaky, blotchy, purple under the eyes, and spots a-plenty are the order of the day. Which is exactly what one needs when you already feel like shit, of course.

Whilst I’d love to tweak my skincare routine to improve my natural radiance and rebalance my complexion from the inside out… I’d also like to be able to sprout a pair of wings and crap on the EDL headquarters from a great height. Sadly, neither are happening any time soon, and so instead, I turn to my makeup routine for the answers and pray that it won’t fail me.

This isn’t a tutorial as such, I’m no bleedin’ make up artist after all… but I thought I’d go into some real depth about the products that I’m using to work, what is basically, a skin miracle at the moment.

First things first, skin prep. If your skin is suffering, you can’t ignore this step in the routine. It’s imperative that you give your makeup the best possible base upon which to sit. It may be that you’re fighting an oil-slick or something akin to moon craters, or perhaps like me… you’re battling dryness of epic proportions. Take an extra five-minutes to target these concerns before you even go near your face with foundation, the finished result will be worth the effort.

Starting with a cleansed, exfoliated, and moisturised face… I deal with the dryness that has been causing my foundation to cling in patches. Upon Caroline‘s advice, I’m treating my skin to a moisture sandwich of oil and cream, first with an Elemis Cellular Recovery Skin Bliss (£62.00) capsule which delivers an antioxidant-rich hydration boost in the form of moringa oil, followed immediately by a generous layer of La Roche Posay’s Nutritic Intense Riche* (£14.00)

And then I wait. A couple of minutes later, I can tell where I need additional hydration, so I work a little more of the LRP into the skin, avoiding the areas that are prone to midday oiliness. That done, I move onto the one product that generally replaces “primer” for me during the colder months.

Maqpro Makeup Mixer (from £8.00) is a makeup artist’s trick taught to me by the wonderful Kenneth Soh who recommended it to me a couple of years ago as a great base for mineral products on drier skins. It’s a tip that continues to save me whenever my skin is behaving badly. Not only is it a wonderful mixer for sheering out heavier foundations, it also does wonders for improving how a product applies over, and sits ontop of dry skin without compromising the moisture levels underneath.

At this point, I use a brush to apply the Maqpro but I don’t work it fully into the skin, preferring instead to dot the product allover with the brush and only lightly blend. This way, it combines easily and increases the glide of the next layer of product.

Before even contemplating foundation, I still want to improve the radiance levels of my skin. A lot of the time, I reach for a liquid illumintor that I can apply allover and then “tone down” with foundation. I’ve been trying something a little different recently in the form of this rather splendid Lyster Cream Bronzer* (£36.00) from Swedish brand Manasi Makeup.

The pot contains far more product (55g) than I could ever see myself using and as such, I do wish they offered a smaller-size for less money but I can’t deny that the product itself is beautiful. Free from mineral oils and parabens, it delivers something inbetween a bronzer and a luminizer that works very nicely against my pale skintone. If you’re blessed with naturally great skin, I could see something like this being your one-pot wonder for sunkissed, healthy-looking skin without fear of looking orange or overdone.

I tap my brush lightly on the top (you don’t need much) and work the bronzer all over my skin using a circular motion, it blends nicely… but even more beautifully with my layer of Maqpro beneath it.

Finally, it’s time for foundation! At the moment, I’m alternating between my Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation in shade 4.5 (£34.50) and my beloved tube of Clinique Supermoisture Makeup* (£19.35) which is a better option for when I don’t have the time to do this kind of skin prep. If I am using the Clinique, I skip the Maqpro in this next step as it’s an exceptionally moisture-rich foundation on its own merit.

When I’m using anything other than the Clinique, I reach again for the Maqpro (as shown below). One blob of each and using the same face brush as I’ve been using all along, I give the products a little mix on the back of my hand before working into my skin lightly.

I never apply foundation heavily or in more than one layer when my skin is playing up because it doesn’t matter how much preparation or effort I put into the application, after a few hours… my foundation will clump over the dehydrated patches if it’s too heavy. Which is why, I always reach for concealer as the last step despite usually being a bit of a concealer-phobe when my skin is less fussy.

Bare Minerals SPF 20 Correcting Concealer* (£21.00) is the perfect choice for dry skin-types thanks to a light texture and a lot of slip. It’s very creamy and offers a good amount of coverage, making it a great choice when your aim is to keep your layers as thin as possible. The final step is a little precision highlighting with something like the iconic YSL Touche Eclat (£25.00).

Now, that’s quite a lot of product but use my “how-to” as a guide rather than a manual. The principles are simple and you’ll already have certain products in your collection that you know you can substitute…

1. Make a real effort to get your skin in the best condition possible before you go near it with colour.
2. Work in thin, lightweight layers.
3. Add additional moisture or “slip” as you go.
4. Now isn’t the time for powder, keep things creamy.
5. If you’re nervous about being too heavy-handed with illuminator or bronzer, apply it before your foundation.
6. Leave concealer until the last possible moment, you’ll end up using less product as a result.

How’s your skin behaving at the moment and what trickery are you employing to get the best from your complexion?

* press sample

God. Have I told you how much I love foundation? Oh, I have?! Well, the thing is… I really love foundation. I love the idea of being able to smooth over the blemishes, teeny veins and discolouration with what is, effectively, a new skin.

If I were a character in a horror-filled b-movie, I’d like to be the skin harvester and I’d go around, stealing people’s faces… no, please don’t leave. I’m only joking. Sort of.

So that I don’t have to go around harvesting other people’s faces, Benefit have launched a new beauty kit that will appeal to all foundation-lovers out there.  How To Look The Best At Everything claims to contain everything we need to achieve that sought-after flawless complexion.

Let’s take a closer look….

The kit is available in three skin shades: Light, Medium and Deep and is packaged in squee cute Benefit stylee, taking obvious inspiration from the series of similarly titled books.  Despite the housing being cardboard, it stands up pretty well to mild misuse… it’s not gonna crumble anytime soon, unless you put it in the washing machine or something phenomenally stupid like that.  In which case, you deserve whatever soggy mess awaits you.

Beneath the ‘front cover’ sits an assortment of Benefit’s face products… providing you ‘get on’ with the products inside, this is a brilliant thing to take away on holidays/dirty weekends and the like.  Do people even still have dirty weekends?  I feel like I’ve just stepped out of the 80s with that expression!

So, from left to right, we have:

The POREfessional primer (7.5ml) |  Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow in “Cheers to Me” Champagne foundation (7ml) | Boi-ing 01 & 02 concealer (1.5g each) | “Hello Flawless!” “Me, Vain?” Champagne powder (4g).

I’ve been doing my sums and based on the quantities of product you receive inside the kit, compared to the full-size prices…. the kit is worth approximately £44.22 on product value alone.

Which is pretty awesome considering that Benefit (who are not well-known for their bargainous prices) are asking only £24.50 for the entire set.

It’s a great starting point for anyone unfamilliar with the Benefit base makeup line and would be a lovely present for most teens *cough* and older makeup-loving ladies to open on Christmas morning.

Benefit’s How To Look The Best At Everything kit* is available to buy now online and on counter nationwide, priced at £24.50

* press sample

I promised you a full review of the Face Atelier foundation after last week’s FOTD and my recent re-discovering of it.  Face Atelier Liquid Foundation offers medium/high coverage without looking like a traditional, high-coverage foundation.  On my dry/combination skin, it takes about 20 minutes to warm up, at which point it begins to look less like a foundation and more like naturally good skin.  It’s one of those foundations where you look in the mirror part-way through the day and say “Woah, good skin day!”  Followed by a fist-pump.

However, I do have a caveat with this foundation.  To get the best from it, you need to apply it on well-moisturised, not-too-dry, not-too-oily skin.  If you’ve got good skin texture but with a little discolouration or redness, you should be chomping at the bit to purchase.  If you’re prone to dryness or oiliness, you’ll probably be in love with this 65% of the time.  Does that make sense?

The bottle comes with a great pump that dispenses the perfect amount for a full-face application with a single squeeze.  The brand state that you do not need to wear a primer underneath this and indeed you can feel the silicone in the fomula.  If you like your foundation to feel completely weightless, you may not enjoy the feel of this one (though in no way does this feel like a heavy foundation).

It also sets fast, so work quickly!

Personally, I ignore the brand’s recommendations on primer and mix it up with a blob of moisturising primer (non-silicone) or Maqpro Make Up Mixer to give me a sheer(er) finish that doesn’t set as quickly.  To combat the additional dewiness this pairing provides, I set the foundation on my t-zone with a touch of powder.  I don’t find that it wears any less well and have been surprised by how well it performs mixing it into all different kinds of bases!  I like to buff it in with a flat-top kabuki… working it in to the skin in light circular motions, both back and forward.

* my hair looks two different colours in the above photo – the sun had come out from behind the clouds in time for the 2nd shot!

The shade #2 Ivory is spot on for me, a little too yellow technically, but I like this because it tones down my redness more effectively.  If you’re just slightly darker or lighter than the official range, you can also purchase their 0-/0+ to lighten and darken any of their shades.

Overall, on good skin days (or if you’ve got skin prep down to a fine art), this is show-stealing foundation.  It’s pricey, but what price beautiful skin fakery?

Face Atelier Ultra Foundation is priced at £32 and available to buy online from Cult Beauty

I’ve been a little bit too obsessed with tracking down and swatching recent Western brand’s attempts at B.B. Creams (still not great) resulting in having become a little blinded to other base releases on the market and this latest Estee Lauder release is one that I’m pleased I didn’t miss.  Billed as one of those skin-matching formulas (which makes me wonder why they need an impressive 16 shades 😉 ) Invisible Fluid Makeup promises to perfect your skin without leaving a trace.  Step back all ye who can’t be parted with your Double Wear, this one’s not for you.

The  base delivers a lightweight, slightly mattifying finish that evens out my redness and softens my pores.  I would prefer *slightly* oilier skin when using this to maximise those mattifying benefits but it doesn’t cause me any tightness on my dry skin either… I just feel that there is a little room to love it more.  Something that I’ll be excited to discover when the weather begins to warm up.

The fluid formula reminds me very much of Chanel’s Vitalumiere Aqua, but delivered with more refinement — I found the Chanel less kind to my drier skin.  The bottle needs a good shake to mix the formula before application and contains a ball bearing inside to speed things along.  Unlike the Chanel, and despite its mattifying features – Invisible Fluid Makeup* gives my skin a luminosity, it remains more transparent despite still affording a more even skintone.  The Chanel simply gave me a light mask which didn’t sit kindly with my dilated pores and fine lines.

If you’ve many blemishes, you may find that this doesn’t give you the coverage you’re looking for.  Similarly, if you’re a tinted moisturiser kinda girl — this may offer too much.  If you just want something that feels very lightweight, is easy to blend, and evens both skintone whilst softening the appearance of pores – you should head to your nearest Estee Lauder counter when this goes on full release next month.

It lasts well throughout the day, slipping a little from my nose by tea-time but wearing evenly across the rest of my face.  The lightweight feel of a tinted moisturiser with a hint more coverage makes for a very interesting new addition to the foundation market.  Do check this one out if you’re a no-foundation foundation girl.

Estee Lauder’s Invisible Fluid Makeup is currently an exclusive for the rest of the month at John Lewis, retailing at £27.00 for 30ml.

* press sample – I’m wearing shade 1CN1

Last month, I attended a ByTerry event to showcase the French brand and in particular, two new foundations that have hit the counters recently.

Sheer-Expert and Cover-Expert are the two new formulas from ByTerry’s creator Terry de Gunzburg.  As you may have guessed from their names, the major difference between the two are the coverage that they offer.

According to the brand…

Sheer Expert provides adjustable coverage, smoothes and plumps features and dims imperfections and signs of fatigue.  The natural satin finish adjusts and blends into your natural skin colour to reveal a perfect complexion with a sheer effect.

Cover Expert corrects all imperfections and flaws (including dark circles, freckles (flaw?!?!) wrinkles, fine lines or expression lines) while immediately lifting, smoothing and illuminating.  The matte satin formula is undetected on skin and provides an illuminated, unified, smooth skin tone.

Priced at £44 each for 35ml, they’re as you would expect, priced for the luxury end of the market but unlike a lot of their luxury counterparts, the range is impressively inclusive with a full 12 shades from the lightest to darkest skin shades available.

I was given a tube of the Cover-Expert foundation, after being matched to #4 Rosy Beige and have been trying it out over the past month.  I have to say, it’s been a difficult month for a foundation to be tested on my skin… adjusting to the central-heating coming on has cause all manner of dryness and irritability, so this foundation has really been up against it, so to speak.

It’s rose-scented (as is much of the ByTerry lineup) and has a distinct silicone feel to the formula… which isn’t surprising when you look at the top three ingredients listed: Cyclopentasiloxane, Aqua and Dimethicone.  This does give a good, smoothing and softening effect over my imperfections but doesn’t play too well with my skin dryness.  I have to give this foundation a well-moisturised base to avoid the dreaded flakies – but to its credit, it does behave well as long as I prep my skin adequately.

The shade is a wonderful match, which is surprising as I never have to go as high as a #4 in anything usually!  Pale girls, check this range immediately.

As for the coverage… I’d actually describe this as a little less than full.  It’s not in the same league as something like Estee Lauder Double Wear, my benchmark for wearable full coverage!  The ByTerry Cover-Expert foundation is a medium-to-full coverage which is fine for wearing during the daytime.  It reduces the redness around my nose without obliterating it or preventing my natural skin texture to show through.

I also find that it makes excellent use of light reflection, despite a matte finish – I feel that the hollows under my eyes are softened thanks to some clever light trickery – something which we all know Terry is notoriously good at (hello Touche Eclat!).

If you’re normal or even oily-skinned – you may find a perfect foundation partner with this new high-tech foundation from ByTerry.  Me?  Well, it makes me work a little harder than I’d like… but the result is worth it and this may well come in to its own once the weather gets a little warmer.  It’s a keeper, I’ll let you know if it’s a repurchas-er!

Sheer-Expert and Cover-Expert are available to buy now from SpaceNK, priced at £44 for 35ml and available in 12 shades.

* press sample

I mentioned this new Mii Cosmetics base last week as something a li’l special.  I’ve been wearing it solidly since then in an effort to pin down exactly what it is that makes it stand out for me…

I mean look at it…

It’s a bit too dark and a bit too peachy.  It comes in a big plunge pot and heaven knows, I hate getting product under my finger nails.

This is the lightest of 5 shades, 01 Gentle Glow and you get 25g of product for your pennies.  If you’re paler than a NW15 – I would be hesitant to recommend it at all.  Yes, it’s sheer and has the potential to blend without too much bother but really… the colour may well limit your enjoyment of this product.  And that’s a shame, because this is an awesome base.

Mii Cosmetics Illuminating Face Base (£25.20) is for drier skin types and in my humble opinion, you won’t appreciate this product if you’re oily… it’s incredibly luminizing without sheen or glitter, imparting moisture and dewiness as if by magic.

I suffer the kind of dryness that concentrates itself in tiny flakes around my nose and eyebrows, I occasionally get scaly patches under my eyes and when things are out of control in the winter, a general dullness to the overall appearance of my skin.  I don’t have anything as bad as that at the moment… but I know how it feels on my skin in comparison to other products I’ve used and I’m going to love this when the weather turns cooler.

It’s sheer… more like a tinted moisturizer, don’t expect blemish coverage but it will dampen mild redness and uneven skintones nicely.  It’s very creamy and my preferred method of application is with my fingers because I can literally feel the product melting and gliding more smoothly as it heats up from the warmth.  Once on, I bounce my (dry) beauty blender over my skin to remove any excess (something I do with most foundations that I use my fingers to apply) and set with a finishing powder.

For extra coverage, I wait a few minutes (it feels quite ‘wet’ when you first apply) before going back in with a light dusting of mineral foundation.

Want to see a direct before/after comparison?  I didn’t finish off with any additional powder because I thought you might like to see the coverage…

I would love, LOVE Mii to create something with the same formula but with slightly heavier coverage and in a tube.  I would literally sell Leila’s Granny (sorry Mum) for that product.  As it stands… I’m still hugely enamoured.  It’s dewy, fairly long-lasting (about 8hrs with a little slip on my nose) and doesn’t grumble when I slap other face products over it to get better coverage.

Here’s a shot showing the base combined with finishing powder (MAC Magically Cool <3)…

If you already have awesome normal or normal/dry skin and you’re looking for sheer, summer coverage… do see if you can discover Mii Cosmetics Illuminating Face Base.  I really don’t think you’d be disappointed.

Mii Cosmetics are sold exclusively in Spas/Salons, call 0845 217 1360 to find your nearest.

* PR sample

I was recently introduced to a new salon-brand: Mii Cosmetics, who carry an astonishingly wide range of products.  The range is divided cleanly into two sections: Mineral and, well… non-mineral.  The mineral lineup is packaged in black boxes to clearly distinguish from the rest which you’ll find housed in white packaging.

From the bits that I’ve had the opportunity to play with, the bases in particular stand out as something special,  I can see one of them becoming a bit of a hero product for the brand, it’s not like anything I’ve come across before.

I’ll tell you more about that one a little later in the week… I know, I’m teasing… sorry.

I’ll begin with the straight-up, no-messing mineral foundation: Irresistible Face Base (£21), a loose mineral foundation powder with a sifter.  It comes in 7 shades and naturally, I’m showing you 01 Precious Porcelain.

Mii Cosmetics Perfect Mineral Brush (£28.95) also shown.

For an 01, it’s actually a little dark.  It matches me well enough but if you’re paler than a NW15 you might struggle with this.  I swatched it alongside my Bare Minerals foundation in fair and it was a good shade darker.  I find the Bare Minerals a little too light for me in the Summer months so, selfishly… this pleases me.

Swatched heavily on my hand, it looks a little warm but to my eye it’s pretty neutral once you take away the pink bias in my skin.  You should be able to make out the sheen in the swatch… less sparkly than my Bare Minerals but a little more glowy.  It also feels more finely milled than the Bare Minerals, which I have to admit, surprised me.

Having said that, it does offer less coverage.  A personal preference but I’m not skin-confident enough to wear this alone over bare skin.  However, combined with one of the other Mii Cosmetics bases (the one I’ll be showing you later in the week!), the pairing delivers flawless but dewy, natural looking skin.  My favourite kind.

A promising start!

Mii Cosmetics are sold exclusively in Spas/Salons, call 0845 217 1360 to find your nearest.

* pr sample

I promised you a post on BB creams and in all honesty, what I know about BB creams can probably be written on the back of one.  In other words, not an awful lot.

However, one thing I do know is that they’ve been around for a lot longer than you might think.  Currently hot topic across the UK blogosphere, we’re about 3 years out of date on this one.  Here’s the post that introduced me to them back in 2008: The lovely Muse talks about BB Creams…

Since then, I’ve been gathering snippets here and there from other Asian cosmetics aficiandos like Rowena, Kathi and ParisB (just a small selection of amazing blogs with an Asian beauty focus) and dipping my toe in the proverbial waters.

The biggest complaint lodged against the Asian BB Cream market is the lack of colour variation and this still holds true 3 years down the line… for medium toned or paler skins, it’s not too bad.  Darker skintones (with the exception of one or two products) are pretty much ignored in this genre.

Speaking from a personal point of view, my pale pink skin isn’t as bothered by the oft-disliked ‘beige/grey’ tones found within many of these creams.  Infact, I find that they cancel out my redness better than any other foundation or concealer I’ve tried but I can absolutely appreciate why they don’t look as good on olive or yellow-toned skintones.

The below image shows them swatched on my inner wrist where the skin is considerably more milk-bottle than my face.  The texture of the three varies considerably.  I’m going to do a speed review on each…

Therapia ECO Feel BB Cream

This one has the heaviest texture, it’s quite hard to spread and drags a little unless my skin is well moisturised underneath.  The colour is good, though a tiny bit too dark for me.  Skin-loving properties are based around whitening and calming irritated skin with Apricot Oil and Aloe Vera Gel.

Coverage is medium, it conceals redness nicely but blemishes will need extra work.  I don’t find that this builds very well, more than one layer and it starts to look caked on.  It’s unscented and has an SPF rating of SPF25 PA++

I would recommend this for normal/combo skins.

Skin Food Gingko Green BB Cream

The lightest in texture of the three I currently have in rotation.  Best for drier skins, this leaves behind a medium coverage and a dewy finish. If you’re oily, you will probably hate this with a passion.

It’s delicately scented and promises to be filled with ‘beauty enhancing’ ingredients like lecithin and Vit B to moisturise and nourish.  Sadly, this one contains no SPF.

The colour is less ‘beige’ (read grey) than the other two and will be better suited to warmer skintones (though it is still very light).

Shills Super Magic BB Cream

My favourite and the one I’ve been reaching for recently is this offering from Taiwanese brand, Shills.  With the highest SPF rating of SPF50 PA+++, it’s been doing a good job of keeping my skin protected in the sun.  It promises to aid with whitening, wrinkles(!) and general skin improvement.

It’s the palest of the three and the most suited to a cooler, pink skin tone.  It covers my redness phenomenally well and is mid-way between the other two in terms of spreadability.  Again, this one is delicately scented which may put you off.  It glides on over a moisturised face but if you’re combo-skinned, you may not want to add that extra dewiness as this is pretty moisturising on its own.

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As you can see, these ones all come from the Asian marketplace but I’ll be interested to see how the bigger brands currently throwing themselves on the bandwagon will interpret the ‘genre’ for the Western market.  I buy all my BB Creams on eBay but please be aware that there are fakes.  Infact, I’m not certain that all my purchases are genuine (though I’ve thankfully had no adverse reactions) so do all your usual eBay homework, check ratings… compare products to stock images etc and if in doubt, ask questions!

Have you tried BB Creams?  Want to?

I’m a foundation floozy.  A total sucker too ‘cos I can never resist a new release that promises me the skin of an angel.

I’m currently trialling one that’s almost ticking all the right boxes for me (review coming v. soon!) but in putting this particular product through its paces, it’s made me realise just how demanding my requirements are for the perfect base.

Holy Grail foundation, dude… wherefore art thou?

Infact, not only are my requirements kinda demanding… I’m not sure they’re wholly realistic.  A bit like the images used to sell us the foundations then?  Touche.

My Holy Grail foundation, let’s break it down…

1. Thou shalt give medium coverage

I don’t want heavy coverage from a foundation, I want *even* coverage… it needs to give enough oomph to subdue the redness, dampen down the blotchiness and remove all traces of motley bits.  So, I want a mask… but like an invisible one ok?  Or someone else’s face.

2. Thou shalt not stick to my eyebrows

I have an eyebrow/foundation issue.  Yes, I know the simplest answer would be to keep my foundation the hell away from my eyebrows.  But I like to apply my base in about 15 seconds flat with minimal fuss.  Infact, in an ideal world… I’d like my base to apply itself.  Some foundations spot my eyebrows from a mile away and make a direct beeline so that when I look in the mirror, my face is bare and my eyebrows? Skin coloured.

3. Thou shalt not make me matte

I don’t do matte very well.  I have dry/combo skin… my nose gets oily by lunchtime but I’m ok with that (hello powder), I’m not ok with looking like I’ve been dug up.  Matte makes me look…. lifeless.  I want the glow (not the chip pan glow) but the “oooh la la” satin glow ok?

4. Thou shalt not squat in my pores

I have cheek pores that you could fall into and never escape from.  Some foundations make them appear smoothed over… some foundations install neon signage around each one to ensure they’re visible from the International Space Station.

5. Thou shalt glide on with fingers/brush/sponge/elbows if necessary

I can’t be doing with finickity foundations.  I want my Holy Grail foundation to apply happily with whatever utensil I have at hand.  I already have too many bases that look amazing only when applied with a coral reef sea sponge dampened with virgin water from iceberg B-15A on a Tuesday afternoon.

6. Under no circumstance shalt thou oxidise in my presence

Nothing worse than applying a perfect shade only to discover you’ve been oompah loompah’ed by tea time and your colleagues left wondering if their transition lenses are playing up.

Oh.. and finally?

If you don’t last longer than a chocolate button caught in Leila’s line of sight then it doesn’t matter how good you are at all the other stuff.  You fail.

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What are your foundation pet peeves?  Have you found your Holy Grail base?

In celebration of International Women’s Day last Tuesday, Bare Escentuals held events around the country inviting  women to “Try. Believe. Love.” the BareMinerals foundation.

I went along to the event in Covent Garden to have a peek behind the scenes and to talk to some of the women who had stopped by to join the Bare Escentuals Friendship Bracelet Club.  Even the sun came out in support!

Read on to find out what happened at the event and for a chance to win a little prize!

|| the friendship mirror ||

|| i love this message! ||

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Paese Cosmetics is a Polish cosmetics brand new to the UK market.  Currently only available online from http://paesecosmetics.com, the brand encompasses a wide selection of products from primers through to nail polishes and most things inbetween.

Paese Cosmetics’ price point aligns it with the drugstore market, infact… slightly cheaper.  A foundation will set you back just under £10.

I was sent some samples to put to the test, read on for images and my thoughts on the base products I received.

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