Laura Mercier - Secret Brightening Powder

Hey lovelies!
This has been one of the products I've been meaning to review for such a long time. I picked this little beauty up on my trip to Florida as one of the many things i splurged on in Sephora, but luckily this is actually available in the UK! I've been using this without fail every time I've worn makeup to set my undereye concealer since October, so it really does deserve a full review!

As far as I'm aware Secret Brightening Powder only comes in two shades, 01 the shade i own, which is translucent with an extremely fine (not detectable on the skin) shimmer and 02 which is more yellow based. I've not explored the world of Laura Mercier too much since its one of the pricier brands available, but i do have a love/hate relationship with their tinted moisturiser.

My main reason for picking this up is that no matter what i use, my under eye concealer creases constantly. Its one of my little bug bears of makeup and something i really wanted to change. I'm pleased to say, since picking this up late September.... absolutely no creasing! I apply it with a 217 style fluffy brush and it works wonders on setting my concealer and on a lazy occasion, most of my face.

I'm not 100% sure why this is so much better than regular loose translucent powders, but at a guess I'd say it is much more finely milled. It is a little pricey at £18.50 here in the UK, but considering I've been using near on every day since October and I'm not even close to being half way through i think its doing well! I wouldn't be surprised if it lasts me an entire year!

I can honestly say, i don't think I'll ever look for another under eye setting powder again and I'll continue to repurchase this as long as they make it! Its gone from a product i didn't really see the point in to something i wouldn't live without. If i lost all my makeup, this would be one of the first things I'd rush out to pick up!

Have you tried this product?

Whats your Laura Mercier favourites? Let me know in the comments!

xox

FOTD: My typical smokey eye!

Hey lovelies!

If you follow me on Instagram you may have already seen this look, sorry! But if not, here's my "go to" smokey eye for nights out. Its the look that if i don't have the time, effort, or I'm just being plain lazy I go for this one. My bronzey neutral Inglot palette gets a hell of a lot use purely on this look, i love it!

Eyes:
Inglot - Shine 43, AMC Shine 42.

Urban Decay - WOS, Crave.

MAC - Phloof!

Elf - Black Liquid Eyeliner

MUA - Primer

MUFE - Smoky Lash Mascara

Anastasia - Brow Powder Duo

Lips:

MAC - Hue

Face:

Estee Lauder - Double Wear Foundation in Shell

Maybelline - Dream Lumi Concealer in Radiance
Laura Mercier - Secret Brightening Powder

Maybelline - Dream Matte Powder
MAC - Sculpt Powder
Nars - Orgasm Blush

MAC - Soft and Gentle


Whats your "go to" evening look?

xox

  

FOTD: Winter Is Coming

 Hey Lovelies!

 My blogs been choc full of hauls lately, so i thought I'd change it up a tad and share the look I've been wearing quite a bit over the past few weeks. I love the whole rock chick trend at the moment and I've been obsessing over anything studded and bold, berry lips! Its a simple look as I've been pretty lazy on the eyeshadow lately, which needs to change soon. I've not been brave enough to try a black, burgundy smokey eye, but that's next on my list!

Eyes:

MUA - Eye Primer

Elf - Black Liquid Eyeliner

Almay - Get Up And Grow Mascara

Anastasia - Brow Powder Duo

Lips:

Jack Black - Lip Balm 

Revlon - Kissable Balm Stain in Crush

Face:

 Darling Girl - Face Primer

Tarte - Amazonian Clay Foundation in Ivory
Maybelline - Dream Lumi Concealer in Radiance

Laura Mercier- Secret Brightening Powder

Nars- Laguna Brzoner

Mac - Lightscapade
Tarte - Amazonian Clay Blush in Flush

  

I really need to get some more stain like products, i love the Revlon Balm Stains, even though they are on the drying side! But i don't fear having clown mouth with them and they have superb wear time, love them!

Have you cracked any "wintery" shades out of your stash yet?

xox

My Travel Makeup Bag!

Heya lovelies!
Hopefully by the time this post is up i shall be in sunny Florida so thought it was apt to show you what i pack in my travel makeup bag! The bag itself if i remember rightly is Benefit's Gabbi Bag that i picked up many years ago and to be perfectly honest i kinda regret buying it, i think it was over £20 and has been used all of once... bad, i know! So i really wanted to try and get some use out of it, its sturdier than the rest of my makeup bags and has a little more padding which makes it great for trying to get bits and bobs home in one piece. I just wish i owned a few more travel sized brushes to pop in it!

For me this is packing light!

For normal trips around the UK my makeup bag is considerably bigger and I'd probably cart around a brush roll on top of all that. But bearing in mind the Florida heat and my love of shopping i thought packing the bare minimum was probably the best idea, if i desperately need something its just yet another excuse to go shopping! hehe! I spent a good while going through my collection working out what would be the best products to take, working out what could get damaged in travel or melt in the heat that i wouldn't die over if i lost, so i came up with this little lot.

See? It really is the bare minimum!

I'm quite pleased i managed to get this down to four brushes. My Elf Kabuki for blush, my Royal and Langnickel kabuki for powder, Crown Small Chisel Blush for contour and a travel size Sigma E25. I don't think I've ever gone with such a small range of brushes, but since you'll see my lack of eyeshadow later on that pretty much explains it. But these are just the basic four, so that if needs be, i can whack on a whole face of makeup pretty easily.

Okay, so i am a dinlo and have missed one of the key items out of this photo... My Sleek Contour Kit! There was no way i was lugging Lightscapade and Laguna round with me because there would be tears if i smashed or lost either of those, but Sleek's little kit is the perfect replacement!

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser and Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream are the only two base products I'm taking and honestly it was a real struggle for me not to pack more. I'm a foundation whore and wear multiple ones each week, but the Laura Mercier one is perfect for day wear as it has light coverage and if i need a little more coverage I'll whack out the Missha Perfect! The Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Conceal is  MUST, it hides my dark circles a treat and Maybelline Stay Matte powder thrown in to set it all. Deciding on blush was another hard one but in the end it came down to one powder, one cream! Nars Orgasm and Stila Petunia.

Again minimal products for lips and eyes, just enough to tame my brows, do a winged eyeliner and orangey-coral lip! All photographed it looks a hell of a lot more than it really is, i mean... no shadow?!

Hopefully I'll have a nice haul to share soon!

What are your travel essentials?

Thanks for reading!

xox

My Top 5 Foundations

Ello lovelies!
Foundations are probably my most loved item of makeup, so much so that at last count i have over twenty bottles of the stuff. I am forever trying to achieve flawless skin so up until recently I've been on a quest to find my perfect foundation, along the way I've found some that i really love. Although it hasn't stopped me from lusting after a few new ones lately, but no, no new foundation until September, hmph.

Estee Lauder - Double Wear Foundation
If for some reason all of my makeup disappeared, this would be the first thing I'd run in to town to buy. This is my second bottle of Double Wear in the shade Shell, and considering how fickle i am with foundations, that really does say something. Its a medium to full coverage foundation that for me works wonderfully over the top of a silicone primer, or one with a little slip. I have quite dry skin but with gentle exfoliating and a good moisturiser I've had no problems with it clinging to dry areas. I wont go on a night out without it, its long wearing and can survive a hot day, club or even a bit of rain! I just love it!

Skin79 - Hot Pink BB Cream
I'm on my third bottle of this beauty! I actually need to purchase my fourth one of these as a back up. It photographed below weirdly darker than it actually wears, it applies with a slightly grey cast but quickly adapts to your skin tone. It does only come in one shade though so it wouldn't be suitable for medium to darker skin tones. But its perfect for fairer complexion beauties that don't need a lot of coverage! Just be careful where you buy them from as there are sadly a LOT of fakes available online. Waaay back i did a whole review on this, you can check that out here!

Laura Mercier - Tinted Moisturiser
I love everything about this tinted moisturiser, apart from the price. I really am dreading running out of this! Its a smidge darker than I'm used to for foundations, but as it is such a sheer formula it blends into the skin beautifully. Its lightweight, evens out my skin tone and has an spf 20 to fight against sun damage, making it absolutely perfect for summer. I'm trying my hardest to save enough to take on holiday with me. I did a Recent Rediscoveries post on this a little while ago, you can read that here.

Skinfood - Red Bean BB Cream
Now this one was a toss up between this and my Missha Perfect BB Cream. But in the end it came down to what I'd reached for the most! Again, it was another Recent Rediscovery post, as I've been trying to stop spending and use up a lot of my unloved products. I'm so glad i hooked this one out, it has more coverage than the Skin79 and has a lovely dewy finish. This will be the other holiday pick for me as it too has a decent SPF in. Check out the full review here! (Only one more old post plug, i promise!)

Nars - Sheer Glow Foundation
Now my skins soaked up a little sun my sheer glow has been getting a lot more love. Its coverage depends on application and could probably get near to full coverage out of it without being too cakey, although i feel the more you apply the less dewy the appearance. Again, (yawn) I've done a full review on it here, so i won't bang on as you've probably seen hundreds of sheer glow reviews! I just wish it came in a lighter shade, i wear shade Light 2 Mont Blanc as shade 1 was just too yellow for me. High end brands really should make more shades at both ends of the spectrum *shakes fist*.

So thats it! My Top 5 Foundations! And as far as no buys go, i think I've done REALLY well, no new foundation for quite a while now. Although i go to Florida in September, so I'm fully expecting to bring back a couple, or five. Oops!

What are your favourite foundations / bb creams?!

xox

Recent Rediscoveries: Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser

 Heya lovelies!
I've got another addition to my "Recent Rediscoveries" series in store for you lot today! As i mentioned before I've been forced to do a lot more "shopping the stash" lately as my mega saving panic has fully kicked in, my holiday is only just under four months away now so need to get those pennies put away asap! But the upside to this is that I've been rediscovering some real gems in my makeup collection and this has got to be my favourite so far!

Weirdly enough this product was my first ever review here on my blog! I cringe a bit when i go back and read it now, but hey, we've all got to start somewhere!

This was my "getting into university" pressie from my Mum during the summer last year. I'd been lusting after the Silk Creme foundation (still am really) but got talked into the tinted moisturiser at the counter. I absolutely loved this for the first few weeks i had it but i then discovered BB Creams and this has been quite unloved ever since. Now i have around 22 foundations, tinted moisturisers and BB creams (apparently that is too much :P ) so Ive been trying to work out which ones are usable and which ones i really can't work with and sadly there are quite a few in this category. But i am pleased to say i fell back in love with this one!

Generally, i love fuller coverage foundations. But i have come to learn that they are not always needed, and i can get a lovely finish with a sheer / low coverage product and a dab of concealer. I first hooked this out my collection around two weeks ago and slapped it on with my Real Techniques Buffing Brush and was gobsmacked. Okay, the colour isn't a complete match for me, but the sheerness of the product makes it pretty forgiving. It looks AMAZING on the skin. Its sheer but has enough coverage to really even out the skin tone and cover any minor imperfections, anything else i slap some concealer on. For a tinted moisturiser it is not at all shiny, I'd describe it as more of a satin finish. I've been REALLY enjoying wearing this with just a touch of concealer, bronzer and mascara as my quick every day look.

It sadly has one down side, price. At £33 for a 40ml tube its not at all cheap and i do feel myself using a bit more product than I'd like at that price. I'm seriously not looking forward to running out of this but even with its not so friendly price tag i think I'd have to repurchase it! I can see this being a staple for summer seeing as it has SPF 20 and doesn't feel heavy or greasy on the skin. They also have an "oil free" and "illuminating" version so there is something for everyone.
But I'm still lusting over Silk Creme, hmph!

Have you tried any of Laura Mercier's Tinted Moisturisers or Foundations? What did you think?

xox