Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation Review

After reading so many great reviews for the Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation I had to buy it, and after handing in my assignments on time I decided I'd treat myself! I've only worn this around three times, but I'm in love. It's my new favourite foundation!

I love the feel of this foundation, it's really smooth and doesn't dry out my skin (urgh, why is it still snowing in the UK when it's officially Spring!!). The coverage is fantastic and it gives my skin a really gorgeous glow. Because of my horrible dry skin at the moment my foundations have been looking a little too matte, even with moisturising, but the Laura Mercier foundation doesn't have this problem at all.

My shade is 'Rose Ivory', also I am getting my hair cut asap, it's so long!

A little goes a really really long way with this foundation, I can tell it's going to last me ages (which is a good thing seeing as I spent £33 on it). It looks great when applied with a sponge, which is my favourite way of applying foundation.

This is the perfect night out foundation, it doesn't have SPF, so it doesn't make my face look shiny in photos. I love love love it!

Sunny xxxxx

Diorskin Forever Foundation Review

Hello! I've caught the dreaded winter bug that's been going round, so I'm curled up in bed (as I often am :P) with tea and tissues. It's days like this where I just want to go home, curl up on the sofa, watch tv with my darling mum and eat her delicious leek and potato soup, I hate being a 'grown up' sometimes :(

Anywayyyy, a couple of weeks ago I decided I wanted a foundation for nights out. I have Chanel's Perfection Lumiere, which is perfect for daytime, but I wanted something else. I decided to try out Dior, as I'd been eyeing up their foundations for a while now. The assistant slathered my face rather inexpertly with Diorskin Forever in shade 010. It looked ridiculous so I asked for a sample so I could take it home and try it out properly.

When applied with a sponge, and being not too heavy handed this foundation is just lovely. It feels so smooth and fresh on my skin, not heavy at all. It's a light to medium coverage, but I just added a little concealer over blemishes. I had enough in the sample to test it on two nights out, one with dancing and one just drinking with friends. It was fine for a quiet night, but I found that when dancing was involved I needed a little powder to set it.

My little sample bottle

One thing I did find is that it doesn't have incredible lasting power. It's fine for a night out, say four to five hours, but any longer and it will fade. I used my Smashbox photofinish primer and powder to keep it in place, and it worked well.

As this is a high end product, it comes with a high end price tag, £31 from Debenhams. Personally I think spending a little more is worth it for a good foundation as it really pays off. I'm going to have to save a bit before I can get this though > . <

Sunny xxxxx

Bare Minerals Foundation Review

I really haven't been up to much this week, I went for a run a couple of days ago... I didn't realise how unfit I was until then > . < Oh dear, after 10 minutes I had an epic stitch, and I only managed just over a mile...*ashamed face* And this coming from a girl who used to run miles every other day (several years ago now...) . Oh well :P At least I have something to work towards now.

So when I went shopping at the weekend I got a couple of freebies at the BareMinerals counter, a cleanser, moisturiser and a foundation. I was really excited to get the foundation sample as I've heard so many great things about it and really wanted to try it for myself.

Firstly I may as well say that I really like this, so you know from the start that this is going to be a positive review :P

Because this is a mineral foundation it comes in a powder form, at first I thought it would leave me with a horrible powdery cakey face, but the foundation sinks in beautifully. With my sample I got a teeny kabuki brush which made application really easy, and this foundation is really buildable without looking like too much.

My sample was the matte version, which I really like because I have slightly oily skin during the summer. It also has SPF 15 in it, so this would make a great hot summer day foundation.

It's also only £25, a fair amount for a foundation, but I honestly thought it'd be more expensive. I'd definitely purchase this (once I get money :P).

It also has a good variety of shades, unfortunately my sample was in medium, which is too dark for me (the sales assistant didn't have any others). In my sample there's more than enough for a few days use, so it's annoying it's not the right shade > . <

Overall I really liked this, it felt light on my skin, looked flawless and had a mattifying effect, definitely on my wishlist now :)

P.s. Not sure how much I'll be posting for the next week and a half (ish). I'm visiting friends (again :P I get so bored at home). I'll be staying with Daydreamer though :D Can't wait to see her it's been agessssssssssssssss. I just hope it'll be sunny...

Sunny xxxxx

Chanel Perfection Lumiere Foundation Review

Writing this post is a treat I've given myself for almost finishing my report (yayyyy!). I really can't be bothered to finish it though...but I know if I do it tonight I'll feel so much better than rushing at the end of the week :P

I bought Chanel's Perfection Lumiere foundation two weeks ago when I went home after Korea. I was meaning to buy it in duty free at Abu Dhabi, but I literally couldn't face walking around the airport, let alone actually shopping after a 10 hour flight :P.

I got this in Shade 10 Beige, and the lady at the counter was really nice and gave me (and my best friend just because she was hanging around near me :P) free samples of Beaute Initiale Eye Gel, which I have yet to try.

So onto the review :)

Packaging :
Oh so gorgeous, unsurprisingly for Chanel :P I adore this little frosted glass bottle, the black plastic lid has the Chanel logo on the top and it just looks so very very pretty and classy :P Unlike most of my make up which tends to have more bold colourful packaging :P I love this, it makes a beautiful addition to my make up table.

Product :
 I tried this a few months ago after I got a sample free with Glamour magazine and fell in love, so unsurprisingly I still love this :P It's liquid and light and doesn't emphasise my dry stressed from looming exams skin. It feels like nothing at all once its on, which is great for me because I HATE heavy foundation so much :( (I just put some on my hand and I can't stop stroking it, it's so soft! :P).

 I can't quite identify the smell, it's barely there, but it reminds me a little of suncream and tangerines, ever so slightly :P Whatever it is, it's nice.

It's more matte than dewy, but not overly leaning toward matte. I think this is a useful foundation for going out because I always look shiny in photos on nights out! Generally I prefer a dewy finish, but this gives a gorgeous radiant effect instead of being flat matte on your face.

The coverage is better than I thought it would be, but it's not full, with bad blemishes I still needed a little concealer, but I was quite pleasantly surprised with the coverage.

Price :
£36...yeah...most of that's gone towards the logo at the top of the bottle I'm sure :P It IS nice, and it DOES feel luxurious and you DO have to pay for luxury. But the price is a bit off putting to say the least :P

Would I buy this again?
I do really like this product, and despite the hefty price I'd say it's worth it. However, I think next I'd rather try Chanel's Vitalumiere foundation as I'd prefer a bit more of a dewy feel. Having said that I think this is a brilliant night out foundation, and probably a very nice summers day foundation too due to the slightly matter finish (if we ever get a nice summers day here in wales!). Overall I'd say this is a great foundation, but I just feel something better is still out there.

Just 7 days left for my Korea giveaway, check it out here .

Sunny xxxxx

Glamour Sample Testing

I love getting little samples in magazines, it's so much more useful that seeing a picture of an airbrushed model and thinking 'oh I see, if I use their product I'll look like that' :P. In this months Glamour there were free samples of Chanel's Perfection Lumiere, Rimmel's Wake Me Up foundation, a 'mystery' face wash (I hate this marketing ploy, but seeing as I tried it I guess it works :P) and Jimmy Choo's new perfume.

The first one I tried was Chanel's Perfection Lumiere foundation. Unsurprisingly I am now in love. It's not really fair to throw a Chanel foundation in my face and expect me not to adore it. It feels light and silky in texture, and feels soooo lovely on my face > . < I get a problem with putting foundation on the centre of my forehead because it's really dry there, normally I have to very carefully add a tiny bit of foundation, a and a bit of moisturiser, and it still tends to look dry. Today I just shoved this foundation straight on, and it was fine right away. It made my face look really natural and dewy * - * I love it! At £36 yes it is pricey, but the moment I can afford it (i.e. after I've finished wasting my money in Korea :P) I am definitely buying this!

Next was the Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation, maybe I was a little biased, but this hasn't appealed to me since I first saw the adverts. It smells sort of orangey, not very strongly, but I was a bit put off by this. The moment I put it onto my fingertips it felt heavy and thick. I put it on anyway, and I could really feel that it was there > . < ewww! I'm definitely a light foundation girl. However the coverage was fantastic, all my blemishes disappeared, and though it did feel thick it didn't look cakey, it did seem to look fairly natural, although maybe a bit to matte for my taste.

Now for the weird mystery face wash....which I have just accidentally squeezed out all over my desk - _ - CLEANING BREAK
My desk is now clean. Okay, so this will be my least biased test, because I don't know what it is! The front of the sample has a picture of avocados and cranberries, so it looks promising. It also says it can be used as a wash or mask, I used it as a wash. My first impression on tearing open the sachet was not a good one, it's an unnatural mint green colour and has an awful chemically smell *ick ick ick* it reminds me a little of an Avon facemask I once bought (and HATED). It was quite smooth on my face, but hardly foamed, I know the foam isn't necessary for cleaning, but I prefer foam cleansers. It made my skin fairly soft afterwards, obviously it's hard to judge a facewash from just one use but it didn't seem terrible, until about 30 seconds after when the sides of my nose started to sting :S Slightly odd. I don't like this, whatever it is :P

Finally there was a little smelly perfume flap thingy (that's the technical term) for Jimmy Choo's new perfume. I smelled it and loved it right away. It smells a little spicy and woody, it's beautiful. It's definitely a 'night time' smell, as it seems quite sophisticated and 'grown up'. I love my Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh, but that's more of a girly flowery daytime smell. I simply adore this Jimmy Choo perfume, added to my wish list :P

Slightly random post, but I just thought there were some really good samples in Glamour this month, and I've really been wanting to try the Chanel and Rimmel London foundations :)

Also, I did  the stupid forgetting to bring my camera thing again today, we had a field trip to the beach to collect and measure dog whelks (yawn) but even though it was raining the beach was beautiful. Why do I never bring my camera to things like this!!!

Sunny xxxxx

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation (and shoes!)

I have two hours before I have to leave my warm bedroom and battle the Welsh weather to go down to the estate agents, so time for a post! (btw, looking for a second year house is killing me, WAI SO IMPOSSIBLE! :P)

I bought Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation (in 51, Light Vanilla) a couple of weeks ago, and now I've worn it for a few nights out (and during the day too :P) so I can review it :) This foundation has been raved about and loved by beauty bloggers and the general public (it won the 2011 Make-Up Product of the year for the consumer study of product innovation), so it's not entirely surprising that I'm going to add myself to its list of fans.

This foundation has a good range of shades, I tested 51 light vanilla, and 52 vanilla, and the chose the 51 (the lightest of the range). The darkest isn't that dark though, it's more a deep tan colour, but I'm very pale, so in the summer I won't even get near to the darkest (Shade 58).

I wore this with my primer on underneath, and it lasted all day perfectly, so I adore it in that respect. Because my forehead is weirdly dry I have to mix it with a little moisturiser for that part of my face or it doesn't look as smooth, but that's just me, even when I moisturise loads before putting foundation on my forehead is never happy :P This foundation provides medium coverage and gives me dewy glowy skin (not much of a fan of a matte face so this is perfect for me :P)

Pros:
Inexpensive (£9.99)
Fairly good colour range
Nice smell (sort of like apricots and sun cream, but a lot milder :P)
Stays for a long timeNice dewy finish

Cons:
The packaging! (I'm a very 'judge a book by its cover' girl about make up, and I know I shouldn't be, this is a great product, so I'm just nit picking at this point XD)

This is a great high street foundation, it's only £9.99 and I think it's fabulously cheap for how good it is, I really recommend it :)

On a side note, these are my new shoes :D My boyfriend got them for me (even though it was his birthday :P). I'd seen these in Republic and thought they were cute, they were £20 (I think) in the sale, but as I'm saving for my holiday I couldn't buy them. A few days later (on his birthday) he surprised me with these ^ - ^ (Don't worry, he got a birthday present too :P)

Sunny xxxxx

A Bit Of Make Up and a Lot Of Ghibli

Hello again ^ - ^
I'm back at uni! It's weird how much this place feels like home already :P I got back yesterday and already it feels like I haven't been away at all :D Today I went shopping for a few necessary (i.e. boring) bits and a few unnecessary (i.e. fun) bits :P

I've read quite a few positive reviews about Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation, so I thought I'd give it a go myself. I'm quite shallow about make up packaging and I prefer to buy prettier packaged things so I wasn't overwhelmed with the simple Bourjois packaging, but I was looking forward to buying this product so I didn't mind a whole lot. I bought mine in shade 51 Light Vanilla for £9.99 which I think is reasonable because there seems to be a fair amount of product inside. Once I've worn this on a night out (the real test :P) I'll review it properly.

My second and last make up buy was the Mac Lustre Lipstick in Lovelorn, a gorgeous girly pink colour. This is my first ever Mac lipstick and I am so completely in love, it's so beautiful *stares doe eyed at lipstick*. This was my treat for revising loads for my exams (the first one is tomorrow! Eeek!) because it was £13.50 which is a little out of budget really, but a treat once in a while won't hurt.....much :P

Now for the photo heavy Ghibli bit :P These are the wonderful Christmas presents my boyfriend gave me. I'm a huge huge huge Studio Ghibli fan so I adore all of these pressies. Firstly my Totoro slippers ^ - ^ So cute!!! Although I have accidentally loosened two of the arms, so I'll have to do a little bit of DIY slipper surgery at some point :P

I also got five mini Japanese Ghibli posters. The best part was they were all my favourite films so this was a really sweet thoughtful gift ^ - ^

Now I'm off to revise some more for my HUGE exam tomorrow *cries*.

Sunny xxxxx