Revlon PhotoReady Concealer

Hello!

Hope you're all looking forward to the big day now...I am so excited I cannot wait. Christmas is my favourite time of year. It doesn't feel quite as exciting as it used to be as this year I'll be working full time still, with only Christmas Eve and Boxing Day off. But I'll still be making full use of my time off by eating a whole tonne of food and watching cheesy Christmas tv specials!

Over the party season I've been turning to cream concealers to cover my under eye bags and blemishes.

The PhotoReady concealer from Revlon has been my go to products.

I've picked it up in my usual colour - Light. I'm assuming there must be an even lighter colour as this is 002, but luckily for me Revlon have a wide enough colour range that 002 is actually a good colour on me!
This is great news as over the winter I can get paler so I'd like to pick up 001 for those days and also for the times my undereye bags are quite unstoppable.

The packaging for the concealer is nice and simple, black twist up style container and a clear lid. I like clear lids but they never stay clean or clear, mine is dirty and cannot be cleaned inside and scratched to bits from being in my make up bag. Ah well, when will companies learn its not just about looking good in store!

I quite like twisting these type of products up and using them as a stick, its quick, easy and almost fool proof. I apply this super quick in the morning, a quick triangle under each eye and dots where my blemishes currently are and then i buff it in with my Real Techniques Expert Face brush.

As you can see on my hand above the colour match is pretty spot on and it blends in without a trace.

You can see my fave below on one morning application, triangles on the under eyes and dots on my spots!

And below shows it blended in (so much better!)

I'm so pleased i picked this up in a 3 for 2, I otherwise might not have done and wouldn't have known how lovely and easy it was to apply and the great effects it has.

This retails for £6.49 and I'd definitely recommend getting them in a 3 for 2 deal, Revlon have some great products. not only the cult Lip Butters but I'd 100% recommend the PhotoReady primer, nail polishes and Colorstay foundation.

What's your favourite Revlon product? Do you love this concealer? What's your favourite?

L xxx

MUA Pro Base Conceal and Brighten Kit

Hello!

Today I'm writing about a super cheap concealer palette from bargain cosmetics brand MUA.

I was in Superdrug picking up a 3 for 2 deal and couldn't resist picking this up to try as my final item. It was a bargainous £4 at the time and I'm sure you'll agree, a palette for £4 is always worth a try!

It has three different colours and consistencies to cover a wide range of blemishes that I was quite impressed with.

I assume there must be other colours as this kit comes in Porcelain-Beige, but I'm not sure as I would have automatically picked up the lightest colour!

I like that there are the three different shades and effects.
The first is a pinker shade and more illuminating, great for under the eyes.
The second is a thicker, creamier shade that's great for covering redness from spots and other blemishes.
The last is a thicker and more duskier pink coloured concealer that would be great for scars and birthmarks.

These concealers are actually, dare I say it, really good for the £4 price tag.
I'd expect this to cost around £12 if I'd been shown it without any brand names.
All of the concealers are different and apply really easily with your fingers or a brush.

You can see the concealers when applied to my arm below:

In the photos below (taken at 6am in the morning rush...apologies for expressions and quality!) you can see where I've applied the first concealer (pink toned and highlighting) to my undereye.

It has worked really well at concealing dark circles and feels really soft and blendable.
I have only got foundation and concealer on in these pictures so you can see how much of a difference it makes!

I also then applied the middle concealer around my nose area where the skin is slightly redder for some reason. It sometimes looks like I have a cold...when I don't!
As you can see below it has easily covered this up:

I was pretty impressed with the coverage of this concealer. As for longevity, it lasted pretty well throughout the day. I work in warm labs which is a bit of a test for my make up, my under eye concealer did crease but I would say most concealers do this to an extent. The concealer around my nose also needed to be reblended at some point in the day but it was easily done with my fingers which others you couldn't do.

I'd say this was well worth the price tag and I'd recommend to anyone looking for a great multifunctional concealer palette!

Have you tried a palette like this? What do you think of MUA's cheap as chips range??

L xxx

Review: La Roche Posay's Effaclar Duo

A good few weeks ago I picked up some La Roche Posay (LRP) products as I'd heard a lot of great things about 1, and couldn't resist picking up another!

My main reason for going in was to pick up the Effaclar Duo, the much raved about product to help with blemishes, acne and any other complexion woes.

Many bloggers have tried and tested it including Tanya Burr who gave it her seal of approval after it helped her get rid of her blemishes that nothing else would on.
It contains 4 active ingredients to combat imperfections and sebum blocked pores, and the thermal spring water helps to soothe any irritation.

The product is a white cream you can apply to the entire face or to specific areas for targeted results. When applied the cream does not feel greasy at all, it's actually very matte but also hydrating and therefore creates a perfect base to start your day.

This seems to dry out the spot slowly and I was really impressed and how it felt on the skin as I expected it to feel drier due to the matte feeling.

The nozzle makes it so easy to apply the exact amount to wherever your spots are. I have applied this to my face and had no bad reactions other than my skin being a little dry after a few days application.
This is mostly down to my skin being drier than it was previously, so for me applying it to my whole face would be too much, but on specific spots it works a treat.

I have also applied it to a really random spot that inconveniently appeared on my chest and it helped it go down quicker than it would have otherwise. It's not a miracle cream by any means, but i was pleased with the results and would recommend that if you were having trouble controlling your blemishes it is definitely worth a go.

If there's one thing I know, skin is so subjective!

The images above show how the cream disappeared into my skin leaving a matte finish and easily allows make up to be applied over it.

This was a worthy purchase for me but not a miracle worker. It helped to reduce the size and number of my blemishes but it didn't work overnight so don't expect it to! Give it time though and it will work a treat!

Have you tried Effaclar Duo? What did you think? What's your favourite LRP product?

L xxx

Review: Laura Mercier Undercover Pot

Back in April me and M booked to have our make up done by an international make up artist at Laura Mercier in Harvey Nichols in Bristol's Cabot Circus.

Unfortunately the make up artist cancelled which was a shame but we went along anyway as we'd put a £10 deposit down which we could use to purchase any product so we went for a makeover.

We both ended up picking up a few items....but we were intrigued with the Undercover Pot and snapped it up!

The Undercover pot contains a Secret Camouflage, Secret Concealer and Loose Setting Powder in number 1. 

You can see on the picture above where each product is inside the casing, but lets have a look at it:

I love how simple this design is! The flip top lid is really secure but opens easily, contains a mirror and both concealers and the top part screws off the show the setting powder beneath.

The left hand concealer is the Secret Camouflage and is yellow toned. It's best for imperfections, scars and blemishes as it balances out the redness and helps to even out the skin tone. It's also oil free which helps to keep the concealer on the skin and makes it last longer.

Secret Concealer is in the right pan, and is pinker toned with slight illuminating particles in. This one is best for under eye circles as it combats darker circles and is emollient based so applies to delicate undereye skin easily without tugging.

The Setting Powder is lightweight and translucent, making sure your perfectly applied concealer stays put and leaves a velvety soft finish.

I have some photos below to show the difference when using it under eyes and on blemishes.

For the record I had already applied the Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation, as I would normally apply foundation before concealer.

So the undereyes. On the left is before, and the right, after. You can see an improvement in the right picture with the concealer applied. I was clearly having a long week when I took these though as my bags are AWFUL!

In reality the bags were a lot more covered up than this picture shows and I think it may be the camera flash that stops the effects from showing as they look pretty covered to me!
It was really easy to apply and didn't irritate my skin at all.

Here it is applied to my cheeks where I have a few scars and spots in the centre. They're mostly covered by foundation but you can still see them. The concealer does cover them up perfectly, and makes them less visible and it stays put very well.

The only downside to the concealers I found was that they do settle into lines, especially under my eyes as my eye lids are just that shape that there have always been lines underneath. This is helped by the setting powder but I do find I need to reblend it back in after a few hours.


Have you used any Laura Mercier concealers?? What did you think?

L xxx

I've been wanting to try Laura Mercier products for a long time now, I've heard so many positives about the brand I couldn't wait to try them. I love the idea of this post holding concealers to suit any problem and a powder all in one compact packaging. I've been visiting home a lot lately and products like this are handy to take with me.

I really love the setting powder, it's soft to the touch and a true translucent powder that lasts all day on me without shine. It also helps to hold the concealer under the eyes.

The secret camouflage wasn't a product I expected to like at first. This concealer feels very hard in the packaging. When you rub your finger in it you feel like no product comes out onto it (I find brushes don't work great with this). I think the heat from fingers helps to melt this product. It feels like no product is on your finger but when applied to the face it is super pigmented and blends simply into the skin and looks invisible. It's perfect for spots, it perfectly conceals them and lasts all day. I love this concealer and will definitely repurchase this item separately. I think it's going to last me ages though.

Onto the product I wasn't as keen on in the trio. The secret concealer, as L mentioned this is pink toned and for use under the eyes. It does brighten under the eyes but I found creasing like L did. I can't help but compare this to Benefit Erase Paste (review here) and to me Erase paste is better. I find the Secret Concealer isn't as thick and I do struggle to blend it smoothly and flawlessly. It also seems to be going down at a rate quicker than the Secret Camouflage. I can't see this lasting very long unfortunately.

Have you tried any of the Laura Mercier concealer products?

You can pick up this trio for £29 from John Lewis here the secret concealer on it's own is priced at a reasonable £18.50.

Love M

xxx

Benefit Fake Up Event in Swansea

Hello!

You might have seen ours and a few others tweets about the amazing Benefit Fake Up event in Swansea on Tuesday night.

We were both so excited to attend and ran to the train station after work so we could get there in time for the 6pm start.

Our first thoughts when we got there was that they couldn't have picked a better venue, it was on the 27th floor of the tallest building in Swansea. It's set right on the water front and they'd hired out the function room in the Grape and Olive restaurant which had at least a 270 degree view of the city and shoreline.

We were also lucky enough to get there at sunset and the view was just spectacular!

We were greeted on arrival with prosecco and strawberries which was lovely and met up with some of the other bloggers we've met previously (including....). It was great to catch up with everyone again! Here's us with Jenny from The Pulse of Fashion:


It wasnt long before we were all mingling and digging our hands into the make up box that the girls had brought with them. We were left to play with the products and were eyeing up plenty, L was eyeing up a brow kit while M was loving Watts Up! We were both loving the perfumes too.

We couldn't believe it when 2 of the Benefit girls were the same ones we met at London Fashion Week when M won the tickets, it was great to see them again and lovely that they remembered us! Here's us having a picture with Lisa, she's so lovely!

The FakeUp idea is based around a Sherlock Holmes-esque female with a magnifying glass and pipe, so there were props everywhere and we loved them! The evening started off with everyone gathering round while Lisa gave us the low down on Fake Up. It started with asking what everyone knew about it already. M put her hand up and was extremely lucky to win a full size They're Real mascara. FakeUp is a new type of concealer. It's different than anything we've ever seen before. It has a hydrating outer ring around the concealer that contains vitamin E and apple seed extract. The moisturiser means that it's great for use on spots as it helps with drying out. The concealer hides dark circles and illuminates. Which makes it great for using under the eye area too. The fact it doesn't crease also means it can be applied to crows feet. We also loved that some of the Benefit ladies there had had the product since January to test out so you know they are really loving the product. After a quick chat about the product, we were left to be colour matched for the Hello Flawless powder which we were lucky enough to receive at the event.  While we were playing Alyson (a make up artist specialising in the South West) applied some Fake Up to both us and shared some great tips. Not only is Fake Up great for under the eyes it can also be used for other areas too. It's great around the nose especially in winter during flu season as it moisturises as well.  She also applied it around the bottom lip and to our cupids bow. This made our lips look so much fuller and more defined especially as we were both wearing a red lipstick at the time!  This will be our number one tip from this event, we cannot believe how much of a difference it made to shape of our lips and the amount that the lipstick colour 'popped'. Lastly it was applied around the brows to tidy and accentuate them. We both loved how it looked and again, made our brows look so much neater and the shape was perfect. We were lucky enough to receive all 3 shades of Fake Up (it comes in light, medium and dark). The ladies suggested using the dark Fake Up for contouring. We are both big contour fans (Kim K style contouring can be seen here and here) We both use bronzer and had been after a foundation or concealer to use instead so couldn't wait to test it out. M has been testing it out and is loving it. Although it's moisturising it doesn't add oil to her oily skin. Here's a before and after picture with easy peasy contouring: Another positive is it really does last. M usually sets all her concealers with her Real Techniques setting brush and powder, with Fake Up she's found best results not setting it and it still lasts. Both of us also love the packaging, it's quite simple but still girly and really functional for on the go as well as at home. It reminds us both of the Diet Coke cans due to the silver and writing!  The twist up stick makes it so easy to apply when you're in a rush so there's no excuse. I think it's fair to say we are both already big Fake Up fans. It can be used in so many ways. We have to say a huge thanks to all the Benefit ladies. They were all so friendly, outgoing, shared great tips and we had such a great night, especially with the additional gifts of Hello Flawless, They're Real and Porefessional! We also got told some big news to all our South Wales followers. Swansea is getting a Benefit Boutique at the end of April which is a huge deal. There are actually only around 4 in the world!  L and I can't wait to visit. It expands on the brow bar seen in some department stores and will offer waxing as well as fake ban tans (one of Ms preferred tan brands) and we can't wait to see it.   Fake Up will be available from the 30th of March and will retail for £18.50. Will you be rushing to the stores to grab it? With results like these there is already a waiting list in some stores and it completely sold out in America! Ready, set, ...go?? L and M xxx