Review: Vichy Dermablend Foundation

Hello!

I've got a foundation review for you here which has been a long time coming.

I bought this foundation a fair few months ago.....probably last Christmas!

It was a favourite of mine for a while but then got lost in the contents of my make up collection. I'm happy to say I've found it again and have been loving using it.

Vichy;s Dermablend foundation is a favourite of lots of bloggers and has a bit of a cult following.

As a foundation produced by a skincare company you'd be correct in thinking that this is a foundation that has a great bare skin feel with lots of good qualities.

Dermablend is a Fluid Corrective Foundation that lasts for 16 hours with high coverage and a matte finish. Not only all of this it's also suitable for sensitive skin, is non comedogenic, hypoallergenic and paraben free with SPF 35 just to put the cherry on the top of the cake!

My colour was the lightest shade, Opal 15.

I did worry that this would be too light on some occasions as for once it actually is a really pale shade which should make us British pasty girls rejoice! 

The packaging is quite simple and the tube is sturdy enough to stand on its own and allows the product to drain to the bottom which lots of bottle foundations tend to have a problem with.

So what is it like on the skin? Here's a super close up of my forehead so you can see how natural it is:

How much does that look like it's my skin?! I totally wish it was the case, but seeing as its not at least I know I can apply this foundation and hope for the best!

I love how blemish free my complexion is and it's blended in so easily it's like a second skin.

As for my face as a whole, this is with the foundation applied to my entire face with a Real Techniques Buffing Brush and no other make up:

It's hard to keep describing how much I love this foundation, but it truly is a second skin that makes your own complexion just look better. It's pretty effortless to apply and lasts for a long time on your face without slipping, I do get a shiny t-zone but I do with every product so this isn't a surprise.

What do you think of the Vichy Dermablend Foundation? Have you tried it? Will you be snapping it up?

I'm so glad I've found this in time for winter when my skin is definitely paler than it was in the summer months, and if not, it blends perfectly with other foundations to achieve your ideal colour.

L xxx

Review: Avene Eau Thermale Mineral Cream SPF 50

Following on from yesterday's post, this is another product I picked up at the same time as the Liquid Gold. 

I've heard (obviously) many times about wearing SPF to prevent skin from aging and protect it from UV rays etc and I completely agree especially after the fabulous Joan Collins has amazing skin, apparently down to no skin exposure to the sun since she was 16.

With that and the fact that using products such as Liquid Gold containing glycolic acid I was adamant I needed to pick up a separate SPF just for face with a high factor but that could be used on my currently sensitive and unpredictable skin.
It used to be oily and nowadays it leans more to the dry side...confusing!

With all my skin woes in mind I headed to Boots to pick up a facial SPF from a skincare brand I knew I shouldn't react to, and so I picked up this one from Avene.
I wasn't bothered if it was from Vichy, La Roche Posay etc as long as it was a well respected brand catering to skins needs.

So I added this to my skin care routine without any negative effects to my skin whatsoever.
This was a HUGE relief to me and I would be happy to keep this in my routine forever more because of this!

You can see in the photo below the colour and consistency of the cream.
It's a pinky colour and quite thick, when rubbed into the face this does take a bit of effort to blend as it turns white on application.
The white can make you look a little pale but does match your skin tone after a few minutes.
I do wonder though, I'm very pale and can have trouble looking a bit ill and washed out after using it, so if anyone with a darker skin colour used this would it rub in and blend any easier?

If you've used it I would love to know what you think!




On a pale day this blends in easily enough and could give me the option of just wearing the SPF without make up as it does somewhat cover up some blemishes.
If you only had a few this would be perfect!
However I have a few more and so need to apply make up still, but this does create a nice base to apply make up on.

I believe this was a good addition to my skin care regime, it's had no negative effects and as my moisturiser has either a low SPF or none at all this is the perfect way of ensuring I'm protected from the pesky UV rays that are there even though there's no sun!

What do you think of using an SPF? Do you wear it every day? What number do you use?

I chose 50 as it was the only one there, I might have chosen 30 if it was there though!

L xxx

Don't forget our Christmas Giveaway!

Save, Spend, Splurge Day Creams featuring Avon, Origins and Clinique

I've been meaning to write this post for a while after I got quite a few positive response on the one I did on eye make up removers (found here) I always wonder whether it really is worth paying more for things. I plan on doing posts on night creams and hot cloth cleansers too. Would you be interested in seeing posts like this on beauty products as well?

Anyway today's post is day creams. Let's start off with my skin type. I'm an oily combination skin type. While I used to sway away from moisturiser as I was oily skinned I used to not bother as I thought it was unnecessary to add more to my skin. How wrong was I. Since realising this I've been trying different ranges of skin care to find what's perfect for me.

In a day cream I like something that's light and sinks into my skin easily so I can apply my make up on a nice base and not have something heavy on my face as it doesn't need it.

SAVE

The first one I started using was the Avon Solutions Complete Balance Day Cream. This is an absolutely brilliant moisturiser for anyone with oily combination skin. It's a mattifier day cream which just leaves the face with a nice shine free finish. It's oil free which is always good and has SPF15 which is what I like day creams to have so I don't have to worry if my foundation doesn't. The cream has a great consistency which leaves my skin feeling suitably moisturised without being oily. It sinks in easily too which means you can apply your make up onto a nice base. The RRP for this is £7.50 for 50ml which in itself is a great price but you can usually get it on offers and in deals. It's currently £5.00 here or you can get a travel set with a mask, day cream, night cream and cleanser here which is also £5.00 and is a great way to try them out. I got this one for £3 when it was on offer.

Apologises for the tatty pot. I like the pot it's similar to the Clinique one and means you can get all the product out easily. It does mean if you have long nails you do get some product under your nails. This cream has a nice fresh fragrance that is very subtle and possibly a little floral.

SPEND

For if you want to spend a little more I have the Origins Balanced Diet Moisturiser.\This is also an oil free moisturiser. It uses Japanese seaweed and sodium hyaluronate which is apparently what makes it great for oily/combination skin types as these give moisturiser without weighing down the skin. This lotion blends easily into the skin and feels very light weight. It has an almost minty fresh fragrance. I find it pleasant. This one cost £23.00 for 50ml so is significantly more than the Avon one. You can find out more about the ingredients and how they work here. I like the brand Origins and a lot of their products. But this isn't a cream I'd repurchase and I prefer the Avon one over this. Mainly because they are very similar but the Avon one also has SPF.

I do prefer the packaging of the Origins though.

SPLURGE

Onto the Splurge. The Clinique Superdefense age Defense Moisturise SPF 25 for Combination oily to oily skin (with Clinique you can get the same moisturiser but for different skin types). I have previously done a full review on this day cream here. This moisturiser is brilliant. It's perfect for oily skin as it's lightweight and sinks into the skin easily. It feels fresh on the skin and sinks in well and has the highest SPF value of the three creams. I love that this cream is not only aimed at oily skin but is also Anti Ageing and while I'm only 23 I'm a firm believer of prevention is better than cure and it's best to start young. I find it hard to find anti ageing products that aren't heavy on this skin and this is brilliant. But it comes at a price. £37 for 50ml unfortunately. While it's pricey I really think it's worth every penny and would definitely repurchase. The product lasts a long time though. You can purchase here.

The packaging looks and feels luxurious and classic and is plastic which is handy if you are travelling. No one wants to spend £37 then drop it and it smash.

So overall this time for me SPLURGE wins. It's such a great all round cream to prevent anti ageing, sun damage and control oil. I love this. But when I'm skint I turn to my SAVE option as I think it's as good as SPLURGE so it's not worth spending the extra.

Have you tried any of these? What's your go to day cream? Are you happy to spend on day creams?

Love M

xxx

Recent Purchases

If you've been reading this blog for a while then you'll know that I've been jobless and therefore a little bit poor for quite a while now.

But obviously writing this and also being the spendaholic that I am I end up buying items that I mostly could live without.

Obviously I broke my spending ban again by going on a few little shopping trips and surfing eBay at home!

My first trip was into town and I ended up in Internacionale where I picked up a number of bracelets which were on offer, buy one get one half price.

For the past year I've mostly been obsessed wth make up, skin care and various other related products but my focus seems to have shifted recently to clothes, bags, shoes and jewellery!

I couldn't resist these bracelets, they look good together and with other items in my collection that can be added to any outfit to dress up/dress down

I loooooooove how shiny and sparkly they looked in the sun!
Definitely can't wait to be rocking these for the rest of the year, I love spikes and skulls and these were made for me.

They're currently all available in Internacionale and because of their deal (think its buy one get one half price) costs me about £8....bargain!

My next trip was to Matalan.

Between me and M we'd heard about their peplum tops somewhere along the grape vine and my mum promised she'd take me if I finished a part of my work. Incentives work ya know!

So I hastily typed my way to finishing the section of my diss and she took me there.
Funnily enough I text M whilst there to send her a picture of the peplums, where she replied saying she was also in Matalan but at home (which is a few hundred miles away!).

This was just too funny, not even spoken to each other all day yet happen to be in the same shop!

So here are Matalan's peplum tops.

I ended up buying the black and the white, though I wanted the maroon coloured one also in my store and the blue one M found in her store!

I was surprised as although they're less than half the price of the Topshop ones (coming in at £12 I think!) they're actually pretty good and fit really well.

I was also surprised that I liked the white one so much as I normally avoid lighter colours and expected it to be a bit see through but it wasn't at all.

In fact I forgot I took this photo in the changing room and here's what the white looked like on!

I think they're an absolute bargain and cannot wait to go out wearing them.

I also picked up some new leggings with zips on the hips (ooh!)

These are really thick and good quality, I only had to throw out my old ones as they went a bit grey after 2 years of hard core wearing so would definitely recommend these (£12 Papaya make in Matalan)

Also as if it was my lucky day these bags were right at the front of the store:

There were a few different colour combos but I picked up the navy and black one as I was instantly drawn to it whilst my mum struggled to choose between the camel and black, bottle green and black and the plum and black.

To be honest at the time these were down from £12 to £5 so I told her to pick up 2 and I can't even remember which one she actually picked up!

Definitely worth a trip down there if you're passing as there's some really good stuff there at the moment!

And last but not least my latest product buys (inevitably they exist too!)

I'm sure you're aware but both me and M have been struggling with our skin recently and having read much about Alpha H Liquid Gold we were both looking forward to trying it, but obviously skint students don't have much of a fund to use!

Eventually though the angry scars left on my face got to me and I found an ebay seller who had it for £25 with free postage so I instantly snapped it up.

After one use I've seen a difference and hopefully it will continue to improve (will be doing a full post on it!)

For those who don't know what it is, basically you use it as you would a toner after cleansing.

Pour some onto a cotton pad and swipe it over your face avoiding eyes and lips.

Then to let it work most effectively do NOT apply moisturiser, just eye cream if you want.

The main active ingredient in this is glycolic acid which helps to ward off any blemishes, heal scars and fight ageing, I was instantly won over by these multi tasking properties!

A full review will be up in a few weeks with pictures of the offending marks for you to decide if it was worth it or not.

Because of the acid effects, using SPF is a complete must so I purchased Avene high protection SPF for intolerant skin.

I've been meaning to get into using SPF and some of my moisturisers have it and others don't, so eventually I just bought this to be done with it and am hoping it doesn't cause me to break out having an extra layer on my face all day.

For £3 I couldn't help but want to see what the fuss was all about with the thermal spring water.

Me and M have had many conversations about it and whether it actually works and in a moment of weakness I snapped up a mini canister to try out whilst working at home on my dissertation. 

I'm looking forward to wearing and using these products asap!!

What have you been buying recently? Have you picked up any bargains?

L xxx