Estee Lauder Double Wear Light

Just to finish off my EL related blog posts!  I mentioned in my last post that as well as getting a sample of Invisible Fluid I also got one of Double Wear Light.  

I have never sought out long lasting foundation, primarily because I assumed it would be too drying for my dry, 45 year old skin.  It wasn't until I tried ELDWL, as it will henceforth be known on this blog, that I realised what I was missing.  This stuff is teflon for your face!  Seriously, this morning I went to the gym for an hour and came home with my make up intact, which is amazing, a little disconcerting - it can't be good for you to sweat through your make up? - but amazing nonetheless.  I have been using ELDWL for 4 days now, initially I was being too heavy handed and slapping on loads, then I tried applying it with my brush - serious cake face, not a great look.  This morning I decided to apply it with my fingers and to only apply it lightly and that was the winner.  In spite of being quite mattifying, not something I need, I have found that I still have a glow, but no shine.  I am lightly powdering my nose and chin only and the wear is exceptional - it is now 8.15pm and this has been on my face since 6.15am, including that gym session and it still looks bloody good.  What is even  more wonderful is that it seems to lend some of its longevity to the other products that I have put on top - my blusher hasn't faded, my eyebrows that are 90% drawn in with a pencil haven't rubbed off and my eye make up is still looking good.

These pics were taken yesterday when I had applied it with a brush and that is why it does look a bit too heavy.

 Today applied with a lighter touch it is approaching HG status!  One of the other things that I love is that my glasses don't smear this off my nose, it just stays right where I put it.


So decision made on Friday I am buying this and I am also very tempted by an Estee Lauder Idealist serum, rather fancy the pore minimising one - has anyone tried any of the Idealist serums?  Please let me know what  you thought if you have thanks very much.  I am also in need of a Lancome L'Absolu Nu, if I can find one that warrants a £21 spend.  I am also very tempted by the Champneys Watermint shower gel, scrub and lotion spritz.  Again if anyone has tried either the Lancome lippy or the Watermint range please let me know what you thought, it all helps in the buying decisions!

New lipstick! Estee Lauder Pure Color Gloss stick - Honey Pink

I love new lipstick!  I was on a mission on Friday to come home with  something as far away from my usual pinky/browny mlbb shade and had decided I would go as far out of my comfort zone as necessary to get the desired look!   A quick shout out on twitter resulted in lots of great suggestions from loads of people - ladies thank you all.  The only problem I had was that the brand had to be available in either House of Fraser or Boots, so I was fairly limited - MAC, Laura Mercier and Illamasqua weren't happening!

First off I had a look at the Dior Addict Extreme lipsticks - Ruth had posted some pics of new ones not due out yet and they had set me off on my lemming for something out of the ordinary.  Whilst I quite liked the available Dior shades lots of them had glittery bits in them and at 45 I wonder if blingy sparkly lips are just too little girl?  It's probably down to the individual but I prefer cream lipstick to anything shimmery or glittery and there weren't any Dior creams that were floating my boat. 

Next off I visited the Estee Lauder stand after several recommendations that the Pure Color lipsticks were exactly what I was after.  Having had a bit of a play I decided that if I was going out of my comfort zone in terms of colour one way of diffusing the shock would be to go for something sheer rather than too opaque a lipstick.  The Pure Color Gloss sticks are pretty much that, gorgeous colour in a glossy finish but in a stick rather than a lip gloss tube - not a fan of sticky lip gloss.  As soon as I tested Pink Honey on the tip of my index finger - I have been told its the closest in colour to the skin of your lip so a better indicator than the back of your hand, no idea if its true but it usually works out well for me! - I knew it was The One.  

The lady on the Estee Lauder counter in HoF in Huddersfield is fantastic - I have since been googling all things EL and the one recurring theme is that the ladies that work on EL counters can generally be relied upon to be knowledgeable, willing to help, generous with samples and pretty bloody lovely! The one in Huddersfield is all of those things.  

I was having a look at the Double Wear Light foundation as the website foundation finder had suggested that one for me and she said had I heard about their new foundation, Invisible Fluid, I said that I had and was hoping to get my hands on a sample at some point.  She said "go shop, get a coffee and when you come back past here nip in, I have just taken delivery of all my stuff - the samples are in the bottom box, if you give me a mo when you get back I'll sort you out a sample".  She actually offered, I didn't have to beg or feel like some nasty bludger, she actually just up and offered! And before I left she gave me a sample of the Double Wear Light into the bargain! Prior to all this she had handed me a teeny lip brush so I could apply some Pink Honey to my lips, its hard to tell how something works in indoor lighting so I said I was going to see how it felt for a little while and check I was still happy with the colour when I was outside but that if I was I would be back.

When I nipped back 20 minutes later to say yes please to the Pink Honey she had dug out her samples of Invisible Fluid, checked the one she thought would work best for me, 1CN1, and decanted some into a bottle for me to take home.  

Corally pink, pinky coral?

Gorgeous and glossy

The top of this swipe of lipstick is the most colour accurate of all!

So pictures.  It's bloody hard to take pictures that show off foundation isn't it.  In these I am wearing the Invisible Fluid.  I wore it to the gym this morning and a group of ladies stopped me as I got off the bike to ask what I was wearing on my face as my foundation looked so lovely!  I had been cycling at a fair pace for 20mins so had a bit of a glow on!  I can honestly say I have never been complimented by strangers on my foundation before, so that's a pretty huge plus for this one!

 You can probably see that it looks nice, but I don't really think the picture does it justice, it has a lovely freshness to it, so my skin looks dewy without shine.

Jesus, now you can probably understand why, as a rule, Steve does as he is asked. Or else.

 Please excuse scary facial expressions I was more concerned with the light being right than how my gurning was looking!


And finally, the close up of the lipstick.  You'll need a strong stomach for this cracker!

Please ignore crater sized chin pores, fine lines round lip and huge, dark, terrible nostrils. Lippy's nice though, no?!

 As I hope you can see the lipstick is a glossy peachy shade and it completely brightens my face, I am really pleased with it!


In my next post I am going to show some pics of me wearing the Double Wear Light foundation, at the moment I am strongly leaning towards purchasing this over the Invisible Fluid.  I will explain all in my next post!

Clinique Moisture Surge tinted moisturiser

I had long given up on tinted moisturiser, on paper it should be perfect for my skin which is incredibly dry and really can use all the moisture it gets.  Sadly as well as being dry my skin is red and blotchy and needs way more coverage than a TM can offer.

That said the minute I saw the adverts for Clinique Moisture Surge tinted moisture is appealed.  I actually think its that big splash of aqua right in the middle of the ad that just makes me think of the comfort of hydrated skin!

Pic blatantly nicked from www.boots.co.uk

I was in a grump on Saturday eve and nipped to Asda for a hair dye and a magazine, would have added chocolate but have  you seen my backside?!  Grabbed a copy of Glamour and had a flick, and there was a sachet of Moisture Surge TM glued between its pages, the perfect opportunity to try it!

I am loving it!  The shade I got is 03 which is possibly a tad dark for my skin but because its sheer its not overly dark, if that makes sense (actually having looked on line am surprised that it appears that shade 01 and 02 are very pale and there is massive leap to shade 03, will have to check this out for real on Weds).  I have huge pores on my chin which have a habit of trapping any powder that might be in my foundation, which looks ghastly.  Because this is so sheer this powder filled pore thing isn't happening.  And oddly in spite of being sheer enough to look really fresh I am getting sufficient coverage on my redness to be totally happy with it, even in broad daylight with a mirror pressed right up to my nose.  Em said I looked "not oily, not sure what the right word is?" I filled the gap with "glowing" and she agreed!  The wear on this is good, have added a bit more at lunch time just to keep things fresh.  The best thing about it has been how comfortable my skin has been, you may have noticed a dearth of lunch time tweets where I am threatening to run my face over with an orbital sander, which was how I was feeling last week!  I am off to the Trafford Centre on Wednesday so will try and make OH wait whilst I pick up a 5 day sample to really put it through its paces but so far so good.  Second thing in as many months that I am loving from Clinique!

This one is nicked from the John Lewis website!

 This is £21 for 30ml so if I am happy after 5 days think I might purchase for the Summer, saving my lovely Chanel for nights out!

PS I am wearing this tinted moisturiser in the hair colour post here, if you want to see how it looks on the skin!

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua

I was not a happy bunny when I looked in the mirror before doing my FOTD pics this morning.  After treating myself to the foundation I had been wanting since I got the first sachet out of Glamour mag I had imagined that I would look radiant, glowing and non-doughy the first time I used it from the tube. Instead my skin looked dry, felt tight and had no glow at all.  Admittedly I am also using a new Botanics serum, more on that in a later post, and had perhaps scrimped on my moisturiser. 

Because we live in the basement I never get to do my face in natural light, which is both a blessing and a curse, so at 11am I dragged everything up stairs, cleaned off the make up I put on at 7am in the basement, was a bit more liberal with the moisturiser and re-did my face in full daylight.  

Couple of things I need to explain.  My cheeks, chin and nose are blessed with rosacea, which varies in intensity depending on loads of factors, main trigger is hormonal though.  Foundation that offers enough coverage to deal with the rosacea has a tendency to sit in my pores and look powdery and horrid.  Yesterday was a nightmare, I was wearing Lancome Teint Miracle and for some reason it sank into the pores on my chin and came off of the surrounding area so in effect I had powdery dots with redness all around - looked bloody terrible.  When I re-applied the Chanel this morning it was lovely on my chin, looked smooth and fresh with no powderyness, but sadly on my cheeks the redness still showed through and adding more foundation started to make things a bit dry and tight feeling.

This has been a lot of words, have a couple of pics to keep you going!



Fab light today so all posts this week will have tonnes of pics!

I was having a grump and was having a look at Twitter to cheer myself up when I noticed Helen at Sparklz & Shine had rt a link to a post by Kenneth Soh, which was the answer to my issues! I am so glad she did!  Having read Kenneths really interesting post about mixing and blending to customise the products you are using I have decided to do just that - I am going to see what happens when I wear the Lancome which I love for its coverage, combined with the Chanel which I love because its Chanel it's fresh and non powdery!

POST EDIT: Kenneth Soh is a god!  When I commented on his post yest about foundation layering he replied with some fantastic advice.  So as he suggested this morning I dotted a little of the Lancome on cheeks and chin where I needed additional cover, added a thin layer of the Chanel all over and a second thin layer on chin and cheeks and then buffed.  I have never buffed my foundation in before - you know what? It makes you look like you have good skin, not like you are wearing good make up.  Am now going to google foundation buffing brushes, but if anyone has any tips let me know - should it be a kabuki style brush?  If so have found a use for one more of those No 7 £5 vouchers!!

Just in case anyone is still here reading here are a couple of fotd pics.


Call yourself a photographer woman, bloody hell??  The delicious orange glow in the photo above is as a direct result of me forgetting to adjust the white balance on the photo when I was processing it.  This is how it should have looked:






I think what I love best about this pic is that it is quite apparent that the Chanel shade 20 Beige Tendre is much too dark for me (less obvious with post processing sorted out!!). £31 well spent or what -hopefully mixing with the Lancome will deal with that too.  Had another go with the Revlon matt blue eye shadow this morning, I am really liking this bit of colour now!

One last thing before I go, the Illamasqua SA yesterday convinced me that for me nude lips can only look "freshly dug up".  Instead she sold me a very lovely liquid lipstick, which I am wearing in these pics, its getting a post of its own soon!

Guest Review On Sparklz and Shine - Lancome Teint Miracle Foundation

Helen asked back in January for someone to review the Lancome Teint Miracle foundation for her as it was too dark for her skin, needless to say I jumped at the chance and was lucky enough to the be the one picked out of the hat!  My guest review is here so nip across and have a look when you have a mo!


In case you are wondering this stuff has knocked the Bobbi Brown Luminous Moisturising Foundation into a cocked hat (whatever that means!) I have only worn the Lancome since the day I first tried it and I completely love it.  It has completely changed how I do my make up and I am loving a degree of cover that I thought I could never achieve without doughy, powdery make up - which has been especially good this week when my rosacea has had its once a month flare!

Foundation - the results.

Saturday morning put on the Chanel and decided it was the one.  Then Em appeared and said that my face had looked better the day before with the Bobbi Brown, at the same time I found a very detailed review by Visionary Beauty which mentioned the high alcohol content, which just can't be good for dry skin so I headed off to Leeds still in two minds.

Boots had the foundation and one of the things I had thought was that maybe Beige Tendre B20 was a little too dark; when I had built up cover on problem areas it started to look a smidge orangey.  The next shade down was seriously yellow though so that didn't look like an option.  But, oh, I love that tube and so wanted my foundation in that packaging.  Why is it possible to make brain dead purchases based solely on packaging?

Decided would settle for a sample of the BB Illuminating foundation and test that for a week.  Got to BB and they had no sample pots.  No sample pots?  They might as well have had no make up.  If I hadn't been trialing the BB Moisture Rich all week I would have walked.  But as I had been and knew what it was that I didn't like about it I was able to ask the SA what the difference was between the two.  It seems the illuminating foundation is the one to pick if  you want more coverage than the moisture rich, want a more easily buildable foundation, still want some moisturisation just not masses and generally want something a bit more substantial.  As my issues had been how sheer and impossible to build the moisture rich had been it certainly sounded like the illuminating one was going to be the one for me.  Had a play with some and then decided to go for it and after using it for a couple of days I am happy that I did.

When, on the very rare occasion my skin is in good nick I would be able to just apply a thin layer to even out the tone and it will look as if I may be wearing a tm rather than a little foundation, which is lovely.  In the areas where I need more cover it does build well without becoming powdery or clogged looking.  With the MR I was applying my usual moisturiser, slithering around for 10 mins with the MR and then it would, very weirdly, start to feel dry and tight and not very comfortable.  With the Illuminating one I am applying a tad less moisturiser and it feels soft and comfortable all day.  The foundation doesn't set, as such, which I quite like - when it sinks into the pores on my chin I can give it a quick buff up and it sorts itself out.  It gives that lovely lit from within glow too, which is particularly nice under eyes and on top of cheek bones but without giving me the I rubbed my face with lard chin and nose that then require powder to remove the shine which then results in the whole area looking cakey in an hour.  Actually til I wrote this hadn't thought that through but this foundation does seem to be less glowy on my nose and chin and just does that on my cheeks which is a great effect.


It has the slight BB lavender fragrance synonymous with BB foundation, I like it as it makes me feel that this is part make up, part skin care which is no doubt the desired effect!  I am a marketing mans dream aren't I!

On the downside it comes in a bottle.  I hate foundation in a bottle, its not as portable as a tube and you cant get every last bit out no matter how hard you try and that is bloody annoying when you have spent £29 on a product and might only get to use £24 worth.  That said it doesnt come with a pump either, imo thats a good thing as generally a metered dollop via a pump is more than I need for one face so an amount gets wasted.  Personally for this to be the perfect foundation it would need to be in a tube.  Preferably one that looked like the Chanel one!!  One nice touch was the sachet of Bobbi Brown moisturiser inside the box when I unpacked it, having used it a couple of times I am not keen on the smell but it is nicely moisturising and does seem to work well under the foundation.

The real test will be when this bottle runs dry, if it is repurchased then its a winner.  If not, the quest continues for my HG foundation!

Saturday shopping list

Off to Leeds with Em today, we are on a make up only mission.  Although will be purchasing Armani or CK tighty whities for her bf for Valentines day, ladies she is one lucky girl he is seriously fit.  Is it wrong to perv on your daughters bf?  Yea, thought so.  Moving on.

Leeds - have been vacillating between the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua and Bobbi Brown Moisture Rich all week.  One day one works really well, then the next it is suddenly dry on my nose, or makes my face feel tight.  Overall think the Chanel gives better coverage and is certainly more buildable, the BB is thinner and I find it harder to build up.  Problem with the Chanel on nose and chin, my 2 major problem areas, is that the Chanel seemed to manage to combine sinking into my pores with sliding around, how is that even possible?  This morning have put some Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting touch under it and so far it is looking much better, so have a feeling am going to come home with that!

Also after another BB creamy lip stick, having looked on the website Twilight might be the one depending on how it is in the flesh.

Have a £5 Boots voucher to use before tomorrow so that is probably going towards a Ruby and Millie eye shadow brush.

Mentioned earlier in week huge painful lump on my nose, have spent the last 2 days worried it was a boil, have never felt anything like it, rubbing in moisturiser without having taken a pain killer first nearly reduced me to tears, I kid you not.  Last night it was agony and now this morning it seems to be less so, so perhaps the worst is over and its going to sod off.  Please, please sod off.

Have a fab Saturday everyone.

Quick FOTD

Eye - Whisky liner, Virgin all over, Buff in Crease, Face - Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Beige Tendre, Dusting Diorskin translucent powder nose and chin, MAC cream blush in Lilicent, Lips - was Bobbi Brown Cocoa pencil and Cream lipstick in Heather Buff

No prizes for guessing what I used!  Whisky liner top and bottom, Virgin all over and for a change (!) Buff in crease, its quick, effective - I think, and I don't have to think about it, with UDPP under of course.  Having used the palette a couple of times now I would have liked a matte light shadow - virgin is a tad shimmery for me to be completely happy with it on lid, fine for brow highlight and perhaps if Hustle and/or Toasted could have been matte too, not used them yet and tbh am a little put off by the shimmery'ness.  Tomorrow might try my UNE matte cream shadow all over and maybe try Toasted or Hustle in the crease. 

Good old Emily!

Bless her, she went to Selfridges in her lunch break and bought 3 more copies of Glamour, sold 2 to her colleagues at work and is giving the other to her friend - but first she swiped the sachets of Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua out of them for her mother, isn't she a total honey?!  Of course she told the ladies who purchased the mags what she had done, in case you think she is a heathen!

Having a few dryness issues with it today, have just had to rub some moisturiser into nose and chin to haul it out from pores in chin and to de-flake nose.  That said nose is still suffering from this hideously painful lump under the surface of the skin so that wont be helping.  Think will decant all 3 sachets into a little pot as have a feeling first squirt was the watery element and today got the powder side, perhaps if better mixed it will be balanced all the time.

Em and I planning girly shopping trip to Leeds on Saturday so thinking will try and get samples of Guerlain Lingerie de Peau (as raved about by Cheeky Beauty) Chanel Vitalumiere the normal version and MAC Studio Sculpt too as it's what Em uses and although I think it can look a bit mask like maybe with a lighter application it would good.  No plan to make rash purchase this time - am almost being grown up about this!  If anyone can think of any others they would suggest please let me know, ta.

Foundation - another contender

Disappointed with a capital "d" with the Bobbi Brown sample I got.  On initial application it is incredibly moisturising, almost too much so and is very shiny.  And then, even without any powder after an hour or so it is dry, tight, itchy and looks powdery as hell.

Got a sample of Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua in a magazine (Edit: it was the January Feb issue of Glamour just in case you fancy trying it) at the weekend and with nothing to lose slapped some on.  First impressions good, it is quite strongly perfumed, but I like that.  It is slippy, very liquid and light in texture and I immediately assumed coverage would be pants.  It applies really nicely, blends easily - so far not taken a brush to it only used my fingers and no issues at all.  As you may have read in earlier posts my nose is having some serious issues right now.  When I applied a reasonable amount of this foundation it looked dry and flaky and not great at all, Em was at home and she insisted that I wasn't using enough, I needed to build up the coverage - with other foundations that would be a terrible idea but this stuff is amazing. I added a good bit more, till I was happy with the coverage and it looked fine, not great but not bad at all.  When I looked in the mirror 20 minutes later it is no exaggeration to say that it looked terrific, total coverage with no tell tale redness or dryness.  The foundation seemed to have melded into my skin.  I have a glow!  Not the sheen of a shimmer filled foundation either, and not shiny "lard face" shine, just a glow as if lit from within, I ate a candle style!  So this stuff is either fab or I am about to discover that Steve and I are increasing the size of our family!!  

So photos, as I have them thought it would be useful to add the photos from last week to this too.

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Beige Tendre - 20

Bobbi Brown - the 3 coats photo

Max Factor Experience Weightless foundation

Now clearly for £9.99 the Max Factor is more than holding its own, but when you compare the £27 Bobbi Brown with the £31 (shee'it!) Chanel the difference, on my skin at least, is marked.

Couple that really show off the "glowy" effect of the Chanel.

I really like how my skin looks in this - glow not shine.

Ok some fair old shine here but that was full light from the window, where its not beaming it does look much nicer than usual!

Having done a bit off googling it seems that Vitalumiere Aqua went on sale in the UK on 14th January - although its not availalble on the Boots website at the mo I think it is on Debenhams and Selfridges.  Frankly if you are in your 40's with dry, lack lustre skin that can never get enough moisture, with pores that seem to suck your foundation into them to make a real feature of them, with a propensity to just generally look a bit shite, then this is the foundation for you.  All £31 of it.  Did I mention the price?  Luckily I have a little cash stash for just such purchasing emergencies - shhh!  Oh and better than all that it comes in a lovely tube, all the better for hacking up to get out the last very vital drops.

Bobbi Brown - Moisture Rich Foundation

I have used Bobbi Brown foundation before, pretty sure it was one I repeat purchased until I got fed up of having to go to Leeds or Manchester to get it.  Decided that as its famed for its lack of pink tones that it might help to hide the pink in my complexion.  Went to House of Fraser in Leeds, Charlotte the SA was very thorough, cleaned off all my foundation - is there anything nicer than sitting in from of the world and his wife with all your blemishes on display?!  And then did 3 swatches Alabaster, Porcelain and one other didn't catch name of it but it was too warm.  She decided that Alabaster was too pale, whilst Porcelain was an exact skin match it would be too chalky applied all over so tried a 4th, Cool Beige, which we both agreed worked well.  She used the Moisture Rich formula as I had said that I like to look dewy rather than matt, this might be slightly more glossy than dewy in reality, even Steve commented that my skin looked "greasy" before I toned things down with a dash of loose powder.

That was yesterday and whilst I was loving the shade and the tone of the foundation on me I wasn't sure that slip sliding away look was really working for me.  This morning its a whole other story.  I am loving this foundation.  Yesterday I thought it was too hydrating/moisturising/oily and I certainly couldn't wear this without a bit of loose powder, but thats actually a benefit, in the past adding powder for a bit of extra coverage and to set my foundation has led to the dreaded face cake look, on this foundation the powder takes up the shine, adds a little extra coverage but still looks fresh.  The yellow tone, to my eye, is very apparent - in a good way!  My face just looks fresher, cleaner and a huge benefit is my blush, MAC Lilicent cream blush, looks lovely on top of this - which is good as MAC at Selfridges in Leeds no longer have Uncommon in stock.  I have a tiny sample pot that may just last me the week and then I am going to have to purchase I think.

Photos:

Indoors with flash

Outdoors in what passed for daylight today!

 FOTD

Face - Bobbi Brown Moisture Rich foundation in cool beige

           Dusting of Dior loose powder

           MAC Creme blush Lilicent

Eyes - UNE matt shadow in S02 all over to even out tone

           Bobbi Brown shadow in Taupe on lower lid and dry to line under eye

           Clinique superfine liner for brows in soft brown

           L'Oreal Mascara in black

Lips -  Bobbi Brown Cream lipstick in Heather Buff

           Bobbi Brown lip pencil in Cocoa

Ladder - B&Q!  taken outdoors with flash as its so over cast.

Update - my face started to feel really tight by midday and I cleaned all my foundation off, added some moisturiser and re-applied. I think all the powder to take down the shine had done it.  

No foundation redness very much in evidence.

One coat of foundation, much less pink but still not enough coverage.

3 coats and a slap of lippy in the hope it'll stop you noticing the horribly unwaxed top lip!
Reasonable coverage but ooh the shine:

But if I add powder to matify am going to end up feeling dry and tight.  Bloody bugger and damn, might end up sticking with the Max factor at this rate.
Ok in for a penny in for a pound.  Same thing but with Max factor Experience weightless foundation.

 Max Factor - 1 coat.

MF - topped up with a bit more where the pinkness is worst, not 3 coats though.

MF whupping BB' arse I feel!
How's that shine?

It's still a bit shiny but no worse than the BB.

Side by side comparison, as you look at this pic on the left is the MF and on the right (the side with droopy eye!) is the BB. Even without bearing in mind the MF is £9.99 and the BB is £27, I think MF is the winner.  What do you think?  Apart from that you are sick to death of looking at my face!  Haven't given up yet, next stop will try another BB foundation in the same shade but in a less moisturising formula.  Hope you found this interesting.

FOTD - 9th January

Am really struggling with this whole taking photos of my face thing.  I am not really a fan of how my face looks and whilst in real life most of the time I do not look as if I am in the middle of some kind of facial spasm in photos I do.  I have a smile that curves off to the left, or is it the right? Don't know but it looks weird.  And whatever I do with my foundation my skin still looks pink.  My hairline is a trauma all of its own - cant handle a fringe, not loving vast expanse of forehead either.   And then there are the technical difficulties, I have a pretty crappy compact digital camera so I cant adjust much and I dont have a macro lense for my slr so I cant do the arms length photo with my proper camera, finding anywhere with the right light has been impossible, so far think the laundry is working as the opaque glass on the door diffuses the light nicely, downside is the back drop of piles of laundry!

Anyway enough waffle, here it is.  My fotd.

 Foundation: Max Factor Experience in Cool Linen
Eye shadow: Une Sfumato Q02 all over lid with Sfumato Q23 on edge and used wet as liner on top and bottom lash line.
Brows: Clinique super fine pencil in soft brown
Lips: Bobbi Brown creamy lip colour in Heather brown (had been wearing Bobbi Brown pencil in cocoa too but that was hours ago!)


I really like the Une Sfumato eye shadows, I was having a trawl round for a brown matte shadow in Boots yesterday and couldn't find anything - was only looking at the cheaper ranges and decided against spending another £9 on a 3rd Une shadow, I also have in Q20, I think - its a khaki shade, and they are lovely and matte and blend really well.  Hadn't thought of using a damp eyeliner brush to use the shadow as liner, seen others do it on their blogs and decided to give it a go and really like it, much less harsh than my usual black pencil which I only ever used on top lash line as my eyes disappear once I put my glasses on.


Am completely loving the Bobbi Brown creamy lip colour, it feels like a balm on my lips and the colour is the exact nude shade I wanted, I also like the pencil and was pleased that the first time I had to sharpen it I didn't end up with a lap full of snarled up pencil - always used the Revlon propelling pencil in Nu which is the exact same shade and about £6 less so should really have had a 2nd lipstick for xmas and not the pencil - yet another desperation purchase at the Trafford Centre!


Anyway first fotd of the year!

Max Factor Experience Weightless foundation - before and after

***** GRAPHIC CONTENT******
This post contains images of nudity. Images that will shock you to your core. Ok, well maybe that's a bit extreme but at 44 my glory days are all in the past and my face is a map of my memories. Ooh, I rather like that! Which is a rather lovely way of saying that I look like ten types of crap without make up:





















Shiny, red and blotchy, it's a great look.

You have no idea how hard it has been to take a photo of me, with a full face of slap, that actually looks better than that one above. I am freaked out at how pink my bloody face is and I thought it looked so much less pink than it actually does. I am going to have to slart my face in Boots No 7 green tinted gunge til I look like shrek I think. Anyway, finally here is the photo, had to go and stand outside so look a bit windswept into the bargain.

Maybe a bit less pink and blotchy but still pretty pink.

Now a close up, brace, brace, brace....

(looks like I have a 5 o'clock shadow to boot, I really don't promise!)

I really must work on not frowning so much although I think the crevasses above my nose are now permanent, loving that saggy jowl. Me and Judy Finnigan, separated at birth! At least I had the good sense not to marry Richard Madeley!

Em is off sick today and all the while I have been taking these she has been walking around singing "U-G-L-Y, my mamma's got no alibi - she UUUUUGley!"which she seems to think is lol, well excuse me if I don't lmao back, baby girl!

On the upside did some blog browsing yesterday and found a fantastic post about facial massage on a blog I hadn't read before - Beauty Mouth. Great blog and the facial massage post is a must read in my opinion as this lady really knows her stuff and as I have been of the slap on some cleanser, swoosh it about and rinse off school of thought some proper cleansing and massage can only improve things, who knows it might even reduce my horrid pink tone. Going to have to do something about this - any one with any ideas please shout.






















Cant manage to get a full face one of me yet, most of them dont actually look any better than my before photo

Life in freefall and a duty free haul

Selling a business and buying a house is exhausting and a complete and utter sodding nightmare, I am totally strung out and don't have the energy for photos of my purchases but have found a couple of great products that I want to share and I need to update on the Clinque eyebrow pencil I bought recently.

First up, best new foundation ever Max Factor Experience weightless foundation, it is billed as weightless flawless foundation and is frankly both and brilliantly. I honestly think it is the best foundation I have ever bought. Had loved Second Skin and was running out when I read this review on the Beauty Bite for this product and whilst on her lovely skin it looked like it might be a bit sheer I wasn't sure that it could be and still claim that all important "flawless" tag. Spent an age slapping it on in Superdrug (its not in Boots yet) and am seriously pleased that I did. I used Creamy Ivory in Second Skin and find that Beige Linen in this is actually a better shade for me. It has quite a dense, creamy texture which is great for my dry skin and gives great coverage, and builds well if needed. It is much less sheer than Second Skin so if you are feeling with the winter coming that you want a bit more between your pores and the rest of the world I would recommend this. I love it with my MAC Uncommon creme blush on top, will try and get some pics when I look less haggard.

Whilst in Superdrug I bought two MUA eyeshadows for £1 each, got shades 12 and 14 and am seriously impressed, Leanne has done a fab review so I recommend having a read of that.

After a week in Ireland stood in a field in the cold and rain, all in the name of earning a living (say it with me Fran "I must get a proper job"!) I decided that I NEEDED a duty free splurge. I got Clarins gentle peeling exfoliant, Clarins Eau Dynamisant shower gel, Chanel Aqualumiere gloss (a real treat!) and a clinique extra fine liner for brows. I also bought Em a MAC lip gloss in Bountiful, because she's my honey.

Having used the new Clinque brow pencil for weeks and struggled to draw my crappy brows into something that looked half decent I decided to go back to the super fine liner. I think the new thicker brow pencil would be great if you have fab brows that you just want to define, if you have crap brows that you have to create freehand then I for my money you'd be better off with the super fine liner. Lesson learned!