Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint

I've been trying this skin tint out for the past couple of weeks, and I'm so glad I persevered with it, because my first few dalliances were not great at all.

This is Liz Earle's first move into cosmetics and has been three and a half years in development.   It's not naturally active, unlike her skincare range, but at least the SPF 15 comes from mineral sun filters, nothing artificial.  It's carmine-free and contains avocado oil, so it's good for sensitive skin.

Lovely packaging, digging the patented Liz Earle Marine colour, sadly the box got a bit crushed in my suitcase.

My first impression of this Skin Tint was actually quite good - at the event I tried two of the three shades it comes in - Bare and Beige (it also comes in Beach, the darkest shade).  Bare worked really well on the back of my hand, blended right in and looked matte and natural.  But after this I had a few run ins with a bottle of SunBelievable and Bare was much too light.  Mixed with a bit of Beige though it would have been just the right shade.  I didn't take issue with the shade match, as you can always darken up with bronzer, but what really put me off was it's very greasy look when first applied which almost made my face look puffy.  I'm not one for 'glowy' skin, especially since this so oftens just resembles shiny oiliness.  I tried it a number of times, but as I was always in a rush I ended up rubbing most of it off and applying my trusty No7 Triple Protection Tinted Moisturiser.  But the trick you see is to wait about 5 minutes until it settles into your skin and mattifies, once this happens, you can throw another layer over the top and build up some coverage (but you can still see most of my freckles through).

Now, one thing I was put-off by is the scent, which reminds me of mushrooms, but this too departs after about minutes.  

While I have come to like the Skin Tint, it doesn't win out over my No7 Holy Grail, particuarly in terms of value.  Liz Earle's is £21 for 40mls and you do need to use about four splodges to cover your face, more if you're bringing it down onto your chest.  No7's is £10 for 50mls, or £5 if you catch it at Boots voucher time.  However, Liz Earle's completely wins out over Benefit YouRebel, Olay Touch of Foundation, Clinique City Block and ELF's Studio version.   

First impressions would lead you to think this Skin Tint would be great for dry skin as it starts with such a 'glow', but it almost has a gel-like consistency when rubbed in, and when it dries the finish is matte.  I've gotten well over 12 hours of wear without need for a touch up or a shine absorbing sheet, which is very impressive for a tinted moisturiser, and because I have oily skin, it's all I need to use in the morning after washing my face.

If you purchase by mail order you'll be sent three sachets of the available shades to work out which is best for you and if you've ordered the wrong shade, you can send the tube back for exchange.

While I can't see myself making this product a regular feature of my make up bag (unless No7 discontinue theirs) I will definitely use this tube up and will hang onto it for winter when my skin will be much paler.

It's available online and in store (John Lewis, QVC) from 8th September for £21.  There are more cosmetics releases from Liz Earle in the pipe line, so keep your eyes peeled!  

*PR sample provided for review

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Huge No7 Haul!

A couple of weeks ago I succumbed to those pesky wallet thinning No7 £5-off vouchers...it's not the first time either!

I picked up a few old faithfuls and got a bit wild and tried some new bits too.

1. Triple Protection Tinted Moisturiser

I didn't expect much from this product at all but it's turned out to by my holy grail tinted moisturiser.  Fair is perfect for my NW15 skin.  The coverage is fantastic - I've even used it for evening looks - I just apply two layers.  £12 for 50mls ain't bad, but getting it for £7 is fabulous.  I've tried many tinted moisturisers - Origins Vitazing, Benefit YouRebel Lite, Olay Touch of Foundation...but this beats them all hands down.

2. Protect & Perfect Day Cream

I've resisted this day cream for a while, but have tried samples of it.  It's a bit heavier than I would like for a day cream which needs to sit well under makeup, but I really need the 5 star UVA protection and SPF 15, and at least it's not as greasy as a dedicated face SPF.  When I've given it more a go I will give a fuller review on what it does (if anything!) to my skin texture and wrinkles...

3. Blush Tint in Blossom

Dud dud dud! The most useful £5 I've ever spent, and if you've paid £10 for it, well, I pity da fool!

While the colour is pretty enough the texture is awful.  Rubbed onto my cheeks it just sort balls up and make me look like a have big ruddy blotches on my cheeks.  I'm a huge fan of creamy cheek products, but this doesn't perform at all.  Also, it's tiny (3g) so you'd do better with an eyeslipsface All Over Colour Stick for £1.50.  Next!

4. Natural Blush Cheek Colour in Soft Damson

Now I made a booboo with this blush...I thought it was the one Joy raved about but in the shop I couldn't remember the name - Petal - for the life of me and Petal did look pretty scary in the pan, so I wimped out.  Soft Damson is a nice enough colour, but a bit meh so I can't wait until the next round of No7 vouchers to get Petal.

5. Anti-Ageing Shimmering Lip & Eye Screen

I'm getting very paranoid about sun damage and as I've been known to develop freckles ON MY LIPS I invested in this: 

6. Stay Perfect Foundation in Alabaster

I got a week's sample of this when it was first launched, and although I seemed to like it then, I've found it a bit streaky to use and not as heavy in coverage as I expected.  However, props to No7 for rolling out the Alabaster shade to more of their range.  Makes us daywalkers happy.  

7. Smokey Eyeliner Brush

I'm not one for smudging my eyeliner, but in an effort to freshen up my make up looks I may just start doing it and this little brush is pretty handy.  For £1.64 after voucher, I'm not complaining.

8. Cleanse & Care Eye Make Up Remover

This is about my 12th bottle of this magic blue liquid.  If you haven't tried it yet you must - your eyes will thank you for it.

9. Quick Thinking Wipes

Again, another product I've bought for the nth time...however I do think these wipes aren't as...wet...as they used to be.  I'm going to try another brand when these are gone methinks.

Ah.  I forgot to mention the Hot Cloth Cleanser.  Love this stuff...maybe even more than Liz Earle's (I know!) ...review to come.

What are your favourite No7 products?

***Enter my Calvin Klein & Stila eyeshadow palettes giveaway HERE***

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Beauty Battle: Illamasqua Precision Ink vs. L'Oreal Super Liner

I recently forayed into the wonderful world of Illamasqua and here are the spoils...

Across from the Illamasqua counter in Selfridges is the Lancome one, so I swatched Artliner, then Precision Ink and the latter was by far the more opaque and had a narrower - more precise! - nib. 

Here are a few photos of my Precision Ink'd eyes.  When I first starting using it I wasn't sure if I like it at all as the nib was far too saturated with product (unlike Rimmel's Flash Liner) and it ran into my tearduct and was just a bit messy to work with.  However now that it's dried out a bit it has really come into it's own, and I would use it everyday if it were a bit more budget friendly.  I'm wearing Abyss which is the blackest black and extremely long wearing - think all day and well into night.  It's an eye watering £17 for 10mls, but I must say mine's lasted three times longer than my cheaper Rimmel one which dried up in a week!

I've been using L'Oreal Super Liner in Carbon Black for a couple of years and it's my favourite 'drugstore' eyeliner.  It gives a true black line which is very durable - almost on a par with Precision Ink.  It's currently on offer at Boots for £5.19 so I'll be picking up another soon!

I actually prefer to use this one to line my top lash and switch to Precision Ink to create the perfect flick.  The nib of this eyeliner saturates with just the right amount of product, but because it's very long it can be hard to keep control over the shape of a flick, as evidenced below.

My first introduction to Illamasqua was through their very pale foundations which I stumbled across on a blog a couple of years ago.  

I have a few foundations which are too dark and so I picked up shade which is extremely pale Light Liquid Foundation in the lightest shade LF115 which is for very light skin with neutral undertones.   I couldn't use this foundation on its own.  To be honest I've only used it once so far with an RMK sample I received which was very dark for me.  It didn't work that great but I think it was more to do with the consistency of the RMK sample.  Once I test this foundation out a bit more with all of my others I'll do an more in depth review. It's £21.50 for 30mls.

I'm pretty happy with my first Illamasqua haul and the shop assistant in Selfridges was delightful - friendly, informed and helpful.  I'll definitely be checking out more from this brand.

Have your tried Precision Ink or Super Liner? Which do you prefer?

Want to win a Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser? Enter the giveaway here.

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Max Factor Foundation Master Class @ The Dorchester

Last weekend Angel and I headed down to The Dorchester's Crystal Suite to a Max Factor celebratory tea and foundation masterclass held in honour of the 5* reviews of the Xperience Weightless Foundation on Boots.com.  Max Factor’s foundation expert, Myrna Carlebur gave a history on the man and the development of liquid foundation in the 20th century and then award winning MUA Caroline Barnes gave us a demo of Xperience and Second Skin foundations while talking us through all our foundation queries.

Xperience Weightless Foundation was released in six shades in October last year following extensive global skin tone research and therefore they are all yellow-based rather than pink undertoned.  This surprised me as I adore the lightest shade - 40 Light Ivory - and don't find it looks yellow on my pink undertoned skin.  The formulation is whipped so although it gives medium to full coverage you hardly feel like you're wearing foundation.   Xperience works well on oily skin, which is great for me.  On the second model Caroline applied Second Skin and explained that it suits dry skin textures best.

Caroline used four brushes to apply Xperience, but I find I prefer to use my hands as this warms up the foundation and helps it melt into my skin better, plus the formulation is so smooth it's a doddle to blend in with fingers.

I was colour-matched to a mixture of 40 Light Ivory and 45 Raw Silk (£9.99 for 30mls) , and it's pretty darn spot on as surprisingly for a high street brand their lightest shade is actually very light, almost a bit too much for me!  It's always better to go lighter than darker, on my skin anyway as my neck and decolletage are very pale.

BEFORE

AFTER

LIGHT IVORY LEFT, RAW SILK RIGHT

Miracle Touch is still my favourite Max Factor foundation, and I'm all out so I need to buy another.  The trick with it is to apply with a foundation brush, not the sponge that comes in the compact.  Throughout my late teens I used to slater on Lasting Performance - foolish because I had lovely skin and didn't need such crazy coverage! I still have a tube of it and do like to get it out for nights out, but it's much to heavy for daytime.

This is me at the end of the day, a little greasy, but still have some decent coverage.  Definitely in need of a blotting sheet though! 

ANGEL WITH LIBERACE'S PIANO

This gorgeous Alex Monroe necklace was in the goody bag, I've been wearing it all week, it's so dainty and perfect for work.  My love for gold jewelery is slowly coming back.

What's your favourite Max Factor foundation? 

Enter my Sleek LE Mediterranean Collection giveaway here.

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