L’Oréal 24hr Infallible Matte foundation and primer

In one of my recent Boots sprees I picked up the L’Oréal 24hr Infallible Matte foundation and primer. To say I have fallen in love is an understatement; the only time I haven’t worn it was when I was having makeup free days or when I was sick with the chicken pox.

Let’s start with the primer, it’s a silicone based primer, a real rival for the Smashbox primer and half the price. I haven’t used the primer with any other foundations but paired with this L’Oréal 24hr Infallible Matte foundation it makes the foundation last all day. Combined with the foundation it also diminishes pores which I have a big problem with.

On application the primer has a gel consistency that you will find with most silicone based primers but when worked into the skin it goes slightly liquid. It dries super-fast and helps the foundation glide on to your skin. It doesn’t leave the skin feeling sticky or with a greasy film that you can get with some silicone type primers, your skin will just feel super soft.

As a foundation it ticks all the boxes for me. I’m pretty oily so I’m always drawn to anything matte. There are only 6 colours in the range, so if your skin tone is in any way dark than unfortunately the foundation doesn’t cater for you but if you’re a typical pale Irish girl like me or anywhere up to olive toned skin than you will definitely find the perfect shade for yourself. I chose 11 Vanilla, it’s somewhere between NW15 and NW20 from MAC and on the pinkish side of the spectrum.

I haven’t tried it on my face for 24hrs but on a normal day my makeup will be on from 7am to 11pm and it’s pretty much perfect by the time I come to take it off. No foundation will ever stop me from getting an oily t-zone but I feel like I only need to powder my nose once during the day, maybe twice if I’m going out after work.

I’m just over a horrible bout of chicken pox which has left my skin with a lot of red marks and scars, it was only in the last week or so that I realised how full coverage the foundation is. The picture below I’m wearing the L’Oréal foundation as well as MAC select cover up concealer. I’ve been feeling pretty insecure about how my skin looks at the moment so the combination has made me feel normal again.

As my skin my skin has had a tough time of it recently it has become drier so on my drier days I spritz a bit of MAC Fix+ onto my face and it takes the dryness away.  I also find it best to apply with my Beauty Blender, I’ve tried it with my other brushes but found using a damp beauty blender gets the right coverage that I need.

As affordable foundations and primers go the L’Oréal Infallible Matte range wins hands down, it rivals a lot of high end equivalents and for half the price. At the moment it is on a 3for2 offer in Boots for €12.29. If you love matte foundations and are on the oilier side of life then you need to get your hands on it.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo

Revlon Colorstay Foundation Review

As a girl with oily/combination skin it can be very hard to find the perfect foundation that will stay on for hours and not leave me looking like one an oil slick.

For years I swore by MAC Pro Longwear, I still do use it but I’ve been finding my hand has been reaching for my Revlon Colourstay foundation more and more since I bought it. They sell it for both oily/combination skin and normal skin.

It is a heavier coverage than my MAC Pro Longwear but it still looks natural and keeps my skin matte for longer which is what I’m looking for.

When I first bought it I got it in Sand Beige which is now slightly too dark for me, if you buy MAC foundation it is equal to NW20. I seem to be getting paler each month and the next time I bought it I had to buy it in Buff which is the equivalent to MAC NW15, it matches my skin perfectly.

Full coverage yet still gives a natural look

The primer I wear does make a difference, I have a few that I go between some make me less matte then the others, the one that works best is the Bourjois Happy Light Matte Serum Primer. In the pictures I used Fuchsia Face Primer which I was testing out and I don’t think I had to powder my face once which for a  girl with oily skin is unheard of.

Applying the foundation is a bit difficult because you have to try get it out of the bottle and it can be a bit like banging the end of a ketchup bottle, sometimes it just won’t come out, which is the most annoying thing about the foundation. I heard you can buy a pump from Nars that fits it perfectly, I just haven’t managed to get my hands on one yet. Once I get it on to the back of my hand, I use my Sigma F80 flat top kabuki brush and just keep buffing it into my skin, for a few minutes. The result of all that buffing is a super smooth application, which gives you amazingly flawless skin.

The foundation says it lasts 24hrs on the bottle, seriously who wears their foundation for 24 hours their skin must be in bits, but it does last all day and on a good day I’ll only have to powder my face once or twice, which is a big thumbs up from me!

I have a few foundations in my makeup collection but this one seems to be the most reliable for it – it matches my skin colour, gives me a natural look even though it’s a heavier coverage, its long wearing and finally keeps me looking matte all day.

The foundation is available in Boots for €17.80, and you can purchase it in all good pharmacies.

If you know of any other matte looking foundations that work great for oily skin let me know, just leave a comment below.

Before - Right, Aftet -Left

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah

Beauty for Bloggers Meet Up with Buff Make-Up and Review

A week or so ago I went to the Westbury Hotel with Miss Bright With Delight aka Karen. We were invited to the Beauty for Bloggers meet up to look at Buff Makeup and have the chats with some other bloggers.

I had heard of Buff Makeup but never had the opportunity to try any of their products out so I was really excited to see what they had to offer.

As well as having a table full of Buff Makeup to ogle over, we had two gorgeous models for the girls to work their magic on. The first look was a black smokey eye and the second look was a bit more natural but still smokey and glam.

There were two products that really caught my eye. Firstly it was their Sheer Glo Lotion (€32) in Paradise; it’s a gorgeous bronze highlight that can be mixed into the foundation or to the tops of your cheeks to highlight your cheek bones.

My second favourite of the night was their blush in Big O (€21.50). This is the mirror image of the Nars blusher in Orgasm but with a hint more of a glow. This is definitely on my shopping list.

We also got to take home some fab goodies. In the bag I got was their HD Liquid Foundation (€30), I was pretty impressed with it at the event and couldn’t wait to get home and try it out.

The foundation comes in 6 shades and each shade should be able to match up to 3 skin tones. It can be used to get a light coverage or can be built up to get the coverage that you desire. The foundation is very long wearing and doesn’t transfer on to clothes, it also covers really well.

It says it’s for all skin types but as I am very oily and I found that it did get very greasy. I used is for the first few days with my MAC prep + prime primer which I always use with my MAC foundations, I then changed it up to the Bourjois Happy Light Matte primer and it made such a difference I only had to powder my face once the whole day which for me is a result, so top tip - if your foundation isn’t working for you then play around with your primers as it can make such a difference.

I really like this make up and it smooth’s out the skin camouflaging any imperfections and for a girl with large pores like myself, it smooth’s them out completely, you can’t even tell that I have any!  

It's on the higher price range but the quality you get makes it well worth the price.

You can purchase their makeup online here or you can pop into Hessions in Drumcondra or Clontarf to buy the products there or you can book in and they can do your makeup for you.

Love Sarah xoxo

Vichy Dermablend Fluid Corrective Foundation | Review

I picked up the Vichy Dermablend Fluid Corrective Foundation when I was looking for a good going out makeup. I was heading to my friends 21^st and had gotten a spray tan that made me look like I had just walked out of the Sahara so none of my foundations matched my newly bronzed skin. I was in boots searching for the right foundation when I stopped by the Vichy stand, I remembered I had seen a Vichy ad popping up just before watching a video on YouTube showcasing the foundation so I started to swatch and one of the colours matched my skin it also appeared to give a great coverage so I decided to buy it and had enough points on my Boots card so I didn’t feel like I had to spend anything extra.

It costs €20.99 in Boots and currently is on offer for only €15.74. It’s slightly more expensive than some brands but I think it’s worth it.

Left side of my face has Dermablend Fluid Corrective Foundation, Right side has no product.

Not to blow my own trumpet but I like to think I have good skin, apart from the a blemish during the month and having some rosy cheeks I don’t think I need to wear too much make up and most of the makeup I have is very sheer anyway. Even though I do tend to wear sheer makeup on a daily basis I think for a night out or special occasion I do like that little bit more coverage.

Before 

After

The Vichy Dermablend Fluid Corrective Foundation can be slightly off putting at first as it can come out looking like it will be very high coverage but the more you blend it in it does get lighter looking while at the same time covering any imperfections that needs to be covered.

It covers up every imperfection and gives you such a smooth airbrushed finish that I haven’t seen in any other foundation. As it says in its blurb online it is a “camouflaging makeup and conceals minor to moderate skin imperfections” and it definitely lives up to that. It also has a high SPF of 35 which is the highest I’ve ever seen in a foundation and great especially in these hot summer months.

I did read that it can cover up tattoos so I asked my friend if she would help me to test this theory out as I don’t have any tattoos. I put in on the tattoo and as you can see in the pictures it didn’t cover it up entirely. I didn’t put any concealer underneath so maybe if I did it would have helped it to get completely covered.

My Lovely assistants Tattoo

Hasn't covered the tattoo fully, but with some concealer it might have been covered completely 

It is very long lasting and there isn’t too much transfer, although I did notice that after ringing someone on my phone the screen was left with a bit more makeup than usual.

I have oily skin and after a while it did get a bit more greasy and shiny than other foundations, also around my cheeks where I’m a bit dryer it can catch and gather in patches. That being said I still think it’s a really good makeup and when my skin is behaving it does actually work well, I think I just need to play around with different primers, I found that one of the ones I have work better than the others.

It won’t leave you with cake face and isn’t heavy like other makeups so you skin will still be able to breath so if you do have problem skin it won’t be getting clogged and made worse.

There’s a few other products in the Dermablend range that I would like to try like the concealer and powder.

It wouldn’t be my everyday foundation but for a night time or special occasion I will be wearing it, I would consider buying it again, especially as it matches my tan.

Have you tried any of the products from the Dermablend range? Let me know what you thought.

If you want any more information just click HERE

Love Sarah xoxo