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

Kate Moss Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick

The Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting Finish Matte Lipstick in the shade 107 is hands down my favourite red shade of lipstick that I have ever come across in my life.

 

For me it is a perfect deep berry red and it has the bonus of being a matte shade, so it ticks all the boxes for me.

When applied, it is so pigmented that only a small amount is needed but I like to put a good coat or two of it on. It’s a matte lipstick but unlike other mattes like MAC they go on a bit more creamier and you can still rub your lips together without it feeling like you’re rubbing two pieces of dry wood together.

They're long lasting and leave a stain on your lips when it wears off so the colour lasts even longer.

Have you found a red that can rival 107? If so leave a comment down below.

Just a reminder to you all that you have one week left to avail of 25% off Karmisa jewellery.

Just enter the code “karmisasarah” at checkout for 25% off your final bill and remember they offer free shipping worldwide so you have no excuses!

Love Sarah xoxo

Lime Crime Velvetine Dupe

I love lipstick, I rarely go a day without putting one on but I hate have to reapply throughout the day, so if I can find a lip product that lasts for ages and helps me spend less time reapplying then I need to have it.

Most of the lip products I have are either lip stains or matte lipsticks, I hate glosses, they always wear off and I always seem to wear them on the windiest days ever which results in my hair always getting stuck in a big glossy mess.

The whole point of this post really is to prove that you don’t need to always go for the brand names. I’m an absolute sucker for thinking that just because it’s a big brand or that I’ve seen someone famous wear it or have been told this is the IT product ,that I must have it.  I’m going to tell you a little bit about each product I’ve tested and then about what I thought of them. I suppose we can call this a Dupe post as well as the two Velvet Lipsticks are very similar.

Makeup Revolution (Right) Lime Crime (Left)

Firstly we have Lime Crime; I had heard of Lime Crime Velvetines from watching some of my favourite YouTubers and had heard really good things about them. Unfortunately we can’t get them here in Ireland so when I was over in London for IMATS I picked up two of them in Suede-Berry and Black Velvet, I think they cost about £10 each if my brain remembers correctly. I’ll be talking about Black Velvet in a future Halloween post so keep your eyes peeled for that one (yes it is a black lipstick, the inner Goth made me buy it). Suede-Berry is a lovely coral red, that goes on like a liquid and dries into a matte texture, and it also smells a bit like Werthers Originals, one of my favourite old lady sweets! These can be ordered from https://www.love-makeup.co.uk/ and cost £13.50 from their site or you can go to the Lime Crime website where they will cost $20.00. http://limecrime.com/

Suede-Berry 

The Makeup Revolution Salvation Velvet Lacquer in Keep Trying for You came from my first order from the company. What made me buy this was that it reminded me of the Lime Crime Velvetine so I bought it to compare them. These lip lacquers are only £3.00 which is an amazing price. The colour is a bright red that has some orange tones in it, it’s not the typical red I would usually go for but it is quiet nice on my lips. While Lime Crime goes on like a liquid the lacquer went on slightly creamier a lot like the same formula as the Bourjois Velvet Rouge Edition lipsticks.

Keep Trying For You

I wore each product on separate days, I did this when I was in work as each day is pretty much the exact same and noted what my lips where like before I had my coffee, my breakfast and my lunch and noted what they looked like after. I applied the lipstick once in the morning; they wore off slightly after each meal around where the lips meet but when I wet the lips and run my finger around them the colour distributed enough that it made it even again. Neither of them are drying which is important in a matte product, they just felt like my normal lips. By the end of work and after more than 8 hours wear the product had worn of pretty much completely on both lips, leaving just a slight stain of colour.

After taking a good look at both products they are basically the same apart from one being more liquid than the other on application. The Makeup Revolution Salvation Velvet Lacquer is definitely a dupe for the Lime Crime Velvetines, You save £10.50 by buying the Salvation Velvet Lacquers and I will be getting so much more of them, especially as I’ve seen Makeup Revolution stands popping up in Irish Superdrug stores so it’s going to be easier than ever to get my hands on them!

In future I’m going to go for more budget friendly products but as I do like my Dupe posts I might just have to get the odd high-end/more expensive products to test out for you guys.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo

NeoStrata Bionic Face Cream

In last month’s Chic Treat Club Box it came with a Neostrata Bionic Face Cream. It looked like something I wouldn’t use, I was going to give it to my mam, but when my day cream ran out and I was in a hurry one morning I grabbed it and put it on.

It’s so silky on your skin when you put it on and very moisturising. My foundation looked amazing lasted all day and it made it even more matte than usual. The only thing I did different that day was the new addition of the Neostrata cream so I can only presume that it was the cream that made the difference, my foundation and skin have never looked better since I started using it.

The only thing is that looking at the website it says that you’re not supposed to use it with foundation, it says it’s a night cream and it’s for dry skin. I have used it once at night and it is good but not as moisturising as my current Nivea night cream and I have the oiliest skin ever and it probably made my skin even more matte in combination with my foundation.

The cream costs €42.62, which I probably wouldn’t buy if I saw it in the shops but I’m happy it came across my lap in the Chic Treat Club July Box.

I’m going to keep using it even though I’m doing everything it says I shouldn’t! I’ll be heading to the states in September so I’ll buy a new day cream there, but until then I’ll keep using the cream because it’s working for me better than any other cream has.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo