YSL beauty – touche eclat collection

Hey you beauties!

I don’t know if you guys have seen it at the YSL counters, but they’re promoting three products together – the origional touche eclat highlighter, forever youth liberator serum and a new le teint touche eclat foundation.

I’ve always been a user, and a big fan of the highlighter, so I was intrigued to see how this trio worked together.

Review

Review:

Score 9/10

I was, actually, extremely impressed by the whole collection. However, I would have to say, they really do come as a package, as using the products individually I was less impressed.

For example, the youth liberator serum really added a luminosity to the foundation when applied underneath. My whole face looked refreshed and had a gorgeous dewy glow. It is also anti-aging which is always an added bonus!
Saying that, using the liberator serum alone, did just make my face extremely shiny and highlighted discoloration.

Moving on to the foundation (RRP £29.00) – They have 22 colours available, though I’m using B50, which makes me a shade warmer than my naturally winter pasty colour. I love how this foundation has no pink undertones and a more yellow tinge, as I already have a fairly red discoloured appearence that looks better not accentuated!

Alone, the foundation I found was not strong enough to cover all those blotchy areas (bags under the eyes, red around the nose etc) however, with the youth liberator, the coverage was far more enhanced. The foundation is also buildable, so depending on the occasion, you could go from a fairly natrual look, to a flawless, fully covered base.

As I said before, as the foundation is fairly light in texture, it needs some help covering the dark marks. This is where the touche eclat comes in. As you all know, the magical touche eclat covers dark eyes, marks, highlights cheek bones, epmphasises your pout. Pretty much everything under the sun. It also is now available in ten shades. (Their website actually shows you all the different things it can do and is worth taking a look at.)
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So, I have to admit, I like how these products all work together to create a flawless finish. This is because sometimes, a too heavy foundation can make you look like some one off TOWIE, so the light foundation combined with the heavy coverage touche eclat highlighter/coverup really gives you the perfect finish. Additionally, the glow which the serum brought to the foundation, really was exceptional.

I would definitely reccommend these products, but as mentioned previously, they work best as all together, as alone they are less impressive.

Have you tried them yet?

MMXX

MAC’s miracle mattifier

I’ve struck gold. I’ve finally found the perfect product for setting foundation, minimizing pores and all this without ruining the colour  of your foundation.

MAC’s Prep + Prime transparent finishing powder is translucent and is applied after your foundation in place of compact powder.  Normally, compact powders have their own colour shade which is not always the same as your foundation.  This has always been a problem for me as its colour clings to particualrly shiny areas and builds up on colour.  Exactly the opposite of what I wanted.

But, with Prep + Prime, your foundation sets perfectly.  Pores become almost invisible and all shine is removed.  It sets the foundation softly, and very little of the product is needed to transform your make up.

A word of warning: the product comes out of lots of small holes, so its best to cut the sticker so just 3 or 4 holes let loose powder out, otherwise you may end up getting white powder everywhere!

For best application, a large rounded brush should be used in order to equally cover all areas and not deposit too much product.  With this product, its much better to start with very little and build it up, otherwise you may be left with a white sheen if you dowse yourself in this product.

How to finish the look? 

After, blusher and bronzer can be applied.  On top of this powder base I would recommend powder blushers and bronzers as they’ll blend in more easily than creams.

I love finishing off with MACs magically cool liquid powder.  Not only does this powder leave a cool, almost liquid like feel to the skin, but is made up of minuscule glimmering minerals, adding luminescent rather leaving sparkles. Perfect for a natural, gorgeous finish to your make up.  I personally like the colour ‘truth and light’ as it leaves the most natural finish.

I hope you enjoy this miracle product as much as I do!

Choosing the right foundation

For me,  when I go and buy a new foundation its a risk.  A heart stopping, panicky risk.  Waiting to try it on at home is like waiting for your number to come up on the roulette wheel.  Rarely, its one of those life changing  ‘can’t live without it’ miracle foundations.  Usually, I just think ‘Why did I waste all that money on something that makes me look orange and greasy!?’.  Here are some tips on choosing a foundation and review on my favorite foundation.

Tips on buying foundation

• Don’t try the colour out on your hand! It’s a completely different colour and texture to your face.
• Choose two colours.  One closest to your natural skin tone and one slightly darker. Going lighter will wash you out.
• Try the makeup on your jawline – and make sure your make up free when you do it otherwise you won’t see the real coverage
• Be careful with foundations with a ‘pink tinge’.  These can make you look very red.  Better to choose a more yellow shade and build warmth with a blusher or bronzer.
• Don’t buy it immediately, wait until you get home and see how it looks.  It will always look good in the shop, and the fancy packaging will lure you in.  It will be worth looking two-toned for an afternoon if it means finding your dream foundation
• Don’t buy a foundation which is more than two shades darker than your natural colour. It’ll be much harder to blend into your neck and the difference will be too obvious.

My personal favorite foundation (and believe me I’ve tried a lot!)

This foundation is perfect for all skin types. Benefit’s Play Sticks. Very little of the product can completely transform your face.  It provides a light coverage giving a beautiful natural look but can also be built up in order to cover those red areas or bags under the eyes.  It leaves no greasy residue and lasts for months.  Foundation is always a tricky one as often it can leave you looking orange or greasy but this light stick foundation really is one of those ‘miracle products’  that just works. The only negative I have to add is that there are few shades to choose from, especially for people with darker skin tones.  Oh, and it’s pretty pricey at £25.50 so definitely try and get it at the airport.

After the success of this product, I went wild thinking that Benefit was some kind of godly foundation creator and bought all the other types – Some Kind of Gorgeous, Hello Flawless and You Rebel.  These were all disastrous mistakes. All of which were more like tinted moisturizer and provide little to no coverage.  They are also fairly greasy and the fluid separates easily.