Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation

Sadly, today I come to you with some disappointing news.  I don't know how to break this, other than; Rimmel's Stay Matte Foundation sucks.  Noone likes a Negative Nancy, but if it stops anyone wasting their money then Nancy I shall be.

I mentioned on my Spending Spree post that I'd bought this and was excited to try it.  I so wanted to love it, and I've given it a fair go this week.  But it's just god-awful.  I hoped it would be wonderful because I love a matte finish, but this is just the driest substance I have ever tried to put on my face.  It's honestly like trying to smear tile grout across your face, well I imagine it is anyway.

As it's so thick you end up using loads of it in comparison to any of Rimmel's other foundations and it's in a squeezy tube, which I think gives you much less control than a pump, although you'd need industrial machinery if you wanted to pump this!

It's so thick that I couldn't use my Real Techniques blending brush to apply it as I usually would, so I had to use my fingers, which gets my back up straight away.  I hate having messy hands, eurgh.
Anyway I persevered and made an attempt to blend it in, but it just isn't really blendable.  It made itself comfy in my pores, sat there and enjoyed the spectacle of me trying to fight back.  It won.

In terms of it's main feature, once applied, I don't feel it stays matte on my t-zone.  I'd say after half an hour my nose starts to become oily, and by the end of the day it wears worse than a regular foundation, leaving patches on my chin and forehead.

I really have nothing positive to say- other than it only costs £5.99, so it wasn't the most costly mistake I've made, but still; annoying.  I love Rimmel as a brand, and they have some brilliant foundations, but sadly this isn't one of them.  Match Perfection and Stay Matte Powder will leave you much more matte by the end of the day.


Have you tried Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation? I'd love to know what you thought of it!

Suzy
xx





 mmy

Sunday Spending Spree

I've been such a Moaning Myrtle this week; if you follow me on twitter you'll have been subjected to my woes all week while I've been in bed with gastric flu. I've felt much better this weekend so I decided to treat myself to a little pick me up:  Yesterday I went wedding dress shopping with my mum (more on that in my wedding series!), and today I went to the Trafford Centre with Adam armed with my list of things I wanted.

Mac Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation in NC30

I mentioned on my September wishlist post that I've wanted this for ages and I'm really excited to try it. My skin has been super oily lately and my foundation hasn't been lasting too well so I'm definitely up for trying something different. Currently trying to resist taking off my make up so I can put it on.  So tempted!
This was £21.50 in Selfridges.

Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation in Light Porcelain

If you have eyes you can't have failed to notice how hard Rimmel have been trying to flog this new foundation; countless tv adverts, magazines, and promotions in Boots/Superdrug.  Normally I resist such determined marketing at all costs, but I'm so taken in by matte products that I had to buy it.  I know.  I'm ashamed of myself too..!
I will potentially live to regret my colour choice, but the Ivory shade came out alarmingly orange on my hand so I went for the lightest shade.  If all else fails it's nearly Halloween!
Stay Matte is £5.99 in Boots and Superdrug.  I bought it as part of Superdrug's 'buy one get one half price' offer.

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Peach Glow
Stay Matte Powder was my 'get one half price' in the aforementioned offer.  I honestly haven't used this since I was about 16 so I'm interested to see how it does.  I only bought this because Superdrug were sold out of my favourite power - MUA's Matte Perfect Loose Powder.
Full price this is £3.99. 

VO5 Refresh Me Quick Dry Shampoo

Best dry shampoo ever.  And half price at £1.72...YAY!


MUA Nail Polish In Plum Noir
I posted here about how much I love MUA's £1 nail polishes and I thought this shade was absolutely perfect for autumn.  It's a beautiful rich purple and i'm going to use it with my new favourite topcoat - Barry M's All in One Basecoat, Topcoat & Nail Hardener to give it a bit of extra shine and longevity.

Victoria's Secret Pure Seduction Eau de Toilette 30ml
I've wanted this for about 2 months now, and now I have it I cant stop sniffing myself.  It may pose a problem.  I just smell tooooooo good! It's red plum & freesia and it's a sweet scent but with darker notes that are presumably the 'seduction' aspect of it.  I was really happy that Adam picked this one out of all the ones we tested, because I think it's yummy.  I decided to just buy this one for £11 today since I was buying so many other things, but next time I'm going to go for the 3 for £24 offer and get the body mist and a different eau de toilette too - there's so many amazing scents, I'm currently covered in about 10 different ones because I couldn't stop spraying!

So that's it for my little Sunday spree, I'll update with that I think of the foundations once I've given them a good test!

Have you tried any of these products?


Suzy
xx

 

Nails of the day: DOTS!

I bought some nail dotters from amazon a few months ago and after a quick play I fairly quickly lost interest and didn't really make any kind of effort to get good at it! 

Lately I've been seeing some amazing nail art posted on twitter and instagram, that's made me dead jealous of all you creative types so I thought I'd get them back out to have a go while I've been at a fairly loose end this weekend.

Sadly I don't possess any kind of creative flair so I just went for the obvious and did some spots.

I was happy with the result though and I might have a go at something slightly more challenging next time now I have the ability to 'dot'

I used Rimmel's 'I Love Lasting Finish' (catchy...) in a shade that appears to no longer exist I've had it that long! For the dots I used Natural Collection Nail Colour in Cosmic Crush, which is £1.89 from Boots.

My nail dotters are the set everyone seems to own, from Amazon, for £1.20. They seem to be quite sturdy, I just wish I'd paid slightly more and bought a set that came with a case.

In case you're interested this is the link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00448VZQM/ref=aw_cr_item_title

Hope you enjoyed a little nosey at my very basic nail art. 

Suzy

Xx

September Wishlist

As I've previously alluded to, Adam and I are trying to live as frugally as possible while we save up for our wedding next year, so I can't be just going out buying whatever catches my eye as I may or may not have done (definitely did) previously.  I have a little list on my phone of things I want to buy and when I think I can justify it I pick things from it to buy from time to time.  I thought I'd show you today some of the things I really want but have so far resisted...

One thing I did finally give in to this month (otherwise it would definitely have been on this list) was the Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm, which I got for 25% off, so really it would be been silly not to! I'm really glad I finally went for it because it's super duper.

Benefit Rockateur

Generally I'm not the biggest fan of Benefit; I think the products are overpriced and rely too heavily on novelty packaging rather than product quality.  Unusually though I've been taken in by their new blusher - Rockateur. I think it's a really pretty colour that would match my skin-tone well.

 I know as I'm writing this that sanity will prevail and I'll probably never own it because £23 for a blusher is absurd.  Especially when it has potentially the tackiest packing I've ever seen. If I'm paying £23 I want a thing of beauty, not gold snakeskin and black lace.  Not to mention that it only contains 5g of product compared to the other Benefit blushers which contain 8g.  Come on Benefit, you didn't think we wouldn't notice, did you?




Molecule 01

I love the idea that this perfume smells differently on everyone and that although you can't necessarily smell it on yourself, other people can.  I'd just be really interested so see people's reactions to the scent. It's unisex too so I'd definitely be making Adam try it to see what it smelt like on him!  Sadly at £65 it's a little pricey to buy as a little gift to myself but it might well go onto my birthday/Christmas lists later this year!

MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation
I've read a few reviews of this foundation giving great coverage and being ideal for oily skin so it's next on my list of foundations to try. I'm slightly hesitant because having had powder based disasters in my make-up bag previously, I'd be worried about it cracking and smearing it's contents throughout my bag once it got near the end of it's life, but I think it's still worth a go, hopefully soon!

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer
I realise I talk rather a lot about my oily skin on this blog, but I'm constantly looking for ways to make my make up last longer and this is something I think could help. This primer is oil free and looking forward to next year I think this would be amazing for my wedding day!  At £28 it isn't cheap, but I have a teeny little feeling it could be worth it. 

Urban Decay De-Slick Makeup Setting Spray

Here I go again with the oil control..! I'm obsessed, ha! I think this would be good for my keeping my wedding make up in place too so I'll hopefully manage to get this soon!  It's £19.50 for 118ml, which should last a while as it's only a fine mist.



Rimmel Salon Pro in Peppermint
I used LouisaLoves217's bottle of this when we went to Blackpool for the weekend in August and I absolutely loved it.  Its a beautiful minty colour and the formula is amazing; I only had time to apply one coat and it was completely opaque.  It lasted for a whole week too, with no top coat and minimal chipping.
It's only £4.49 and I'm not quite sure why I haven't got around to buying it yet! Perhaps I should buy a more season-appropriate shade though. Hmm.

What's on your wish-list this month?


Suzy
xx

#TheSOproject WEEK 3: Foundation

This week the Starting Off project is all about Foundation; one of my favourite things to buy! I've tried some absolute stinkers before,both high and low end but im going to keep this post positive and just tell you about my favourites!

As a teenager foundation was something that was quite daunting to me for a few reasons:
1)My mum discouraged me from using it as I didn't need it.  She was, rightly so, trying to protect my skin from becoming clogged up with an unnecessary amount of product.
2) Seeing other girls the same age experimenting with foundation and appearing at school with bright orange, muddy looking faces made me go for a more subtle look. My school was super strict and made us wash off any traces of make up if we were caught out wearing it, so I'd much rather have just worn a little mascara and powder and be undetectable.
3) Liquid foundation is scary: it's messy, not something I wanted to get all over my clothes and hands and I  didn't feel confident I'd be able to apply it without getting the dreaded tide line around my jaw.


My Recommendations

Young skin
Eventually vanity took over  around the age of 16 and I discovered  Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse.For years and years I used this in the shade Ivory, which was the a perfect match for my pale Northern skin. It served me well: it was cheap, lasted fairly well on the skin and was super easy to apply using my pinkies.

I started to find though that once I was working full time rather than dossing around at college or uni, it wasn't holding up too well by the end of the day and it begun to cling to any dry patches I had.

I think its hard to go wrong with this for teenagers just starting out with make up & I'd definitely recommend it. Currently £7.49 from Boots.

Drugstore/pharmacy

 

 

I would recommend Rimmel Match Perfection which I posted in detail about here. It's cheap and cheerful and the foundation I use the most.
Currently £6.99 from Boots.

Higher end foundation

 

My favourite higher end foundation is Clinique Even Better foundation. It gives a medium to high coverage with a moderately glowy finish but holds my persistent oil off pretty much all day. It is also SPF 15, which is really handy, especially for the winter when I prefer not to bother with a separate SPF. I've just finished this but I'll definitely repurchase, for about the 4th time. Clinique provides a generous choice of 25 shades for this foundation so there's no excuse for not having a perfect match!
Currently £24 from Clinique

Mineral Foundation
Mineral foundation is also a really good option, but for me I only crack this out for days at home and good skin days as I am far too lazy to buff and buff and buff to increase the coverage!

The one I'd recommend is Bare Minerals Original Foundation although its not cheap at £25 it does last ages, especially if you buff buff buff!!
It lasts really well throughout the day and it doesn't feel like you're wearing make up, which would be good for teens at school!

 

Application

Although most foundations can be applied by hand I pretty much always use a brush. I don't like to end up with messy hands when I'm about to go out and I like the smooth finish a brush gives.

 I posted here about the brush I use most for foundation: Real Techniques Buffing Brush. I'm yet to find a foundation that this brush doesn't work with!


What foundation would you recommend?  I'd love some ideas for what to try next!


Suzy
xx

 

My current favourite foundation: Rimmel Match Perfection

I'm a hard one to please with foundation. I've spent absolute fortunes on the stuff trying to find the right one and have unfortunately fallen for Internet hype on some occasions (I'm looking at you healthy mix serum), leading to a drawer full of expensive mistakes looking mockingly up at me when I open it..!

I have two main problems with finding a foundation to suit:

1) I have oily skin. Companies are pushing dewy-look foundation and if I go down that route we'll have a landslide on my face come lunchtime. Matte foundations dry my skin out and cling to any spots so that's no good either.

2) I have really pale skin. I'm always the palest shade (except in MAC) and even then the palest shade is sometimes too dark, especially with cheaper foundations. Higher end make up counters seem determined that I'm a shade darker and always match me up to their equivalent of shade 2, rather than shade 1, so I've had several expensive purchases I've been unable to use for fear of brightorangeface; lesson learnt!

Then came along a complete whim of a purchase: Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation. It was my '3' in my 3 for 2 in boots and I wasn't expecting it to be brilliant cos it was fairly cheap and I've hated every rimmel foundation I've tried. But I was happily proven wrong and I'm on my 3rd bottle now.

The shade 100 Ivory is perfect for my skin tone and the finish on the skin is lovely; it doesn't 'set' like a matte foundation but its not ridiculously dewy either. It needs powdering to keep it in place, but I do that with any foundation anyway. It doesn't cling to spots or dry patches and it doesn't settle in my fine lines (sob sob :'( ). It's a medium coverage, which is what I want for every day. It has SPF 18 too, which is a nice little bonus.

The lasting power isn't exceptional and by 5 when I'm driving home from work it looks a bit patchy, especially around my mouth where I've been drinking. But I do leave the house at 7am so it's a really long day for any foundation to last. 

Another thing I've found, perhaps disgustingly (don't judge..!) is that I can put another layer on top later on and it doesn't cake at all, it just blends in. Handy for if I get home and have like 10 minutes to get ready before going out for the evening.

 

The higher end product I've used that the  I think the finish is most similar to is Clinique Even Better Foundation, which I also loved, but for £24 I can have 4 of these and I don't think I'd get that past my boyfriend's raised eyebrows!

Even better has a slightly lower SPF, of 15 too, so it can't even really draw me in with that.

Currently available at Boots for £4.99 - bargain!
 

Suzy

Xx