MAC Monday #8 Face and body foundation!

So it just occurred to me as I was halfway through blabbering about MAC F&B that I disappeared for ages and now I've come back with 2 posts in a week both on the same subject...good going Natalie *tongue in chin*! 

Oooh well I've started now and the little OCD in me will make me finish....alternative blog posts to follow though I promise! 

MAC face and body has always been in my top five foundations, however much that list has changed since my very first bottle it has always clung on in there, but why?

1. Value for money

 For a long time it was only sold in those marvellous giant 120 ml bottles, which for the £23.50 that it was made it incredible value for money. Since MAC introduced the more compact 50 ml bottles for £21.50 the price of the large bottle has increased to £27.00,  it does still work out to be worth the price hike when you compare it to the price of other high end foundations.

2. The way it photographs

Aaaah it's an SPF free foundation... which means it doesn't give the dreaded ghostly flashback face if you get friend papped on a night out! 

3. The coverage

A buildable foundation that gives a decent medium coverage without caking, one of life's greatest pleasures if you ask me! A major part of F&B's charm is its ability to do that on all skin types while leaving skin feeling able to breathe and looking natural.

4. It lasts throughout the day

Even though it is a flimsy water based formula it does have some decent staying power even on oily skin types (which can be further helped with a powder and/or setting spray). I have normal/dry skin and get 8-10 hours wear without powder. 

4. The huge shade range

OK this is a good thing its also bloody confusing!! Face and body comes in 16 shades the N shades and the C shades, without going into a boring rant on the ins and outs of the strange world of MAC's shade naming basically in face and body the N shades are for skin with cool undertones and the C shades for skin with warm undertones.

As I wrote this I realised that face and body was one of the first higher end foundations I bought and helped massively in weaning me off the intense mask of studio fix fluid or whatever high street version of it I had knocking around back in the day and insisted on wearing for all occasions...very bad times! Maybe that's why I have such a soft spot for it!! 

Does MAC face and body make your top 5?

<3

xxx

First impressions: L'oreal Nude Magique eau de teint

Hi there! Nice to see you all, it's been a while hasn't it? 

Today I have been trying out the new foundation from L'oreal, the Nude magique eau de teint* (say it out loud in a French accent it makes you feel all fancy) and I wanted to pop a quick first impressions/mini review type of thing up!

Instead of a waffly review I want to keep it short and sweet so I'm going to break it down into digestable pieces of info that's how I like to read reviews anyway...

Packaging

Teeny tiny frosted glass bottle which makes it look quite chic, the "in yo face" print and lavender metallic lid kind of ruin that but it's what's on the inside that counts right?....

Price/size

£9.99 for a 20 ml bottle. 10 ml less than your average size at around the same price as your average high street foundation. If this was a high coverage foundation and you were needing to use less product I could understand the drop in ml however it is the opposite so that is a tad disappointing.

What L'oreal say/What I think

"OUR LIGHTEST FORMULA EVER"-

Agreed this is an ultra light water based foundation which when you apply it feels like you are literally putting water on your face, weird in a good way! 

"Instantly fuses with the skin , blending seamlessly to leave a silky second skin effect"-

I slightly disagree in terms of it instantly fusing with my skin, I used my fingers to apply the foundation but found that I had to work the product into my face almost as much as I would normally to get it to blend completely. 

"Naturally even, shine free look."-

There's no denying this! It does give you a "my skin but better" look! with a satin finish. The coverage is super light, its basically one small step up from a tinted moisturiser and although I doubt it would cake if you were to try and build it up, I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't be able to achieve even a medium coverage.

"Undetectable coverage"-

Absolutely! Even in a magnified mirror around the areas foundation tends to cling in (eyebrows, nostrils etc) there was no way that you could tell I had foundation on which is very impressive!!

Buy it if....

You have many a good skin day!

This is the perfect foundation for days when your skin is on its very best behaviour ie no breakouts of dry skin which as light as the formula is,the satin finish would most likely cling to, the same goes for fine lines. Any blemishes that you have, because of the light coverage this will not cover them up so a good concealer is recommended to use along side it which will definitely give a gorgeous "no make-up, make-up" skin finish! 

Have you tried this? What did you think?

xxx

July favourites!

Hey everyone, thought I'd pop the old blogging cap on and say hi...it's surprising how difficult it is to pick back up after a long break but I have a random day off (Car in the garage) its the 1st of the month so a monthly favorites is a nice little ice breaker dontcha think?

Seventeen 'Dolled up' mascara

One of those "Aww cute name...WANT!" purchases last month, as is usually the case when I wander into Boots I don't actually need anything but always come out having clocked up a few extra advantage card points! You all know the drill ;o)

Always excited to try out a new mascara but having little hope that this would be much cop, I found myself taken aback with how much "Dolled up" reminded me of Max factor "clump defy" which has been a recent love of mine. The wand is a very slightly longer (a good thing in my book!) dupe, and it gives the same volume and amazing lash separation which is what I want from my mascara's.

It's nothing groundbreaking but it's definitely worth picking up if you are in the market for a great budget mascara as it's around the £5 mark.

As for the 24 hour curl claim on the tube....why????? pointless!!

Maybelline FIT me! Foundation

I have found myself reaching for this a lot while the weather has been so beautiful in the UK. I can't stand to wear a heavy base on hot, sticky days so will always switch out my usual NARS sheer glow in favour of something more lightweight. FIT me! gives a light/medium coverage which is buildable and doesn't cake. I love how it leaves skin looking still like skin, fresh, slightly dewy and feeling able to 'breathe' 

Maybelline FIT me! concealer

Leading nicely into the matching concealer...oh yes I am on a roll now woo! This is for me the most exciting high street Make-up product that I have found in a long time as in all my days I have never ever found a concealer from thee likes of Boots and Superdrug that have worked on me....even after going through at least 5 tubes of Collection 2000 lasting perfection trying to get the hype....nothing! 

This one does its job to perfection!! it's creamy, easy to blend in, doesn't sit in fine lines. It conceals,correct and leaves under eyes looking brighter! It is an actual dream!! 

AVON superSHOCK gel eye liner

I had been wanting to try this out for such a long time and never got around to it, so when I saw that it was been given away in a (can't remember which, there were so many freebies last month!!) magazine I snapped it straight up! A gel liner in pencil form...beaut!! It truly lives up to the hype super Black, soft formula and it is budge proof even in the water line! I have used this most days while the weather has been hot by running a MAC 266 brush across the pencil and using that to create a winged liner over just a simple wash of colour on my lids.

Garnier Moisture match 

I reviewed this not so long ago now (here) but felt it worth a very quick mention as I am now on my 3rd tube and my skin has been free of dryness the whole time I have been using this so it definitely deserves a spot in my faves!! Love it!!!! 

Random July favorites

* Here come's Honey boo boo! Can't...look....away...

*Primark....standard!

*New Geordie shore...as above!

*Kate, William and The Royal baby.... bless!!

*Yorkie buttons (the size of the royal baby's head no less!!!)

I hope you enjoyed my favorites, let me know if you have tried any of these and what you think to them, or just say helloooooo in the comments :o) 

xxx

ARIA'S Beachy Waves || Pretty Little Liars Inspired Hair Tutorial

Hellooo there, I hope you are all a lot less bored than I am right now, it has only been snowing 2 days and I have already got full blown cabin fever, that combined with a shed load of caffeine and I am getting ready to explode haha.

 So I have recently become addicted to the TV show Pretty little liars which if you don't already watch it I strongly recommend you have a watch, its soooooo gripping and guaranteed to keep the snow blues away!!

 One of the things that I love most about the show is looking at the 4 main characters different hair and Make-up styles, I always especially love Hanna and Aria's style and so yesterday after watching the season 3 finale show I felt really inspired to copy Aria's loose beachy waves in my hair, because it was so quick and easy and it is a look that I know a lot of people like as it is also quite Kardashian-esque I thought that I would make a video showing you how to recreate the look :)

I hope you enjoy! 

xxx

MAC Monday #4 :Vegas Volt

MAC Vegas Volt, a gorgeous amplified creamy coral and a lipstick that I had on my wishlist for what seemed like a lifetime before I eventually got around to buying it, it is such a beautiful colour that even though I rarely steer away from my pinky/peach nude lip colour I wanted to own this if only to look at it, does anyone else have lipsticks that they do this with?

 Vegas Volt has now been in my lipstick collection for around 2 years and I have found that I have gotten a lot more wear out of it than I thought I would. 

Last Monday I was having a scruffy bun, can't be bothered kind of day (you know the ones?) where eye-make up was kept to just mascara, I applied only a light layer of foundation and a bit of bronzer, these are the days that I find it easier to get away with a bolder lip colour, also having a bright pop of colour on the lips makes it look like I have made a little more effort with my Make-up than I really have.

Face: Rimmel wake me up foundation (200 soft beige)
Benefit Hoola bronzer
Eyes: Max factor eye brightening mascara
Lips: MAC Vegas Volt
Eyebrows: clearly ignored :o 

Please excuse the dodgy pose, I think I have some kind of mild mental disorder when it comes to pouting at cameras! 

I hope you are all having a good Monday! 

xxx