Budget Buy for Oily Skins: Rimmel’s New Stay Matte

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

stay matte

It is a truth universally acknowledged that far too many blog posts begin with ‘it is a truth universally acknowledged’ but in this case, I think I’m ok to use it, because it is indeed a global truism that foundation is a bugger to get right. And that’s even if you’re normal of skin, not too concerned about a specific coverage type and manage to fit into a shade category precisely.

But what if you’ve oily skin? Even now, with amazing developments in de wurrld of beauty coming at us left, right and centre, it’s still one of the hardest things for sebum-prone gals to buy. Sure, you can go the mineral route; you can shell out for Estee Lauder’s Doublewear, which is a bit of a fail-safe, but in general budget buys won’t perform for you.

While I’m a bit of a posh foundation fan, if you can get a cheaper option that suits your skin type and tone then hell, go for it. So, if you do happen to fit one of the five shades of Rimmel’s new Stay Matte Foundation, ace - because it’s a mere €7.45 and it promises to give natural-looking coverage that’s got a naturally-derived shine-control complex. Shade number one is ivory, so if you’re paler than that then you’re out of luck, but otherwise you never know - it could be a goer.

Anyone tried it yet? Give us your verdict in a comment!

Tags: beautienomics, foundation, oily skin, Rimmel
Posted in Bases, Foundations & Concealers, Beaut.ienomics - brilliant budget buys | 8 Comments »

Art Deco Long-Lasting Oil Free Foundation with SPF20

Friday, November 13th, 2009

artdeco

“Your make-up looks nice” said Himself in passing the other day.

Now, it is most uncommon for Himself to notice my make-up without some serious prompting and much waving of newly painted nails/fluttering of freshly coated eyelashes in his direction and lots of “look, look, did you see my new whatever?”

Anyway, the make-up I was wearing that day was Art Deco’s Long-Lasting Oil Free Foundation, €25.10, and indeed it is quite nice. It’s a fluid foundation, a little thinner in consistency than my go-to Estee Lauder Double Wear Light, that gives medium-to-full coverage with a natural matte finish.

All of which means it’s just the sort of thing I’d normally go for, but this isn’t going to become a HG staple type product for me. That’s because my once wicked oily skin has normalised quite nicely in the last wee while and I found that, despite the inclusion of vitamin E to keep skin moisturised, I noticed quite a bit of drying and flakiness while wearing this foundation. Blub.

That said, I think it would be a great alternative to Double Wear Light for anyone with oilslick skin who finds the EL offering too heavy!

Tags: art deco, foundation, oily skin
Posted in Bases, Foundations & Concealers, Brands, treatment & product reviews | 11 Comments »

Fuschia: Make-Up For Lovely Girls

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

fuschia palettes

Kirstie recently did her best Tyra impression to help judge the Face of Fuschia competition, and I’ve been test driving some of their offerings over the last wee while. Fuschia is an all-Irish cosmetics outfit based in Drogheda who’ve been on the go since 2004, and are well known to local lasses for their minerrdal foundations in particular.

I love the fact that this is an Irish company, but what did I make of their make-up?

Mineral Foundation, from €35

I’m not a big fan of mineral foundation generally - my biggest complaint is that it never tends to give me enough coverage, reagardless of how buildable a brand claims it to be - so I was surprised by how well I got on with this. Even when I hadn’t time to do the whole concealer shebang on the attractive red spots on my chin in advance of applying it, Fuschia’s mineral foundation managed to do a superb job of disguising those nasties all on its tod.

I found it easy to blend, and it went on very evenly and lasted well giving day-long coverage that actually looked a bit dewy without the need for emergency touch-ups. Real “me, only better” stuff that enhanced rather than hid my skin - it’s my new everyday no make-up make-up. I did notice that the finishing powder that you can use to set and mattify the mineral foundation caused the lines on my forehead to look positively fissure-in-the-Nevada-Desert-like after a while, but I’d no such issues when using the foundation by itself.

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Tags: fuschia, Irish, mineral makeup
Posted in Bases, Foundations & Concealers, Brands, treatment & product reviews, Eyes, Lips and Cheeks | 11 Comments »

Can’t Live Without: Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

secret camouflage

Some ‘Can’t Live Without’ products aren’t the ones you faithfully turn to every day. There are those products that you may only need to use occasionally, but they save your life (or at least your night out) when they do. Laura Mercier’s Secret Camouflage concealer is one such hero product for me.

I first used it about a year ago, in the throes of a plague of spots on my chin and jaw that just wouldn’t go away. Facials; changing all my products; novenas - nothing was working. While I was working away to clear up the problem, my regular concealers just weren’t cutting the mustard to cover the zits in the meantime. Hell, I even turned to Rimmel Hide the Blemish, but it was still obvious that I had a chin that would give the Apache Pepperoni special a run for its money.

With a big black tie ball to go to, I was practically in tears when I turned up at the Laura Mercier counter and begged them to help. I’d heard tell of this Secret Camouflage business, but wasn’t sure if it could succeed where my trusty Benefit Boing and MAC had already failed.

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Tags: Can't Live Without!, concealer, Laura Mercier
Posted in Bases, Foundations & Concealers, Brands, treatment & product reviews, Can't Live Without!, Money No Object | 15 Comments »

Breaking News! Lily Lolo Now in Ireland

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

lily lolo

Any time we ever mention mineral makeup we get a slew of praise in the comments for Lily Lolo, an online retailer of cheap and reliable powder products. Building their rep through the fact that they offer inexpensive sample sizes for you to try before you commit to a full-size product, I know lots of you are hooked.

So you’ll be pleased to know that the brand is now available on our shores, at Lola Belle Beauty Therapy at Jackie Skelly Fitness, in Greystones, Co. Wicklow. Prices range from €10 to €18 and the salon are offering a free makeup trial for the month of November too.

Interested? Give them a bell on 085 110 0061, or drop an email to lolabelle@tha.ie

Tags: lily lolo, mineral makeup
Posted in Bases, Foundations & Concealers, Ethical & Organic Beauty | 8 Comments »

Giorgio Armani Lasting Silk UV Foundation

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

In the summer, we brought you news of a forthcoming launch from Giorgio Armani. Lots of you had lamented the demise of their Hydra Glow foundation, and this new boyo, Lasting Silk UV Foundation was slotted in to take its place. The beauty grapevine was awash with the info that Hydra Glow just didn’t last (an issue I’d have with Luminous Silk too) and apparently there were some oxidisation issues with it as well - basically it changed colour over the course of the day.

Glowy foundations sound really great on paper. Sheer, dewy, pretty coverage is promised, and for anyone with a normal-to-dry or more mature skintype, that just sounds excellent. Except it’s kind of hard to ensure all that plus longevity, and that for me, was where Hydra Glow fell down. It just disappeared off my skin.

But like everything, foundation technology improves and Giorgio Armani have a winner in Lasting Silk UV Foundation. It’s been on counter since early September and costs €42. Of the eight shades, I was sent three to trial. 4, 5.5 and 7 all landed on my doorstep (check the original post for the full shade listing) and I could immediately see 7 was way too dark. For my generally-on-the-second-palest-shade-offering skin, two pumps of 4 and one of 5.5 made a perfect match for me, so when I go to buy it again, I reckon I’ll try a 4.5.

But what’s it like? GORGEOUS.

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Tags: base, foundation, Giorgio Armani
Posted in Bases, Foundations & Concealers, Brands, treatment & product reviews | 16 Comments »

Get an Immaculate Complexion with new NARS foundations

Friday, September 18th, 2009

nars foundations

Francois Nars has been all about the provocative shade names for his cosmetics for quite some time now (Orgasm blush, anyone?), so it should come as no surprise that he has decided to relaunch his base makeup collection as “The Immaculate Complexion”. Central to the collection are two new foundations - Sheer Glow and Sheer Matte.

Sheer Glow is a satin-finish foundation with sheer, buildable coverage which gives a luminous finish and is ideal for normal to dry skintypes. Sheer Matte is an oil-free formula with a soft, matte finish which helps to control shine for normal to oily skintypes. Both products promise to deliver softer, smoother skin and to brighten the complexion and improve radiance with regular use.

I’ve been trying out both foundations and must say that both are very wearable on my normal to dry skin. I’d probably be more likely to wear the Sheer Glow in cooler weather when my skin is drier and the Sheer Matte in summer to keep shine at bay, but Sheer Glow is not overly illuminating and Sheer Matte is not at all dry or mask-like on my skin.

Both have a creamy formula which is easy to apply and blend and a little bit of foundation goes a long way, so these should also last quite a while, which is good news for bank balances. If (like me) you like a sheer finish to your foundation, then these two products are ideal, but they also allow you to build up coverage as required, so they are very adaptable.

Available now from Brown Thomas priced at €34.

Tags: foundation, NARS
Posted in Bases, Foundations & Concealers, Brands, treatment & product reviews | 23 Comments »

Paint on Your Product (Literally) With L’Oreal Paris’ Roll’on True Match Compact Foundation

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

kryton wears makeup

Ah listen. When I saw the ads for L’Oreal Paris‘ new dolls house decorating kit Roll’on True Match compact foundation on the telly recently, there were no locations into which my eyes were not rolling. Now see here, Beaut.ie readers. I write this blog precisely because I am obsessed with makeup; I love gadgets; I love getting and trying new beauty bits. But this just seemed frigging ridiculous. It was a roll-out too far, if you will.

Then it arrived in the post! Ha! They sent it to me! Foolish them, you might be thinking. Well … actually …

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Tags: foundation, L'Oreal paris
Posted in Bases, Foundations & Concealers, Brands, treatment & product reviews | 27 Comments »

No more panda eyes with Estee Lauder Ideal Light

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

panda eyes

Couldn’t resist the cuteness of this 6 month old Panda pic…

It’s a bit pink I thought and was concerned about the Pinkeye look. I also though it looked a bit runny. I didn’t think it would be up to much.

But it is. The coverage is very good, it goes on well and covers brilliantly. No trace of Panda eyes coming through, even after a long day in work. It illuminates and brightens, in the manner of Touche Eclat - and works just like it. A simple pen style twist and click brush applicator makes this a cinch to apply.

They say: Light-reflective Photo Optic™ technology diffuses light to minimise the look of fine lines, wrinkles and imperfections.

We say: If you’re looking for an under eye concealer and illuminator this is one to go for.

As under eye concealer is the most “borrowed” make up item by men, it’s safe to say that this will be a hit with both of you

Read next: How to apply undereye concealer and then our Rate it: Best Concealer.

Tags: concealer, estee lauder, panda
Posted in Bases, Foundations & Concealers, Brands, treatment & product reviews | 9 Comments »

New Mineral Makeup from Clinique and Origins

Friday, September 4th, 2009

mineral makeup

Mineral makeup continues to take the beauty world by storm, and though I’m not much of a fan, I know loads of you are. While Bare Escentuals and its ilk have rabid, hardcore followers who decry anything that isn’t ‘pure’, I think the fact that minerals are being developed and expanded on by bigger companies is a good thing. They’ve got huge teams, pots of cash and access to the latest technologies and ingredients, which can only be positive news for consumers - choice is always good.

On that note, both Clinique and Origins are launching mineral products this Autumn. Clinique’s Superbalanced Powder Makeup SPF 15 Mineral Rich Formula costs €42 and is on counter now. The companion to their liquid Superbalanced makeup, it combats the dryness powder often has by using encapsulated Phytosqualane and Murumuru Butter, which are dispensed along with the makeup powder via a grinding system similar to those used by Smashbox and Elizabeth Arden. In six shades, it provides sheer-to-medium coverage.

We’ll have to wait a while for Origins’ foray into mineral makeup: Multi-Grain Makeup SPF 14 sounds more like something you’d have for breakfast, and it’s actually fortified with oats. Sounds bananas, but there’s method to Origins’ madness, and here’s the gen:

“A patent-pending formula with a blend of Organic Oats, Organic Tapioca, Soy, Rice Flour, Wheat Germ and Barley immediately bond with skin as Silica absorbs excess oil. Vitamin C and Vitamin E help keep skin looking radiant. A potent antioxidant complex of Pomegranate and Goji Berry help protect against free radicals. Natural mineral clay pigments help provide the perfect amount of color, minimizing discolorations and imperfections, while still allowing the skin to breathe. Shea Butter gives the powder a creamy, smooth texture, and Titanium Dioxide provides all-natural broad-spectrum sun protection with SPF14, helping to stave off visible signs of aging caused by sun exposure.”

Phew. But all that makes it sound really rather good, doesn’t it? In five shades, it’ll be on counter from October and will cost €31.

Tags: Clinique, foundation, minerals, Origins, powder
Posted in Bases, Foundations & Concealers | 7 Comments »