I picked this up recently from Boots as it was on special offer, and basically, I’m not happy if I don’t have a foundation “under test”. I also thought this might make a welcome change from all the PhotoReady reviews – although, obviously I have one of those on the way. (Who said bandwagon?)

This foundation retails at £8.99 and is available in 8 shades ranging from “Sable” to “Cocoa”. I picked up the shade Light Beige which is the second shade in the range, and is a pale neutral toned colour. This is a decent match for my skin (for reference I’m an NC or NW 15-20, depending on the foundation formula at MAC,

Packaging wise, this comes in a glass bottle, with a pump (note to high end brands – Maybelline can do a pump, why can’t you!?). The pump works well, and dispenses a nice amount of product. It contains SPF 19, but I never really take note of the SPF on foundation – you’d probably have to use half a bottle to get that level of SPF, so I always go with a separate SPF anyway…


The foundation promises;

And contains the following ingredients (betcha can’t pronounce the second one down…);

The foundation is a nice texture – not super thick, but not as runny as say Bourjois healthy mix. it blends easily and doesn’t dry too quickly on the skin, making it pretty easy to work with.

Many long lasting foundations are often thick, and very full coverage – this offers a low – medium coverage in my opinion, so looks more natural on the skin for everyday use. It has a finish somewhere between semi-matte and satin on my (dry) skin, although would probably appear different on different skintypes. Coverage is buildable to a point – anything more than a couple of layers would probably look quite cakey, and develop streaks. It doesn’t feel completely lightweight on the skin, but other foundations such as MAC studio fix fluid or studio sculpt feel a LOT heavier on. 

I picked this foundation up a couple of weeks ago at my nearest Boots for £5.99 – it is on special offer at the moment, and will normally retail at £7.99…

The foundation itself is made for drier skins, and is “Solid-to-liquid, ultra smooth and hydrating” so, if you have oily skin, I wouldn’t recommend it… It is a solid formula, which turns into a creamy liquid on contact with the skin, as shown below.

 

I have a feeling that for the foundation to have this property, it may contain some kind of wax derivative…

The sponge provided is pretty thin, and I decided against using it, as I often find sponges apply cream foundation too thickly, and can make it look very mask-like… obviously that’s a completely personal thing… I actually used a flat top kabuki buffer brush (my Sonia Kashuk Space NK sale special…to be precise…), and applied this by tapping the brush lightly on the surface of the foundation, stippling onto the face and then buffing in. 

A little of the foundation goes a LONG way, and results in a low-medium coverage, although is buildable, but I felt it looked more natural applied lightly, with concealer covering any blemishes.

The foundation provides a creamy looking dewy finish – If you are after matte, don’t bother with this one…

For the first few days of using the foundation, I was actually really impressed – after the disappointment of the other “Dream” products, I finally thought Maybelline had got it right…


I personally loved the dewy finish this gave – a light dusting of powder in the T-Zone was enough to set it nicely, and on my dry skin, it lasted really well – at least a full day at work, and beyond. It felt nice on the skin too, leaving it feeling nice and soft, and for a cream foundation felt surprisingly light, and was easily blended. 


If you were sensing a “but” coming, you were right – unfortunately after about 4 days, I noticed I was starting to get a breakout – I perservered with it, but each day it seemed to get worse. I was really disappointed… I’m guessing this may be due to either the ingredients, or the foundation may just be simply too heavy for my skin, as was suggested on Twitter the other night…

I’ll probably use this occasionally until it is used up, but not often enough to break out, because as I say, I really like the look and finish of the foundation, but the breakouts, I can totally do without…

Verdict – Proceed with caution, especially if you have sensitive or breakout prone skin. Not great for matte lovers, on my skin, resulted in a long-lasting dewy finish. 

I have to say, since I started blogging and trying different products, for me, the whole “MAC=amazing” idea that runs through so much of the blogosphere no longer rings true. Now I’m not saying MAC isn’t a great brand, it is, but their LE collections have failed to inspire me for a LONG time – the last few months have seen a dirge (in my opinion!) of badly pigmented and disappointing products. The last collection that inspired me in any way was BBR. Outstanding MSF’s and fab brushes (although in a way, I find the LE brush thing annoying too – why do you do that to us MAC? Why!?).When I first saw the images and products of the Style Black collection, I have to say, I felt the old interest in MAC stirring again, and I was so excited to have a look at the collection. I was sadly really really disappointed. I got to my local MAC counter on LAUNCH DAY to find that all the eyeshadows were already crumbling and smashed up in the containers. This did not bode well. The one intact shadow swatched well, but I personally found it too glittery – the one shade I was really interested in was the Gilt by Association (sadly the sample was smashed to smithereens), and I may still purchase this one, as it appeals to me for the Christmas season, and looks like it would make a wicked smokey eye over a black base.

I love the look of the black lipsticks, but I am aware that I would probably look ridiculous in them – I am too pale to carry them off (with the possible exception of night violet) and this does make me sad – I’m all for trying out unusual looks, and I’m definitely having fond memories of my teen goth phase, but wearing black lippie when you are 16 (or in a studio with the benefit of amazing lighting and a computer airbrush) is very different to wearing it in your thities (especially when you have as little confidence in your looks as me)(*sob*).I’m definitely more open to the dark purple and red lipsticks which are a massive part of this trend.

Mooching about the beauty hall following this disappointment, I realised that there are actually a LOT of other collections which meant I could still indulge in this trend… Chanel, YSL and NARS all have suitable products to rock this look…

My interest was definitely massive in the Chanel Noirs Obscures collection.

This darkly decadent collection features a couple of dark lipsticks – both very tempting, and some very very nice dark nail varnishes, as well as a new mascara (“The Chanel Mascara”). The products I picked up were the eye palette (£37) and the lipgloss (I think it was around£15?)…

The colours are a little difficult to see but this is basically a palette of colours with very dark undertones – there is a purple, a green, a blue and a brown. The gloss is a black see through base with golden shimmer (Sounds similar to bling black?)

Swatching the shadows on their own makes them look pretty indestinct…

However, over a black base their individual colours stand out much more;

The lipgloss is very subtle – the picture makes it look much more subtle than it is in real life…

On its own the gloss deepens the natural lipcolour. It would look great over the (in my case) dreaded nude shades too…

Illamasqua is ALWAYS worth checking out for unusual and trend shades – they have many many dark shades which are bang on trend at the moment – their cream shadows make great bases and they do an augergine shade called debauch which would make a change from MAC’s blackground paintpot. I picked up their black concealer (shade 350). This is also available in the less pigmented undereye version – both make AMAZING eye shadow bases.

I also picked up a new shade by Urban Decay called Oil Slick. This looks like a black lipstick with silver shimmer…

But when worn it is much more subtle – although in this picture it looks like I applied it in the dark you get the idea!

Drugstore ranges are also well worth a look – Maybelline do a shade in their new Colour Sensation line called Galactic Mauve which looks great worn alone…

Top this off with a layer of Oil Slick by Urban Decay though and you have a perfect on shade and wearable combo..

I LOVE this combination – what do you think?

Other dark and moody collections worth looking at – YSL’s new rouge volupte and gloss volupte shades, as well as their new 5 colour eye palettes; Estee Lauder’s double wear cream shadow in midnight velvet, and the classic black honey sheer lipcolour from clinique… Any other suggestions?

Oh and by the way – Barry M do a cheap black lipstick that won’t leave a dent in your pocket once this trend passes!

MizzWorthy xxx

They say a picture paints a thousand words, so I decided to put this mascara to the test and let you be the judges!

Ok, so this is the drugstore version of mascaras such as Lancome oscillation etc…

The product claims to vibrate horizontally at 100 times per second to mimic the way pro’s apply mascara… I have to admit I was a little sceptical about this, I mean how hard is it to wiggle the wand as you go? Not very hey, so I thought this would be a gimmick in the same ilk as that awful Loreal Telescopic Explosion mascara – the one with the tiny torture ball applicator… I really hated that one, so had mixed expectations about this one…

To use it, you have to take it out of the plastic packaging (obviously) and take off the gold tag/label to activate the battery which powers the vibrations…no rude jokes please (yet!). The vibes can be turned on and off which is good- I didn’t fancy a vibrating object approaching my eyeball (ahem).

The button is not difficult to get to with the fingers either – quite intuitive (as all good vibrating items should be… stoppit!). I applied the wand to the base of my lashes and then “turned it on” and pulled it through my lashes (no wiggling – I wanted to make sure the mascara did all the work, as they claim!) slowly from root to tip.

*Clears throat* Anyway here are my lashes “au naturel” (or should that be “au natural”? Too distracted by the vibrations… snorrrt!)

And here are a couple of piccys of the lashes afterwards (peepers closed and open so you see the full effect…)

It goes without saying that you have to just not even acknowledge the eyebrows. I’m trying to grow them in a bit so I can reshape them…

Anyway, my thoughts on the mascara?
Not as scary to use as I thought actually, and the vibrating feels quite pleasant (stop giggling at the back there!).
It does take a little bit longer to apply to the lashes, but maybe this is because I am not used to the vibes?
I’m impressed with the results too… Gives quite false looking doll like lashes. This to me is good – I don’t see the point of applying mascara unless it gives your lashes va-va-voom. May not appeal to the more natural girls though…

What do you guys think?

MizzWorthy xxx

Hmmm… Mascara – such a divisive subject in the beauty world. There is definitely a place in my heart for high end mascara (I will always love YSL Faux Cils dearly – it was the first one I ever tried that made me realise the power of a fluttering lash!), and yet given the fact that macara has to be replaced so regularly for hygiene reasons, it makes sense to make the most of drugstore gems too!

So my current fave drugstore mascara’s, in no particular order (that would be impossible! I usually have about three on the go anyway!)….

Rimmel Sexy Curves
This one seems to be something of a “marmite” mascara (you either love it or you hate it…). I personally love it – gives volumised long fluttery lashes and builds well. Some people find the wand too floppy and flexible, but personally I’ve never had this issue. The bizarrely shaped wand works well to get product onto the lashes, as well as lengthening and building volume. Can clump if you use tonnes of coats, but some people like that too.

Max Factor False Lash Effect

This is marketed as Covergirl LashBlast in the US, and is apparently a best seller over there – a status which it fully deserves in my humble opinion. This has a MASSIVE applicator – one unlike any I’ve seen before. Basically a large barrelled plastic cone with teeth…. The product itself is also a great formulation – not too thick, not too thin, so it dries quick enough not to smudge, but slow enough to allow you to build your coats up. For me, this gives lovely long, thick and dramatic looking lashes. A fellow makeup addict at work, regularly asks me what mascara I’m wearing when I have this on…

Maybelline Colossal Volume

First off, lets talk about the packaging – I hate it! But this just proves you should never judge a book by its cover… and I suppose it makes it easy to find! This is great for building drama in a flash. I actually recieved this at a blogger event, and possibly would never have picked it up if I hadn’t (due to the radioactive packaging), and hence I tried it with some trepidation. However
I was surprised – builds extremely thick lashes with little clumping – this is a great one for a smoky eye, as it gives very thick and intense black lashes.

Barry M 3-in-1 Mascara

Again, I recived this at a blogger event, and I have to say, the makeup snob in me really expected this to be absolute rubbish. One of those occasions where I am so so pleased to be proved totally and utterly wrong. In short – this product costs less than a fiver, promises to curl, lengthen and volumise, and it actually lives up to those claims completely. If you haven’t tried this one, I urge you to get to your nearest Barry M counter and be amazed.

Max Factor 2000 Calorie

This is one of those mascara’s I keep going back to over and over – like a pair of comfortable shoes, I know exactly where I stand with this one. Gives reliable results and never lets me down. An oldie but a goodie. Coats lashes with minimal clumping and always looks great. A coat or two is great for the day, but extra coats can be added for nocturnal activities!

It has to be said though, for every great drugstore mascara out there, there are some absolute humdingers… some of my most recent let-downs include;

L’oreal Telescopic Explosion – Its difficult to express how much I dislike this mascara, but if you want to spend about 15 minutes faffing about with an applicator that looks like a torture impliment getting the outer corner lashes to look great, only to move towards the inner lashes and have the useless wand clump the outer lashes, then this will be perfect for you. Gawd I hate this one – did not work for me in any way shape or form.

Maybelline Lash Stiletto – Made big promises of long glossy lashes, and failed to deliver on either front. I just found this very average.

L’Oreal Volume Collagen – Looked so promising – huge brush and promises of long volumised fluttery boy-bait style lashes. Achieved this for the first use, however dried up within about ten minutes of opening the tube and promptly clumped horrendously on each following application. Currently trying out the “plus” version to see if it is more successful… will keep you posted!

Any other recommendations? I don’t like to miss out on good lashes!

MizzWorthy xxx

I was amongst the lucky peeps who got invited to the L’oreal headquarters down in London last night for the Garnier event.

Obviously prior to this a little look round the shops was in order! I was pleased to meet up with Janaka (JJ26) Rebecca (Panda), Cat (Swirled Peacat), Olivia (OliviaCosmetics), and Amy (Lipgloss86), and we were also joined later by Mushine (Bubblegarm). I FINALLY got to have a look round the Beauty Meccca that is Selfridges beauty hall – fab! Although, I have to say I was disappointed by NARS usual problem of never having stuff in! I also called at the Kheils counter too to ask about moisturiser, and was majorly annoyed by the “Can’t be bothered” attitude of the staff who tried to get me to buy a whole skincare regime. I left without anything from them lol! Obviously a little call into the Illamasqua counter was mandatory for me – will post about that separately though!

The actual building the event was held in – L’Oreal HQ – was really lovely – one of those modern, clean and miminalist glass sided buildings… We met up with lots of other bloggers including Kelly (Kelanjo) and Laura (Tallulahbella) who very kindly also offered to rescue me from wondering round London all day too! All the PR people at the event seemed really lovely – They made the effort to come and speak to each of us in person. We also had an AMAZING buffet laid on, which was extremely welcome at the end of a day wandering around London in the heat! I am happy to report that M&S Percy Pig sweets were on the table – my fave indulgence lol!

I was also really pleased to finally meet Natalie, who works for the PR company that organised the event – she was really helpful in the run up to this (and past events), in answering all my schtoopid questions anout booking train tickets etc, so I was really pleased to meet her, and say thank you in person.

After food, we sat down for a presentation re the company, and a breakdown of their products. The speakers all seemed very knowledgeable about the products and were also passionate about the way the company uses science in order to “extract the best bits of nature” – this means that the products are affordable, and natural, but also hopefully effective!

After the presentation we had a little mingle and a chance to have a look at the ranges and talk to the product managers about the ranges…

We also recieved a HUGE bag of stuffies to try and review. The main product we were all introduced to during the event was the new PureActive range. This is targeted at “Problem skin”, and the products claim to tackle blemishes and red marks (which is a first!), and also promise to give results from the first day of use! The range includes a roll on “On the Spot” treatment (if you have the caffeine eye roll on from the nutritionist range then this is packaged in the same way – very handy for throwing in your handbag). There is also a Deep Pore Unclogging Wash, a Blackhead Clearing Scrub, a Spot Purifying Toner and a Spot Fighting 24-Hr Moisturiser. I have enlisted the help of my lovely BF Phil in testing this range as well as trying them out myself – he has acne prone skin, and I have issues with hormonal breakouts from time to time, so it will be interesting to see what he makes of it… He did have a little try of the scrub and the moisturiser this morning and said he thought it was “Good”, and felt “a bit tingly” – which he feels is an auspicious start lol. Will keep you all posted on that one!

We also got a few other bits of skincare to try as you can see – a “Clean Detox” exfoliating wash, a Nutritionist Caffeine eye roll-on and a Pro X anti-ageing moisturiser.

I’m also super pleased that we got some Ambre Solaire sunscreen products. My pale sickly looking skin is NOT made to deal with the sun, and I always wear the highest factor I can get lol! Clear protect, which is my all time fave suscreen – feels totally not sticky, even in high factors. We also got a bottle of the new “Light and Silky” lotion to try out, and I got a couple of lovely bottles of spray on factor 50 (Or liquid lead as my lovely BF calls it – I used this last year on holiday, and it worked very well – I was pleased to come back just as pale as when I went – proof that it works lol – After all suntanned skin is damaged skin etc!).

To combat the paleness, we also got a can of no streaks bronzer in “Light Glow” – I’m going to be testing this out his week too! Also a bottle of my HG everyday body lotion – HydraLock – which I blogged about a couple of weeks ago – LOVE the stuff! We also got some Body Tonic Sugar scrub to try – I haven’t ever tried this one before…

As L’Oreal are also involved with the Maybelline range – we got a few goodies from them thrown in too – lots of mascaras to try. Can you believe, I have NEVER tried Great Lash before! Can’t wait to try these two hair dyes too – Herbashine apparently works in 10 minutes.

Ok – if you have made it this far well done! I just wanted do a few mini-reviews of the stuff I’ve tried so far and love.

First up – HydraLock Body Lotion – I have really dry legs and they itch like mad some times – this is the only product I’ve found that stops this! A bargain too – the 250ml bottle is only around £2.99.

Clean Sensitive Moisture Infusion Cleansing Water – If you are a fan of the Body Shop Camomile eye makeup remover, then I’d reccommend trying this one out – it feels like water and you swipe it over the face on cotton-wool. It removed my makeup well, without making my skin feel irritated, which is a rarity for me with drugstore ranges. I would never have bought this to try, but I’m really glad I got one – def repurchase for me!

Caffeine Eye Roll-On – I really like this, especially in this hot weather. It feels so refreshing and cool, and seems to give a nice temporary lifting and tightening effect – I’m not sure about long term effects, but this is a lovely thing to have in your handbag to perk up your skin when you feel a bit tired mid-afternoon…

PureActive On The Spot Roll on – same packaging as the caffeine roll on. This contains 2% Salycilic acid, which is apparently the highest concentration available over the counter. This promises to dry op spots and reduce red marks (you know those really annoying residual marks after a spot…) from the first day of use. Well, I’ve been dabbing this on my breakout today, and I’ve already noticed a reduction in redness – I’ll keep you all posted on this one too!

Anyone tried any of these products? Any other recommendations?

MizzWorthy x

Hi everyone,

So I picked this up for my local Tesco’s recently in a “two for £11″ type of offer… I have an “issue” with always wanting to try new foundations… they usually get a couple of tries before being discarded for my favourites (Illamasqua and NARS…)

My only other foundation experience with Mabelline was with the dream matte mousse, which I HATED! – Dry looking and caked on were the phrases that sprung to mind over that one…

Mabelline claim that this foundation gives a 100% poreless look, an air-brush finish, full yet lightweight coverage, ultra-blendable, comfortable texture and a satin like luminous finish and is available in 8 shades…

Good points
- I liked the fact that this cames in a lighter shade – light porcelain, which is a pale pinky undertoned shade. I usually really really struggle to find shades light enough for me in drugstore ranges, with the lightest shade often still too dark, or worse still orange… I’m not sure how great the range works in the darker end of the spectrum!
-It does minimise pores somewhat, especially when used over my primer (RMK Makeup base…), and I’ve noticed this effect seems to last quite well.
-As with all drugstore brands, the price is a bonus too, with £30 mls for £7.80 ish (although it’s on offer in a lot of places at the mo!)
-It’s easy to blend – I used my fingers to apply this and didn’t find it too bad, needed to be worked in a little more than some higher end products such as chanel pro-lumiere, but did blend ok in the end
-Felt fairly lightweight on the skin… Nice finish too, not too matte, not too shiny. Didn’t highlight any dry patches

Bad Points
- Poor staying power – I used this today over primer and set with mac setting powder and it was virtually completely gone when I got home…
-coverage does not live up to product claim – I found this gave light to medium coverage, but definately not full coverage… slightly buildable, but I found it just started to look cakey rather than higher coverage…

Will I Buy Again?

Hmm, doubtful – I have two bottles to get through, and I do like my high end foundies. That said – I was pleasantly surprised by this foundation. Given how much I hated the dream matte mousse I was fully expecting to hate this – I’ll probably use it up, but I’m sure given the rate that drugstore companies make new formulas there will be something else for me to try by the time these are gone lol! I’ll probably use this for work for more natural looks…

Hope this helps… anyone else tried this?

MizzWorthy xxx