FOUNDATIONS I'VE BEEN LOVING

I thought my first post back could be on the same topic that it ended with in 2014: foundations. Almost four years later, unsurprisingly, I've changed the foundations I've been loving based on how my skin has changed. Compared to four years ago (when I last posted): I have a lot less acne, my acne scarring has reduced but there's still some hyperpigmentation, my skin is less oily, but I seem to have more clogged pores... I would say that's a slight success. So here's a rundown of my current faves and how they've worked for me.

FENTY BEAUTY PRO FILT'R SOFT MATTE LONGWEAR FOUNDATION | SHADE 330 | £26

I have never been complimented on my skin so much as when I'm wearing this foundation, from my boyfriend to my mum's friends to my friends to random people who see me on placement - everybody can't get enough of it! As I'm sure everyone is aware by now that Rihanna and her team did an amazing job bringing out this foundation (and the whole Fenty Beauty range to be honest), not only is it fully inclusive of all skin tones and shades but it is an incredible formula. A little really goes a long way with this foundation and it is totally buildable in coverage. I tend to save this foundation for special occasions or night outs or days where I need my foundation to be heavy duty and long lasting, i.e. I wore it for one of my best friend's weddings from 7am to 12am, a whole 17 hours it lasted. Plus it looks flawless in photos. At £26, I wouldn't even say it's overly expensive, it's not quite high street prices but it's similar to the likes of MAC Studio Fix Fluid (my old favourite).

My only qualm is that if I wear this foundation for weeks and weeks in a row, my skin does start to break out a little. I would probably put it down to a combination of the foundation being so full coverage and my skin being slightly sensitive.

KIKO UNIVERSAL FIT HYDRATING FOUNDATION | WARM BEIGE 90 | £5.90
This is my holy grail foundation, I am in love with it and for such a cheap price as well, it ticks every single box! It is a fabulous everyday foundation and it applies onto the skin so easily - I use my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. It comes in 20 different colour shades, again could probably do with a couple more darker shades. I wear this foundation in the winter because warm beige 90 is literally my skin colour. It makes your skin look smooth and it has good coverage without looking cakey, but can still be buildable. It works well with other face products and doesn't go patchy. If you look on the Kiko website, it's rated the best of their foundations and has so many reviews praising it. If I had to find a negative, I guess it would be that it's not like stand out amazing (like Fenty/Clinique) and lasts throughout the day well but I wouldn't wear it on a night out for example. For an affordable everyday foundation, this is the one.

CLINIQUE EVEN BETTER GLOW LIGHT REFLECTING MAKEUP SPF 15 | SHADE 68 BRULEE | £28
After my skin cleared up and my acne scarring started to fade, I needed an everyday foundation that wasn't too heavy and was breathable, but was still able to give enough coverage for me to feel confident. This foundation did that for me. I wear this most days and I have also frequently been complimented on 'how nice my skin looks' (not quite as much as with Fenty) when I'm wearing this. Considering it's a light/medium coverage foundation, that's pretty good going in my eyes. It has the added bonus that it contains SPF, making it perfect to wear in the summer (and winter) - as each year goes by, I'm really starting to see the importance of protecting your youthful skin! I 100% agree with the marketing of 'even better glow', it really makes your skin look radiant, which is ideal for that fresh dewy look this summer. The shade range is good, and it caters for all undertones, maybe could do with a few more dark shades. My only issue is that when I first bought it, I didn't go into store to match my colour and instead watched YouTube videos to help find my right shade, it was slightly too dark, hence I've only recently been able to wear it everyday whilst I'm more tanned so I'm going to need to look for my winter shade.

----Quite often it does seem to be discounted on FeelUnique, I think when I got it it was around £23.----

LEFT: the foundations in normal light. RIGHT: foundation with flash.

As you can see the Kiko foundation is definitely my winter shade. The Fenty foundation has the least flashback and you can tell it has the fullest coverage. Whereas the Clinique one actually has quite a lot of flashback, most likely due to the SPF 15 in it, but you can see how glowy it truly is!!

Q. What are your favourite foundations, both everyday and heavy duty?

new favourite: revlon colorstay 24hrs foundation

REVLON COLORSTAY 24HOURS FOUNDATION for COMBINATION/OILY SKIN in TOAST | EBAY | BOOTS

For a while I have been looking for a cheaper alternative to my usual MAC Studio Fix Fluid with SPF 15 in NC44, as spending £21.50 each time is kind of not looking nice for my student bank account anymore. After a bit of research, I saw that a lot of people were saying that Revlon Colorstay in Toast was the equivalent colour of NC44. I also really liked the fact that there was two varieties for different skin types - Normal/Dry and Combination/Oily - perfect for me having combination skin. So I riskily ordered it off eBay without trying out the colour in the shop first (this was mainly because the Boots and Superdrug near to me didn't have the shade Toast in stock and also because it was about £5 cheaper buying it from eBay) and when it arrived I was pleasantly surprised at how well it matched my current skin colour.

PROS:

+ Has a lovely medium coverage, it doesn't feel super heavy or sticky on my face and I don't feel so much of a cake face

+ It's advertised as being 24 hour and long lasting and that it is for sure! I feel like I can go through all the challenges of the day and it would still look as it did when I first applied it

+ My skin doesn't get oily throughout the day, it generally stays nice and matte and I don't feel like I have to apply my translucent powder at all

+ At £12.49 in most high street stores and only as little as £7.25 on eBay, it is a steal for such a high quality foundation

CONS:

- I didn't find that a little goes a long way with this product, I felt like I use more of it on my face than I did with my MAC Studio Fix Fluid

- It doesn't contain any SPF in it, meaning that I'd have to put on suncream in addition to foundation, but I guess that's not the worst

REVIEW: la roche-posay effaclar duo [+]

LA ROCHE-POSAY EFFACLAR DUO[+] 40 ml | FEELUNIQUE £15.50

I've used the original Effaclar Duo almost religiously for about a year now, and when I somehow stumbled across Effaclar Duo[+], I thought why not give it a go! Apparently the main difference between this new formula is that it contains Procerad -- a type of Ceramide. After doing a bit of research I found out that Ceramides are found in the top layer of the skin helping to stop excess water loss, therefore retaining moisture in the skin. At the time that I bought mine, FeelUnique were doing some sort of discount meaning that I got two for around £20, and they were also doing another promotion where if you spend £20 or more on La Roche-Posay products you get a free La Roche-Posay Thermal Spa Water, which is pretty cool because who doesn't love a refreshing free gift.

HOW I USE THE PRODUCT: 

I use this everyday, once in the morning after I've cleaned my face with Lush's Tea Tree Toner Water and then once at night after I've taken a shower, used a make up wipe and St. Ives Apricot Face Scrub. 

GOOD FOR: Oily skin, acne prone skin (it's non-comedogenic), skin prone to marking/scarring, sensitive skin (it's hypoallergenic)

PROS:

+ It is really hydrating (I'm guessing due to the Procerad) and moisturising -- when I use this at night, my face still feels soft the morning after.

+ It blends into the skin nicely, it doesn't feel heavy on the skin and when it's all soaked in it feels like you're barely wearing anything.

+ Just like it says it most definitely fights against marks and corrects the appearance of imperfections. + Ever since I've started using it I have noticed a huge difference in the healing of any spots -- the marks left aren't as dark and if there are any then they clear up completely within a week or two, when it used to take months!

+ One of its main active ingredients is Salicylic Acid -- it encourages the natural process of shedding dead skin cells promoting replacement skin cells to 'grow' thus helping to unclog blocked pores.

+ Not too too pricey for something that works so well, I think it's worth the money

CONS:

- Compared to the original standard Effaclar Duo, it hasn't made a drastic difference to my skin.

- When I don't use it for a few days, my skin does act up a little bit, so it's the type of product that once you start using it you can't stop.

SCORE: 5 out of 5 I would highly recommend if you haven't already!

Q. What do you think of Effaclar Duo or Effaclar Duo[+]?