Bourjois 123 Perfect Foundation Review

To say I’d become foundation obsessed lately would be somewhat of an understatement. After falling head over heels in love with Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundation I had to try their latest release, the 123 Perfect Foundation. This foundation claims to correct uneven skin tones with different coloured pigments, yellow for dark circles, mauve for dullness and green for redness.

123 Perfect is a medium coverage bordering on full, it has quite a thick texture and a satin/demi matt finish. I apply this with a Sigma F80, which I find gives a more natural finish, this foundation really benefits from being worked into the skin properly.

I do find that this does really even out my skin tone, it covers my redness, and if I apply it under my eyes takes care of my dark circles (well it covers them, it doesn’t illuminate in anyway) and if my skin isn’t freaking out too much I can skip concealer.

This works really well with my oily skin, it doesn’t last the 16 hours that it claims but it lasts a good 8-10 before it starts to look a little worse for wear. If you have dry skin however I would tread carefully with this, I have a couple of dry patches from using Panoxyl and if I don’t prep my skin properly, it clings to it like nothing else.

I think this is a great quality, inexpensive foundation and works well for everyday. It lives up to most of its claims and lasts really well throughout the day. I have been wearing this pretty much continuously since I got it and I would definitely repurchase. The main downside with this, as with most Bourjois foundations is the shade range, it comes in five shades, and I can just get away with the lightest shade, I don’t think it would suit me in winter, when I’m paler; sort it out Bourjois!

Bourjois 123 Perfect Foundation costs £10.99 (currently on offer for £6.99) and you can find it at Boots (link)

Boots Haul

My bank balance hates Boots. The endless 3 for 2 offers really draw me in, and I can’t help but splurge! Since my EL Double Wear started breaking me out I’ve become foundation obsessed, I must have bought at least five in the past few months. Mad!

The Bourjois 123 Perfect Foundation(£10.99) has had mixed reviews, but I really wanted to try it out, it claims to have 3 colour correcting pigments, which combat dark circles, redness and a dull complexion.

I had also wanted to get the Flower Perfection foundation but they had sold out of my shade, and as I needed a fuller coverage foundation for those days when I wish I could use Double Wear, I picked up L’Oreal Infallible(£12.29). I’m sure I have used this before, when I was about 14, and promptly forgot about it and moved on to something else. The colour matches really well, although I would prefer if it was so pink toned.

My MAC Mineralize Skinfinish is finally almost gone, so I decided to try the Revlon Color  Stay Powder (£10.99), I haven’t heard anything about this, but it seems okay so far!

If you want to see reviews of any of these in particular let me know and I will try to get them up as soon as possible!

L'Oreal Lumi Magique Foundation

L'Oreal Lumi Magique is a new foundation and promises the ever elusive ‘Lit from Within’ look. I fancied trying a new drug store foundation, and I know L'Oreal generally have shades pale enough for me.  Not all the stands have the full shade range, so you may need to find a bigger stand, if you are not one of their more popular shades, it comes in shades with cool and warm undertones. Ignore how warm toned it looks in the images, my shade C1 leans a lot more cool.

Luckily I found my shade (C1)  in my local Tesco, where it is currently on offer (along with some other L'Oreal products) for £7.99.

This foundation has quite a thick consistency, is very easy to blend and gives medium coverage. The finish of this is gorgeous, as someone with a more oily skin I was worried about looking shiny, but it gives a lovely natural glow. I’ve found myself reaching for this quite a lot lately, its just so quick to use and blends really easily with either a Real Techniques Buffing Brush or ELF Powder Brush.

I haven’t had any issues with this foundation sinking into pores, or clinging to dry patches, so it should work for dry skin as well. It doesn’t claim to be long lasting and I definitely do need to touch up through the day with a bit of powder, but I’m yet to find a lighter foundation that I don’t have to do this with. That said it does fade nicely, which I’m starting to think is the way forward with foundation for me, I mean there’s no point wearing a long lasting foundation if it starts looking awful midway through the day!

This is becoming my favourite inexpensive foundation, I haven’t really liked a high street foundation (not including the BB Creams which I love)  this much for a very long time, and I really cant fault this. I have ignored L’Oreal for quite a while, but after looking at their shade range they seem like a great option if you struggle finding a match at Boots or Superdrug, especially if you can get to a bigger stand.

I got this from Tesco where it is currently priced at £7.99, you can also find it at Boots where it costs £10.99 (but is also on 3 for 2).

Estee Lauder Invisible Fluid Makeup: First Impressions

Another day, another foundation! I’d been wanting to try this since I heard it had launched. It’s water based, much like the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua/MAC Face and Body and it needs to be shaken before use to mix the pigment, as it has nothing to emulsify it.

I got a sample from a counter, and was shade matched to 1CN1, there are 16 shades in the range, with cool, neutral and warm undertones.  I always find Estee Lauder to be great with offering samples and I have never had a bad shade match from them. One counter even gave me a big sample of Double Wear because they had sold out of my shade!

This applies brilliantly, I used a MAC 190 to get the most coverage I could, and then buffed it in with my Real Techniques Buffing Brush. It leaves a demi-matte finish, and looks very natural. I find that it does look unperceivable on the skin. I still need to use my concealer, but I have found that my concealer is much easier to apply on these lighter foundations and doesn’t cake or look obvious.

I feel that this foundation is going to draw a lot of comparisons to Vitalumiere Aqua, and they definitely have their similarities. The shade range with the Estee Lauder is a lot wider, and caters for more undertones, the Chanel are mostly yellow/warm based. I find the Estee Lauder to be slightly more matte, so would probably suit oilier skins better. Both apply equally well, and I think would be easy to apply either with brushes, fingers or a sponge. Both can be built up easily and layered for more coverage, something that I love about both. With Double Wear I find it very easy to over apply, and end up looking cakey, and frankly, worse than before I applied. I find the wear pretty similar with both, they wear well, and don’t slip or fade unevenly, although I would top up with powder midday.

I would definitely buy the full size of this foundation. I’m starting to grow tired of full-coverage foundations, as I always wear concealer over them anyway, so I may as well wear a lighter foundation where I can get away with it!

Products I Wish I Had Never Bought: Maxfactor Xperience Weightless Foundation

Last summer I began my quest for my Holy Grail foundation, not yet willing to venture to the realms of the Department Store to find it, I went into my ever faithful Boots to see what I could find.

After speaking to a perma-tanned Maxfactor SA (I should of recognised the warning flags there really) she decided that the shade Raw Silk would be right for my skin tone. Making use of the 3 for 2 that was on at the time, I bought 2 (big mistake) I got on with this foundation for about a week before I started to realise all its flaws.
I realised almost immediately the colour was completely wrong for me, in that it was entirely to orange! although I doubt getting the right colour would of really mattered as it oxidises after about 2 hours. So in short I looked rather like an Oompa Loompa.
I think I can say I put this foundation through it’s paces when I was living in London last year, a year full of Tube rides, a summer heatwave, and a blisteringly cold winter. My skin went from oily, to dry with bouts of sore skin and acne. The claims that this foundation is ‘weightless’ seem ridiculous to me, I could feel it sliding off my face (along with the rest of my make-up) after about two hours, something no amount various powders would change. It highlighted every single pore, I think its safe to say even my skin, at it’s worst looked better without foundation than with this one.
Even when my skin was less oily, in winter it still failed me by highlighting all dry patches of skin, make flakies appear where there were previously none.

In case you’re still interested, you can find Maxfactor Xperience at Boots or Superdrug priced between £7.99 and £9.99 ( depending on the current offers)

Review: Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay in Place Make Up

I've been using this foundation for about 2 months now, I wanted to give it a real test-drive before writing a review, as I often LOVE foundations when I first buy them and then realise they don't really work for me. What first attracted me to this foundation was the shade range, I have very pale, pink toned skin and nearly everything I try turns orange on me, I found 1C1 to be a perfect match ( something I find very difficult to come across).

I been using this pretty much religiously since I bought it, It offers the coverage I need, covering any blemishes and redness, and staying on all day at work. I would recommend this for normal - oily skin types, those with dryer skin would want to ensure they're skin is well moisturised as it can highlight dry patches due to the matte finish.
Now for the much dreaded, on my part, "no other make up on, argh my face feels naked shot"...

Just foundation, no concealer (please excuse the dark circles!)

Due to the heavy coverage I find it necessary to wear blusher and highlighter just to stop my skin looking so flat, but other than that I'm very happy  other this foundation.

Packaging wise I have one complaint, there's no pump- meaning I have wasted a LOT of product, but I'm willing to let it slide for now....

You can find Double Wear at any Estee Lauder stockist, priced at £25.50 for 30ml.