New Batiste Brit and Une Skin Glow Foundation repurchase

I'm about to go out, but thought I'd do a quick post before I do. I didn't feel like washing my hair tonight so I've just sprayed this all over the roots. It's Batiste's newest dry shampoo, and this one is called Brit. I'm not overly patriotic or anything but I do like the design of the British flag so thought this looked quite cool. The smell is supposedly quintessentially British, which I'm not sure entirely what that means, but when I smelt it, I can kind of see what they mean. It reminds me of walking into a trendy bar or something, if they smelt nice that is. It's quite a unique, fresh scent, which is very different from the other dry shampoo fragrances, I think Blush is still my favourite though. It does the same job as the others, just as well, but it makes a change having a different scent to it, it turns an otherwise dull, practical product into a more interesting one.

I very rarely repurchase foundations, or many things cosmetic for that matter since starting my beauty blog. I, like many other beauty bloggers and make-up lovers, find the need to always be on the hunt for something better, that holy grail product, that really you don't even want to find because you want to keep trying new things! This foundation though has thoroughly impressed me. I know I blogged about it before so you can check out that review if you wish to find out more about it. If anything, I've grown even more of an appreciation for this foundation after using it religiously every day. I rarely have break-outs and feel generally more happy about my skin. The coverage is now pretty much perfect for me since I don't have many blemishes I need to be covering up. I like the way it applies, it rubs in really well and only a little blob is needed. When I went back to by a new one since my first is nearly empty, I was a bit annoyed they didn't have my shade, G06, but luckily I bought G05 which when I got them home, realised there was virtually no difference in colour. I also have the reassurance that if I don't wash my make-up off properly at night, (which obviously I NEVER ever, ever do.......) it's not going to clog up my skin since it has a high organic content. It's worth a try in my opinion.

Enjoy your evening everyone.

xXx

UNE Skin Glow Foundation Review

In my last post I mentioned the UNE Skin Glow Foundation as my weapon of choice for my FOTD. Back in March, UNE received quite a bit of publicity as they were just launching and reaching out to new customers. Things got a little quiet since then, and admittedly, I hadn't heard of this brand until around a fortnight ago when I found the makeup stand at Westfield in Shepard's Bush, and came home with a bottle of this, bought partly on impulse, and searched the brand for more information.

Now I'm going to write this review based purely on my experience with this foundation and ignore what I've read, because so far, I don't feel like this brand has been painted in a positive light which with my experience isn't rightly so, because I have nothing really negative to say.

So a quick overview of UNE, they are a spin-off company from Bourjois, but differ quite considerably to Bourjois, or any other make-up brand in that they are a "natural" cosmetic company. I think if any brand is deserving of that title, it would certainly be UNE since in the foundation alone, 98.2% of the ingredients are from natural origin, 17.1% are from Organic Farming, and many of the products, if not all, are free from parabens.

There may be a brand comparable, but when you walk into Boots, that's not neccessarily obvious, and that's what singles this brand out, is it's accessibility. Since buying the foundation in a large branch of Boots, I have now seen a stand in my local Superdrug, which I was pleased to find, and glad that this brand is reaching out as accessible and affordable. I opted for shade G06 which I think is around a MAC NC20-25. The foundation was priced at around £13 for 30ml of product. Not cheap, but then not vastly expensive either. It's mid-range, cheaper than a lot of foundations I've tried and a price I'm willing to pay to not put a cocktail of chemicals on my face. Don't get me wrong, I'll slap on MAC like it's going out of fashion, but I do think it's important to give my skin a breather from time to time, and I am one of those paranoid people who's a little afraid of chemicals. If I could choose a product from another and the only difference was the list of ingredients, then I'd obviously plump for the one without the artificiality, and I'm sure I'm not alone. So I applaud UNE for going against the grain and releasing an authentic natural range.

The real test is in how this make-up holds up. It's all well and good being natural, but if this make-up is gone without a trace in 2 hours, it's somewhat useless. NOT the case I'm glad to say! This is a "glow" effect foundation, and I am a combination/oily skinned client, so we are not traditionally a match made. I usually need something with "matte" in the title, particularly this time of year, late spring to early autumn and anything "glowy" or "dewy" on my skin usually=shiny. If I don't powder, I do notice a shine, but it's actually not something I can't live with, I don't feel like my skin is suffering under there, it's just a very natural look. It makes me feel like I can embrace the natural oily state of my skin, because it is still less oily than usual, and it evens out my skin tone, minimises my pores, all the while looking natural.

Here we have a blob. I wanted to give you an idea of the consistency and texture of the foundation. It looks like any other at this point I suppose.
Rubbed in a little, it's actually very smooth to apply, even on the dry skin on my hands it doesn't pick up any skin, just smooths over for an even texture. It's very creamy yet light feeling.

And rubbed in almost entirely, this is pretty much the coverage on my face, minus the cracks because my hands are a little dry lately. A little blob goes a long way which is another plus point, I don't like to apply a lot of foundation, I want a foundation that is going to last me a good few months so it's good value, and this definitely does the job.

So is this foundation for you? If you want heavy coverage then no, definitely bypass this, but if you enjoy make-up and want to go for a lighter, natural look than normal without skipping foundation it might be worth a look. I think this is great for people just getting into make-up aswell, people who might not have tried any foundations before, or if you have problematic, sensitive skin, this might be suitable as it's free from harsh chemicals. Even those make-up lovers who just want something for their down-days where you still want to wear a foundation but without the effort of a heavy coverage face, since this is almost like a tinted moisturiser. Since buying this, I've also gone back to my parents house to visit and lost my moisturiser somewhere in transition, so I use this after toning and it's become a make shift moisturiser/foundation. I love a good multi-use product.

FOTD using UNE Foundation and Sleek Jewels palette and NOTD 1/9/2010

It feels like England is clinging on to Summer now with a little burst of sunshine, even though technically it's September, we're now officially Autumn. This time of year usually means finding transitional makeup, makeup that's suitable for both seasons. For me, that usally means finding rich, plummy, golden colours, at least for my eyeshadow. A palette I find perfect for those rich, beautiful colours is the Jewels palette by Sleek, so I dug that one out and will show you a quick FOTD.I used the champagne gold colour all over the lid, it's a perfect wash colour, and probably one of only two colours I can use all over the lid. Then for the crease I picked out the plum/purple shade, and used the silver on the inner corner. Still a pretty neutral look, but the purple livens it up a little. Sleek is fantastic for their pigmented eyeshadows, they look so multi-dimensional once applied, so much depth to the colour. The only problem is finding a palette with an entire range of colours that I can wear. I wish they would bring out a neutrals palette, like the Urban Decay Naked palette, it would be pretty near perfection in a £5 palette. Close up of the eyes - I used Sleek Jewels, No. 7 Amazing Eyes eyeliner, (I found another liquid liner that actually compares to my HG Loreal Superliner!) it was given to me by my Mum since she couldn't apply it, and it's surprisngly very good, and I'd say pretty fool-proof too, if you're a shaky-hand-eyeliner-applier as I am.

Other products I used

EYES: Bourjois 1001 Lashes mascara, topped with Rimmel Volume Flash the Max mascara; Eyeshadows primed with TFSI;

FACE: Une Skin Glow Foundation in G06 (Love this, review to come soon); Rimmel Clarifying Powder, MAC Refined Golden bronzer.

LIPS: Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick in Rose Pearl.

And not to leave my nails out, since I really love this colour, I painted them in Barry M's Racing Green, which is truly a gorgeous colour in it's own right, it reminds me of old Jaguars, not just the colour but the finish aswell. I decided to turn it matte out of curiousity, and it turned out pretty good. It's a slightly irridescent colour, and you can still see the other dimensions to this colour, just in matte form. I'm going to be sporting this a lot through Autumn I think. I prefer dark colours for my nails so I'm not going to miss the summer pastel shades too much.

What are your favourite colours for autumn?