The Longest Lasting Foundation Ever?! L'Oreal Infallible 24H Foundation Review

L'Oreal Infallible 24H Foundation has been out for a good few months now and if I'm honest I haven't really heard much about it, good or bad. So I thought I'd try it out for myself seeing as I'm generally a fan of L'Oreal foundations and I haven't tried a high coverage foundation in a good long while. 

This foundation is marketed as being both high coverage and long lasting, lasting a whopping 24 hours in fact! I'm not sure why anyone would wearing makeup for 24 hours without taking it off, one guess is that it's just a marketing ploy to entice people into buying it but I'll get on to that. 

According to L'Oreal it will 'expertly hide the appearance of fatigue and blemishes' and 'your skin will remain fresh from day to night'. Sounds perfect right? I have to admit I don't normally use high coverage foundations as the few I've tried ended up looking too 'cakey' and unnatural for my liking. My skin has it's off days but generally I feel as if I don't really need high coverage either.

- I'm wearing the shade 120 Vanilla -

I've been trying out the L'Oreal Infallible 24H Foundation for a few weeks now and I've got to say I'm really quite impressed with how long lasting it is. Ok so at the end of the day it didn't look quite as good as it had when I first applied it but the only noticeable difference was that I was looking a little shinier. Blemishes and redness were still covered and I would happily have just added a little powder to my face and left the house like that, a big thumbs up for it's lasting ability! Obviously I didn't test out the whole 24 hour thing but I could see it lasting at least 16-18 hours but don't quote me on it!

The coverage is good too, not amazing but it covers blemishes and redness really well once you've built it up a bit. This is where I did begin to have a slight problem however. I found it really quite hard to blend out and look natural particularly around my mouth, hairline and eyebrows. It just wouldn't sit right on my skin in those areas and meant that in the first hour of me wearing it I was constantly making sure it was blended out and ending up getting quite paranoid about having orange streaks on my face. So honestly, I wouldn't say it's a foundation for people with problem skin as I can imagine it would have a tendency to look quite cakey as the consistency is so thick. A thin layer however does provide great coverage for small blemishes and mild redness.

Overall I'd say this is a great foundation for anyone who has some blemishes/redness and doesn't want to worry about their coverage disappearing throughout the day. Used sparingly it provides a natural, slightly glowy finish to the skin and even on oily skin lasts a good long time without ever really having to touch it up.

Have you tried L'Oreal Infallible 24H Foundation? Are there better long lasting foundations I should try? Let me know your thoughts below!

L'Oreal Infallible 24H Foundation £5 chemistdirect.co.uk

(The lovely guys at Chemist Direct sent me this product to review for which I am very grateful!)

Ellie x

I Finally Did It... My New Short Hair!

I finally took the plunge last week and got the hair cut I've been after for ages, a bob! I've generally always had lots of long, swishy hair which at one point nearly reached my waist so it's completely different to what I'm used to! But I absolutely LOVE it, it's so easy to style and I can wash and dry it in under 10 minutes, who knew it didn't take an hour to do your hair?! In case you want to see what my hair used to look like, click here.

I got my hair cut at Headmasters in Farnham by a very lovely stylist called Brooke who understood exactly what I wanted. I think if we were on different wavelengths I probably would have backed out but thankfully she got it completely. I showed her a few reference pictures of Lily Collins' bob as well as a layered bob by Anh Co Tran, if you're ever in need of hair inspiration then take a look at his website, the man works magic on hair! 

In the end we decided on the length to be just between my chin and shoulders with long layers as my hair is so thick and using thinning shears to take out some bulk and give it more of the edgy, textured look that I was after. She also used the ghd wave wand (I NEED me one of those!) to add in some natural looking waves, at home I use my straighteners and brush it through then scrunch it with Label M sea salt spray. She also gave me some great tips including only curling the top layer of my hair as it's the only bit you're going to see and saves loads of time too. I thoroughly recommend a trip to see Brooke at Headmasters Farnham if you live in the area, I've already got my next appointment booked!

What do you guys think of my new hair? Let me know below!

Ellie x

La Roche-Posay Pigmentclar Eyes Review

When the lovely guys at Chemist Direct contacted me and very kindly offered the opportunity to review a few products from their site I jumped at the chance to first off try the new La Roche-Posay Pigmentclar Eyes. Using an eye cream is quite a new thing for me, only now am I realising the benefits of using a seperate eye cream to my regular moisturiser. Especially now as I hit my twenties, I really want to get into a lifetime habit of  looking after my skin.

Pigmentclar Eyes is described as a 'dark circle skin-evening corrector', the idea of which really drew me to try it. I've always wondered why even when I get a great nights sleep I still have really dark under eye circles. According to La Roche-Posay blue circles are 'due to poor circulation' and brown dark circles are 'caused by melanin overproduction'. Thank god for concealer that's all I can say! 

It contains concentrated PhE-Resorcinol, which after a quick google search turns out to be a brightening compound apparently 100x more powerful than vitamin C. The other ingredients include Ferulic Acid (antioxidant & sun protective benefits) and Ginkgo (enhances blood circulation). There's plenty there which backs up it's claim to reduce dark circles but does it actually work? 

When first applied you certainly notice a brightening effect around the eyes. The skin looks lighter which draws your eye away from the dark circles but doesn't necessarily make them go away. The brightening effect also only really lasts about 15 mins and I can't say I've noticed much improvement in my dark circles yet. I've been using it for a few weeks now so who knows, it may take longer to start working and I'm confident that thanks to the ingredients, prolonged use will 'fingers crossed' improve my dark circles. One thing I do particularly like about Pigmentclar Eyes however is the metal applicator, it feels really cooling and soothing under the eyes and certainly makes my eyes feel lees puffy first thing in the morning. The cream itseld sinks in to the skin very easily even without using your fingers and feels like a slightly more delicate way to apply under your eyes.

I have high hopes that after a few more weeks use the Pigmentclar Eyes will hopefully start to reduce my under eye circles. Even if it doesn't, it's a real joy to use especially first thing in the morning and I will happily carry on using it.

Have you tries La Roche-Posay Pigmentclar Eyes? Let me know your thoughts below!

La Roche-Posay Pigmentclar Eyes £22.99 chemistdirect.co.uk

Ellie x

Max Factor Creme Puff Blush - Review & Swatches

A new release from Max Factor this month was the Creme Puff Blush, described as being 'multi tonal shades designed to blend and build effortlessly'. I was quite curious to try them and seeing that they were in a 3 for 2 offer in Boots I picked up the shades; 'Lovely Pink', 'Seductive Pink' and 'Gorgeous Berries'. 'Lovely Pink' is a gorgeous pale pink with a light gold and slightly darker pink running through it, 'Seductive Pink' a slightly more orange toned pink with darker pink tones and 'Gorgeous Berries' is a purple-pink shade with a red-pink tone running through it. 

First things first, I don't normally mention the packaging of products I'm reviewing, generally I'm more interested in what's inside. However, I'd just have to point out that that these little pots are really well designed. They're very sturdy and click shut nice and tight and definitely wouldn't pop open in your bag. Also, I'm not sure if it's the packaging or the actual blushers themselves but they just feel a little more luxurious than your average blusher from a high street brand which makes me like them even more! 

The blushes themselves are a lot more wearable than they look in the pot as the colour blends out beautifully leaving a pretty, natural glow. I think they may well be the softest textured blushers I've ever used which makes them a real pleasure to use! You do have to be light handed when applying however as they're very pigmented, this is where the blending out comes in handy, but after a few days of use I got the hang of how much I needed to swirl on my brush. All the colours I tried had a very subtle gold shimmer through them which gives a gorgeous glowy highlight to the skin too.

             - Lovely Pink -                             - Seductive Pink -                         - Gorgeous Berries -

I'm incredibly pale (as I'm sure you've judged from these pictures!) so most blushers tend to show up on my skin really as quite a vibrant colour but I do get the feeling that these would be very build-able on darker skin also. There are six colours available in all, with a variety of tones and colours available suitable for all skin tones. I've got my eye on the more coral toned colours ready for Spring/Summer!

Just as an end note, in the pictures above don't you think they all look like the exact same colour?! I have absolutely no idea why, probably my rubbish photography skills! Just trust me, in real life they all look quite different. Also, I don't normally wear that much blush on my cheeks, I just wanted you to be able to really see the colour!

Will you be giving the Max Factor Creme Puff Blushes a try or maybe you already have? Let me know your thoughts below!

Max Factor Creme Puff Blush £8.99 boots.com

Ellie x

'Pick Me Up' Makeup

You know when you have one of those days when you feel a bit rubbish but you can't explain why? Well on those days I like to make an extra special effort with my makeup so I can feel good about at least one aspect of myself. Isn't is funny that makeup has the power to do that, it really can give you enough self confidence to face the day and feel good doing it. 

This makeup is always a real fail safe look for me. It's pretty, girly and just the teensiest bit shimmery. It makes me feel and look as if I've made a real effort and yet I still have quite a natural look. Generally I'm a flick of eyeliner and I'm good to go kinda girl, I don't mess around much with eyeshadow but if I want to make an extra special effort for a daytime look then this is what I'll go for. Keep reading to find out how I achieved the look! 

- Get The Look -

First I applied the light, champagne 'Sweet Sovereign' shimmery shade all over the lid. Next I mixed two shades; 'Omega', a very light matte brown with 'Quintessential', a silvery gold shimmer shadow, applied them to the crease line and blended out. I then used 'Mystery', a dark brown matte shade to define the outer corner of the eye and finished the look with a flick of liquid eye liner and two coats of Benefit Rollerlash mascara. Just so you know, I still haven't made up my mind about the Rollerlash mascara, it just doesn't seem to do much for me but I'm willing to give it a few more tries. I was thinking of doing a review on it but it seems that anyone to wanted to try it has already thanks to the Elle magazine giveaway. Let me know your thoughts on it in the comments section thought, I'm dying to hear what everyone else thinks!

On my cheeks I used Benefit's Bella Bamba blusher which has unfortunately been discontinued. It's a really gorgeous natural pink flush of colour particularly for fair skinned people like me and a little really goes a long way, I'll be gutted when mine runs out! To define my cheekbones I mixed the two lighter shades from the Maybelline Dream Sun Bronzing Powder (Brunette) and finally a swipe of the gorgeous, glossy, coral pink shade 'Corail en Vogue' which is a Bourjois Rouge Edition lipstick.

- What I Used -

• Mac Face and Body Foundation (N2)
• Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer (Vanilla)
• Soap and Glory One Heck Of A Blot Powder
• Maybelline Dream Sun Bronzing Powder (Brunette)
• Benefit Bella Bamba Blusher (discontinued)
• Rimmel GlamEyes Liquid Eye Liner
• Mac Keepsakes Beige Eye Shadow Palette (Shades: Sweet Sovereign, Omega, Quintessential, Mystery)
• Benefit Roller Lash Mascara (tester)
• Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipstick (19 Corail en Vogue)

So now it's your turn, tell me what makeup look never fails to give you a little pick me up when needed? Do you like this look? Let me know in the comments below!

(Oh and another thing I do when I'm feeling a bit down is watch this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUYaYKgZq-M. It never fails.)

Ellie x