Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Primer

Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Primer

Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Primer - Slightly Blended

Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Primer - Blended into skin

Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Primer is an oil free primer designed to seal in moisture and help to quench dry skin by using a desert plant extract called Hydraplex. Smashbox also say that this primer will help to fill in open pores and smooth over fine lines.

After writing about the Bourjois Happy Light Luminous Serum Primer here and mentioning the lovely Smashbox Hydrating Primer, I thought I should probably write a full review and was surprised I already hadn't as this primer is fantastic! If you've read my Bourjois review, you'll know that the primer is only a 15ml bottle for £10.99, whereas this one is £27 for 30ml - only a £5.02 difference which I think is very, very good for a premium brand. Also, the Clinique Primers work out cheaper for 30ml (£20) than the Bourjois offering; this just goes to show that you do need to pay attention to prices and container sizes!

As you can see from the photos, I have used quite a lot of this Smashbox Primer (this is my second tube) and is my go-to-primer to boost my dry and dehydrated skin. A tiny amount goes such a long way, so a tube like this lasts a good 3 - 4 months, although I don't use it everyday as I don't feel the likes of going to college need a primer - I just put on the basics and go. Texture wise, it is a blue gel that is extremely cooling on application and sort of melts into the skin, drying to a soft, non-tacky finish.

The hydration it adds to my skin is great and even at the end of a long day, my skin still feels hydrated and soft. With regards to the filling in open pores and smoothing over fine lines, I can't really say I have noticed a difference with the Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Primer and think that if it's fine lines and open pores you're worried about, you'd probably need to opt for another primer, possibly one that is silicone based to fill in the pores and fine lines. When wearing the Hydrating Primer my makeup doesn't tend to last any longer than normal, but it does stop it from going patchy and clumping up, especially around my cheeks.

Once I've finished this tube, I will be purchasing another one, although I'll be waiting for the special offers on that are available at Boots as I like my extra advantage card points! I really like the look of the Luminizing Primer too, especially for summer. You can find the Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Primer on the Boots website and also in certain stores at Smashbox counters.

Laura xx

     

Smashbox Megatint Long Wear Lip Colour - Cerise, Mimosa, Punch - A Review

Smashbox Megatint Long Wear Lip Colour l - r | Cerise, Mimosa, Punch | Boots | £15.50

Smashbox Megatint Long Wear Lip Colour l - r | Cerise, Mimosa, Punch 

Top to Bottom - Punch, Mimosa, Cerise

Can you tell I have a little obsession with Smashbox Megatints?! They are ultra hydrating, almost with a mousse like texture when they go on and they stay put for around 6-8 hours, with a tiny bit of touch up needed at lunch. They are matte on the lips after drying, but I find because they go on as a gloss/wet lipstick they don't dry out my lips.

Punch - This is a nice vibrant red, with hints of pink still. It's not a blood red.

Mimosa - This is a very orange toned lipstick with a hint of coral.

Cerise - Exactly as the name says, it's a bright, hot and vibrant pink. This is my favourite of the three and seems to last the longest on my lips out of all four.

Have you ever tried Smashbox Megatints? What lipsticks are you in love with at the moment?

Laura xx

     

Smashbox Photo Set Finishing Powder - A Review

Smashbox Photo Set Finishing Powder | £18 | Boots

I'm always searching for new powders to keep my makeup on for longer and to set my foundation. Suffering from dehydrated skin, I don't like a powder that's too heavy.

The powder is completely transparent on your skin and feels and looks very lightweight. The powder itself is extremely silky and soft, soaking up any excess oil on your skin throughout the day, setting your liquid foundation and apparently, blurring any fine lines. It also contains an SPF 15 which is great!

I've been using the powder for sometime now and really enjoying it. My foundation does seem to last a lot longer on my skin, especially lighter-weight foundations and any shine that I get from my moisturiser and foundation is diminished, without drying out my skin or making any dry areas look worse.

If you've tried/heard/seen the Prep and Prime Transparent Finishing Powder from MAC, this is very similar, but £2 cheaper (and you get more product for your money), plus, I much prefer the texture of this powder.

What powders have you tried?

Laura xx

     

Smashbox Liquid Halo Foundation - A Review

Smashbox Liquid Halo is a very lightweight, oil free foundation. It provides a very light coverage, possibly medium after building it up. It retails at £27.50 from Boots and comes in 10 different shades which should meet everyone's needs. I'm using shade number 1, which I would say is similar to a MAC NC15.

Shade 2 is just a tad too dark for my skin in winter, but would probably suit my skin in summer when I've caught the sun.

The pigment is made from 100% minerals and it's encased in a hydrogel formula (like the Halo powder) which is designed to 'drip feed' your skin with hydration and moisture. With it being oil free, it won't make you skin greasy, nor will it just slip straight off, especially if paired with a primer. 

The texture and look of liquid halo on my skin very much reminds me of L'Oréal Paris Nude Magique or YSL Le Teint Touche Éclat. It's very lightweight and instantly blends and glides into the skin; it's quite hydrating; and it leaves you with a lovely dewy, radiant finish.

You can see here, blended into the skin, it's very light, it looks so natural and would be ideal for someone who doesn't want a lot of coverage, just something very natural looking.

For me, as a Smashbox Studio Skin and Estee Lauder Double Wear user, this foundation is too light weight for winter. I'm so used to seeing my skin completely covered up with a full coverage foundation and I just can't get my head around this. As a previous user of YSL Le Teint Touche Éclat (when I got back from Australia complete with lovely, glowing skin!), I do feel this is something that I will get round to using, but probably not until summer.

I would recommend this to anyone who wants a lightweight, hydrating and natural finish. It honestly just melts into the skin leaving you with a nice boost, but with a light coverage.

Laura xx

Smashbox Full Exposure Pallette

How super gorgeous is this new Smashbox Full Exposure Pallette. From what I've heard, it's going to be launched within the first two weeks of January.

I think this is just what Smashbox has been waiting for. This looks on par, if not better, than the Naked 3 pallette and the new neutral Clarins Pallette, alongside other brands such as Bobbi Brown. It contains more colours than the other pallettes, along with seven shimmery shades and seven matte shades and a double ended brush which works with both. It's going to retail at £36 which is a great price for the amount of colours.

Here are the pallettes I'm comparing this Smashbox one with:

Clarins Pallette, £35 from Boots

Urban Decay Naked 3 Pallette, released 16th December in the UK

What do you think? Have you seen any other neutral pallettes on the market which you think can compete?

Laura xx

Smashbox Studio Skin

Before trying this foundation from Smashbox, I was an avid Estee Lauder Double Wear fan and wore it all day, every day! It did however look really unnatural on my skin and left it feeling dry and taught. I'm always on the lookout for new long wear foundations, so had to try this one from Smashbox, priced at £27.50, it's a similar price to MAC and Estee Lauder, both of which I use foundations from.

Here's the lowdown:

• 15 hour wear
• Hydrating
• Oil free
• Matt finish
• Medium to full buildable coverage
• £27.50
• Pump dispenser

This is a shade 1.2 which matches my pale skin perfectly. The 1.1 was just a little too ghostly on me. This shade is more yellow based which I prefer on my skin tone. I'd say my skin tone is more neutral, neither yellow nor pink toned, but given the option, I think yellow toned gives me a more natural finish,

This is the foundation blended into my hand so you can see the colour match is very good.

And here is the foundation blended into my skin, finishing with a small dust of Smashbox's Halo Powder. It gives a matt finish anyway, but I like to use a powder to set my foundation. Given the daily test under different conditions, it certainly lasts on my skin a full day and doesn't rub off onto clothes. It feels natural and light weight on my skin, unlike double wear. I don't think the transfer or staying power is quite as good as double wear, but certainly for a more natural finish, I will opt for Smashbox Studio skin instead of double wear.

Laura xx

Crazy Beauty Haul!

Hey guys,

I've been spending some major money recently and not saving any of it... Here are the latest products to add to my list. Reviews will follow in due course when I have a spare 5 minutes...

Origins Ginger Hand Lotion and Hand Cleanser. £16 each

I absolutely adore the smell of these. They're actually a present for my friend's birthday, but still a recent purchase. The lotion is nice and moisturising to say it's only a lotion and not a cream and the smell lasts for ages.

Clinique Sparkle Skin Body Exfoliating Cream £22.50

Clinique Lash Power Mascara £17

I've read so many good reviews about the Body Exfoliating Cream that I decided it's time to splash out. I've been using a microdermabrasion one from The Sanctuary recently which I loved, so we'll see if this lives up to that.

The mascara was brought as I'm sick of my mascara running under my eyes and making my dark circles look even worse. I'm hoping this will stay put, but that it'll be easily removed with warm water as per the website instructions.

Estee Lauder Idealist Dual Action Refinishing Treatment £36

On the search for a new exfoliator, I was either going to purchase Origins Microdermabrasion or the Clinique 7 Day Scrub, but then I came across this product. I love the fact it contains 30%  glycolic acid which my skin loves and always looks revived after using products containing it. This has mixed reviews, but I think it'll work well with my skin type. Very expensive purchase if it doesn't work, but i'll still use it.

Aveda Phomollient Styling Foam £14.50

I've read soooo many amazing reviews on this product. Every site I visit people are raving about this product. My hair is very thin and lacks volume, especially straight after washing. I'm hoping this might give some omph! This is one I'll certainly do a review on.

Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask £22

I'm not really sure if this is going to work, or how it'll help my combination normal/dry but spot prone skin. I'm hoping it won't dry it out too much and that it'll help with the spots and congestion around my jaw line. This is one I'll review.

Origins Pure Cream Rinseable Cleanser £18

I like that this is soap free and quite moisturising which is ideal for my dry/combination skin. I've used it before and it's a product I keep going back to.

MAC Strobe Cream 30ml - £12.50

MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush in Peachykeen - £18

Not 100% sure why I ordered these two products! The blusher is so similar to a Smashbox one I have, if a little bit peachier and I'm not 100% sure if the strobe cream will brighten my skin. I usually wear Estee Lauder Double Wear which I find extremely drying and very matte, so I thought this might give my skin a bit of a boost. I'm going to try mixing it with the double wear before applying it too and then stippling the products onto my moisturised skin.

The blush is gorgeous and extremely pretty, but do I really need another blush? Not really!

Smashbox Halo in Light - £39

Smashbox Photo Op Under Eye Brightener - £16

Smashbox Lipstick in Melondrama - £15.50

This is the second purchase of my Halo powder but in the next shade as I have a little bit of colour since the sun has been out.

The Photo Op Under Eye Brightener is great and something I've tested before in Boots. Under my eyes at the moment, after working 7 days weeks for goodness knows how long, are very dark and concealer just doesn't cover it.

Been in love with Melondrama Lipstick for so long. It's a gorgeous peachy orange. Doesn't have amazing staying power, but looks lush!

Estee Lauder Double Wear in Ecru - £28.50

I have a love hate relationship with Double Wear. I love that it stays on my skin ALL day, any day, no matter what the weather, but I hate the drying and taught feeling it gives my skin.

MAC Pro Longwear Foundation - NC15 - £25

On the basis of the above, I decided to also try a MAC Pro Longwear Foundation to see whether this will give the same coverage as Double Wear, but without the drying and very matte finish. Didn't really read any reviews on this, just liked the fact it was a longwear foundation and though, oh, sod it!

Have you brought any new makeup purchases recently? Have you brought or tried any of these products? Recommend something for me to try if there's something you're loving at the moment.

Laura xx

Covering Acne and Scarring Using Makeup - A Tutorial / Guide

As mentioned in previous posts, my skin has flared up a little recently and it has left me with lots of scars all over my skin. I know this is something that probably quite a few people suffer with, so I wanted to show you what products I use to cover my skin and to help get that flawless look.

In advance, I apologise for the horrible makeup-less photos of me - it's certainly not what I'd want to see!!

BEFORE makeup, after moisturising

 The Products that I use for my canvas/base

I've been using this foundation for around a week now since I first got given it. I'm usually an Estee Lauder Double Wear fan, as I love the full coverage it gives to my skin which at the moment, I'm feeling pretty fed up about : ( One thing I didn't like about Double Wear is the tight mask feeling on my skin - I was worried when I smiled my makeup might crack!!! I don't get that with Smashbox's Studio skin, it feels light on my skin, but still gives excellent coverage - see the photos below.

I will be writing up a full review very soon.

This little beauty is a new favourite in my makeup bag. It is a little on the expensive side, but comes complete with brush. It's Smashbox's Halo Hydrating Perfecting Powder and I can honestly say, I've noticed such a big difference in dry areas of my skin since using this. My skin feels a lot more hydrated and looks more hydrated. 

I would recommend this to ANYONE without oily skin. Oily skin, you need something to suck up that oil, so I'm not sure this would be for you. Normal, dry, dehydrated skin, look no further for a powder - this is your man!

This is how it looks inside. Sorry about the messiness, it's not the greatest of products in a black container and gets very powdery looking very quickly! It comes complete with the little kabuki brush which feels like a  good quality brush.

Here is the powder, it has a grating effect. You turn the top very slightly and like a cheese grater, it dispenses the product. It's very handy and great as you only dispense and use as much on the brush as you want. This amount shown here is plenty to cover my whole face.

What I also like is that is adds coverage on top of your foundation, plus that it's a mineral powder so hopefully, it won't break out my skin.

After the foundation

You can see it's covered the jaw area really well. I just use an Elf stippling brush to stipple the foundation onto my skin. I only need around 3 pumps to cover my whole face, so it's going to last for a long time.

On the higher cheek area where there's more scars, it's a little bit more difficult to cover. I'm happy with this level of coverage though, as once I've got my powder and blush on top, it should almost disappear.

 This is the other cheek where there are less marks, so it's covered well. 

 After the foundation AND the Halo powder

Here my skin has a lovely satin sort of look to it. I find the powder give my skin a boost of radiance, which isn't typically what powders do. You can see the coverage is much better here, just by dusting and buffing some of the halo powder on top of the foundation.

 And here's another close up showing the coverage. I think I had a little bit of blush on in this photo too. The marks and acne are hardly visible and I'm really happy here with the way my skin looks.

After

I'm really happy with the glow in my skin and the coverage here. To me, it looks natural and doesn't look like underneath, that I have terrible skin. I would love for my skin to naturally look this good, but it's going to take some time and maybe another bout of Roaccutane : (

Here you can see the bumps under the skin, but they're pretty well covered and I don't think they're noticable until I tip my head like this into direct light. Usually, my jaw is covered by my hair (but no, this isn't why I have acne on my jaw : ) my hair doesn't actually rub onto my jaw)

I hope that this little photo tutorial has helped someone. I know how terrible it can be having acne and scars - everyday when I look in the mirror without makeup on it makes me extremely sad. Please share this with your friends if they too suffer from acne or scarring like me.

Please comment if you found it helpful. Would you like to see more tutorials like this? I find on most blogs, people have perfect skin, so hope by doing this, I will be reaching out to people who don't have perfect skin.