Foundation Routine | Great for Dry, Pale skin.

Solait Bronzer link, Collection Sheer Loose Powder link, MeMeMe Beat the Blues link, Rimmel Wake Me Up Shimmer Touch link, Rimmel Fix and Perfect link, Soap and Glory Hocus Focus link, Vivo Highlighter link, Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid link, Bourjois Flower Perfection primer link, Sleek New Skin Revive foundation link, Collection Lasting Perfection Concealers link and Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer link.

I finally have a foundation routine that I'm happy with and thought I would share it with you. It works for my dry skin, and helps cover up the extreme redness and blemishes and scars I can get. The products I use are also pretty good for those who are Casper the friendly ghost pale like myself. I'm going to jump right into this because I have a feeling this is going to be a long post! Thanks for reading.

I've only just really found some good drugstore primers that work for me. For some reason, most of the primers that I tired made my skin feel great but my foundation (or BB cream or anything else really) wouldn't sit well on top of it. It made it look streaky and horrible so I gave up my search. 

But after getting the Bourjois Flower Perfection Primer in a Secret Santa present I thought I would give it a try. To my surprise it works really well. It smooths out my skin, and helps mask some of my pores. It leaves my skin feeling really soft and smooth, and the foundation I used sits on it really well. It helps the foundation last a long longer, and it doesn't have a matte finish which is great for my dry skin. At little dew is great.  

The Rimmel Fix and Perfect is another great primer that works very similar to the Bourjois one, and I love it all the same. I think if were to repurchase though, it would be the Rimmel product. It lasts a long longer, and is cheaper. 

I swap and change these when I feel like it so, obviously, I don't use both at the same time. 

 

I use Hocus Focus from Soap and Glory to add some glow to any foundation I use. It's great to mix in with foundation because, as I already said it gives it a nice glow and if it's thick full cover foundation like I tend to choose it makes it a little more liquidy and easily blendable on the face. I mix it with both Dream Satin Liquid and New Skin Revive, which I use on different areas of the face. 

I use the Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid in Light Porcelain in the centre of the face, and it works really well. It gives me a nice coverage, and it's just a touch lighten than my skin so it gives a highlighted effect as well. It's easily blendable and while it does last a long time it doesn't give that super matte finish like others can. The finish is quite natural and leaves my skin looking fresh and just all around nice. 

I use the Sleek New Skin Revive in Sand on the outside of my face and it's just s touch darker than my skin. It makes the Dream Satin Liquid look a little more highlightery (is that a word) and creates some natural shadows without it being horribly obvious.  It offers a similar coverage and finish to the Maybelline foundation so they work well together. 

I apply these with either a Real Techniques Buffing Brush, a Stippling Brush or a Beauty Blender sponge (damp, of course). 

 

Concealer is my faithful friend. It helps hide the sins on my face, so what more could I ask for. My favourite concealer ever is probably no surprise to anyone because it;s raved about my everyone and their dog. It is of course the Collection (or Collection 2000) Lasting Perfection Concealer. I have two shades of this because I use them in different areas of the face.The lighter shade is used to cover the inner portions of the face, while I use the darker shade (still really light thought) on the outer portions of my face. It covers well, lasts a decent amount of time and doesn't break the bank so a winner on all counts. 

The Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer (in Ivory)  is probably the only concealer that I have found that does a light enough that it actually makes the area under my eyes brighter and lighter. It really does wake me up, makes my dark circles a thing of the past for the day and doesn't crease. It's not to expensive, and the shade range is pretty good for the pale people out there. It's doesn't have that may darker shades though so be aware of that.  

I just blend these products in with my fingers. I have tried using brushes but they just don't work for me. My fingers leaves the products nice a warm so it blends into the face well and it leaves the finish looking pretty natural too which is great.  

I always highlight. I think I have quite dull skin so I use whatever I can, whenever I can to get some radiance back. Highlighter is a subtle makeup products, but in my opinion makes all the difference to a look. I've been loving liquid highlights best since the winter hit but in the summer I'm partial to a powder highlighter of two because my skin isn't quite as dry.   

The first highlighter I love is one that I got 'free' with an eyebrow kit form Vivo. It's only a small little thing and I hope you can buy it on its own because it's great. It's a white highlight in the tube, but when blended out it's almost translucent but it leaves a lovely pink iridescent shimmer on the face that looks gorgeous.

The second highlight I love is great for when I want a more subtle highlight. It's the MeMeMe Beat the Blues Highlight.  This looks quite yellow/gold but it blends out to almost nothing just leaving that 'glow' everyone wants on the skin. I believe it's a dupe for Benefit Moonbeam, and it's much cheaper than that. It works just as well (I've tried High Beam) lasts a decent amount of time on the skin and doesn't cause my foundation to go cakey. 

The last of the highlighters that I've been reaching for recently is the Rimmel Wake Me up Instant Shimmer Touch in 004. This is the least subtle highlight that I use, and for that reason I only tend to use this on nights out or bronzed days. It's a nice gold/bronze highlight that has more a shimmer/glitter than the others. It highlights beautifully but it's a lot more noticeable.  

   

I blend these over the tops of my cheekbones and down the nose with my fingers or a Real Techniques Stippling brush.  

 Finally we come to the end process. I'd give yourself a pat on the back if you made it this far! The last things that I do is pop on some bronzer, blush and powder. The blush changes day to day, so I didn't include it but the bronzer and powder rarely change so I thought I'd say a little on them. 

The Solait Maxi Bronzer in Golden Glow is a brilliant bronzer for the pale girls. It's not too orange or to dark. It's not full of shimmer (in fact it's matte) and it looks great on the skin. I used this to half bronze/half contour. I don't hard core contour but I do add a little under the cheekbones  and chin to add some shape to my round face. I then add some around the outside of my face, focusing on the temples and blending it to my forehead . I used the 3E technique that people talk about to make sure it's blended and to add some definition to the face. 

The powder that I reach for most of all is the Collection Sheer Loose Powder. I's just a nice fine powder that sets the foundation without adding coverage and caking the foundation up. It's only £2.99 and this pot is seriously lasting me forever and a day. It's so worth it. 

I use an angled blush brush from Forever 21 to apply the bronzer, and either RT Blush brush or Powder brush to dust the powder over my face. I use light downwards stroke for the powder to make the foundation look a little more flawless.  

PS: Sorry this was so freaking long but I hope this helps in some shape or form. This is for 'full makeup' days, and I don't do this everyday but this is my full routine. Hope you enjoyed. 
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My Favourite Makeup Products at the Moment | Face, Lips and Eyes

Some of my favourite makeup products right now!

I really wanted to do a favourites post, and I thought about doing a 2012 favourites, but I think it's just too late to do that now.  I then thought I'd leave it until the end of January, but I'm too impatient to wait that long, so I just going a random favourites post.

MAC Cream Colour Base in Hush link, MeMeMe Beat the Blues in Sunbeam link, & Soap and Glory Hocus Focus link.

  I've been all about highlighting recently, and these have been my favorites at the moment. 


MAC Cream Colour Base in Hush - £14.50
The MAC cream colour base is something that I've owned for quite some time, use pretty regularly and it's still going strong. It's a nice pink toned shimmery highlight that looks great on pale skin. It blend really easily and it doesn't look cakey or make my foundation go cakey which is a total bonus.

MeMeMe Beat the Blues Highlighter in Sunbeam - £5.25
This is a really new find for me and I'm glad I gave it a try. I got this in a set of all the MeMeMe products like the Benefit products. If I'm ever going for a bronzed look, I will grab this because the golden undertones compliment those looks so well. It's just a nice change from the pink highlighters that usually suit my pale skin.

Soap and Glory Hocus Focus - £13.00 
This is possibly my favourite find of 2012, and now I will never be without a bottle. You can use this as a highlighter on your cheekbones and down your nose or you can mix a pump or two in with foundation/moisturizer to give a gorgeous all over glow! It's a white liquid, but blends out to almost no colour just a slight pink iridescence to give that 'glow' everyone craves.

 

MAC Lustre Glass in Sinnamon link, Revlon Colour Burst Lip Gloss in Peony link & MAC Lipstick in Lovelorn link

MAC Lustre Glass in Sinnamon - £13.50
 This is my go to lipgloss when I don't fancy wearing a lipstick, or I want something to go with a nice nude! I tend to always go for brown tone nudes so I don't look dead wearing them, and this goes amazingly well with most of them. It's beautifully pigmented, and the shimmer is viable but you don;t really feel it. I love that it's a smooth formula, because bits of glitter stress me out a little. 

Revlon Colour Burst Lipgloss in Peony - £7.99
This is my go to lip gloss if I'm wearing anything pink on my lips, and it works especially well with lovelorn. It's a gorgeous pink/coral colour with golden shimmer running through it. It's amazingly pigmented, and looks good alone or in combination with other products. I like to dab a little of this in the centre of my lips for the fuller looking lip look.


MAC Lipstick in Lovelorn - £14.00 
This is one of my favourite lipsticks from MAC, and it's something I'm 100% going to repurchase when it runs out. From the picture you can see that it's well loved. I think the pink would look great with any skin tone. It doesn't dry out my lips, and it's pretty long lasting for the finish it has.

Barry M Dazzle Dust in Pink Ice link, Benefit Ceaseless Cream Shadow in Foiled link & MAC Paint Pot in Constructivist link

Benefit Ceaseless Cream Eyeshadow in Foiled - £14.00
This is a gorgeous taupe colour that blend out beautifully. It can be used alone, or 'set' with a powder shadow, and I use it both ways. I often use it as a base for the Barry M Dazzle Dust, but if I want a nice cool toned eye look I'll  use this. It lasts all day without creasing or fading. 


MAC Paint Pot in Constructivist - £14.50
 I brought this because I was on a Paint Pot kick but this is just a bit to dark for everyday use as a paint pot. I have, however, been using this lovely colour as an eyeliner. It's dark enough that I feel I can leave my black off, and the chocolate brown colour with slight bronze shimmer makes my blue eyes pop a little more than black.

Barry M Dazzle Dust in Pink Ice - £4.59 
This is gorgeous! It's messy, but it lasts forever and brightens up your eyes so well. I use it all over the lid or a highlight and it looks great either way. It's quite cheap and the slightly pink tone to the white makes it a little less harsh that a plain shimmery white colour! 

Bourjois Bronzing Powder in 51 link, Bourjois Blush in 34 Rose d'Or link and New CID Pressed Powder in Extra Light link.

  Bourjois Bronzing Powder in 51 - £6.99
I put off getting this for a long time. I was a bit weirded out by something that was meant to smell of chocolate, because I generally hate the scent. I can't use anything like Palmer Coco Butter because the smell grosses me out but this doesn't smell to strong and when you use it, the scent if gone! I acutally didn't buy this for myself, but I got it in a blogger Secret Santa from the gorgeous Kym. 


Bourjois Blush in Rose d'Or - £7.49
This was also a present from Kym, and I love it. I'm just learning to love blushes with shimmer, and this is a great way to ease yourself into shimmer. It's hard to overdo the colour, and it's not too shimmery. It's a nice rosy pink colour, and the backed formula makes it pretty sturdy. I'm soo clumsy,and often drop my makeup and this baked formula doesn't smash like regular powder blushes do. 
 
New CID i-Powder compact in Extra Light - £21.50
This has been my go to powder for so long, and I still haven't hit pan. I got it in TK Maxx, and love that it's in Extra Light. It's the perfect match for my skin. It doesn't really offer all the much coverage, but it's not translucent either. It keep my makeup in place, and is a super handy light up mirror as well as the powder. IT's quite expensive, but keep your eyes out in TK Maxx because it was £7.99.  

Bourjois Flower Perfection Primer link, George Face Primer (not online) & YSL Touche Eclat Foundation link

 Bourjois Flower Perfection Primer - £9.99
This was also a present from Kym, and it's as good as the other products. I don't know why I haven't tried more Bourjois products because they seem really good. It's a brand I overlook quite a lot but after this little present exchange I will be looking at them more. This primer leaves my skin feeling silky smooth and my foundation applies really nice over the top of it. It doesn't mattify my skin to much because I love a dewy look, and it keep everything in place longer then bare skin would. 


George Face Primer - £5 (ish)
I got this so long a go, and have recently rediscovered it. It's a great primer for those with normal/dry skin. It leaves the skin silky smooth, and keep makeup on all day. It's a skin colour when you squeeze it out but it goes on translucent. It doesn't dry my skin out or make it oily, and it leaves a great base for foundation to go on to. 


YSL Touche Eclat Foundation in B10 - £28.00 
This is the best foundation I have ever used. It just does something for my skin that nothing else does. It lasts ages, give it a great glow and takes out the horrid redness that I get. It's not that great of coverage, but as I said before it just does something for my face that I adore! It's brilliant, and while a little expensive it's not as bad as some higher end brands are for pricing. The packaging is gorgeous too. Simply, elegant and classy. 

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Top 10 Foundations For Dry Skin: YSL, Rimmel, The Body Shop & More

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation link, MeMeMe Flawless Cream Foundation link, The Body Shop Mositure Foundation link, Revlon ColorStay Foundation link, MAC Select SPF15 Foundation discontinued, YSL Touche Eclat Foundation link, Clinique Even Better Makeup link, Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse link and Rimmel Match Perfect Gel-Cream Foundation link.

I love foundation as much as the next person, and for the longest time I always went for something that gave a really full coverage. I have breakouts quite often for a  number of reasons and I always liked to have a fuller coverage. Since using the YSL Touche Eclat I've realized that you can still have great looking skin without the heavy coverage. I just wanted to share some of my favorites out of the ones I've tried. I'll link reviews if I have them, or write a little paragraph to sum them all up.

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation, Clinique Even Better Makeup, MeMeMe Flawless Cream Foundation & Sleek BB Cream

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation: 

Coverage: Medium

Skin Type: Dry

Price:  £7.99

I was in love with foundation, and the only thing I don't like is the colour range. From looking at the website it seems that they sell light colours but in any shop I've been in they don't do a shade similar to Ivory. I wouldn't recommend this to people with oily skin unless you are prepared to go powder mad because it's very dewy on the skin. It's great for my dry skin, and I even felt the need to powder a bit to tone down the dewy effect.  

Clinique Even Better Makeup

Coverage: Light, but buildable.

Skin Type: Combination to Dry Skin

Price:  £23

This is my newest foundation, and I love it. I went to Clinique asking for something lightweight with a good coverage that would work for my dry skin. She recommended this one, so I picked it up. The price didn't seem to bad for a higher end foundation, and the feel from the tester and where she matched me felt nice. It gives a really dewy finish, so I powder it because I like a semi-matte finish. It is recommended for  combination skin as well as dry but I wouldn't say it would work on oily skin.

MeMeMe Flawless Cream Foundation

Coverage: Medium to Full

Skin Type: Normal to Dry Skin

Price:  £12.50

If I didn't have this in the wrong shade, it would be my everyday foundation but sadly it's a shade to dark and a little two ashy for me. The formula is amazing though. It gives an amazing coverage, and it blends so easily. It takes out redness in my skin, and covers everything I want it to. It doesn't feels heavy or cakey, and it works well on my oily patches as well as my extremely dry patches. It does have a very dewy finish that I calm down with a light dusting of powder but if you like the dew, this can give you it. 

Sleek BB Cream

Coverage: Light, but buildable.

Skin Type: Combination to Dry Skin

Price:  £8.99

I use this as a primer myself just on my t-zone and on my chin, but as a BB cream it's great for combination skin. I wouldn't say it's great for the extremes of oiliness or dryness but it does give a nice light coverage without feeling to heavy and the shade range is great too. I think it's great, as I said, as a primer down my t-zone and on my chin to give a little extra coverage and to make my makeup stay in place a little longer. 

Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse, The Body Shop Moisture Foundation, Revlon ColorStay Foundation for Normal/Dry Skin & MAC Select SPF15 Foundation

Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse

Coverage: Full

Skin Type: Combination to Oily Skin

Price:  £7.69

I know this hit or miss for people. I like it because it's the only foundation I've tried that gives a truly matte finish. It does transfer and it sticks to dry skin so bare that in mind, but it does give amazing coverage. It's very unique and it does last a long time if you don't rub the foundation on your skin to much. 

The Body Shop Moisture Foundation

Coverage: Medium

Skin Type: Dry to Very Dry Skin

Price:  £13

This is an amazing foundation for dry skin. I have super dry skin and this just works for it. It it very dewy, so I powder it because it's like shine galore but with a light dusting of powder it looks gorgeous. It lasts all day, and it has a fairly decent coverage.

Revlon ColorStay Foundation

Coverage: Full.

Skin Type: They offer a formula for Dry/Combination and Oily Skin, so take your pick.

Price:  £12.49

I'm sure I don't need to say anything about this foundation. It's a great semi-matte foundation (at least the dry skin formula is). It's full coverage that lasts all day and while it can be a little heavy if you apply it with your fingers it gives a finish on the skin. 

MAC Select SPF 15 Foundation

Coverage: Medium to Full

Skin Type: Combination to Dry Skin

Price:  Discon

I had no idea this was discontinued, but it's not on the website anymore so I can only assume you can't get it anymore. But it is a favorite of mine so I thought I would include it. It's a great medium coverage foundation that you can build up to be very full. It lasts a really long time and you don't need to powder it to get it to last.

YSL Touche Eclat Foundation & Rimmel Match Perfect Gel Cream Foundation

YSL Touche Eclat Foundation

Coverage: Light

Skin Type: Dry

Price:  £28

This is my perfect foundation. I have about one use left in my bottle and I'm saving it for a special occasion because I just can't bare to say goodbye to this. I don't have the cash to replace this at the moment but I will when I do. It gives the skin an amazing quality to it. It doesn't have a full coverage or anything like that but it just does something to my skin that makes me like it, and I never like my skin.

Rimmel Match Perfection Gel Cream Foundation

Coverage: Medium, but buildable.

Skin Type: Normal to Dry

Price:  £6.99

I love this foundation to bits, and it's my favorite from all the Rimmel foundations. I do like the normal match perfection one, but I love this formula even more.The gel-cream formula makes it great for my dry skin. It glides on, and really does match up to skin colour and texture. It does go on darker than it looks when it settles in so don't freak out like I did. It lasts well on the skin, and the pot lasts a long time too.

I Heart Drugstore Makeup TAG

What is your favorite drugstore makeup brand?

This is a tough one for me because I really only use drugstore products, and every brand excels in one things like Revlon and their lip products or Maybelline and their mascaras. Overall, I think it would be either Maybelline because I love their mascara’s, some of their foundations and some lip products to or it would be MUA because even though some products aren’t amazing the value for money and quality of most products is amazing!

What are your favorite face, cheek and lip products?

 

Is Soap and Glory a drugstore brand? I’m going to say they are and say my favourite face product is Hocus Focus. It’s a highlighting lotion that I mix in with either my moisutriser or foundation to give a nice glow to any foundation I put on.

Again, I have to ask, is Topshop considered drugstore? I mean they are reasonably cheap but you can’t get them in places like Boots or Superdurg. If it is considered drugstore my favourite cheek product would be their cream blushes. I rave and rave about them all the time because I think they are amazing. If not, then I would have to go with the Sleek blushes because they are reasonably priced and they are amazing quality. 

My favourite lip products are just too hard to choose. I love something in almost every brand but I do adore the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains at the moment. I think everyone in the blogger world has heard about these. They are essentially dupes for the Clinique chubby sticks, and the Chubby Stick Intense. They are jumbo pencil like products that have the staying power of a lipstick with the application quality of a balm. They only thing I’m not a fan of is the taste and smell. To me it’s like old tasting old chewing gum, like stale mint. I’m not sure why they have that mint taste because it’s not needed.

  Least favorite product?

This is a question I could go on and on about because while the drugstore has some amazing products there are many, many terrible products out there to. I think I would have to go with the Maybelline Dream Foam foundation though. This is something I own, or will ever own. I’ve tried it out once on my face and hated it. It didn’t offer any coverage and it felt horrid on my skin. I don’t like the packaging because you have very little control over how much comes out of the bottle. And lastly the fact that it doesn’t come off any surface worries me a lot. I work in a place that sells Maybelline products, and as soon as the testers were put out I knew it was a recipe for disaster. People testing them didn’t expect the explosion of mousse that comes out of the tube. They rub it off on the stand and when you go to clean that stand, nothing gets it off. I mean me and my colleagues have tried everything. Baby wipes, makeup remover, oil based products, nail varnish remover and even industrial strength cleaner and nothing works. If that’s what it does to the stand, can you imagine what it does to your face?  

What is the best makeup bargain?

 I would have to say it’s the £1 range that MUA offer. The lipsticks and eyeshadows are the stand out products for me and they are worth so much more than £1. I rate them over some of the more expensive brands like L’Oreal and the shadows can even beat out some of my MAC shadows.

What is your favorite underdog product? (Something you love that often gets overlooked?)

 This is a tough one because I’m very influenced by bloggers and most of the products I own are popular (and for a good reason). If I had to choose just one thing, it would probably be Miss Sporty mascaras. People see the brand Miss Sporty as something very cheap and it’s often over looked but they offer a wonderful range of mascaras that are super cheap and are great quality. My current favourite is the volume Studio Lash, but they have something for everyone.

A drugstore product that is overpriced?

L’Oreal products are very expensive in my opinion but I think anything from MeMeMe is overpriced. While I love their products, I often don’t head to that stand because it’s so expensive and I can get similar products for a cheaper price. The most overpriced thing for me would either be their foundations or their dew pots.

Show your best drugstore dupe(s)!!

I could go on and on about this! I have a fair ol’ few. For lipsticks I would say the best ones are:

• 17 Mirror Shine Lipstick in Beehive. It’s a good dupe for MAC hue.
• L’Oreal Colour Riche Lipstick in Boreal. It’s almost an exact match for MAC Blankety.
• The Rimmel Lasting Finish Kate Moss lipstick on 02 is a close match for Girl About Town by MAC.
• Iced Fudged Mono Eyeshadow from Maybelline is a close copy for Satin Taupe by MAC. It’s a little more chunky, with a bit more glitter but it’s still that gorgeous taupe colour with silver shimmer.
• The MUA Undressed Palette is a good dupe for the Urban Decay Naked Palette.
• A number of MeMeMe products are good dupes for Benefit products like the Fat Cat mascara and Bad Gal.
• The MUA Every Lash mascara is an amazing dupe for Benefit They’re Real. 

Drugstore product that isn't worth the hype? 

This is the hardest question for me because I really cannot think of something over hyped! It might have to be the Revlon Lip Butters. That’s not to say that I don’t adore them, because I do but they aren’t as amazing as they are made out to be. They don’t last all that long and when you apply them again over the top of the first coat they can get a weird texture. Also the darker colours like Macaroon and Lollipop can bleed and you to be careful when applying them because they can get very messy. Also, they don’t fade that evenly, so you can end up with just colour on the outside of your lips.