My top 5 blogposts of 2013!!!

So 2013 has been a massive year for my blog, I actually posted my first post in October 2012 and then another the following month, but due to postgraduate studies I put blogging on hold. My next post was in March 2013, and I have tried to post consistently since. Being a working mum, my day job has nothing to do with beauty, it's not easy to find the time. Inspired by viviannadoesmakeup, I decided to put together the top 5 blogposts of 2013:

1. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light; this is unequivocally my most viewed blogpost, I think this was the start of a powder revolution, non cakey powders, that add a glow to the face.

2. Nip+Fab glycolic fix cleanser and exfoliating pads; I think this year glycolic acid was a big hit, people stopped being scared and embraced it, I have since used a few other glycolic products and love it. I am currenlty looking for a new addition (possibly pixibeauty glow tonic or REN's offering).

3. EX1 Cosmetics; This is a cosmetics range specifically designed to cater to asian, yellow/olive, mediterranean skin tones. I have currently hit pan on the powder, and am definately going to purchase another. Love it!!!

4. Maqpro Mandy Gold palette; The main thing I use out of this palette is the orange corrector, it's great under foundation to prevent foundation going grey or ashy where hyper-pigmentation is prominent, or to help make light work of covering blemishes.

5. Chanel Les Beiges; chanels addition to the light as air powders that can be used to set foundation, as a bronzer or to offer light coverage on no make-up days.

Thank you all for your support this year, I'm going to organise a giveaway in the new year, so stayed tuned. I'm looking forward to what 2014 has to offer, I wish you all a Happy New Year and a blessed 2014.

Thanks for visiting the blog today.

Alex

EX1 Cosmetics; Invisiwear foundation and compact powder!!!

So EX1 is the new cosmetics kid on the block, born out of Farah Naz's frustration to match her Asian skin tone, with a biochemist background she designed her own foundation. It's a capsule collection targeted towards Asian, Middle/Far Eastern and Mediterranean gals, with yellow, golden to deep olive undertones.

Now you're probably thinking how the hell do I fit into any of these categories, my intrigued was piqued as I regularly fall in between shades and find it notoriously difficult to be matched at beauty counters. I'm usually somewhere between an NC45-50 in mac, I'm between B70-80 in YSL le teint touché éclat, I'm inbetween bobbi browns extra tinted moisturiser in medium deep and dark...I could go on. I was even color matched by the Boots no7 machine and had a foundation applied on my face, I later glanced in the mirror and I looked grey, the beauty consultant also thought she'd give me a sample of the next shade up to take home commenting that it would look good when I tanned, bearing in mind this was the end of last summer how much darker did she think I was gonna get in autumn/winter. Plus isn't that the purpose of the machine, to remove the beauty consultants subjectivity?! I think you're starting to get the picture. If I use a foundation that's too red my face doesn't look like it belongs to my neck and chest, too light and I look ashy or just wrong, so I'm regularly mixing in Face Ateliers white foundation or mixing too shades together. I was hoping this would be my solution, is there finally a foundation that honours my golden yellow undertones, while respecting the depth of my skins tone, I decided to take the risk.

There are 5 shades in the invisiwear liquid foundation, F100, 200, 300, 400 & 500, I'm the darkest shade. It's housed in a plastic bottle, with a pump and gorgeous rose gold detailing, it's priced at an amazingly affordable £10.50, but I bought from beautyexpert for £7.72 and got a free blusher with 2 purchases. The foundation is thicker than the average liquid, but blends well into the skin, evening out your skintone without being cakey or heavy.

FlashDaylight

It initially looked like it would be too light, bear in mind my arms are currently extrememly tanned with the great weather we've been having, but it blends in beautifully on my face. It gives a semi-matte finish, which on my combination skin and with the current heatwave is great.

Heavily swatchedBlended out

The invisiwear compact powder comes in three shades, P100, 200 & 300, I have the darkest again. It cost £8.99, but I bought for £7.23, not sure how long beautyexpert will sell it at this price, so be quick if you're interested. It states that it mattifies, while hydrating the skin without caking and is oil-free. The first ingredient is talc, so for some this maybe a no go, it comes in the same rose gold packaging with a large mirror.  I found it felt light on the skin, and it did help to mattify my oily t-zone on my combination skin, and didn't look cakey at all. I expected that this would not be a good match for me at all, I assumed it would be too light and make me look ashy, I was wrong. I really like this powder, I can use it to set other foundations I have and it brings back some yellow into a foundation that maybe to red for my skin tone.

The free blusher is in the shade Natural Flush, it's a gorgeous pink hue, that doesn't read chalky or ashy on my deep complexion. I tend to use more coral/peach blushers in the summer, but I've been mixing this in to get a gorgeous pinky peach shade and it will definately get more use in the winter months, plus I love the screw top packaging.

                                     Foundation and powder used in a complete face of make-up!!!

So my risk paid off, I really like this brand, it's affordable, good quality and matches my undertones beautifully. There's also a concealer and mineral powder foundation in the range, which can also be purchased from lookfantastic.com, I'm contemplating ordering the concealer.

Have you tried this range? Any further questions, please put them in the comments below, thank you for visiting the blog today.

Alex