Aallexxy's Foundation Files; NYX HD Concealer

Foundation Files; This is where I test out different base products, from concealer to powder, tinted moisturiser and foundation etc, over a period of 7-14 days and post my findings. (Follow me on Instagram,Twitter and Bloglovin so you don't miss a post) So let’s get started!!!

First off some information about me; Skintype: Combination (leaning dry in winter and Oily in Summer). Shade Reference:in between MAC NC45-50/NW43. Undertones: Yellow/Neutral.

NYX HD Concealer

 Brand: NYX

 

Name: HD Photogenic Concealer*

Coverage: Medium

Shade: CW08 Nutmeg (perfect match for me) and CW05 Medium (Swatching for reference and I can mix the two for a under eye highlight)

Swatch:

NYX HD Concealer Swatches

 What The brand says: Concealer who me? This lightweight cover-up obscures imperfections, discoloration and under eye circles, but does so without ever looking cakey or obvious. Little wonder the Concealer Wand is one of our best-sellers. The concentrated, emollient-rich concealer formula goes on like a dream, is non-comedogenic and creates medium to heavy coverage. Available in 12 shades. Use the lavender for sallow skin, the green to neutralize redness and the yellow for under-eye darkness.

Wear time (with/without primer): The wear time on this is great, holds up well with and without primer and doesn't crease on me. It has good coverage without looking cakey or heavy.

Price (ml): £6 for 5ml

Pros: Affordable
Long wearing
Non-cakey
Doesn't crease
Lightweight

Cons: Needs darker shades
More accessibility

Suitable Skin Types: All (extremely dry prep accordingly)

Ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Cetyl Dimethicone Copolyol, Trimethylsilcxypheny Dimethicone, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Isononyl Isononanoate, Caprylic/Capric triglyceride, Polymethlmethacrylata, Silica, Sorbitan Olivem, Magnesium Sulfate, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) wax, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Xanthan-GUM, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxide Yellow (CI 77491), Iron Oxide Red (77492), Iron Oxide Black (CI 77499)
May Contain: Water, Glycerin, Cetyl Dimethicone Copolyol,Phenyl Trimethicone, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Isononyl Isononanoate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Polymethylmethacrylate, Silica, Sorbitan Olivem, Magnesium Sulfate, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax,Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, and Xanthan-Gum. MAY CONTAIN: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Chromium Oxide Green (CI 77288), Chromium Hydroxide Green (CI 77289), Iron Oxide Black (CI 77499), Iron Oxide Yellow (CI77491), Iron Oxide Red (CI 77492) Ultramarine Blue (CI 77007), or Manganese Violet (CI 77742).

Oxidation: None

Any Other Information: Its called the Concealer Wand on the website , it's showing 8 shades with 3 colour corrective shades on the website, but having attended the beauty blogger event last week, I do believe that when they officially launch in the UK more shades will be available (I'll update this post accordingly).

Conclusion: I absolutely love this concealer and can see why it would be a best seller for NYX, for something so affodable it's very effective. It covers well, has good staying power and is Talc and Paraben free.

**Rating: Love

*Pr Sample

**Ratings: Hate, Dislike, Like, Lust, Love

Benefits fake up!!!

Hello everyone,

By now most of you would have heard of Benefits latest release, the hydrating crease-control concealer, Fake-up. I was in need (want) of a new day-to-day use concealer and decided to try this one, especially as asos had 30% off all beauty on there website, which meant this £18.50 concealer was even cheaper. This concealer is different in that it is surrounded by a hydrating ring, which contains vitamin E and apple seed extract, benefit claims it hydrates, conceals, is long lasting and won't crease among other things. The shade range is limited, light, medium and deep, I knew I would be using this as an under eye concealer so opted for the shade medium to brighten and highlight my under eye area.














I love Benefits quirky packaging, which makes this concealer easy to use and travel/handbag friendly, great for touch ups throughout the day. I dab it straight from the tube under my eyes and blend it out with my finger, I then set it with either my MAC mineralise skinfinish powder, my hourglass ambient ligthing powder in Dim or both.

With FlashWithout Flash

Initially when I applied the concealer, it creased a very tiny bit, but I blended it out further with my finger and it's not been a problem since. I really like this concealer, once blended it doesn't crease and is long lasting, I was worried it would make my combination skin look greasy and oily, but it gives a gorgeous, luminous glow to the skin. I can't comment on whether it conceals dark circles, as I am using it as a highlighting concealer and my dark circles are only bad when I've had periods of poor sleep.

Set with ambient powder in Dim.

 

 

Have you tried this concealer yet, what did you think? Any further questions please feel free to post a comment below.

 

Thanks for visiting the blog today.

 

Alex

 

Maqpro Mandy Gold Palette!!!

I have heard Wayne Goss (gossmakeupartist on youtube) talk about maqpro products for quite a while, so I finally decided to take the plunge and buy the mandy gold palette from preciousaboutmakeup.com (PAM), especially as I've been in need of a corrector. The palette consists of 6 shades totalling 55 grams of product, for £27.50, which is great value for money. These foundation are wax based and suppose to be suitable for all skin types, my combination skin is currently a little dry and this foundation feels great on my skin, I look forward to using it in the summer when my skin is a little more normal-oily as it's meant to be great for oil control.

                 
 

Maqpro is a french based company, not to be confused with Mac cosmetics, I think there products were more tailored to make-up artists but are becoming more accessible to us mere mortals. As you can see the packaging is nothing fancy, but it's very sleek and flat so I can imagine great for make-up artists to travel with, I'm not sure how sturdy the plastic is I've had it for about 2 weeks and it's fine, but I don't tend to carry my foundation around with me.

     With flash and without
 

















The orange shade is the corrector, if you are of a deeper skintone and have areas of pigmentation, any the orange shade can brighten these areas prior to applying your foundation. It also great for dark under eye circles, I always have my foundation go ashy around my mouth area and this prevents that. This palette contains all I need for concealing, highlighting, correcting, contouring, bronzing, blusher and foundation, you can also tailor it to the amount of coverage you want/need, great and compact for travel. I have found a use for all the shades except one, 3rd on along on the top row, but this will probably depend on your skintone. I can also use the orange and bronzing shade (2nd on the top row) as a blusher, the 3rd shade on the bottm is a great contouring shade due to it's grey undertone, but the shades can also be mixed to create the perfect colour for what ever you want.

 

Foundation a few hours after application.

 

The foundation goes on beautifully and blends like a dream, you don't need much, but initially you might think you are not picking up very much product due to it's consistency until you start to notice all your flaws disappearing. I have used both the beauty blender and the real techniques expert face brush and they both work great to blend and buff the foundation into the skin, you can set it if you need too, but I've worn it both ways and it looked great.

 

This palette is catered to darker skintones, but there are others on the website for other skintones, lighter and darker. If you're in the market for a new base, and also in need of a corrector, I highly recommend this product.

 

Have you tried any Maqpro products before? Let me know what you thought.

 

Thanks for visiting my blog.

 

Alex

 

Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer!!!

The Kevyn Aucoin SSE is not new to the beauty world, but it's one of those products that can take a while to get the hang of how to use it, it's so versatile that it can actually be rather confusing and if used incorrectly can make you look very cakey. It's a small pot of richly pigmented product that can create a very light tinted moisturiser type coverage or full no skin on show coverage, it can also be used as a concealer.

    

 

This small 18g tub costs £36, but you need such a small amount that it will last quite a while, I have two out of the fantastic 18 shades (SX12 and 15). As you can see from the ingredient list it does contain mineral oil and its the first ingredient on the list, so this maybe a problem for some, its available in SpaceNK stores and on there website.

With flash and without.

I've had shade SX12 (lighter shade) for a while and its still going strong, although I don't use it daily, I use it as an under eye concealer or all over my face, it blends well when used as a light coverage. It has strong yellow undertones, I either dot it lightly and blend with a brush or damp beauty blender sponge or mix it with a clear primer, like the one from elf and set it with Mac's mineralise skin finish powder in dark (this warms the product up slightly and tones down the overly yellow undertones. SX15 is a more recent purchase (January '13), I use it to contour my face, it blends well into the skin and the colour can be controlled by how much product is used and how well blended it is. I scoop out a small amount of product and place it in a small tub, to maintain the hygiene of the product, and since I've taken the first scoop I have not had too go back for more. Again these are not used on a daily basis, just because I'm a beauty junkie and have a few options of other products to choose from, but they are great products and I love them for there versatility.

Heavily swatched, with flash, without flash below.

Blended into the skin, with and without flash.

If you have a medium black or asian skintone, with strong yellow undertones this will work well for you, buying more than one shade also means you can mix to get your desired colour making it work all year round. You can also mix these with other bases, tinted moisturisers, foundations etc to adjust the colour and/or coverage.

Have you tried the sensual skin enhancer yet? How do you use yours? Any further tips on how to use this product?

Thanks for visiting the blog today, if you have any further questions put them in the comments section below and I'll do my best to answer.

Alex

Ben Nye Translucent Face Powder in Topaz

Now the Ben nye banana powder is infamous across youtube and blogging communities, but the one you don't hear as much about is the translucent face powder in Topaz. This is a orange tinged powder than can be used to set the entire face or your under eye highlight depending on your skintone, also the hint of orange is great at reducing ashy areas that can happen due to hyper-pigmentation on asian and deeper skintones or using white based translucent powders, also great at reducing flash back in photography.

                                                             

I bought this powder from makeupeffects.co.uk for £8.10, which is amazing value for 2.85oz/80grams of product, it comes in a sifter type bottle which can cause some waste, but I tap a little into the lid section of my mac mineralise skin finish powder. I also have the banana powder, but I definately reach and use this more often to set my entire face, you can also tap a little onto your current face powders to brighten the complexion, warm up the complexion etc depending on your needs and skintone.

   Heavily swatched                                  Blended out slightly.

I absolutely love this powder and happy that I got my hands on it, I thought I would use the banana powder a lot more, but this one is definately slipped in my day-to-day routine as I don't like over highlighted looks for daytime. It helps with oil control, but won't cling to dry patches, as long as you don't apply too much, if you do just spritz your face with a bit of water, Mac fix plus or the like. Have you tried this powder or any other in the ben nye range, what are your thoughts?

Thanks for visiting the blog today.

Alex

Lancome's Teint Visionnaire Foundation Review!!!

I'm sure you've heard by now that Lancome have brought out a new foundation called Teint visionnaire, it contains 2% of the active ingredient in there visionnaire serum, which contains 4%.



BoxIngredients


It's a concealer/foundation duo that comes in a sturdy glass bottle, not great for travel, but then I don't tend to carry my foundation around with me on a day-to-day basis. Plus at £36 you want to feel like you are getting a luxury product, Lancome claim this foundation will reduce the appearance of pores, dark spots and wrinkles over time, all while giving you flawless coverage and SPF 20. 

 
 This foundation gives a medium coverage with a slight dewy finish, it lasts all day, although by the end of the day my combination skin is a little shiny in the t-zone area if I don't touch up at all. If your skin is more on the oily side you may need a good primer and setting power, probably touch up's during the day or opt for lancomes teint idole.


The high coverage corrector contains vitamin CG, which is meant to aid reduction of dark spots, dark circles and imperfections. It's a very thick concealer that is best applied with fingers, if you own Benefit's boing concealer its a very similar consistency. Lancome recommend applying the corrector first and foundation over the top, I would recommend using stippling motions with your brush to avoid moving the concealer applied underneath, I have used real techniques expert face brush and buffing brush and both work really well.

  
Concealer, foundation, Teint miracle in 10 and Teint visionnaire in 006 beige cannelle (No flash/flash).

Above I have swatched this foundation and concealer in shade 10 praline, I'm a shade 10 in teint miracle (this is more yellow) and this new foundation comes up slightly warmer in the same shade, I also swatched the shade below 10, 006 beige cannelle (there are no shades in between). The 006 was too light and too beige, so I had to get 10, once applied it blends well and matches great as it is slightly warmer I'll probably get away with wearing this shade all year round.



I really love the finish this foundation gives to the skin, it covers well without looking heavy or cakey, I don't have much to cover, but I do have pigmentation around my mouth that bothers me and can make foundation go ashy as the day goes on, by applying correcting concealer first this is less of an issue. Lancome recommend using the foundation daily for 4 weeks to see results, I haven't used it long enough so can't comment on whether the pigmentation has or will reduce, wrinkles and pores are not an issue for me at present, so I also can't comment on this.

Have you tried this foundation, what do you think, will you be trying it?

Alex