Laura Mercier, moisture supreme...

So there's a little story behind my recent foundation purchase...I've been using MAC's satin finish mineralize foundation (correct me if I've gotten the name wrong) for about a year now and I thought I'd never find another love quite like it. Recently however, I've been running low and using a little of Rimmel's wake me up foundation to compensate. Unfortunately, I just don't think the Rimmel one is for me. There doesn't seem to be a tone to match my skin and I find it a bit heavy for my taste, although I do adore the smell, who knew a foundation could smell so good?  Anyway I thought it was about time I popped into MAC for a foundation refuel.  Then, the inevitable happened...they were sold out of my colour (NW20) in store AND online. I was told by the saleswoman it'd be a few weeks and, well I just couldn't wait that long, obviously.  So being me, already lost in Harvey Nichols make-up paradise, I had to take a wander over to the Laura Mercier counter.

Long story short, the fantastically camp salesman colour matched me and I was wooed by a mixture of his charm and the perfect match I'd found for my skin, in the shade "blush ivory".

So of course I got home eager to try it out and couldn't help but compare it to my previous love; the MAC foundation.  Over the past week or so I've been using Laura Mercier everyday and I've found it definitely has it's pros and cons.  Firstly, as I hope the above picture demonstrates, it really does have the dewy glow I was looking for, I'm not a fan of heavy duty foundations, I like enough to cover up blemishes but not so much I look like I need a good scrub, y'know?

I found it blends into the skin really nicely, as the sales assistant informed me it "knows" when your skin needs hydration, perfect for combination skin. As far as I can tell it really does seem to inject moisture into my dry cheeks, without creating too much oil in the t-zone. The only thing I'd say I don't like is how liquid-y it is? If that makes sense. I found the MAC one to be reasonably thick so I didn't have to use loads at one time,whereas I feel like I'm using lots more of this one. The Laura Mercier is quite a bit more expensive too so I don't really want it running out too soon!

I have to say I'm still not 100% sure if this will be the start of a new love affair, and if MAC foundation will be long forgotten. However if it weren't for the price tag Laura Mericer would almost definitely be a winner!
Here are a couple of mug shots below, of a finished look with the foundation.  Let me know what you think!

Hope you had a pleasurable read, and please let me know about any experiences and opinions of any of the foundations mentioned!

Recent Favourites

Hey guys, so I thought my first blog post should be about a few of the items I've been loving the past little while. So here are those little gems...

 First of all I've been looking for a nice eye palette for, like, ever. So a couple of months ago, with my birthday coming up I thought I'd go for one of the hyped-up Urban Decay naked palettes. However, I ran out of time to go to my nearest Debenhams for a peek at this blogger holy grail, and found myself wandering aimlessly round Boots instead...enter the Stila stand.

This little beauty caught my eye, and I fell instantly in love. It's just such a great everyday palette, mostly I've been using a mixture of the second closest one, top row (kitten) which is a gorgeous shimery champagne colour, with a pinky undertone (my best attempt at description). Along with the farthest away in the top row (sandstone) in the crease, this one is just a nice natural, matte brown.  Actually I also use sandstone for my brows, so a great all-rounder.  There's also a 'smudge stick' eyeliner in "damsel", which is nice but I'm not a huge eyeliner fan.

For the afore mentioned birthday, I received a cheeky little Boots voucher, so it wasn't long before I was back  wandering the isles for faaar too long.  Firstly I picked up the Revlon powder blush in '003 Perfectly Peach'. As the name suggests it's a lovely pink toned peach, and as much as I wanted to take the plunge into cream blushes, I'm just not ready yet. This is a perfect spring blush and has become a staple in my daily make-up routine. Secondly this Thermal Spring Water, from La Roche-Posay; a really gorgeous and relatively inexpensive refreshing spray. I just love the way it feels on my skin, and it's been great for reducing redness too. I guess it's sort of along the same lines as the Caudalie beauty elixir just a great, refreshing moisture spray and I use it morning and night!

I am a self-confessed lip product addict, there's no denying it. A recent addition is the Clinique chubby stick in Oversized Orange. Not sure if the pout-y lip shot does it justice but this has been my go-to lip product recently. A really sheer balm with a bit of a coral/orange colour to it, easy to wear and great for Spring/Summer (if we ever get one in Scotland).

Finally, then another little gem from OPI.  As I'm off to Berlin at the end of the month I though, I just had to pick up a shade from the Germany collection, obviously. This is the shade 'Berlin There Done That' (couldn't resist). Of course, I bought it mainly because of the name, however I do actually love the colour. It's not been at all sunny  up here the past month so the taupe/cement shade has been a perfect match for the weather.

So thanks for reading everyone, let me know what products you've been loving recently!