Review: Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation

This Rimmel London first caught my eye when I received a sample of it in a recent issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine.  The sample was definitely too dark for me but I gave it a try and thought that it was nice; however, I didn’t really intend to buy it as it wasn’t amazing and I presumed it would be overpriced. That was until I saw it for only £6 on the boots website instead of the regular £8.99 and as it was a total steal I decide to go in store and pick it up. 

I ended up purchasing the lightest shade available, 100 IVORY (which was sold out for almost two weeks in all of my local boots stores). This shade still isn’t a perfect colour match for me as it very warm and yellow toned, along with almost all of the shades. So if you have very cooled toned NW skin you may not find a suitable colour match. Also as there are only six shades available, all of them aimed at light to medium skin tones, don’t be disappointed if you try to buy this foundation but don’t find a good shade for your skin.

As far as the actual foundation is concerned, I have to grown to like more after I have experimented with different application methods. As the name suggests it is support to make your tired, dull skin look illumined and dewy – so if you have super oily skin stay away. It actually has a tiny and very subtle shimmer in it that catches the light and illuminate your skin.  The foundation was surprisingly thick and not what I was expecting however really blends into the skin nicely and is great for dryer skins as it doesn’t catch on dry patches. The coverage is definitely buildable, but still a medium coverage. It has a reasonable staying power of about eight hours which is good.  The foundation can be worn with a powder to create a satin, semi-matte finish or without powder for a more dewy affect – so is okay for semi-oily skin and dryer skin.

Overall I wanted this to be a cheaper alternative to my favourite foundation, Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua.  And while the Wake Me Up foundation is a lot thicker, when mixed with a oil free moisturizer (that thins the consistency and lowers the coverage)it is a good dupe as it won’t break the bank.

Review: Philosophy Purity Cleanser

I recently purchased this cleanser as I was looking for a good cleanser that would work well with the Clarisonic Plus that I received at Christmas. I had previously used a Clinique, Origins and Clean & Clear however none worked well with my Clarisonic. The cleaner isn’t too expensive and you can buy a small bottle in boots for £8 if you were looking to try it.

I have dryer skin, and in winter I can get dry patches of skin however around my nose I do get a bit oily as the day goes on. This cleanser is great for a lot of skin types and I think it would work well for people with oily, normal, or dry skin as long as you skin isn’t extremely oily or dry. The consistency is odd as it is a very liquid type paste. When used with the Clarisonic is creates a nice lather and leaves your skin feeling clean but never tight. The smell is fresh and has quite a strong sense of lavender, but isn’t too over powering – although if you can stand fragranced products you may want to give this one a miss. I use this product with my Clarisonic every night and it leaves my skin feeling balanced and clean.

The only disadvantage that I noticed was that when I tried this product without my Clarisonic it didn’t perform well. The lather it made was almost none, and I didn’t felt like it did that much for my skin. However, with the Clarisonic it is one of the best cleansers I have used.Overall this cleaner is good for most skin types, but isn’t great without a Clarisonic. 

Mac Starter Kit

I know this is nothing new and everyone has done it but as I have just recently started by blog I thought that it wouldn’t be complete without a Mac starter Kit. Mac is a good brand if you want to start buying high end makeup as it is cheaper than brands like Nars, Bobbi Brown and Chanel.  I am not really going to go into products that I don’t own or that I think you can buy a lot better quality product from another brand or if I think the product is not worth the money.

Eye shadows-

Mac eye shadows are very pigmented and easy to blend if you have a few good brushes. For a starter kit I would recommend that you buy a quad and four pan eye shadows.  I am not going to suggest that you buy Carbon (a matte black) as you can buy a drugstore dupe quite easily. For a highlight colour I would recommend Brule (satin finish) as it is my all tine favourite highlight as it is so natural and highlights without extreme shimmer. For a lid colour I would recommend Naked Lunch (frost finish) as it has a subtle sheen/shimmer and works well with a number of skin tones and crease colours. As a best friend colour (natural crease colour)I would steer you towards  Quarry (matte finish) as it is so easy to blend and goes with everything. I would finally suggest that you pick up Satin Taupe (frost finish) which as the name suggests is a taupe colour that blends wonderfully with Naked Lunch.

Now apart from the highlight which is neutral, these are all more cool toned colours, so if you would prefer warmer colours I would suggest Ricepaper as the lid colour, Wedge as the best friend crease colour and Patina as the main crease colour.

Lip Products-

I love all formulations of all Mac lipsticks and lip glosses and think that you can’t really go wrong with them but I have a few suggests to put you in the right direction.

Mac Hue lipstick (glaze finish) is something I’m sure you have heard of if you ready any beauty blog or watch any beauty YouTube channel.  It is a sheer natural pink nude lipstick, and probably one of my all time favourites.  However another lipstick that i would recommend if you are like me and have problems with having darker red lips than most people is Honeylove (matte). This lipstick is great for neutralising your lips before putting on a lip gloss; I do this by lightly dabbing the lipstick on and then apply another lip colour or gloss.

My favourite Mac lip gloss is love nectar which isa lustreglass formula and is the perfect nude gloss. I find that you can do so much with this gloss as you can wear it on it’s on to create a peachy nude lip of on top of something like Hue lipstick for a pinky nude.

Eye shadow Bases-

Macs Painterly paint pot is a great base if like me you prefer a very creamy base. Again this is a product that you have probably heard of before. However what you probably haven’t heard about this cult product is that if you have oily eyelids and wear eye shadows all day IT DOES CREASE. So while it is nice for short wear of eye shadows if you want something really long wearing get Urban Decay Primer Potion. (I often apply both)

Blush and Highlighters-

Finally, my favourite type of products from Mac. The blush I would recommend is Pinch O’ Peach (sheertone formula) because you can get a very natural pink if applied lightly or you can make it an intense pink with heavy application. Although what I would say about Mac blush is get any sheertone or satin formula blush that suits your skin tone and taste. These blushes are pigmented but very very easy to work with and blend unlike other finishes such as matte finishes.

I can’t bring myself to pick just one as I am a girl with dry skin I love highlighter. The Cream Colour Base in Pearl is a great cream highlighter that creates a very dewy effect.  And the Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle is a powder highlighter so it may be better for more oily skins. Overall either is a great choice but for a person who I new to Mac I might pick Soft and Gentle as it works great as a eye shadow on the lid as well as a highlighter.