RIMMEL LASTING FINISH 25 HOUR FOUNDATION: REVIEW AND PICTURES

I’m sure we all know by now how much I love Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra 24 hour foundation, but lately I’ve been a bit bored with it. It hasn’t done anything wrong, it’s just I’ve been wearing it for years and wanted to try something new. I’ve tried a few different foundations lately and still haven’t found the (new) “one”. Obviously I was happy to discover a free sample of Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation and Lasting Finish Primer in the March issue of Glamour Magazine. I love trying samples.

Lasting Finish Foundation promises skin perfecting full coverage with comfort serum. You’ll see in the pictures below that my skin is quite blotchy with more redness than usual, but the Lasting Finish covers it all really well. It is full coverage in the sense that I really don’t need to add any concealer but the finish is not as heavy and flat as I found the full coverage of the Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation and Concealer. This alone looks the way a medium coverage foundation looks after I’ve used concealer and powder. I think my skin still looks like skin in this and it feels very comfortable on.

Surprisingly enough I’ve gotten three wears out of this sample and I wasn’t scrimping. I have no intention of testing the 25 hour claim and the primer reckons it could add up to 8 hours wear so 33 hours, no chance, some days it’s all I can do to get through 8 hours. I’ve tried the foundation alone, with the primer, and then with the primer and with MAC Mineralise Skinfinish Natural as a setting powder. Alone it lasted about six hours before I noticed any shine but the shine wasn’t that bad and I could have lived without powder till about the eight hour mark. With the primer it was about the same. I didn’t think it kept shine at bay any longer but the primer felt hydrating when applied and created a lovely base for applying the foundation. Now with the primer and powder it lasted all day and I thought my makeup still looked perfect after twelve hours.

Top-Before, Bottom-After, no flash

(With a few finishing touches, MAC MSFN, Isadora Face Sculptor Palette. Taken indoors with a flash but next to a window)

I’m pretty impressed with this and if I’m honest I am a bit of a foundation snob. I’ll buy budget brands if there is enough hype but I wouldn’t wear a budget foundation on a regular basis and I definitely wouldn’t wear budget foundation to a special occasion or a night out. It’s about €9 and I am thinking about buying it to be my everyday foundation. It has an SPF of 20 so there is flashback when the lighting isn’t great so for that reason I wouldn’t use it for special occasions and nights out but spending only €9 instead of €30 plus on a foundation that I use every day, I will be saving so much so I can afford to spend big on the occasion foundation.

As for the primer, it creates a nice base but I’m not sure it extends the wear time of the foundation. I will try it with other foundations to see if it makes any improvement on them and report back. It doesn’t have any shimmer through it so I’m not sure it adds any skin improvements either but I’ll give it another go and let you know.

FACE OF THE DAY: #FOTD

I like reading face of the day posts but I hardly ever do them myself because I am a creature of habit and tend to wear more or less the same products most days. I have decided to make more of an effort to mix it up a bit now and then in order to get some more use out of all the other products that are sitting in my stash being ignored. Some of which are actually really great products but like I said it’s just habit that keeps me reaching for the old reliable. So here is today’s face of the day:

Foundation: Max Factor Whipped Cream Foundation
Setting Powder – MAC Mineralise Skinfinish Natural
Blush: Rimmel Lasting Finish Soft Colour Mono Blush in Live Pink
Concealer – Nars Radian Creamy Concealer
Eye shadow: Maybelline Big Eyes Eyeshadow Palette in Brown
Eyebrows: MAC Omega
Mascara: Max Factor Clump Defy Extensions
Lipstick: Clarins Joli Rouge Brilliant Perfect Shine Sheer Lipstick in Sweet Plum

Do you mix your makeup up regularly or are you a creature of habit like me?

FACE OF THE DAY

On weekday mornings when I get ready for work I operate on auto pilot. I apply the same products in the same order every day. All the products that I use in my everyday routine are products that I purchased myself and they are the products that I trust to last all day without any need for touch ups. Thanks to blogging I am lucky enough to occasionally be sent products to try out and review. I not the biggest blog on the block so I don’t get sent loads of stuff but every now and again I do receive some great products. At the weekends is when I have time to play around with some of the other products in my stash. For this post I decided to try and do a face of the day without using any of the products that I use in my every day routine, however, I did have to use two products. They are MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Medium Plus because I don’t have a bronzer without shimmer that I could use to contour and MAC Omega because you will see in the pictures below just how important filling in my eyebrows is so I don’t like to mess with them. I have brow pencils but I find that when I fill them in with pencils or pens they end up looking very different. I am happy with the result I get from Omega and feel the colour is perfect thanks to the ash tone. So here is the look:

1 My bare, pale face (no wonder everyone tells me I look tired when they see me without any makeup)
2 Max Factor CC Colour Corrector Pencils, Green to neutralise red and Yellow for dark under eye circles
3 Pari Mineral Perfection Foundation
4 Nars Light Reflecting Setting Powder
5 MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Medium Plus to contour
6 Rimmel Mono Blush in Live Pink
7 MAC Omega to fill in brows
8 Eyes done with Pari 5 Well Eyeshadow Elements Palette (pink on lid, light brown in crease and liner) Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara for a subtle no makeup eye look.

Here I am right before getting ready for bed without having done any touch ups and I think all the products lasted pretty well.

Do you work on auto pilot in the mornings or do you vary your routine from day to day?

 

RIMMEL LONDON SALON PRO in SIMPLY SIZZLING: Review and Pictures

My local Pennys has a Rimmel London stand right at the entrance to where you queue for the till. That’s right they got me again. Those evil geniuses know exactly what they are doing, catching suckers like me every time. Simply sizzling is part of the new Salon Pro range that launched in late April.

This colour is bright pink and it screams summer. It’s a very pretty colour and looks especially great on toes (don’t worry I won’t subject you to a photo of my feet). The colour is really eye catching so be careful when driving to keep your eyes on the road and not looking at your pretty nails.

The range promises a long lasting, chip resistant and anti-fade colour that will last up to 10 days. It took two coats for full opacity. It has a brilliant wide brush that’s not too soft or too firm, which makes it easy to apply. There is nothing worse than a really thin and soft, flimsy brush. I didn’t use any top coat with this. The finish is nice and super shiny, but I’m not expecting to get ten days out of this mani. I’m far too hard on nail polish. I always seem to smudge or chip it before day one is out.

It’ll last longer on my toes for some reason but at €6.45 I’m really not disappointed that it won’t last long on my hands; I wouldn’t expect any DIY nail polish to last 10 days. The price is good for what you get and the shiny finish is impressive. I am definitely going to try some of the other 22 colours in the Salon Pro range, 9 of which were developed in collaboration with Kate Moss and bear her signature. Any suggestions for which one to try next?

RIMMEL APOCALIPS CELESTIAL: REVIEW AND PICTURES

If you haven’t seen these yet, (where have you been) despite looking like lip glosses they are actually liquid lipstick. Wierd, yes. Gimmicky, maybe. Just plain wrong, oh no. If you haven’t noticed, beauty bloggers and makeup fanatics have been going mad for them. In fact I’m probably one of the last to post a review. In my defence, it took ages to find them not sold out and then when I did finally get my grubby paws on one, I wanted to give it a proper go and wear it a few times before I posted an opinion.

There are eight shades in total and the colour I have is Celestial, which is a plum toned pink. Yes I know another pinky plum lip product! I promise to be more adventurous in future but when you know what you like… Once again I got this as part of a three for two offer in Boots but the retail price is €7.95. The quality is great for the price and Rimmel Apocalips totally rival higher end liquid lipsticks. When applied it does feel like a gloss on, it’s very moisturising and creamy. Where it differs from a gloss is that it is far more pigmented and not glossy on, the finish is more of a slight sheen or satin. Another plus is that it doesn’t have that sticky feeling.

(1st Pic is my bare lips, all the rest are of Celestial)

While there isn’t much transfer noticeable on cups and glasses, and it does leave a stain on the lips as it fades, it’s still definitely not longwearing and only lasts about two(ish) hours o me.

My only gripe with this is how it fades and wears off. It’s creamy when first applied but I find it quite drying as it wears, but for the price I’ll get over it because many expensive lip products are every bit as drying. This is part of the reason why I don’t actually wear lipstick that often, even though I buy plenty of them.

Rimmel London Lycra Pro in Sea Green: Review and Pictures

My local Pennys has a Rimmel London stand right at the entrance to where you queue for the till. Yup, they know exactly what they are doing, catching suckers like me every time. Since the new Kate Moss Salon Pro range that I’ve been reading about in a few other blogs lately is not available till late April, I settled on this little beauty.

I love green, especially teal green. Ladies it doesn’t need to be Paddy’s day to wear your green. This colour is bright but not too “hey it’s spring” because it doesn’t feel like spring: it’s freekin birr out. Sea Green is from the Lycra Pro Professional Finish range. These promise a long lasting, chip resistant and anti-fade colour that will last up to 10 days.

It took two coats for full opacity. It has a brilliant wide brush that’s not too soft or too firm, which makes it easy to apply. There is nothing worse than a really thin and soft, flimsy brush. I didn’t use any top coat with this. The finish is nice and shiny, but I’m not expecting to get ten days out of this mani. I been to the jacks once and I already have a scratch . A nail polish’s ability to survive pulling your trousers down and back up is a true testament to its durability; especially if they are super skinny jeans.

So it won’t last long but I’m fine with that because it’s €5.95 and quick and easy to apply and I already have another polish lined up for the weekend.

Rimmel London Lasting Finish Soft Colour Mono Blush in Live Pink: Review & Pictures

The minute I saw this here on Beaut.ie, I knew I would have to have it. Low and behold I spotted it on Saturday and it was the last one; it was fate and it was mine. Mine I tell you all mine.

I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a powder blush that lasts all day on me. In the pan it looks frighteningly hot pink, but fear not; applied with a gently touch and it gives a sheer wash of colour.

There does seem to be a gold shimmer through it but that isn’t noticeable as such when applied. So you don’t look like a disco ball. Maybe it’s the gold shimmer that makes it look a bit peach on me. Normally I prefer a more peach or coral blush, but I’m making more of an effort to try new colours in all my makeup. Live Pink however wasn’t too much out of my comfort zone as it gives a flattering glow to my cheeks. It makes me feel pretty and that is what I look for in a blush; that immediate feeling of being prettier the moment it applied. As you can see in the pics below, I like a light sweep of blush for day time, I would be a bit heavier handed for a night out

L-R: Without, With & With

L-R: Without, With & With

At €5.35, it’s definately worth checking out. Have I tempted you to try Live Pink?