re.view: La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo

One day popping into Boots after work (nothing to buy, no intention to buy...typical) I spotted this in stock and decided to try it out after hearing a number of bloggers, most notably Ruth at amodelrecommends giving this a 'highly recommended' seal of approval.
Although my skin has been fairly well behaved of late due to a few changes that I've made to my skincare and diet, I always feel that, on the skin front, it's a case of keeping things under control on a daily basis that makes a real difference. This gel-like cream is suitable to apply all over your face as a spot-fighting moisturiser. This is true if you buy it in Europe but apparently the US formula is stronger designed as a spot-treatment - applying this all over your face might be a little too much for sensitive skin!

re.view: benefit They're real! mascara

I received this as a sample at some point and hadn't got around to trying it as mascaras are often included in magazines, offers and subscription boxes, but on a recent trip abroad I thought I'd take this to try out as it was a nice compact size. There has been a lot of hype about this mascara with a lot of positive reviews and a smattering of not so glowing ones.

re.create: Beautiful Movements Prime & Create Mixing Medium

I received this in a glossy box back in July (I think) as in a teeny tiny little pot of 2.5g. I thought that this was a little small for a sample, but a I still haven't used up this small amount.

This clear gel is designed for use as a primer for the face or eyes or as a mixing medium with powder products. I haven't yet tested this mixed with my mineral foundation (re.created myself - follow me for tutorial coming soon!) but I have been using it as a primer and it works a treat! It makes the colour of any eyeshadow appear far more vibrant because it 'grabs onto' more of the pigment. I haven't used it as an all-over face primer, mostly because I have been testing other things out but with a look at the ingredients it seems to be a nicely lighweight, silicone-based primer that should do the trick.

re.view: L'Oreal Voluminous mascara Carbon Black

My new mascara of choice.

Holy grail, holy grail! OK, so I haven't tried that many perhaps for this mascara to warrant such an address but this is the mascara that I have been using every day despite having four other tubes of mascara open (one natural, one defining, one 'false lash' and one turned out to be rubbish).

re.view: Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush

What a wonderful little blush!

Now, this is the most expensive blush that I've ever owned. Being a highstreet cosmetic fan, particularly for colour-cosmetic products, I had never really been tempted over to the dark side of high-end blushes, but after reading such rave reviews of this product again and again I finally couldn't help myself when I had access to a Sephora in North America (It's very difficult to get hold of Tarte products here in the UK, so I think the novelty value of it probably also tipped me over the edge!).

re.view: Make Up Forever HD Powder

I bought this little tester/travel pot of the Make Up Forever HD Powder from Sephora while I was in North America recently. I'd been wanting to get a decent make-up setting powder as the warm [read: oily] summer was approaching fast and my previous highstreet/drugstore powder wasn't doing the trick. I'd also read a lot about this and was really looking forward to giving a high-end product a try!

This powder works very well indeed. It's imperceptible on the skin once applied and finely-milled so you can't see the particles of powder on the skin unless you apply it very liberally indeed (if you do, just give it a spritz of a toner to bring it back to normal!). It famously can give a white cast to the skin under flashlight photography, so I reserve this for daytime wear and tend not to wear this in the evening events. For the evening and for touch-ups throughout the day I go for the Soap and Glory One Heck of a Blot powder that I am a real fan of.

re.commend: Toners

What do toners do?

I've noticed a bit of confusion recently on beauty forums such as Beautylish around what toners are for and whether they are a bit outdated with the range of today's skincare available.

For me, there are a couple of different toners that I still find useful for two different purposes: