Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation. Better than Chanel?

I would be very surprised if you have not heard about this little glass bottle of Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation before, and it is said to be a dupe for Chanel Vitalumiere Foundation since Bourjois Paris is owned by Chanel. Yep, I can do that. Plus, I have actually been lucky enough to try Chanel's offering so I was intrigued to see the comparison.

I picked up the Healthy Mix Foundation in Light Vanilla, no51, which I do believe is their lightest? This matches perfectly, but I would imagine if you're very pale i.e. of the porcelain type, you might struggle to match up, as you can see, this isn't particularly light. Unless there is a paler shade which I am totally missing? Which is more than likely...

The second thing I noticed about Healthy Mix is the smell: fresh and fruity. How bizarre for a foundation. However, the scent disappears instantly on applying it to your face, so don't let that scare you off. The fruitiness is due to the ingredients which claim to be the magic behind this foundation, and containing the following:

Apricot = Radiance

Melon = Hydration

Apple = Antioxidant

Ginger = Energy

The coloring of this foundation is perfect I must say. Well, for me at least, as the colors are very much netural, if not leaning slightly towards the yellow end, but this is perfect for my skin. As you can see above this blends out easily, and into a natural looking finish. This is a light to medium coverage, probably leaning more towards medium, but it's very lightweight and dewy, so doesn't feel very heavy at all, just like Bourjois promised...I'm not sure about lasting 16 hours, which is a claim I tend to ignore generally. I've still never left my foundation on for that long to test, well not intentionally anyway. For people with normal skin, you are lucky cause this foundation will look perfect on you. Even though this is hydrating, I do think people with dry skin cause this might just accentuate your flaky patches, but after a good moisturizer you should be okay. Oily skinned people? You may find it makes you look a tad greasy, and may just emphasis any greasy patches.

How does this compare to Chanel Vitalumiere? To be totally honest, I can't see a difference, and for £9.99 I highly recommend you try this out before forking out on Chanel. 

Have you tried the Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation?

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Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

I am one of the few women on earth it seems that hasn't tried the slightly famous Bioderma micellar water. Or the L'Oreal one which seems to be the highstreet dupe. And my reason? Well I just never though micellar waters would catch on, and boy wasn't I wrong...But I saw the new Garnier micellar water in Boots for .£4.99 for 400ml and decided this was the time to give into the trend. 

Although, I got my geek on and compared this to the L'Oreal micellar water, and you know what? The ingredients are exactly the same. I am rubbish at science, so maybe there is an explanation, but from what I can see they are just the same product, different labels. Not mention different price tags.

Science and ingredients aside, and how it pains me to say it, but  I love how gentle the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water actually feels on my skin and while removing my make-up. A massive plus for this is that it passes the 'eye sting' test with flying colours. (Seriously, I literally squeezed a fully soaked cotton pad unintentionally in my eye and it didn't sting). Although, I have read a few reviews saying it didn't remove eye makeup at all, so I'll have to put this to the test when I am wearing a bit more and see how it fairs up then. But so far it has passed the marks with the mascara obsessive. Garnier has also claimed that this lasts up to 200 uses, I am not sure if I use this wrong but I can't see it lasting that long.

The Garnier micellar water has no scent which it great, and ideal for my little sensitive face, although I am not sure if its competitors are scented? Either way, for the £4.99 price tag I quite happy with this bottle of water, and I do wish I had got involved with the micellar water hype sooner.

Have you tried the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water? 

   

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Pamper Time...No 6 Clinic Tunbridge Wells

If you follow me on Instagram, you might of seen that yesterday I got pampered. Not a bad way to spend a Thursday, at all. I was lucky enough to pop in the No6 Clinic in Tunbridge Wells to receive one of their power facials. Anything to help my skin this time of year is welcome, especially with the name 'power'. Not really being up on beauty treatments (bad I know) I hadn't really come across the different types of facials that there are. I just thought they shoved products on your face, rub it in and, voila, you're done. Erm, well, how I was wrong. I firstly received an in-depth consultation with the lovely aesthetician Beth, who assessed my skin type and all sorts of issues including acne, rosacea, sun damaged skin, hyper pigmentation and ageing skin. Not that I have aging skin, yet mind you.

The facial I received has actually been developed by No6 to "help maintain healthy skin using a combination of advanced treatments in 45 minutes to produce amazing results." Can't complain at that little promise. And after a double cleanse, as yes I am the sort of girl who turns up for a facial with foundation applied, was the facial peel. The best way to describe this is like if you applied Soap & Glory's Sexy Mother Pucker onto your face and left it tingling. I love anything with that sort of feeling on my skin as it feels like its getting a proper good clean. 

Next, my face got put under the Omnilux medical infra red light, which plumps out the skin by stimulating collagen and increasing hydration. This was strange. Think of a sunbed for your face, but obviously doing your skin some good, plus I did feel like I was sunning myself on a beach. Just with my mum chattering away in the corner. I even got a little foot massage, hence why my feet have made an appearance in the photos, definitely would of painted my toes if I had known and not end up showing my polish that has more than likely been on all winter. Lastly Beth applied an antioxidant Idebenone combined with AHA and vitamin A lotion.

Complete heaven. And my skin is so soft. Pardon the cliche, but baby skin smooth. If you're in the Tunbridge Wells area you need to pop in. You just must.

 
Have a nose at No6 Clinic here:  No 6 Clinic Tunbridge Wells

Have you ever had a facial treatment that wowed you?

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5 Drugstore & High Street Mascaras: Top Picks

I thought I ought to put my mascara addiction to good use today, and I have complied a list of my top 5 mascaras you can buy on the high street right out. And yes, I have realised there are only two brands mentioned, this is totally unintentional, but no others were good enough to make my little list! Please feel free to suggest some high street mascaras, and provided I've not tried them (which is highly unlikely haha) I would love try expand my addiction. This list isn't in a particular order, just newest to oldest.

Max Factor Excess Volume Extreme Impact Mascara | Max Factors newest offering is my new current favourite. 

L'Oreal Paris Miss Manga Mascara | The new L'Oreal is also lovely, but not quite as volumising as Max Factor.

Max Factor Masterpiece Max Mascara | This classic Max Factor mascara is one of my long standing favourites.

L'Oreal False Lash Flutter Mascara | My second L'Oreal pick is excellent for defining and volumsing.  

Max Factor Clump Defy Mascara | Last, but not least, is another hyped up Max Factor mascara. Hello volume.

 

Have you tried any of these mascaras? Which mascaras are you high street/drugstore favorites? 

 

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Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara

I got this Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara as part of my Clinique Lashes Top to Bottom mascara gift set, but it has been on my wish list ever since it first got realised. I just can not resist the idea of a mascara for my bottom lashes as mine are rather long and often get 'tangled' and a bit curly.  The idea of mascara for bottom lashes is that it's smudge resistant, lash separating and has a teeny brush for easier application.

This brush is so tiny, you can't really understand how little it is, so I compared it to the Max Factor Masterpiece mascara brush just to demonstrate this. Really the Clinique brush is just a super basic traditional brush, shrunk down to mini size, for mini lashes. I was dubious that this would work, and it looks like a lot of effort to apply, I know I am a mascara addict, but even for me I was feeling like this may not get much use.

I've got to admit that it does give a much cleaner, defined and smudge-free result in comparison to the unavoidable mess that I normally create when trying to achieve a similar look with a standard-sized mascara. And the application was just as quick as a normally brush much to my joy. I really do not have any more time available in the mornings for extra mascara applying, how much I wish! I do like the Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara much more than I expected and can fully say it has come part of my daily makeup routine. I haven't applied as much mascara on my top lashes just so you can see the effect from this mascara a bit better.

For £12.50, the Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara is a reasonable-ish price and since it's only being used on the bottom lashes, I imagine it will last a long time. But I bet when it comes to me having to repurchase I won't be able to justify it! It's now part of my every day makeup routine and will definitely be buying again (hopefully).

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara - £12.00

Have you tried Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara?

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Naked Volume Body Building Shampoo & Weightless Conditioner

Flat and limp are the two best words to describe my hair, so as always I am on the hunt for anything to give it some life form. And I've recently started using Naked’s 97% natural and sulphate-free Volume and Shampoo Conditioner. (£3.99) This is a brand that I am sure you've heard of, they are very much hyped up, and I am yet to read a negative review.

So basically the claim is for the Naked Volume Body Building Shampoo & Weightless Conditioner is big bouncy hair, without the risk of a dry, irritated scalp or product build up. Can't complain at that, besides both priced under £5 which is never a bad thing! But do they work? In a word, yes. The grape and passionflower ingredients do the smoothing down the hair cuticles, while corn extracts give the hair a boost, so leaving hair looking big, bouncy and full of shine, well as much shine as blonde hair will get. The body building shampoo really leaves my hair feeling clean, helping the volumised feel, but I do imagine that if my hair had gone a few days without a wash it would need two shampoos to really feel clean. This is also the perfect conditioner for my hair because it is definitely weightless yet it manages to tame my locks at the same time without overloading my little flat locks.

The best thing about this duo? The scent. I am in love. The shampoo is particular has such a gorgeous smell to it, and it does remind me of ginger. Although it doesn't actually contain ginger so maybe my nose it a little off! For £5 the Naked Volume Body Building Shampoo & Weightless Conditioner is such a good deal and these easily compete with the higher end volumsing shampoos and conditioners I've tried, and this has left me wanting to try their Blonde Lightening shampoo next.

Have you tried the Naked Volume Body Building Shampoo & Weightless Conditioner?

Again, I've found that this is perfect for my skin, too, and since switching to Naked hair products I've seen a massive, massive improvement in my eczema on my body. I've also noticed a huge reduction in the number of spots I get on my back, shoulders, and chest, which I'm putting down to the absence of silicons in Naked's products; I've always felt that hair products clog up my pores and now I'm thinking I was right all these years - bonus! - See more at: http://just-jesss.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/review-naked-bodycare-volume-shampoo.html#sthash.srA8iaFD.dpuf

Again, I've found that this is perfect for my skin, too, and since switching to Naked hair products I've seen a massive, massive improvement in my eczema on my body. I've also noticed a huge reduction in the number of spots I get on my back, shoulders, and chest, which I'm putting down to the absence of silicons in Naked's products; I've always felt that hair products clog up my pores and now I'm thinking I was right all these years - bonus! - See more at: http://just-jesss.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/review-naked-bodycare-volume-shampoo.html#sthash.srA8iaFD.dpuf

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Front Cover Eye Colour Revolution Makeup Set

This is a very weird review for me today, as a few years ago, back in my youth, I modeled for Front Cover cosmetics sets. I had of course previously seen Front Cover boxes in Boots around Christmas time in more recent years, but I had never actually bought one or even tried them out. It's no secret I am not a huge fan of gift sets like this anyway, it took me long enough to get on the Urban Decay Naked Palette hype, but when I saw Front Cover's Spring/Summer range I was intrigued. The Eye Colour Revolution is a boxed palette which gives you (most of) the products that you need to recreate the look on the cover. Clever, eh?

The Eye Colour Revolution set contains:

• 9 Baked Powder Eyeshadows
• 3 Satin Pressed Powder Eyeshadows
• Rounded Shader Eye Brush
• Mini Blender Eye Brush
• New Shadowglow tool complete with Mixing Pot - Something I've not really come across before, but this is a clear fluid that claims to transform eyeshadow into a glossy shade. All you do is pour a few drops into a bowl, dip the eyeshadow brush in, pick your shadow and apply. 

The first set of swatches are the 'Baked Powder Eyeshadows', and the bottom one is the slightly larger discs of the 'Satin Pressed Powder Eyeshadows'. The quality of the eyeshadows is SO much better than I expected, especially for a gift set. They all give a glowing and a light reflective finish, and they are very soft and pigmented. This may be due the 'macadamia derivative' in the eyeshadow, not just for hair care apparently. I do love that the kit includes all brushes you need to create a look as well, although they soft, they are not the softest I've ever tried, but they do the job fine. The black eyeliner is much softer than I expected, it's much softer than a lot of high street ones I've tried, and easily the best one I've tried that has come out of a set. Also, when I went on their website, I noticed a section where it helps to recreate different looks, so it's worth a little visit.

Overall, I would say that the Front Cover range is more than likely suited for a younger market, and would be perfect for those just starting out with makeup. The Eye Colour Revolution is a bit more 'mature', but if you're used to very high end brands this may not be quite as good. But, for the money, the quality, colour and pigmentation are really lovely, plus I do like the 'Shadowglow' tool. You know I like a good old gimmick.

And thank you to my mum, who let me borrow her arm to swatch on!

Front Cover Eye Colour Revolution £22.50

Have you tried any of the Front Cover cosmetic sets?

*PR Sample/Gift

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