My two favourite drugstore foundations

Excuse the poor iPhone quality of this picture, I'm currently at uni and forgot/lost my SD card at home (dohh!)  so now I'm bound to my trusty old iPhone/digital camera.

Now I have to admit that I'm not usually one for drugstore foundations- I'm quite a bit of a snob when it comes down to what I put on my face. I've heard such amazing things about these two foundations however, that the beauty obsessive in me eventually had to have them. I've been using these two for quite some time now, so I thought it was time to share what I think about these little gems.

First of all, the packaging of these is really cute. They don't look as luxury as Chanel or Estée Lauder foundations, but it's the inside that counts, right? The Rimmel Wake me Up foundation is stored in a glass bottle, whereas the Bourjois foundation is housed in a little plastic bottle, which makes the Rimmel foundation feel a little bit more luxurious than the Bourjois one. Since they're both drugstore foundations the shade range isn't great. I find that the lightest Bourjois shade- which I have- is a little bit lighter than the Rimmel one. I don't really mind, but paler or darker girls should bear this in mind.

Now on to what's in the bottles- the actual foundation. The Rimmel Wake me Up foundation is supposed to, as you could probably tell from the bottle, wake your skin up and has got a tiny bit of shimmer in it. The Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum is supposed to give your skin a nice radiant boost and revive your complexion- so they are both supposed to do pretty much the same thing. When you put the foundations on your hand, they both smell really nice- Bourjois smells like peaches and fruit, I find (which is quite obvious since it has got fruit in it which are 'healthy' for your skin, even though I don't think it makes much of a difference), and the Rimmel One smells quite lemony. Bear in mind that if you've got quite sensitive skin, these probably won't be for you since they are quite perfumed and might break you out.
Now on to the coverage. The Bourjois Healthy Mix serum claims to give you a light coverage, but I do find it quite buildable. The finish is so beautiful, it really does make your skin look so much more brighter and just amazing. The Rimmel Wake me Up gives you a medium coverage, but you can build it up to full.

Well then, you may think, but how's the lasting power? I too find the lasting powder of a foundation the most important thing, and since I've got quite oily to combination skin, foundations tend to slip off of my face quite easily. The Healthy Mix Serum has got a semi-matte finish, and although I do like it so much, I find that my skin gets oily rather quickly- 3 to 4 ours after application. And yes, I do use a power on top of it! The Wake me Up foundation lasts a little bit longer on my skin, but after 4 or 5 hours or so the oil starts coming through. I do find that, if you've got oily skin like I do, you need to use an oil free primer and a powder to set your foundation- I use Benefit's Porefessional Primer and Rimmel's Stay Matte Pressed powder, which are both amazing.

Have you ever tried one of these foundations? What do you think of them?

Estée Lauder Double Wear foundation & concealer

Excuse the poor iPhone quality of this picture, I'm currently at uni and forgot/lost my SD card at home (dohh!)  so now I'm bound to my trusty old iPhone camera.

Well now, let me introduce you to my most loved/hated product. A product which I sometimes love so much that I just can't get enough of it and wear it every day, but also sometimes hate so much that it disappears into my huge box of make up and doesn't see daylight for a few weeks. Yes, it's one of the most famous and loved foundations of half the female population- Estée Lauder Double Wear foundation.
I've used this foundation when I was 16 and loved it so much that I wore it everyday, until it got empty. Then, being the beauty-obsessive I am, I did naturally have to purchase and try another foundation, so I've never really thought about this little gem again. Then, when I saw Kate (which is one of my favourite beauty bloggers out there, she is literally one of the most gorgeous persons ever and really knows her skincare!) blogging about it and bearing in mind how gorgeous and healthy yet still natural her skin does always look, I decided to cave in and buy it. I first got matched and the colour was terrible on me- it was at least 4 shades to dark and it made me look like a giant orange. So a littlewile later I decided to buy the lightest shade available in Belgium, 2N2, Fresco. Now that's one thing I don't really like about this foundation; it's still too dark for me. This foundation has got much lighter shades that would fit caucasion skintones so much better, but they just don't seem to be available anywhere in Belgium. Another thing that I don't really like about this is that it sometimes can feel a little bit too heavy. Another downside about this is that it doesn't have a pump. MAC foundation pumps do fit, but I don't own any MAC foundation, sigh.

But I think I'm in the loving-phase right now. Yes, I'm wearing it again every single day, and yes, I love the finish, the coverage it gives and that, even though this claims to be "medium to full coverage", it still does look so very natural. I first warm a little bit of this foundation up on the back of my hand and then buff it in really well into my skin- application is key with these kind of foundations. I don't find that I need to use any powder on my oily skin, which is such a plus since powder can make this foundation look a little bit over the top and very cakey. I find that my skin doesn't really get oily throughout the day, which is most certainly a plus! It does last me all day, which is never the case with any foundation I wear, so yeah, it's pretty darn amazing ;).

The Double Wear concealer however, is what I've been calling my all-time favourite concealer since I got it. It's full coverage yet still looks natural. I do, however, only use this on blemishes and other little imperfections on my skin and then use the Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat under my eyes. I love it. It's such a great colour match (I wear 01 - Light, which is the lightest shade) and I love it. I don't find that I need to use any/much concealer when I'm wearing Double Wear on it's own, but when I'm in a 'hate' phase with Double Wear, I do use a very light foundation and then this and the Touche Éclat and I feel pretty darn great, too. I couldn't recommend this enough, and even though it's so much more expensive than the famous Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer, which they don't sell here, this is such great value for money and I will definitely be repurchasing this. This one does also have a better colour range, which might be worth considering ;)

Have you ever tried Double Wear foundation and/or the Double Wear concealer? I've never seen anyone talking about the concealer, which I thought was quite odd! Will you be trying them out after reading this review?

Origins Clear Improvement mask

Excuse the poor iPhone quality of this picture, I'm currently at uni and forgot/lost my SD card at home (dohh!)  so now I'm bound to my trusty old iPhone camera.

I have been loving Origins products recently. Not only the fact that they contain only natural products, thus don't have any nasties like parabens and mineral oil in them, but also the lovely smells, the really simple but gorgeous packaging of them and the fact that my skin really does seem to get on with them made me kind of obsessed with them lately. I find myself walking to their counter more and more, sniffing and tyring out their products, and I swear I won't rest until I've got a whole Origins skincare collecton! I'm making great products owning a cleanser, a toner, a moisturiser and their Super Spot Remover (post here!), but since my previous face mask ran out (the Body Shop's green tea mask) I was looking for a new clarifying clay mask. I've heard lots and lots of people praise this, so naturally couldn't wait to try it out!

So what does Origins claim about this product?

"Active charcoal acts like a magnet to draw out deep-dwelling pore-cloggers. White China Clay absorbs environmental toxins. Lecithin dissolves impurities. Without all that "stuff" down there, skin "breathes a sigh of relief. Use once a week or as often as needed. Open pores with warm, moist towel and layer on. Allow to dry. Rinse well."

I can now honestly say that it does what it says on the packaging. I use it about once or twice a week, during my weekly/biweekly (is that even a word?! Haha!) pamper night after cleansing and exfoliating. I then do what it says on the bottle and put a moist flannel on my face (hot water of course!). Then I pat my face dry with a little towel  (I don't like to cleanse/apply masks etc. on a wet face, I just fel like the product does just 'glide' of the face and isn't nearly as effective!). I lather quite a thick layer of it on, and it immediately feels very refreshing. After leaving it on for 10-20 minutes, a little period of time in which it tends to get quite hard and feels kind of funny to talk/laugh, I rinse it off with, again, hot water and my feels feels so refreshed and just so, so very much cleaner. It really does feel like all of my impurities are gone and some spots look significantly smaller and are much less painful! Since I can get quite spotty, I tend to buy more clay masks, althoughI'm really tempted to try out their Drink Up Intensive mask too! After that, I tone, put on my nighttime serum and quite a rich daycream, as I don't really tend to get along with mattifying moisturisers as they make my skin feel so much drier and thight!

This is such a great product, and when you use the Super Spot Remover afterwards, your skin will look clearer than ever. Sorry for the long review, but I do really think that it's such a great product and that it really does live up to its expectations. I loooove Origins skincare so much and I just couldn't recommend them more. The next things on my wishlist are most definitely the Skin Rejuvenating Treatment and their High Potency Night-A-Mins Nightcream. Is it weird that I find that such a clever and nice name?! Haha me so silly.

Have you ever tried this face mask? What do you think about it and just about Origins products in general?

origins super spot remover

I purchased this product a little while ago, when I payed the Origins counter a little visit and decided to splurge out on some of their products- sorry bank balance. Since I've suffered with acne for several years and it has only recently calmed down, my skin is far from perfect and I do still suffer from occasional breakouts. There isn't a day when I don't have a spot. During my teens, I felt very insecure about my skin, which I why I started wearing make up. I've tried so many spot treatments, some of them good, some of them very, very bad (I'm looking at you, clearasil!) and now I'm at the point where almost all of my acne is gone and, like I said above, my skin is looking pretty clear except for the occasional breakouts I suffer with. I do really feel like the condition of my skin has improved so much since I picked up an outrageous intrest for skincare, and I'm so thankful for that. So since I do suffer from some spots, I figured I needed to invest in a little spot treatment. Not one like clearasil, where you wash your face with such a drying product that your spots only get worse, no, but a little product that you could locally apply. I previously tried Lush's Grease Lightning, which was good, but I wanted to try a new spot treatment, so after reading Anna's and then Zoe's post about this little gem I was sold.

The good thing about this product is; it does actually work. Well now, I can hear you all thinking; aren't all these products supposed to work?! But you would be surprised at the amount of skincare that doesn't live up to it's claims. I don't know if I'm allowed to say it, but most of the time it are the cheaper things that don't do the job. There. I've said it.

First things first; this product smells lovely. It smells a little bit like tea tree, which is a smell I do absolutely adore. I apply this locally with a cotton bud, just to keep things hygienic, and from the instant you've applied it, you can feel it stinging. This makes me feel like it does actually work, although sometimes it starts burning and feels like my skin is melting off, so be careful with the amount you apply of this. I only apply this in the evening after my toner but before my moisturiser, since I find it a little bit drying. I used this on my flight to Tunisia two weeks ago and combined with the drying airco, it really didn't work well- I left the airplane with two extremely dry patches on both sides of my chin, haha. You can apply this two or three times a day, but be sure not to overuse it as I do find it can work a little bit too well, haha.

All in all it's a really good product which actually lives up to its claims and does what it says on the bottle. I really would repurchase this, although I might invest in the new Super Spot Remover Pads Origins came out with a little while ago. Have you used this? What did you think about it and would you use the new pads? Let me know!

holiday diary- soaking up the sun

So as promised, here are another few holiday pictures of the beach, the temperatures there, what I had to drink and the SPF I've been using on my face all holiday long, which I'm planning on still writing a post about! Not too much pictures this time as I don't feel like putting my whole life on the internet though. I slept quite a lot the past few days so I've finally got rid of the post-holiday-tiredness, however I'm feeling a little bit ill at the moment! Possibily due to university stress. I start the 3rd already and am so scared! If you've ever written/read a post about going to university for the first time please don't be afraid to link me to it in the comments below, haha!

I'm not feeling my blog at the moment. I know, I know- I've said this a thousand times before, but I just don't think the layout goes with the 'feel' I'm going for- if you get what I'm trying to explain. My interests change quite a lot and I do find myself reading more and more lifestyle blogs instead of beauty blogs, so I want to try and make this more of a lifestyle blog with just a few beauty features in between! Don't hesitate to send me some links to good lifestyle blogs as I'm constantly on the search for new ones! Also don't forget to follow me on bloglovin!

xoxo,
Charlotte

holiday diary- into the twilight

So I'm back from my twelve-day long stay in one of the most beautiful (but alsomost abandoned and sometimes very dirty) country I've ever been to- Tunisia. I've had a great time, walking down the beach with my feetsies in the ocean, sniffing the air and floating on the waves, jumping into the pool and just reading a good book with a cocktail in my hand whilst listening to one of the most beautiful sounds ever- the sound of water and land colliding. I ate the most gorgeous foods and most definitely gained quite a few pounds, but it was all worth it. I've mastered the art of healthy eating and will most definitely try to hold on. As much as I loved it there and miss the hot weather-it was 50 degrees yesterday, we checked when we were leaving at 5pm-, I'm also happy to be back at home. My own bed never felt so good and I'll be the happiest person alive when I'll finally be able to jump into my boyfriend's arms after having to miss him for the longest time we've ever been without each other. I missed my dog so much, and being away made me even more appreciative of my home. These are all pictures taken on the same evening, when we went to take a walk on the beach. It got dark very early there- 7pm, but we didn't mind. I'm sorry it are all almost the same pictures, but I'll be uploading part 2 of my holiday pictures and then maybe a 'what did I eat' related post somewhere this week. Let me now if you would like to see such a post!

I'm leaving for uni at 3 September (which I'm sooooo nervous about!) so I'll have one week left before I'm going to live on my own. Exciting times ahead!

xoxo,
Charlotte

a little holiday treat

When we had a little spare hour left at the airport before boarding our airplane, me and my mom naturally decided to check out the little shop in the tax-free zone there. It's a very small airport, so they only had the basics there- booze, cigarettes, books, magazines, perfume, a little stand of OPI nailpolishes and just a tiny little bit of Chanel and L'Oréal make up. I had never smelled the Bronze Goddess Capri fragrance before, so I thought I would give it a try. It smells so lovely, it's the perfect light summer scent and it already has become one of my favourite perfumes. I love Estée Lauder and this has got to be one of their best perfumes, ever. I always have a thing with holidays ant scents- when I take a product with me on holiday, the scent of it becomes the 'scent of that holiday' and whenever I smell that scent somewhere else, it always does remind me of that holiday. Last year I had that with the Chanel Vitalumière Aque foundation and L'Oréal rose skincare line, and now I'm having the same kind of 'experience' with this perfume and my Origins A Perfect World cleanser, haha! The only downside of this perfume is the longevitability. Yes, yes- I know that it's an Eau Fraichen, which is basically the perfume with the shortest longevitablity and the lightest smell, but still. I feel like it disappears after 20 minutes!

The other product I bought is a very well-known, almost famous product; the Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse (the normal version, although I would looooove to own the gold one!). It can be used on your body, but also on your skin and hair and I've been using it for all three purposes- it gives my arms a nice glow which is perfect for summer, it makes my hair feel al soft and smooth and leaves it frizz-free (haha) and mixed with my nighttime moisturiser I feel like I wake up with skin as soft as a baby's little butt. I've wanted this for quite a long time now, after my mom pointing it out for me in a magazine and seeing it on quite a few fair of blogs, but they never had it in my local pharmacies. So when we saw they had it in stock in the airplane, me and my mom were pleasantly surprised! She uses it too and loves it.

Sorry for the bad quailty of this picture! I've just quickly taken it with my phone because I couldn't really be bothered to get my 'proper' camera out (oopsies haha!) and also didn't really had the time!

Have you tried any of these products? What do you think about them?

xoxo,
Charlotte