Product review - Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concealer

Secret Camouflage is quite different from the concealers i have tried in the past which have been more of a thick creamy consistency, this concealer has a waxy texture and works best once warmed on the skin. This concealer can go on the skin quite sheer but is very easy to build up for full coverage. It works really well under the eyes to cover any dark circles and brightens the eye area, as well as for blemishes or any imperfections, which for me is what i mainly use concealer for. I don't generally get bags or dark circles under my eyes unless I've had a big night out, but i often get a few blemishes and have some red pigments on my chin area. My favourite thing about this concealer is that it comes with two shades for you to custom-blend the right colour for your skintone, and i like using the lighter shade as a brow bone highlight when wearing a more natural look with no shimmer.
This product works best when applied with your fingers as this warms up the product and makes it easier to blend.
At £26 this is pretty pricey for a concealer, but for me it's been well worth the money and the best concealer I've tried to date because it literally takes no effort to work.

A few other concealers I've tried are ..

Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Kit £23.50
This is probably my second favourite concealer after secret camouflage. The shade 'Natural Tan' matches my skin so well, it blends perfectly, and is great for covering blemishes. I couldn't fault this product for how it works in any way..the only problem i had was i would hit pan after around 3 weeks and at £23.50 i couldn't really justify the money for that short amount of use.

Benefit Erase Paste £19.50
I found this far too pink toned for my skin,the formula was too thick for blemishes and made any spots under the skin stand out even more.

Mac Studio Finish Concealer £13.50
As for the colour, formula and coverage i loved this product, and it worked so well for under the eyes but unfortunately when using it on blemishes my skin did not agree with it and it made me break out quite badly.

What are your favourite concealers for hiding dark circles and blemishes?

Birthday Haul- Beauty products Part 1

Ok so this month I have done ALOT of shopping. For my birthday I went to Liverpool and bought all my birthday presents, and then I found out I had been successful with my interview for an internship on a fashion buying department, so I bought some new clothes for that. When I first wrote this post about the beauty products and clothing it turned into wayyy to much of an essay so I have decided to do this post in 3 separate entries, two parts for beauty products (1 for face and eyes and one for lips and cheeks) and then one for clothes and shoes.

So here's some of the make-up/beauty products I bought this month/for my birthday. It wasn't till I'd written this blog post that I realised just how much I've recently bought, I really need to ban myself for the next month!

Face

1. Laura Mercier foundation primer £27

This product is a creamy gel formula, as is used to prep your skin for foundation.It contains Vitamins A,B, C which act as antioxidants to protect the skin from any harmful ageing affects from the environment. I love this product, I saw so many positive reviews about it, but I just wasn't sure if primers really worked. I know this product is expensive for a small tube but it really does work! It makes my skin so even and smooth, and makes my foundation look really fresh. Most people buy primers to help make their foundation last all day, and this product really does do that, I apply my makeup at 6.45am and it lasts till around 6-7pm when I normally take it off. I'm guessing this is a mix of this primer and the new foundation I'm using (which is mentioned underneath) because before I used a primer and was using Chanel's pro lumiere my foundation looked fresh for a few hours then would gradually wear off, but I am amazed with these new results.

2. Estee Lauder Double wear foundation £25

I bought this product after hearing everyone go on about how it really does last all day. To be completely honest I didn't believe anybody, I've used so many different foundations and none of them were lasting, so I decided to just give double wear a go! I am absolutely amazed by the results of this foundation,it blends so easily, leaves my skin looking flawless and actually lasts all day! Like I said previously from starting a new job I really needed a product that would last from first thing in the morning to tea-time, and this foundation literally doesn't budge! I would really recommend anyone to try this product. I am using double wear in Desert Beige.

3. Estee Lauder Double wear powder £25

I bought this powder because when using Chanel's pro lumiere I found the foundation was wearing off to easily, and I was needing to touch it up a lot during the day. Now I know the double wear foundation lasts all day I don't need to use this product everyday, however I have been using it very lightly on top of the foundation just to set the foundation, and I think the combination of both is what is making my skin stay flawless all day. I was going to go for the Estee Lauder translucent powder but thought that if some days I didn't want a full face of makeup then I could just use this powder without any foundation and it would still give me a good cover. Again I would really recommend this product, if you have a foundation you like but that isn't lasting as long as you would like, use this product to set the foundation. I am using this product in Desert Beige.

4. MAC mineralize skin finish - Comfort £19.50

This product is a soft powder with a high frost finish,and can be used all over the face and body or as a highlighter. MAC has 6 MSF's and after finding out Stereo Rose and Petticoat were both completely sold out I decided to go for Comfort which is still a newer one from MAC's recent range 'In the groove.' I use this product either very lightly as a bronzer for all over the face or just on my cheeks as a highlighter. Comfort is a golden bronze colour with veins of a brighter champagne gold. Each msf has a different amount of veins, I chose one with with less amount of veins as in comfort the gold veins are the bit that adds a brighter high frost finish. High frost is perfect for a highlighter but when using all over the face you don't want too much. I really like this product, more as a highlighter than a bronzer, as I prefer my bronzer to be completely matte, but as a highlighter it adds the nicest bit of bronzy shimmer to your cheeks.

Eyes

5. MAC Eyeshadow- Satin Taupe £11

I love MAC's eyeshadows because their so pigmented, and so easy to blend. Satin Taupe is a taupe brown with a silvery bronze shimmer frost, which makes it look taupe/slightly purple. A lot of my favourite youtube tutorial looks have been created by using this product, which is what made me want to get it. Satin Taupe is great on it's own, or blended with browns or black to created a really nice smokey eye, it also really suits a pink lip.

6. MAC Eyeshadow - Nylon £11

I bought Nylon to use as a brow highlighter and for around the tear duct area. It's a gorgeous champagne/pale gold colour with a metallic shimmer. When I use this product as a brow highlighter it will last all day! It is perfect for creating the 'prom look' I previously posted, it looks so nice blended with bronzy golds and browns.

7. MAC Mineralize eyeshadow trio - In the groove £15

I haven't yet used this product but have swatched it and the colours are so so pretty! From the In the groove collection this trio (also called in the groove) contains 3 colours perfect for creating a summery smokey eye. The 3 colours are a light champagny colour with a very light green undertone, a dark burgandy colour and a shimmery coral. I think these colours will look so pretty when blended together but also used separately and mixed with other colours. I love mineralize products, there so pigmented but still have a velvety-matte finish. There are a few other eyeshadow trio's from MAC I am hoping to get.

8. ELF Duo eyeshadow cream- Butter Pecan £1.50

Ok so unfortunately I am very disappointed with this product. The colours are so perfect, Butter Pecan has the nicest shimmery nude/slightly coral colour with a shimmery bronze, BUT Elf claims the product is 'crease resistant'... this is definitely not the case. I applied this product first thing in the morning and by late morning all of my eyeshadow had creased. I was really disappointed with this product, I think if applied with the tiniest amount as a base this could be ok, but not as an eyeshadow on it's own. I suppose at £1.50 I can't really complain,and it definitely proved to me the reason why I always prefer expensive makeup!

9. Elf Duo eyeshadow cream - Berry Mix £1.50

(Read product above) Exactly the same case with this colour too, the product creased very badly, but again the colours are so pretty, Berry mix has a very light lilac and a darker burgandy/purple colour. Next time I will learn my lesson and only buy one of any product I haven't tried before.

10. Laura Mercier Brilliant liquid eye liner - Onyx

I got the product free when buying two products from Laura Mercier, I think it's around £20 to buy but I'm not sure if it's actually available to buy in the UK yet. Onyx is a bronze colour with a shimmer gold undertone, it goes really well with a gold smokey eye, or is nice to use if you like using eyeliner to define your eyes, but find that sometimes black can be too harsh with more natural looks. I used this product for the first time yesterday, it is so easy to apply with an angled brush, and lasted all day. As I'm a huge fan of gel liner's at the moment I'm not too sure whether I would buy this product, but I really love the gold undertone.

5 of the best concealers to get rid of those dark circles!

There's nothing worse than waking up with the biggest dark circles and then piling on a ridiculous amount of make-up to make yourself look more awake and the circles are still there!
Here are 5 of the best concealers to get rid of those circles, and erase those dreaded blemishes.


1. Benefit Erase Paste £18.50

This creamy concealer camouflages and brightens in one go! I am a big fan of this product and was luckily enough to have one the first day it came out. This little tiny pot has lasted me forever,it comes in 3 shades and includes a mini spatula for easy application.


2. Mac Studio finish £12.50

This concealer is light, creamy and extremely long lasting.With built up coverage this concealer can cover anything from dark circles and blemishes to tattoos. It also contains SPF 30 and comes in a range of 15 colours proving this concealer is for any skin tone!


3.Eves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat

Otherwise known as 'the magic wand' Touche Eclat is a celeb favourite! This concealer
claims to make you look 'rested' and 'bright eyed' and will eliminate
shadows from under your eyes, blemishes and expression lines. Fantastic range of colours to suit all skin types.


4.Bobbi Brown Corrector £16.50

This concealer is amazing for full coverage. It is designed to be put under your normal everyday concealer to rid dark circles and give extra coverage.There are two types of the corrector, it comes in Bisque shades which are for all skin tones and pink shades which are suitable for golden and tan skin tones.

5.Laura Mercier Secret camaflage £25

The concealer duo is the best for covering dark circles,as the two colours work together to give you the perfect shade and the right amount of coverage. One shade works on your skins natural tone, the other to match the skins undertone. It comes in a range of 4 colours and is available in the UK from John Lewis.